Last minute music
A group of established professionals in Chennai’s music circuit are coming together to present a live gig
What happens when a bunch of music stalwarts decides to join hands for a gig? The Last Minute is born!
The cover band is aptly named because it was formed at the last minute. The band currently consists of Harini Iyer as vocalist, Vikram Vivekanand on the guitar, Siddharth Kumar on the keyboard, Siddhartha Ramanathan on bass and Vishnu Reddy on the drums. All of them are fixtures on the Chennai music scene and bring their own influence to the melting point of styles.
Talking about the band’s rapid genesis, Vishnu Reddy says, “We are friends, we are all musicians in the Chennai band circuit who have known each other for the past ten years or more.”
Quizzed about playing covers, he says, “Most importantly, it pays more. Also, it is a lot of fun to bring our own signature vocabulary into the performance of covers.”
A lot of popular bands like Metallica started out doing cover songs. Talking about how doing some originals could be a start as a band for these artistes who have proven themselves individually already, Vishnu says “Maybe. Can be speculated upon.”
He feels the indie scene has been growing exponentially for the past 15 years and it’s at a point now where many homegrown artistes are being held in high regard on international platforms.
“Music can now be considered a viable career. The only way forward is upwards,” he says.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Vishnu is a professional drummer, percussionist and educator with over ten years of gigging experience in both the Indian and North American music circuits. Harini is a classically trained singer, songwriter and producer with influences from Soul, RnB and Jazz. Vikram Vivekanand is a well-known session guitarist. Siddhartha Ramanathan comes from a family steeped in the arts, and Siddharth Kumar is an accomplished pianist, keyboard player, singer and music arranger/composer.
“We all have individual projects in the pipeline but as a collective, we will just have to wait and see,” says Vishnu.
And they got a gig at the last minute, justifying the name of their band!
The live gig will happen at Black Orchid, Chennai, on September 24.
An excited Vishnu Reddy says this is a “perfect opportunity for us to unleash our pent-up rage over being locked down for almost two years. Nothing can stop us now.”