Riding their musical wheels

What a way to kick off the July Month of Rock festival organised by The Score, a Chennai-based magazine. A dimly lit hall dotted with metal heads and music enthusiasts waited anxiously for The Bicycle Days to begin and after a quick sound check session, they played their trippy composition, 27, which quasi-drugged the audience. The crowd was transported to a parallel world.The Bicycle Days, a Bangalore-based psychedelic rock band, plays alternative and electronic music. They aren’t the usual wanna-be, just out of school musicians in their teens with body art and piercings. But they are young men in their early 20s, thinking ahead, along with being passionate for creating some real music.The formation of the band was unplanned and quite sudden. Bassist, Paul Dharmaraj met lead singer Karthik Basker in Chennai and then Shreyas Dipali (drummer/ percussionist) came in to the frame forming their initial band, Blushing Satellite. To complete the their count, lead guitarist, Rahul Ranganath and Nikhil Narendra (samples/synths and effects) joined them; saying hello to The Bicycle Days.“Chennai has been following us for quite some time now, so it feels great to play here, it’s a good place to start off,” says Paul.“Moreover, we first got together and formed our band here.” On the origin of their band name, here’s what they had to say, “Just like the popular phrase ‘goodold days’, it’s the bicycle days,” chuckles Paul and continues, “You could take Albert Hoffman taking LSD intentionally as a reference too, (the history of the actual ‘Bicycle Day’).” While Nikhil is quite and Karthik confirms that their band name is open to interpretation, Shreyas explains, “Actually, The Bicycle Days is a melting pot of absorbed influences.” According to the band, they’re still amused with their huge fan base in Chennai. Karthik reveals, “I don’t know why people listen to our music, why they appreciate our efforts, whatever it is, it feels good.” The evening saw a performance that was one of its kind. Their music drug induced compositions and lyrics left an indelible mark in the Chennai music scene and will not be soon forgotten.