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5 Voguish Indie Musicians
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Swarathma
5 Voguish Indie Musicians
While Miley Cyrus is setting milestones for her sense of dressing (down) on an international stage (literally and figuratively), it’s fair to say that most musicians, at some point in their career, start taking notice of their appearance; especially apparelling. While it may be true that Indian indie musicians are squeezing their sweat and blood into every ounce of their music, fighting the vibe of the commercial to transform their niche creations and deliver them to households, a certain lot have created a public image for themselves; a collective persona that victimizes you to nose contortions and whining if you don’t see them donning their usual, indigenous, unabashed outfits.
Our fashion radar picked up a list of indie musicians whose ingrained fashion outlooks are as important as their musical prowess. May be it’s a matter of preserving their heritage, connecting with their roots or simply being considered avant-garde. Here’s whom and why.
Colloquially referred by many as the band that applies a neo-cultural take to devotional music because of their all-pervasive song “Yeshu Allah aur Krishna” among others, Bangalore-based folk-fusion musicians Swarathma match pajama-esque pants with multi-coloured t-shirts, quasi-rosary necklaces, colourful neta topis, lungis and jackets in earnest. But the cherry on the aesthetic is when vocalist Vasu Dixit wears the horse cut-out, which then turns the show into a carnival of unparalleled magnitude. It’s as though they’re displaying the serene effect of a rainbow against the dull backdrop of a grey sky.
Pajama-esque pants matched with multi-coloured t-shirts, quasi-rosary necklaces, colourful neta topsi, lungis and jackets
Soulmate
Having recently performed at the Mahindra Blues Festival for the fourth time in a row, one of India’s biggest blues bands Soulmate (read our interview here) makes it to this list because of the vocalist Tipriti’s utterly boho demeanour (with experimental headbands and wristbands) and Rudy Wallang’s retro-styled waist coats. What’s most interesting is, not only is their apparel, but even the décor setup, embellished with hipster components – especially with Tipriti’s butterfly cut-out that she hangs around the mic.
Soulmate melds boho and retro with flair
The Raghu Dixit Project is a band that perhaps connects with their Kannada roots not only through their music but also through their splendidly exotic looking lungis, monochromatic kurtas, ghungroos and beaded-necklaces. What a way to be being honest to your home-grown heritage and propagating aesthetically wearable art, simultaneously.
Folk rocking with Lungis
The Ganesh Talkies
Bengali alt-rockers The Ganesh Talkies put in a lot of thought to demonstrate a state of their historical-oriented being. If you’ve seen their cover photo that’s doing the rounds on press clippings and album art, you’d imagine them being possessed by the first Wodeyars of the Vijayanagara Empire by virtue of their shiny coats, which they hired from a Tollywood costume provider. Either that or they’ve got a disco-funk retro or Band-bajaa costume party going on while performances. Moods Achhe Hain!
Band Bajaa Talkies
Ancient Regality
The Kolkata-based pop musician might’ve received some flak for his oddly-matched colourful pants and shirts, but the suspenders have an interesting appeal that can never go out of fashion. That, coupled with chequered shirts speak volumes of simplicity in the mind of the musician, whose music reflects just the same. No attempts at pretence, but sincerity of following the heart seems to be 20-something boy’s motto.
Nischay Parekh’s pop suspenders
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