Most of us have had a personal diary at some point of time or have had friends or family members who made notes of their crushes, random thoughts, special memories and moments that give an insight into the person’s life. “Those handwritten raw and deeply personal notes are our inspiration,” shares Himonshu Parikh of The Yellow Diary band.
Story behind thename
Ahead of its first performance on June 23 in Hyderabad, the music producer and keyboard player of the band shares that the songs are picked from everyday incidents. “One shares very intimate things in a diary. We write ‘Dear diary, so and so thing happened to me today or to my friend.’ Our songs are like these new experiences or stories.” He adds the title ‘yellow’ is with a reason. “Yellow is a mysterious colour. It is a happy and bright colour but also has a dark side which depicts egoism and cynicism. It is a colour with many emotions. That is why we are ‘The Yellow Diary’; every page in this diary is a new song with a different emotion.” The other members of the Mumbai-based Hindi/Punjabi band include Rajan Batra (vocals), Stuart Da Costa (bass), Vaibhav Pani (guitar) and drummer Sahil Shah.
The young group is full of masti . Their story began when Rajan wanted Himonshu to produce his song ‘Marz’ which has notched up 5.5 million views till now. “When we needed a guitarist, we called up Vaibhav who was working as an IT consultant and then I invited my old friend Sahil to join,” he recalls, adding with a laugh, “Stuart had broken up with his previous band and was roaming on the streets of Bombay crying and we pulled him in. The song ‘Marz’ formed the Yellow Diary rather than the other way round.”
While Rajan writes in Punjabi and Hindi, one of their songs has a Rajasthani touch too. “He (Rajan) is not bound by language; he expresses whatever he feels on a particular subject, in a language that suits him at that time.”
The members claim their rehearsals are ‘crazy’. Himounshu tries to describe, “I don’t know if that language will be acceptable in print. Vaibhav and Sahil yell and shout at each other for no rhyme or reason. It is really hilarious to watch but it is all in good spirits.”
Their music sounds like poetry with the alternative modern rock. “It has a soundscape and historic elements as well as deep lyrical content.”
Hyderabad has been “nice enough to give the band space for performance before the other cities did,” they hope to build an audience for their music in the city. “A lot of Hyderabad bands like Native Tongue are into heavy music; they like their metal. We have a lot of overtones in our music and hope to come back often.”
On a lighter note, Stuart, the party animal of the group, calls Hyderabad a cool metro. “I have partied a lot in the city and just love it. I remember once I was sitting on some hilltop set which overlooks the city. I love the food (“Haleem is the new biryani”) and the pretty girls too.”
