{"id":1234,"date":"2018-11-09T13:07:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edict.ashoka.edu.in\/index.php\/2018\/11\/09\/the-creators-apartment-upstairs\/"},"modified":"2019-04-08T21:22:57","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T21:22:57","slug":"the-creators-apartment-upstairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/2018\/11\/09\/the-creators-apartment-upstairs\/","title":{"rendered":"The Creators | Apartment Upstairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Devika Jamkhedkar and Sumantra Sen, Class of 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

The Creators is a fortnightly series of artist profiles of Ashokans who are actively involved in different creative fields including music, photography, creative writing, and visual or performing arts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The distinct throng of drums, energetic riffs and resounding lilt of \u2018R U mine\u2019 echoing through the atrium walls into the evening air got everyone wondering what exactly what was going on upstairs. Further inquiry introduced one to the aptly named \u2018Apartment Upstairs\u2019, jamming away diligently before their breakthrough performance at OP Jindal\u2019s Biswamil. Ashokan music culture has proved conducive to creators of various genres, with Rohan Pai (UG 20), Shourjo Chatterjee (UG 20), and Angad Trehan (UG 21) offering an exciting new addition to campus culture, keen to flourish in the Delhi music circuit as well.<\/p>\n

\n

Apartment Upstairs | Credits: Shrishti Agrawal, Caperture<\/a>: The Photography Society<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An embodiment of young talent, Apartment Upstairs was initially founded in the previous semester by Rohan Pai, Shourjo Chatterjee and Bharat Srinivas. As first years, each of them recall being immensely inspired by fellow Ashokan band Shorthand. This spurred them to seek out fellow aspiring musicians, and eventually unite to form a medium of expression. Bharat left in the second year. However, the other two were quick to recruit a keen first-year guitarist, Angad Trehan. The trio became a close-knit unit relatively quickly, influencing each others\u2019 music tastes and playing styles. This resulted in an amalgamation of genres coalescing to constitute their whetted sound- alternate rock. While snippets of their tunes on Instagram will invigorate rock enthusiasts, the band is focussed on musical variety and ideation. Their individual interests revolve around various orbits of the rock universe, ranging from John Mayer, Red Hot Chillie Peppers, and even Shawn Mendes – all affecting their artistry. We sat down with Apartment Upstairs to garner details on their personal backgrounds, experimental outlook, supposed rivalry with Shorthand, and the story behind their name.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- Tell us a bit about your musical histories. When did you start playing music and how did it go?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Angad<\/strong>:<\/em> I started playing in 8th grade and started taking it seriously from 9th grade. I began with the bass guitar to classical. Now, I play acoustic and electric as well.<\/p>\n

Shourjo<\/strong>: I\u2019ve been playing the drums for quite a while now. It started around the same time as Angad like around 7th grade. My parents knew the founders of my music school and that helped me start learning drums. However, it was a very on and off thing due to boards and it hasn\u2019t been consistent throughout. Honestly, I didn\u2019t think I\u2019ll be playing the drums in college or would have much to do with music, but then I met Rohan and Bharat and that made me start thinking seriously about music.<\/p>\n

Rohan<\/strong>: I actually started playing in the 12th grade and I started learning online. I started off with acoustic, but in college, switched to bass because that\u2019s what the band needed. I prefer playing the bass now but there\u2019s a lot more to learn and improve on.<\/p>\n

Shoujo- <\/strong>I think it\u2019s amazing how much Rohan has improved. He started playing bass in the beginning of second semester, and you wouldn\u2019t be able to tell the way he\u2019s improved this year.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- What were your musical influences early on?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Angad<\/strong>: I have a lot of guitar influences. I listened to a lot of John Mayer and Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. I listened to Tarrega- not many know him, he\u2019s a classical guitarist. Favourite bands? Green Day, Slash, Dire Straits, and Eagles are the ones that come to mind right now. I also listened to a lot of jazz. They\u2019ve influenced making my own music as well.<\/p>\n

Rohan<\/strong>: My influences have shifted rapidly since last semester. I mostly listened to a lot of mainstream music and indie, like Ed Sheeran and John Mayer, stuff like that.<\/p>\n

Shourjo- <\/strong>(interjects<\/em>) Shawn Mendes.<\/p>\n

Rohan <\/strong>(laughs<\/em>)- Yeah, I had a phase. After that, it has shifted a lot to bands like John Mayer Trio, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vulfpeck. A lot of alternative music like Arctic Monkeys, Bon Iver, and Childish Gambino.<\/p>\n

Devika- <\/strong>That\u2019s quite a variety!<\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>Yeah. I\u2019m mainly into alternative and funk right now. I think I encountered that mainly after meeting Shourjo and Bharat\u200a\u2014\u200athe band wanted to take that route and considering that it was music that wasn\u2019t like Ed Sheeran or Shawn Mendes. Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Mayer trio were what helped us forge a common interest.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- I think as an alt-rock band, there are so many genres within it, like britpop, indie, grunge. Do you think you\u2019ve figured out what your genre is?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>I think we\u2019re still exploring how we sound as a band. Until we have three or four originals that we have jammed to, we\u2019re going to keep working and see how it goes. For now, it feels like we\u2019re moving towards an alternative genre\u200a\u2014\u200ain between rock and a sort of a studio feel. I think we can\u2019t classify that just yet.<\/p>\n

Shourjo<\/strong>: I think a lot of the music that I was influenced by comes from the music I listened to before I started playing the drums which include a lot of classic rock, like 70s – 80s stuff. Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Dave Matthews Band. All of these bands have drummers that had the most impact on me. I\u2019m also influenced by a lot of jazz drummers who I\u2019m extremely influenced by. Jojo Mayer, Dave Weckl, They\u2019re not old school rock drummers, so it\u2019s a nice change to include them in the music I listen to. Love what drummers do for fusion jazz. Apart from that, it\u2019s mostly rock, like Angad. I\u2019ve recently started to include funk and alternative stuff, that\u2019s impacted me.<\/p>\n

\n

Shourjo on the drums | Credits: Shrishti Agrawal, Caperture<\/a>: The Photography Society<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Devika- There\u2019s often a distinct dynamic that develops between members as you\u2019re playing together and making music together. So what\u2019s it like practicing together, and what\u2019s it like performing?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Angad<\/strong>: It varies a lot, honestly. Sometimes you have amazing practices and you come up with stuff like that (cue in energetic snapping sounds<\/em>). Sometimes you have really really really bad practices, and you\u2019re still recovering from them. Like, we just had a pretty bad one recently, but a good one a few days ago. But then the next day you will have a better practice. So it really varies a lot. I would say it\u2019s a two way street\u200a\u2014\u200apractices are affected by the way you interact with each other and the way you interact with each other affects your practice. Working with these two guys is so much. It\u2019s way too much fun! Performing with them is even more fun. We just performed at Biswamil, and that was a really good one.<\/p>\n

Shourjo<\/strong>: As Angad said, in practice sessions, we tend to fluctuate a lot but I think that\u2019s true for anyone who practices music because every day can\u2019t be good and filled with new ideas and great practice sessions. I think what helps us is that at a fundamental level we connect with each other really well and since we\u2019re good friends. That really does help us with our band dynamic. It helps us concentrate on the music and not let anything else get in the way.<\/p>\n

Angad- <\/strong>There\u2019s also times wherein we\u2019re just sitting in the room being like, \u201cWhat do I play?\u201d \u201cWhat do I play now?\u201d There\u2019s literally ten minutes of silence, because we don\u2019t know what to play then.<\/p>\n

Rohan<\/strong>: Mainly, it\u2019s the fact that our friendship is stronger than being bandmates right now. That pushes us a lot, gives us a lot of boost because there is no tension between us. We easily open up and we have no problems with what the other person wants to play. I think that\u2019s rare in bands, because you often see the band members getting angry at each other for not letting them play what they want, and I think we\u2019re sorted in that way. That\u2019s quite impressive?<\/p>\n

Devika- What\u2019s your group dynamic like? Is there a leader?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(All shake their heads)<\/em><\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>There really isn\u2019t, we don\u2019t really let one person lead the band. I think that\u2019s rare.<\/p>\n

Angad- <\/strong>(indicates Rohan<\/em>) Though the de facto logistics manager is this dude.<\/p>\n

Rohan <\/strong>(laughs<\/em>)- I mean, as long as booking music room sessions go. But what we do during practices isn\u2019t affected by anything like that.I don\u2019t think we follow any concept of band leader as such.<\/p>\n

Devika- That\u2019s interesting, especially since bands often have frontmen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shourjo<\/strong>: I think even though Rohan\u2019s a natural frontman, there\u2019s no clear cut leader of the band even in the music room. It\u2019s very egalitarian, which I think is a good dynamic that we share.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- How was your first live performance in Biswamil? How is it different performing live when compared to a studio?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shourjo: <\/strong>Regarding our performance, it was our first live performance and it was relatively soon after we started playing. But as soon as we stepped on stage we weren\u2019t nervous about it. It went well. It felt like we\u2019ve been playing much longer than we have been- The way we knew each other and performed. Everything just fell into place and we didn\u2019t even experience any first performance nervousness. That was a very pleasant experience and it was promising for our future performances, that we could have a good first performance like this, without any inhibitions.<\/p>\n

\n

Angad Trehan | Credits: Shrishti Agrawal, Caperture<\/a>: The Photography Society<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Angad<\/strong>: It was a great learning experience for me. We want to get there between the studio and the live vibe and see how that fits. This was a great testing ground for that. It did work, as we learnt that a few things that work well live may not work well in the studio. Great experience at Biswamil, overall.<\/p>\n

Devika- What\u2019s the story behind the name \u2018Apartment Upstairs?\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>So basically we had performance coming up last semester, and we thought it would be the best opportunity to establish our name.<\/p>\n

The three of us were watching our favourite show \u2018How I Met Your Mother\u2019, and we decided that we\u2019d put one or two words that really fit together as a band name, and that would stick. In that episode, the name \u2018apartment upstairs\u2019 came up. We thought that was a great name, because when we say \u2018the apartment upstairs\u2019, it\u2019s like we\u2019re taking you to \u2018our space\u2019. The apartment upstairs is always making noise, always \u2018out there\u2019 in some way. It\u2019s like we\u2019re taking you from wherever you are, to our place.<\/p>\n

Devika- <\/strong>I always thought it sounded quite mysterious. Gets me wondering \u2018what\u2019s going on at apartment upstairs?\u2019<\/p>\n

Shourjo- Come, find out at the performances!<\/p>\n

(everyone laughs)<\/em><\/p>\n

Devika- Many artists have some sort of mission statement that defines their creative purpose. Black Sabbath had one describing how they should be constantly pushing themselves. What would you consider you creative mission for the band? What sort of artistic goal do you hope to achieve?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>As far as I see it, we want to come up with as many original compositions as possible, while also working on covers and making an original setlist. This is so that we can perform at Delhi and play gigs. Other than that, we\u2019d like to perform at Battle of the Bands competitions mainly for exposure, and see how we\u2019d compete against other bands that are in the circuit right now.<\/p>\n

Shourjo- <\/strong>As for our artistic and creative vision, again, since we haven\u2019t had that many original songs come out yet, it\u2019s very hard to set a specific direction as of now. In terms of originals, it\u2019ll take us a while to figure out what kind of sound we aim for, and the kind of sound that comes out our playing. So currently, it\u2019s sort of hard to say that we\u2019re set on \u2018this specific way\u2019 of music making. I guess it\u2019ll take some more time.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- You guys had mentioned yourselves as a \u2018Delhi band\u2019 and follow many bands in that area. Are there any concrete projects you\u2019re working on to impact culture in Delhi and Ashoka<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Angad- <\/strong>Honestly, I think that\u2019s the aim of every band, to make an impact. That\u2019s why you form a band.<\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>It\u2019s a Delhi band mainly because we\u2019re in Ashoka, that\u2019s close to Delhi. So Delhi\u2019s gonna be our biggest hunting ground, in terms of gigs. That\u2019s why we want to call ourselves one, because most of gigs will be there.<\/p>\n

Devika<\/strong>– (pseudo-serious<\/em>) Not Sonepat?<\/p>\n

(everyone laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Rohan<\/strong>– (laughs<\/em>) Sonepat? I hope!<\/p>\n

Shourjo- <\/strong>(with some dry wit<\/em>) Unless we start doing Punjabi music, I guess there\u2019s more scope in Delhi.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- Any concrete plans or projects so far?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>We haven\u2019t planned that as of now. In the next four-five months, there\u2019s gonna be a lot of battle of the bands, so we\u2019re gonna prefer that over doing any gigs. That\u2019s because they require you to do fewer songs than gigs. I think at an early stage when we have a smaller set, I think battle of the bands is a better<\/p>\n

option. It\u2019ll help us get used to performing on stage, and then we can professionally perform at gigs and stuff.<\/p>\n

Devika- How would you describe your creative process as a group? What strikes each of you with ideas, and how do you write and compose? How do you go about putting it together?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Rohan Pai | Credits: Shrishti Agrawal, Caperture<\/a>: The Photography Society<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>We have one original completely composed. It came about in the summer. It was just a very simple bass line that I had over the summer and added vocals and chords over it. Once I was done, I took it to these guys and they transformed it completely. They added some amazing electric guitar parts, he [Shourjo] added some amazing drum parts. It took us just two-three sessions to get done with the verse, because we were still thinking of what sounded best. After that phase, we started thinking of which part comes next and started jamming in the music room and seeing musically what was cohesive, and what part could come after the verse. Stuff like that, and it just happened. We ended up with three and a half, to four minutes of a song.<\/p>\n

Angad- <\/strong>We started the song off the bass and Pai had a melody. He used to sing it off the top with nonsense lyrics. After we were done with the song, he wrote the lyrics.<\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>We\u2019re in the process of recording it in the studio, but we\u2019re performing it at Jashn-e-Jazba. We might live-track it there, and see how it goes and if we can put it out.<\/p>\n

Angad- <\/strong>That\u2019s not the concrete structure though, its not always bass then guitar. The one we jammed to recently, I was just messing around with the amp and playing four notes, but sounded like I was playing sixteen. After that Shourjo started playing some drums and Rohan added something with bass. It sounded pretty cool.<\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>So it\u2019s mainly when you\u2019re in the music room and you\u2019re jamming that there\u2019s one small idea that you end up jamming to for 5\u201310 minutes straight without stopping. We always have our phones recording it so that maybe later we can maybe pick up the best parts for it later. I think that leads to some great songs.<\/p>\n

You never know when the next new idea is gonna come. It\u2019s also not like we depend on one person to do it. Maybe he can do something on the drums, and then I can think of something on the bass line, or he does something on the guitar, and we both can add to it. So it always starts with one simple track and adding tracks over a track is quite simple for us.<\/p>\n

Devika- Quite an experimental process. So lastly, I wanted to mention\u200a\u2014\u200aAshoka appears to have a thing for bands. First there was Shorthand, now it\u2019s you guys. What do you think Ashoka has that fuels this \u2018up-and-coming band\u2019 scene? And how can it affect the culture on campus? How were you particularly influenced by Shorthand and their releases?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>For us, Shorthand has been our biggest inspiration. I know a lot of people might think that we look at them as \u2018competition\u2019 and whatnot, but it\u2019s really not like that. We really are close to all of the members. When I first came to college and saw them perform in my orientation week, I was really just shell-shocked and thought, \u201cYeah, this is what I want to be.\u201d They were my biggest inspiration, I went to some of their gigs and watched them play at The Piano Man in Delhi. I didn\u2019t know Shourjo that well, but the other guitarist who was with us earlier, we were in the same school. We watched them perform together, and thought that we should be in a band too, but were really not at that level yet.<\/p>\n

We really wish we can compete with Shorthand one day, not in a competition kind of way, but in a friendly way. It inspires us a lot to go into the music room every day, and come up with better music and music that is not just technically good, but good to listen to for an audience. I think they\u2019ve nailed that.<\/p>\n

Shourjo- <\/strong>I think one of the good things about Ashoka is that it makes it quite easy to find other people they wanna play with, like how we started out. That\u2019s how they influence band culture, the way you were talking about. Another thing is that, as musicians, they\u2019ve always been very dependable, always willing to listen to our stuff, give us constructive feedback and help us out in any way they can. They been a great overall example for us, in terms of professionalism, hard work and even sound- They\u2019re a model we\u2019d like to follow. The path they\u2019re taking now is also something we\u2019d like to emulate in the future.<\/p>\n

Devika- <\/strong>Musically as well?<\/p>\n

Shourjo- <\/strong>Yeah, a lot of the times we find ourselves in the music room saying, \u201cOh, that sounds like something Shorthand might\u2019ve thought of.\u201d Musically we\u2019d love, love to be like them, because we love their sound. Sounding like them won\u2019t be a bad thing at all.<\/p>\n

Angad- <\/strong>Yeah, it\u2019s tough to break out of that shadow in way, because we\u2019re in their shadow, right? Shorthand is a GREAT band, and we really don\u2019t mind being in their shadow. We really do wanna come up to their level. See, you can\u2019t jam with someone you\u2019re not as good as. If you\u2019re a shitty guitarist, and you\u2019re trying to jam with someone who\u2019s really good, you\u2019re just gonna be there wondering, \u201cWhat do I do next?\u201d We want to reach the same level, so that we can sit in the same room, and talk music with them\u200a\u2014\u200ajam with them.<\/p>\n

Rohan- <\/strong>I think if there\u2019s anything promoting band culture in Ashoka right now, for us at least, it\u2019s how supportive shorthand have been. Our first performance at the club showcase, they were there, and came and talked to us about our performance and what we could have done better.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re the most humble people, really down-to-earth, and always willing to help. I think that this really helps you look past all this talk of competition- You see them as people who can help you break out into the music scene.<\/p>\n

Sumantra- <\/strong>Thanks a lot for talking to us, and all the best for your upcoming work!<\/p>\n

Catch \u2018Apartment Upstairs\u2019 performing their first-ever original song \u2018In Pursuit\u2019 at Jashn-e-Jazba next week! Grab more tunes on their Instagram<\/a> and check out one of their performances on Youtube<\/a> and subscribe.<\/p>\n

\n

The authors are staff writers for the Arts & Culture column of the <\/em>Edict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Devika Jamkhedkar and Sumantra Sen, Class of 2021 The Creators is a fortnightly series of artist profiles of Ashokans who are actively involved in different creative fields including music, photography, creative writing, and visual or performing arts. The distinct throng of drums, energetic riffs and resounding lilt of \u2018R U mine\u2019 echoing through the atrium…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[27,145],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1258,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions\/1258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/edictarchive.the-edict.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}