Bound by Band-Width

Three girl bands tell us how tough it is to survive in a country obsessed with Bollywood music and why they remain committed to the rhythm of the soul.

Tetseo Sisters: Kuvelü, Alüne, Azi and Mercy Tetseo

One of the most recognisable faces of the North East, the Tetseo Sisters have come a long way since they performed for the first time in 1994, in school. Currently, they have been grabbing the attention of enthusiastic audiences from Chicago, Edinburgh, Glasgow to Bangkok. Keeping their traditional tribal Naga folk singing alive, they are inspired by their life’s experiences and croon about their history and people. They say, “We respect artistes of all genders, age brackets and genres, but we definitely look out for female artistes. It’s not easy to be a woman in India, and more so in the field of arts, but a few female artistes are making themselves heard and that is laudable. It’s not that there is a dearth of talented women artistes, but there are only a few making a mark and we hope the number grows.” With the country’s growing obsession with Bollywood music, they claim that the Indian audience is learning to experiment with other genres and “are also willing to pay for a good musical experience”. Interestingly, each band member has a unique style even though they are ardent admirers of Aneeth Arora, Sailex, Rahul Mishra, Tarun Tahiliani and Stella McCartney. While Kuvelu prefers faux fur, turtle neck tops, lots of white dresses, sequinned gowns and Péro blouses and skirts, Alune is more of a tees, jeans, shorts, caps, woolly socks, beanies, kurtas for the college going girl. “I love fitted dresses, long coats, blingy tops, fitted jackets, cardigans and leggings. My Zara black leather jacket is my can’t-do-without piece,” says Azi. Mercy, on the other hand, opts for long shirt dresses, tall vests, wool knit cardigans, sweaters, shift dresses, cotton pants, leggings, loose tops and lots of scarves. “I love my grey H&M basic full sleeve top,” she smiles. The spunky sisters say in unison, “We’d love to collaborate with Taylor Swift someday. We’d sing about ‘life as a musician’ and the song would be titled In my shoes.”

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River: Tarana Marwah, Abhilasha Sinha and Kamakshi Khanna

“Music is something that comes naturally to me. I feel like I can’t survive without it, and when I’m playing, it takes me to a transcendental space,” they say. The trio is from Delhi University and the band was formed in 2014. They believe music to be their language of expression. “I wrote a song which was inspired by the river a few years ago, when I was rafting in the hills. When we got together as a vocal trio, we wanted a short, elegant name, that describes us and would stick. This seemed perfect,” says Abhilasha. Talking about women bands in the country, they add, “There are a few, but as time passes more and more women have begun to command respect. It is inspiring to say the least, that we don’t fit into stereotypes or labels, with or without the support of our families. The Tetseo Sisters from Kohima are a great example of independent Indian musicians. Apart from that, we really need more female music producers in India, who can actually influence the music industry in the direction it deserves.” Is it possible to survive on making music? “One needs to be able to make a living out of music, without having special contacts, being extremely affluent, or fantastically good looking. New avenues are opening in New Delhi, but only the best of the best can move forward. Venues need to be more artist-centric and less event focussed,” says Abhilasha. The band has not only performed at various platforms, like the Sounds of Freedom at Amity University, and Windsong Music Festival in Noida, but have also shared the stage with Farhan Akhtar and Shaan.

With all three former Presidents of their respective Music Society of colleges, it comes as no surprise that music is an integral part of their lives. Highly influenced by the melodic tunes of The Staves to the electronic beats of London Grammar, they would like to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, The Red Rocks Music Festival in USA, and if given the chance, they would collaborate with Lianne la Havas. Ask them the top tips for a fresh new wardrobe for the New Year and they smile, “Be yourself; absolutely yourself.”

Minute of Decay: Worshon Muivah (vocals, guitar, synthesizer), Singchon Muivah (bass), Thotyaphy Muivah (drums and percussion)

Suzi Quatro, Janis Joplin, Jaco Pastorius, Beatles and Bob Marley inspire them. Favourite song: Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra. While Marc Jacobs is their style icon, they love beanies and mufflers. The siblings from Manipur, now located in the capital, is an Indie-Punk rock band with hints of contemporary vocals and alternate riffs. Their debut album Finding Betsy hit stores in 2014, and was the talk of the town. “Indie music, to be precise, is slowly growing with the fan base improving. I think music festivals like NH7, Ziro Festival, Magnetic, and many others really helped the scene evolve,” says Worshon. If they had the chance to collaborate with one musician it would be Suzi Quatro. “Because she can still wear leather jackets and rock the stage. We would sing what she always sings about love,” she adds. Calling both fashion and music a form of art, they agree with what Gwen Stefani said, “Music and fashion; it all comes from the same place of creativity.” Every music band hopes to perform at their dream venue and the Miuvah sibling trio believe they will one day perform at the Glastonbury Festival, UK!

Styling and compilation by Trishla Chadha. Tetseo Sisters photographed by Imcha Imchen; River and Minute of Decay photographed by Divya Beri. Hair and makeup (Minute of Decay) by Mercy Jungi.

From the January 2016 issue of L’Officiel India.