They’re not kidding when they say ‘no instruments’. Voctronica is India’s first beatboxing and a cappella band that consists of beat-boxers, Indian classical, pop, blues and rock vocalists who collectively bring to you the real power of the human voice. Their rendition of popular numbers by world renowned artists like Alt-J and Ed Sheeran will not fail to impress and tickle your musical side.
It was back in 2011 when all members, based in Mumbai, participated in an online audition that received over a hundred entries, out of which the top-16 candidates were shortlisted by the widely acclaimed beat boxer Shlomo along with MC Testament, both hailing from the United Kingdom. These top 16 were narrowed down to 8 members after a week-long workshop who went on to form the all vocal orchestra, Voctronica.
WHO’S WHO
Voctronica in the course of these four years has reduced to five members namely Avinash Tewari, Arjun Nair, Raj Verma, Warsha Easwar and Clyde Rodrigues. The group has defined roles while performing, although they do sometimes switch and introduce changes. Avinash and Raj manage the beats and percussions, whereas Warsha and Clyde handle the vocals. They are also helped by Arjun who is their producer and primary arranger along with being their bass vocalist.
These songsters believe that there is no one definite way of creating a song and discover new ways every time to do so. Sometimes, they figure out the rhythm section first and then move onto the beats whereas other times they build layers of tunes and rhythms on a beat dropped by one of their beatboxers.
CREATIVITY THAT POURS
Though they have a routine for an ordinary jam session that includes various vocal warm-up exercises that help improve pitching, range and other dynamics like volume and vocal textures, they often partake in an incredible exercise called a ‘Circle Jam’. During this, each person adds an improvised layer to a beat that’s randomly laid out. These layers collectively form a track, thereby really pushing their creativity levels up high. The members trade song styles, influences and even musical traits and many a times Avinash and Raj seem to continue these tradeoffs on stage, which is quite similar to a jugalbandi. Their extraordinary style and innovation has led them to be signed on by Sony Music India.
INFLUENTIAL AND INFLUENCED
Anything can sound great because it is a fresh genre.
The ingenious vocalists believe that their unique ensemble leaves them at an advantage as they are not restricted to any specific genre of music. Their audience could include either the youth, clicking and humming to their covers of fast-paced, pumped music or even senior and elderly music lovers who can sit back and enjoy their rendition of a traditional classical song. The wide range of music they play is influenced by various artists and genres from The Beatles to A.R.Rahman to jazz to dubstep, psy trance and metal. Spare a minute and listen to their all vocal version of Ed Sheeran’s popular number ‘Sing’. You’ll thank us later.
Sounds of the future
The future for Voctronica holds a slew of releases – each of which will have an accompanying video and will demonstrate greater emphasis on songwriting.
The concept of ‘less is more’ is something that we believe in. When people hear a track, then don’t always get what’s going on. But seeing it visually will make them more aware of what’s actually happening, it’s why we’re focusing so strongly on video.
They continue to play at a number of festivals held in colleges across the country, fascinating audiences with the magic they unleash all from their vocal chords and are also going to release their EP very soon.
