A typical day in the life of Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh usually involves indulging in silly if somewhat childish adventures. A few days ago, the duo happened to savour a languorous lunch a tad too much. As a result, their friend ended up missing their bus. “Nischay decided it would be a good idea to chase this bus because it was in an interesting part of [Kolkata] near the river with flyovers and greenery,” says Singh who along with Parekh form Parekh & Singh, one of the most popular Indian musical outfits to emerge in recent times. Their signature brand of happy-go-lucky mellow pop has accumulated 59,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel. Their Wes Anderson-eque video, ‘I Love You Baby, I Love You Doll’ has amassed 1.9 million hits since it released two years ago. Signed onto British indie label Peacegrog Records (with a five album deal) the Kolkata two-man ensemble have performed internationally and are bang in the middle of their sophomore release’s Science City tour across the country.
This weekend, Parekh & Singh’s ‘Summer Skin’ battles against ‘Giant’ by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘N’ Bone Man in the Vh1 Summer League 2019. Then in September, the two head to perform at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix alongside huge acts like Cardi B, Muse, Fatboy Slim and Red Hot Chili Peppers. “It’s a good thing that’s happening right now but we also know that’s not the end game for us,” says Parekh, the duo’s singer, guitarist and synth player. “It’s all about building this [project] and keeping it sustainable because it’s like we’re writing the rule book and trying to follow it at the same time. It’s a just a question of staying grounded and not taking ourselves too seriously when this happens.”
City slickers
Kolkata plays a huge role in keeping Parekh and Singh’s heads in check. The city’s slower pace has been a creative catalyst for them. Plus, the food helps; in particular it’s the Chinese restaurants that keep them put. “Calcutta is out of sync with stuff that’s maybe trendy or cool elsewhere and we enjoy that sort of life,” says Singh. “It’s about pretty old-fashioned simple pleasures and not too many of them. And we just started valuing the simple things in life and appreciating ordinary things which inspire us.” Naturally, the city becomes a protagonist for the duo’s music, never fully at the foreground but always lurking behind metaphors and lovelorn lyrics. In fact, Science City Kolkata (the city’s science centre) finds its way to become their second album’s name. Both admit to being visitors at different times — they’re separated by a six-year age-gap — but over time the place has left a lasting impression. “Which is quite related to how we feel about this city which is familiar and retro and not very practical,” says the 26-year-old Parekh.
Growing up
The 11-track second album, though not thematically interconnected, has been in the works since before their debut Ocean. One of the tracks, ‘Monkey’s was developed when Parekh was but 15. “It’s a bit of an anthology and there’s a lot of songs that were written over a long period of time,” says Parekh. “It’s quite varied, all the material and the songs and the sound design and our approach to it pulled it together. It’s been a long time coming.” Science City has a marked shift from their previous effort, with a reflective lyrical approach that Parekh accounts to making mistakes during his song writing process. For instance, on ‘Sunbeam’, he sings, ‘It’s a condition that fosters disease/ it’s a formidable enemy/ but that’s not gonna harm me/ cos I’m a sunbeam. Singh’s contribution which extends to percussion and technological experimentation can heard on the broad sonic palette of Science City. “We’ve used a more specific sound design with synthesisers and drum machines,” says 32-year-old Singh.
Perks and recreation
Though they’ve been bestowed with the ‘dream pop’ label, Parekh & Singh are certain that a reboot is on the horizon. “I think it’s fun to hit that reset button,” says Singh without quite hinting at when the change will arrive. For now, there’s a vault of ideas that are works in progress with a clear agenda to perform their ready material far and wide. The ongoing India-wide tour and Singapore Grand Prix seem like great places to start.
Till then they’re content just going through life, one adventure at a time and sharing their music with everyone. “We’re not really attached to any of the perks of the current lifestyles we’re leading because we’re more interested and invested in the basic things that are beneath that,” states Singh before Parekh inadvertently reveals world domination too is in order.
Voting for Parekh & Singh in the Vh1 Summer League 2019 will be scheduled from May May 13 to 15 across VH1’s social media handles.