Chapter 2 was packed on May 4 and not just for the lip-smacking food but also because of the rocking presence of Bangla band Lakkhichhara.
All tables were taken at the restaurant on Keyatala Road and there was hardly any space to stand as the band serenaded the diners with a few original numbers as well as popular songs by other bands.
Lakkhichhara’s rendition of Mohiner Ghoraguli’s Tomay Dilam and Prithibi ta na ki chhoto hote hote had the crowd singing along. The band also sang Ghete jachhe shob from its latest album Ek Doshok Por.
“It’s been great, people have been very receptive to our new song. We had performed some of the songs before the release of the album so we did get a good following from it and people are already making covers. So it’s been really nice,” said Gaurab (Gaboo) Chatterjee, the drummer about the new album.
Founded in 1999 when the band members Debaditya Chaudhury, Gaurab Chatterjee, Sanket Bhattacharya and lyricist Anyrvan Mazumder were in college, Lakkichhara has been a prominent feature of Bangla rock for the past 25 years.
“Our songs continue to be based on life experiences, the kind of things we are going through in contemporary times. We are the generation that has seen things from analogue cassettes, tapes, records, no internet to this completely fast life with the insurgence of AI (artificial intelligence), etc.”said Bodhisattwa Ghosh, guitarist.
The vocalists belt out one popular number after another.
What has made Lakkhichhara’s music survive and thrive for 25 years is its bird’s-eye view of life, with all its challenges, and the ability to change with changing times. “The songs come from a space of experience and reflection. If you notice the lyrics of our earlier songs, those were about the times back then, these songs from Ek Doshok Por are about the times we are currently living. These are very disturbing times because life has become so fast that people do not reflect much on themselves. Our songs are about reflection of thought and if you listen to the songs in the correct sequence, you would be able to understand the meaning through the lyrics,” Bodhisattwa said.
Debaditya Chaudhury, pianist of Lakkhichhara and owner of Chapter 2, said every song is a team effort. “All of our songs are made together, someone develops a tune, we come together and jam and see how the progression is coming together. Everyone adds his inputs, we have a dedicated lyricist, Anyrvan Mazumder, who writes and then the five of us sit together and build the structure of the song from how it should sound and we work on it together till we are all happy with the results.”
“Firstly, we all are friends with a passion to keep making music since our college days. Our love for music and each other ignites the fire within us to keep going. Our hunger to create music brings us together for rehearsals. Everyone has his own individual projects but when we come together, we keep everything aside and the focus is on the band,” said Rajiv Mitra, the band’s vocalist.
For Mitra, not much has changed since Lakkhichhara entered the music scene. “We don’t see a lot of difference. The only difference is that earlier there were radios or televisions. Now, digital platforms play Bengali rock songs, which had stopped especially with non-film music. This has created an impact, otherwise the Bangla scene is there, everyone is making their music. Lakkhichhara has come up with an album after a 10-year break but there have been a lot of bands doing good work. We need support from digital platforms and if it happens we can come back with a bang,” Rajiv said.
What does Lakkhichhara stand for today? “Ours is a very strong legacy since the inception of the band in 1999. We have a responsibility to our fans to keep that legacy going and keep the flag flying high. We have a responsibility to uphold the previous works we have done and that’s how we look at it,” Bodhisattwa said.
The band is now working on a full-length album. “We will do a lot more shows where we’ll try out our new songs. We are in an experimental phase with new songs so we will check out the response and eventually come up with a full-length album. We’ll take some time but hopefully 2025 is a good time to launch a full-length album,” said Bodhi, before heading on to stage to rock Chapter 2.
