Indian Ocean introduced the country to a new breed of fusion indie sound at a time when most Indian bands were covering international artists. One of the significant elements of this group was the signature sound of Susmit Sen’s guitar. In 2013, Sen officially left the Indian Ocean to focus on his solo career, which started with his album, released in 2011 and called Depth of the Ocean, which took a whopping ten years to make. After being repeatedly asked to perform live, Sen went ahead and put together a band called Sushmit Sen Chronicles.
However, Susmit Sen recently parted ways with the Indian Ocean to concentrate solely on Susmit Sen Chronicles. Expectedly, besides shocking long-time fans of the band, this move has also raised expectations and anticipation about Susmit Sen Chronicles. On being asked about his new direction, Sen told Sound Plunge, “Indian Ocean was together for about 23 years, and I needed to move on to explore my expression. I wanted to work on new compositions.”
Though Susmit Sen Chronicles is definitely a departure from the unique Indian Ocean sound, Sen’s musicality and tenacious signature guitar tone have not changed. “I can’t run away from myself. And why should I?” commented Sen when asked if his musicality would change with the new ensemble he has put together.
Indian Ocean is an Indian rock band formed in New Delhi in 1990 and is widely regarded as a pioneer of the fusion rock genre in India. The original lineup included Susmit Sen, Asheem Chakravarty, Rahul Ram, and Amit Kilam, with the band evolving. Following Chakravarty’s passing on December 25, 2009, Tuheen Chakravorty and Himanshu Joshi were officially added to the group. In 2013, Susmit Sen also departed, leaving Rahul Ram as the only founding member of their debut album, Indian Ocean. Sanjeev Sharma has frequently collaborated with the band as a lyricist across several albums.
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