A ‘Turkush’ full of Music

Started with a couple of friends, Turkush is a band of six youngsters who promise to give you a soothing time and experience. Each member has his own way of life, but what is common in all of them is their enthusiasm and dedication towards music. Apart from adding their own masalas to the existing numbers, they have also composed few amazing songs, which certainly add up to their calibre. If on one hand, the lead vocalist Atharv Nandra, shakes up your soul from within, giving you goose bumps through his voice, then on the other hand Gulpinder Pal Singh (Percussionist), Harsh Vishnoi (Guitarist/bassist), Vibhor Hasija (Manager of team and Keyboardist), Bhavya Mongia (Guitarist) and Sidaque Dadiala (Drummer) leave no chance to manifold the effect of the vocals.

Song: Kamli, Composed by Turkush

On an amazing evening of a Wednesday, this August, A.Kameshwari from One World News caught up with Vibhor Hasija, Atharv Nandra and Harsh Vishnoi in a conversation over coffee table and got to know much more about the members and the band:

What does Turkush mean?

Vibhor: Well, when our group was formed and we were planning to perform at various places we thought that we should give some name to our band. We were flooded with suggestions from others and group members as well but finally, we decided to name ourselves as Turkush. The word ‘Turkush’ is derived from a Devnagiri word – तरकश, meaning Basket/Container of the Arrows used by the warriors.

We were a bunch of students, who started up with this group and while we were performing at various places, we met a lot of people from where we started to pick people who had a good sense of music or like-mindset for music.

Sidaqque called me up for a Jam session once. He had his own group and from there I picked up few members and I took the responsibility of managing the team.

Turkush performing at Shivaji College, Rajouri Garden.

You have performed at the District Jail; tell us about your experience?

Atharv: Usually, you do not see a band performing in a jail but we had the opportunity to perform there. It was an amazing and different experience altogether. Obviously, there were a lot of restrictions, we spent around 30 to 45 minutes in the security check and the moment we entered we had the criminals staring at us from all around.

Honestly, when I entered I was pretty scared because we were performing for the very first time in front of convicted, under-trials etc. But as far as performance is concerned, we performed for half-an-hour or forty five minutes and had an amazing time out there, a very different one indeed. We also had the opportunity to taste the food that is offered to the criminals. Also, the energy of the crowd was commendable.

Adding to it, Vibhor said “Generally, we all have a picture of Jail in our minds. However, the whole experience was very different and we never thought that the crowd would be so supportive. We received so much of applause and appreciation from them. They were also very helpful as their music group provided us with spectrum (with which you play guitar) when our guitarist Bhavya forgot to get his.

Glimpse of Kamli by Turkush

What is your idea of perfect entertainment?

Vibhor: Our idea of perfect entertainment is to play what people like but we also believe that there has to be some limit to that. Musicians play for their own self, yes entertainment has to be there but there has to be some music to satisfy their soul.

What makes you different from other lot of bands?

Vibhor: The energy in all our band members is commendable. What we deliver to our audience is good plus we have an amazing hold on each member of our band. The group is quite responsible and dedicated to towards its goals, which is somewhat rare.

Apart from being dedicated to Turkush, what other things do you do in life?

Vibhor: A lot of us have jobs. I myself have recently joined an event management company. Our percussionist, Gurpinder Pal, is an engineer who is working for a software company and has a lot of projects for music and he is also promoting himself for solo shows. Our guitarist is the youngest member of our group and is pursuing his high school.

Sidaque Singh Dadiala (Drummer)

Which one of your performance is unforgettable for you?

Harsh Vishnoi: The one performance I can never forget is of IGIT- Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology. First reason being, it’s a girls college and it was an energy packed and boom for us. We have been to a lot of colleges but going to this college and being judge for battle of bands competition was amazing. Girls were screaming for us and we were given tight security after the performance.

Secondly, this performance made us grow as a band. We got better in interacting with the crowd and from there we never looked back. So yes, performing in IGIT was a mental boost for us.

Obviously you get attention from girls around, so who amongst you is most popular?

Vibhor: We have Atharv who is our face of the band. He should be and is the most popular amongst women. He is the STAR. However, we have to agree that the people who are incredible in music skills are also noticed, like Bhavya Mongia has masters in over head guitaring. He goes in the middle of crowd and does his over head guitaring which gives him another image. In fact, every band member has a unique characteristic to them.

Further adding to it, Harsh says, “After performance gets over, girls are like: we want to get a picture with you and all, but as soon as Vibhor gets off the stage, girls run to him saying that they want his number, want a picture and stuff, so yes if we go by girls choice then Vibhor is the most loved one and considered as the cutest guy of the band.”

Bhavya Mongia (Guitarist), Vibhor Hasija ( Manager of team and Keyboardist)

What is your dream for the band?

Vibhor: The dream is to take the band to a level which none of us have witnessed in India. Taking six people together is a difficult task; however, I would want to take this group, which has been with me for past four years, in future too. Every day is a new step towards our dream.

We have already crossed the levels of the beginners and amateurs. We are working hard and jam for hours. Though this is an off season, we are still performing and composing.

All members of the band are from different genres. They compose a lot of different stuffs and when these are blended together, it produces not only unusual but a beautiful product. So I think this is what would keep us ahead to other bands.

Do you also compose songs on your own?

Vibhor: Yes, we do. A lot of our compositions are original, the recent one being ‘Kamli’ whose video was shot at outskirts of Himachal Pradesh. It was a man vs wild experience but excellent. The video has come out good and has received good reviews.

Atharv Nandra (Vocalist)

I would take a name and you would have to describe him in a word and explain why?

Vibhor: Master mind.

Harsh: He is a mastermind because he started the band and gets everyone for jamming, show and organizes all gigs. He is backbone of the band.

Sidaqque: Extremist.

Atharv: Extremist because he would be either very dedicated, creating different music, drumming like crazies etc. Whereas sometimes he would be relaxing, cracking jokes, unusual PJ’s and a bit irritating. Keeping all this aside, he is a person who loves to experiment.

Atharv: Visionary.

Vibhor: Atharv has a vision which will help us to take the band to a level which even we haven’t thought about. He is the face of our band and a good looking man which is another factor that would take us forward.

Atharv Nandra (Vocalist)

Harsh: Sensible.

Vibhor: Harsh’s music sense is amazing. He has the ability to take us on right path if something is going wrong. He is the best man and has the capability of making good music. He can take responsibility and handles the backend. Sometimes cranky but also complicated in terms of status in every field.

Gurpinder Pal: Sufi.

Atharv: He is the funniest guy and has great sense of humour. He is real sufi guy and amazing percussionist.

Bhavya Mongia: Passionate and Pampered.

Harsh: He is the most pampered in our band and the most dedicated one. In one of the performance he forgot to get the spectrum so he played with his fingers till he bled. He didn’t even inform any one of us about it and continued playing till the performance didn’t get over. It is only later when we got to know about this from his facebook status.

Turkush performing at Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kashmere Gate.

Any message to our readers?

Vibhor: Keep supporting good music, musician and promote new musicians and bands. We would love to be appreciated or depreciated as that is what would make us grow.

Harsh: Cities are flourished with bands and many of them are extremely good, so I would want the readers to support local bands and give them a chance to prove.

Atharv: According to me, rhythm and music are something that you have or you don’t. Developing a sense of music is important to respect any artist or any form of music. No artist or music is bad but it is important to respect each one of them.

After ending the conversation, A.Kameshwari had the opportunity to witness the magic of Turkush. A voice coming straight from soul supported by the music, which goes into your ears then to your heart is what Turkush is all about. They give you an experience which would stay forever in your mind and you surely cannot stop humming their version of ‘Sanu Ek Pal’ (originally sung by the maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan). So, if you haven’t witnessed their magic yet, then we surely recommend you to do so.