Celebrating their 25th anniversary with music this year, The Chronic Blues Circus has managed to remain a band through thick and thin! One of the pioneers of the Blues in the country, this eight-member Bengaluru-based band has two albums to their name.
In a candid interview with us, Aanchal and Shreyas the drummers, Mukut and Raveen the keyboard players and vocalists, Peter and Owen, the guitarists Rajni the vocalist and Sangeeta, the bass guitarist, talk about their struggles through the years, the current music scene in the city, and more…
Starting off as a support band back in 1991, Peter Isaac, the guitarist says, “An English band called Touch, wanted a blues band to perform before they came on. And since then, with the support of a number of musicians, the band has been kept alive. And honestly, it doesn’t even feel like 25 years have gone by, time is so unreal!”
For a band that has managed to stay together that long despite line up changes, were there times when they got sick of each other? “We spend a lot of time together and of course there have been times when we have got annoyed, upset and even fought with each other. But that’s like every family in the world which ends up staying together,” says Sangeeta Hosea, the vocalist and bass guitarist who doubles as a chartered accountant.
The band gets a high on getting their audience worked up with their memorable tunes! “We get our inspiration for music from the Blues, the city of Bengaluru, India, and its people,” says Mukut, the keyboard player, passionately. “Getting the audience riled up is the best part of performing on stage. We have faced quite a few challenges through the years , finding performance venues being one of them. It was not uncommon to perform only three or four times a year and look forward to a New Year’s Eve gig. Holding on to the band was difficult and we often played for free at parties and those rare festivals,” reveals Peter, who is glad that the scene has changed for the better today. “Now, there are more venues so we get to perform three or four times a month and the talent too, is phenomenal compared to what it was when we first started,” adds the artiste.
And as a band which has managed to stay together for so long, what advice would they give to upcoming bands and fresh talent? “The most important thing is to believe in what you are doing. The rest will follow,” says Shreyas, the drummer, wisely. Sounds rather implicit… “That’s what it’s all about. The next important thing though, is to keep far away from artist managers who try and sell the band as a brand, instead of a band,” adds Peter in conclusion, about the band which has managed to do just that, and make a space and name for themselves in the music world today.
The band is all set to release their third album Kaliyuga Blues 3, as well as perform on October 7 at The Humming Tree, to celebrate their 25th anniversary with the rest of the namma ooru!
