Why can’t a band from Calcutta that creates Western music have fans all over the planet and change the status quo? — Parekh & Singh are out to conquer, and in style!

CHAPTER 1: Characters in Uniform

Ever since Parekh & Singh have made it to the international music scene, their signature look — the solid coloured suits and all — has been quite an eye-catcher. When we got them to do a fashion shoot for t2oS, we got to know just why the boys have made a mark with their style. From their hairstyle right down to their socks, Nischay, 24, and Jivraj, 30, had it all sorted out. Shooting for Nischay’s mom Sumona Parekh’s debut menswear line inspired by Parekh & Singh, the duo walked into Bodega Cantina-Y-Bar, the shoot venue, with the looks all worked out in their heads. Post-shoot, when they told us that “we like to have control over how we look”, we could totally see what they meant.

Suits are an uncommon choice for music gig/video costumes. How did you guys come up with the idea of wearing suits for your performances?

Jivraj Singh: We began wearing suits as sort of a joke... also because we liked the idea of a uniform. We began wearing whatever suits we had at that point... regular black, grey, navy suits. And it was nice being in a suit, because it isn’t necessarily the most free thing to wear, but it makes you feel like you’re going to work. Once we started our journey with the record label, they wanted us to continue that look. They wanted to develop the look based on what we already liked. The initial colour palette for the suits sort of came from the artwork that we had for the album. We sort of reduced the artwork to a bunch of representative average colours and picked the colours that would look good on fabric and go with the suits that we wear. So it’s a bit of fun and a bit of function.

Nischay Parekh: Nostalgia is an ingredient in our clothes and even in the music… so retro is an element, hence the suits, which are sort of classic.

Did you have any reference points for the looks?

J: We already had the colours and then we wanted really sharp suiting, we wanted it to look as sharp as possible, like a cut that you’ll see in GQ for instance, which is probably the reference we took to the tailors.

Who designed the suits?

J: The tailor was Barkat Ali and Bros (on Chowringhee, Calcutta). There was no strong direction from the label, we kind of did our own research by reading magazines and we knew exactly what we wanted. So we went with a specific list of things that we wanted in the suits.

How did the looks evolve from there to trademark Parekh & Singh suits?

N: Everyone really enjoyed something visual, something aesthetically pleasing… all of these things were sort of new concepts for the Indian music scene. And the reason it all works is because it ties in well with the music. So now whenever we are in public we always wear suits, for all our shows... sometimes even for our interviews. So it’s like being in character… with a uniform... and we never break that character. Now we have many colours of suits, four or five colours… initially it was teal and mustard, in the second video it was red and white. And we are now thinking how the next evolution will happen. Now prints are what come to mind.... So suits are a nice foundation to have, within the range of suits and Western formals, a lot of options are available to us.

N: Our artwork of the album (Ocean) was mainly animals… birds and a few other animals. Also in our music there’s a lot of reference to the animal kingdom... and there’s a bit of mysticism... mom, I guess, has picked up on that (for the Parekh & Singh-inspired suits Sumona has designed). Some of the clothes have the cormorant or the stork, the yellow suits have the panda on the pockets... so it’s like little bits and pieces of that.

Your videos focus a lot on the visuals…

J: I wanted to be a visual artist before I became a musician, so the visual side is very interesting and important. And it is fun for us. We both like films, architecture, food... they are all visual things... music is visual too.

N: We like the whole scene to be perfect... shape, size, form, sound... all of it affects your state of mind. So we like control over our state of mind (smiles). Both of us are recently enjoying things from Japanese brands... like Uniqlo... things that are simple, not fussy... like simple prints, solid colours… no embellishments, just things that seem neutral and well-tailored....

You must have been approached by fashion labels wanting to do your costumes. Recently Gucci, we know, wanted you to wear them for a shoot...

J: Yeah, some fashion labels have approached us... Gucci gave us a few clothes to shoot a little thing in Bombay... but we are very specific about the way we want to present who we are... the general associations we would want to make... just from an aesthetic standpoint. Like for instance, Gucci just gave us their clothes, they didn’t ask us what we want. They gave us what they thought a Parekh & Singh should wear... which also is an interesting direction in itself... but we would like to have control over what we wear... how we look.

N: At the end of the day it’s about the clothes, not the brands. If someone comes to our shows, they will see the suits, not the brands.

Growing up, what have been your style influences?

J: The filmmaker David Lynch, who has had a uniform since the 1970s... white shirt and khaki pants... and the white shirt is always spotless. It is small details of your appearance taken care of even if you are wearing a very basic simple thing. A perfect white shirt is really as good as it gets. We like attention to details.

N: I think Jivraj is probably more fashion conscious and fashionable than I am.... So, for me, when I think of style icons I always think of people who have crafted their own thing... Woody Allen for instance. Even though people won’t think of him as a fashion icon, I really think he always looks like himself. So comfort and identity are two things I always look for in clothes, and those are the things I look up to.

For me, one of the first bands that I have seen paying attention to what they wear... even if they’re playing in CC&FC or Someplace Else, was Skinny Alley and Pinknoise later... like Jivraj and his parents (Jayashree and the late Gyan Singh). Style and music go together... musicians have always been style icons… even today, like Lady Gaga… they inspire with their style... Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson....

Before Parekh & Singh started, what kind of a dresser were you two?

J: Off-stage, jeans and T-shirt... hasn’t changed for like 10 years... solid colourT-shirts and jeans. On-stage it kept changing, depending on the projects... now, of course, it’s different... a different level of attention to details.

N: I think I wear more shorts than anyone can ever wear! My dream is to wear only shorts.... Shorts are now in too, and the comfort....

You wore Indian clothes for this shoot for the first time. Do you ever see yourselves wearing Indian clothes as performers?

N: Yeah we have discussed this… just to take the conversation forward and how you evolve. The fact is we are Indians, we look Indian, so there might be a show, there might be a tour… if aesthetically it fits, then we might end up wearing some of the Indian clothes mom has designed.

J: It’s the first time for us to wear Indian clothes, but it’s a new language...

— Smita Roy Chowdhury

Dreamy. Vulnerable. Honest. And very much on top of their game. Since the now-famous pair of mustard-coloured suits floated around Victoria Memorial in January for a t2 shoot, the duo of Parekh & Singh have had experiences that mark the next phase of their journey.

They drove up to the BBC Wogan House in central London in February to be greeted by broadcaster Cerys Matthews. “Walking into a spiritual home of the BBC (in many ways) was always going to be an overwhelming experience for us and it didn’t disappoint. We got our badges and loaded our gear into the very same lifts that have elevated many of our heroes (really too many to list). We set up and played our songs to her (on BBC Radio 6), and to listeners all over England. It was a truly magical experience. The feeling of being the first ever Indian band to play a BBC session only sank in when we were out on the street, in our trench coats, looking at each other with bewilderment. The key element of being first for us, is the sense of a beginning. The door is clearly open and both Jivraj and I hope that more music from this country goes through that door,” said one half of the duo, 24-year-old Nischay Parekh.

A month later, March 13 to be exact, Elton John played the duo’s single Ghost on his Rocket Hour show on Beats 1 (Apple Music). “Feels bizarre to have just typed that,”Jivraj Singh, 30, had posted on Facebook back then. And then in May, came their seven-date tour of the UK, followed by a five-city tour (titled Monsoon Tour) of India.

What next? A new album. But before that, Parekh & Singh — who have a five-album deal with London-based Peacefrog Records, which led to the international release of their album, Ocean — continue their chat with t2oS.

CHAPTER 2: ON THE ROAD... FEELING COMFORTABLE

Congratulations on a very successful tour of the UK. What were some of the high points?

Sold-out crowd for our first ever London show was quite a special surprise. We had packed houses at our other shows as well. It was amazing to discover that we already have a dedicated fan base in the UK. It was all new territory for us. The whole experience of being on the road and moving to a new city every day was a fantastic one. The UK audiences did not disappoint.

How do you usually relax during a tour?

We both have pretty easy and simple tastes overall. So to relax, we just like to get some good food and some good sleep. We like to tune out all sound usually, so we don’t really unwind with music. Silence is a precious thing when you’re a professional musician.

Any pre-stage ritual?

We don’t really have a fixed ritual. I guess we don’t really like eating before a show, the satisfaction and pleasure of food is amplified if it’s after a good performance. Putting on our suits, feeling comfortable, and so on is all a process in itself.

As the duo gets older, you would play to older audiences. Does it influence your perceptions of yourself?

Getting older has been great. It doesn’t really feel like a big shift since we’re both pretty young in our hearts and minds. We both feel older and younger in different situations.... We like to think that our music is for everyone, so we don’t necessarily make our music sound older or younger, timeless music is always the goal.

CHAPTER 3: Next album? No pressure at all!

For your second album, do you have specific goals?

Evolution. We would like to move the story forward. The story must progress. This means there will be new elements and new propositions for our listeners and new invitations for new fans.

It will be the successor to a very successful album.

There is no better feeling than to know that people are waiting for you to express yourself. It’s a real blessing that Ocean has been well-received. The next album will be an entirely different animal.

So no pressure at all?

There’s no pressure. However, there is a desire that our music will always mean something to our fans. We don’t know how to write hits. We just write records — cohesive bodies of work. All our songs are hits in our eyes. 

How much new material gets developed from touring?

This second album has benefited from the trials of live performance. So the music has been cooked before live audiences. We already know that there are very digestible things on the next album and that there are things that are bound to surprise the listeners.

When writing, you end up doing so for an unseen audience. Would you say much of your work is contemplative?

Yes, the work is largely contemplative. It is only now that we feel that a large audience is a factor to consider when composing music. This was not the case before, so it’s a unique position. We can’t really pander, that’s not who we are but we can comfort. Our audiences, we have found, are not that very different from us. We’re all dreamers.

When can we expect the new album?

Early 2018.

CHAPTER 4: Honestly vulnerable

Honesty in your songs. Vulnerability in your voice. What inspires you to sing in that tone?

N: I think vulnerability is an open-ended thing. It has always piqued my curiosity. There seem to be more layers to it than simple old strength. Honesty is easy because most of the music is inspired by how I live my life. Sometimes my songs are confessional and sometimes they’re fictional or aspirational, but they’re always true to who I am.

So, whose opinion do you trust the most when it comes to making music-related decisions?

N: I think we trust ourselves above all else. Everyone has an opinion on what success means and how one should go about attaining it. We are interested in history but are more excited about the future, about new methods and unchartered territories. Why can’t a band from Calcutta that creates Western music have fans all over the planet and change the status quo of what it means to be an Indian musician? Why can’t an Indian act have over a million views on YouTube for a song that isn’t Bollywood, Hindustani classical or metal?

These questions are new ones and therefore must be answered in new ways. We are hoping to be the ones to answer them.

Fans are always dissecting songs. Do you mind that? As musicians, do the two of you do the same?

We have always been avid fans of students of music so we still  investigate songs and we don’t mind it at all! Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Marvin Gaye, Steely Dan, Quincy Jones, The Beatles, The Eagles, Phoenix, The Killers, Grizzly Bear — just to name a few! We like to dig deep into what the song is about, who played the instruments, who produced and so on.

Ballygunge boys whose music is being heard all over the globe. And you do give people a glimpse of where you are from through music...

Yes. Our first album is essentially an ode to where we are from. You see it in the videos and you hear it in the music. It may not be explicit but it is very intrinsic to what we do. We love Calcutta and we love Ballygunge.

Are there particular qualities you value most in your own music?

Imagination above all else. Then there’s solid musicianship and playfulness of course. The music must be imaginative, it must invite the listener to dream and to feel free of whatever their real lives are, the listener must forget where they are when they listen to our music. This is what we are trying to accomplish.

— Mathures Paul