A crowd-funding campaign, a couple of solid music videos in circulation (with a third set to release soon) and the well-received album was all part of Bangalore rock band Perfect Strangers’ 2018. But they decided to top it off by travelling to Kohima, Nagaland for the Hornbill International Rock Contest.
They competed with more than 20 bands and emerged winners last month, taking home ₹ 10 lakh, the biggest cash reward for band competitions in India. Guitarist Debjeet Basu says it made sense to compete despite the band’s experience in the clubbing circuit due to the prize and Hornbill’s long- standing reputation. “Also, they have always got judges with great experience and knowledge without any bias to any specific genre of music. This has made Hornbill stand apart from most other competitions,” Basu says. wWhile vocalist Pranav DM mentions that Hornbill has been one of the best experiences in the band’s trajectory, drummer Preran Gulvady mentions the standards were right up there with any other festival stage, which meant not many compromises, except that the stipulated performance time was 20 to 25 minutes.
Running through three rounds of eliminations, Perfect Strangers picked out songs such as ‘Valerie’, ‘Just For Gigs’ and ‘Breaking Away’ early on and included the song ‘Blow Up Doll’ in the set-list for the finals. Pranav says, “We wanted to give the audience a taste of the Hindustani classical vocal parts that the song has. It could have backfired too, but thankfully, it was a big hit and we think was a big differentiator.”
The song is about to get even more attention, considering it’s their next music video, which launches on January 12 at their Hornbill victory lap at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined. Vocalist Raphael Emileena tells us the song addresses emotional abuse in relationships of any kind. The singer says about the video, “It is a topic that we wanted to address as art depicts the world in its most honest form and abuse is a major problem. When we decided to make a video we had a tough time showing this in an aesthetically pleasing way, while also raising awareness without triggering people badly.”
In the works since May last year, the video for ‘Blow Up Doll’ is directed by filmmaker Ashmita Guha Neyogi and features Indira Tiwari and Akshaykumar Mande.
The video aligns itself with the aesthetic that Perfect Strangers are known for, which is as diverse and shape-shifting as their vibrant blend of rock, jazz and pop. Basu says the Hornbill prize money will go towards more “top quality content” as well as tours.
The guitarist adds, “As a band, we have always maintained that we will pay a fair price to all artists that associate with us and good art is expensive! We also have a pretty ambitious tour planned for 2019.” Perfect Strangers performs at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Koramangala on January 12. Tickets: ₹300 +₹ 200 (cover charge), available on Insider.in