Localturnon Band Of the Week - Cross Chords (Howrah)

#localturnon: What is the history of the band – how did it come into being, members, its journey (in brief) and what does the name of your band signify?

#CrossChords: First of all, Souptik met a boy named Sohel who can play guitar and decided to start a team/group which will act songs. Not in the manner we generally hear in Bengali Band music. Then, gradually after many ups and downs and line up changes... Souptik found all the members who will be perfect for the team. Not by judging by their playability but by noticing their dedication towards the band. Ranajit, Punyashil and Swarnavo joined respectively. We got a final shape of a "Band".

And, the name of our band "Cross Chords" is kind of a tricky name. I have waited personally a lot to answer this question someday, and here today thanks to team #LocalTurnOn who heated up our fuels. The name signifies not any religious material but to signify "the denied" or "the taboo" by the first word "Cross". And the next word is to implement the denial of our "music", what we do by the word "Chords"..., so Cross Chords means the kind of music which is taboo to society (or may be not), or a kind of breaking rules mindset by our own songs.

#localturnon: So who are your favourites/ Icons/ Role Modelsin the field of music? 

#CrossChords: Cross Chords is a self-propagating band. But still legends like Dream Theatre, Porcupine Tree, Gn'R, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Queen, The Beatles, George Benson, Metallica etc. are our all-time favourites like all and the names are too many. If any one name is missed, we'll be ashamed of ourselves. But some persons are there in Bengal Rock Band industry without whom we could have lost all hope, like Mr. Kaushik Chakraborty (from the band "PRITHIBI") who has always been our side to show us the right path. There are many more and more persons to whom we are grateful.

#localturnon: How do rejuvenate your creative insights / get the adrenalin going?

#CrossChords: Just we believe in a sentence and we get motivated. And the sentence is - "We are Cross Chords, and we are not prepared!" It helps us a lot to forget all the tensions of future or past.

#localturnon: Do your songs carry a message / a theme or a story? If so can you share more on it?

#CrossChords: Obviously each of our song carries a message. We focus on lyrics as well as composition because we have an aspect of making people understand whether their decisions are correct or wrong. We question not only the bare rules but also the cause of poverty, illiteracy or child labour through our songs. Like, in the song "Jaaroj" (which is our 2nd original song), we have kept the concept of being questioned about someone’s Blood-Line. Though one is talented, if he is "illegitimate", will this society throw him/her away just because he/she doesn't know about his/her father's name?

We try to influence the goodness, and by questioning the "Dark Side Of The Moon" we actually want to change the scenario of "rich" society!

#localturnon: Of all the songs you’ve created, which is your favourite one and why?

#CrossChords: Personally if you ask me, I'll say "Biggyapon" is my favourite one. Not because of the music video we have made, or the complexity of the composition we have tried to keep but being a direct hit towards the whole "Bed of Roses" dreams, which we'd already tried to judge by the song "Jaaroj".

#localturnon: Do you have any interesting fan stories to tell?

#CrossChords: We do have a limited number of fan followers still now but one or two fans of us, who post in social media regularly telling about the goodness of our songs without any terms and conditions, we get much and more enthusiasm to portray more on our next songs.

#localturnon: Of all the performances the band has given which one is the most memorable and why?

#CrossChords: The most memorable performance of the band is obviously the first one. Because shockingly we started our live show journey right from Nazrul Mancha, Kolkata, which is obviously the dream stage of all bands. This is the stage where POTF (Poets Of The Fall) came also. How can we forget this?

#localturnon: Can you share about some funny incident that happened on-stage / during performance / with you or the other band members?

#CrossChords: It was funny and kind of suffocating, when we went live on t2, Festopolis in Kolkata. Pretty ready to start the show, drummer counts one, two, three, four but no sound is coming from the keyboards! Actually because of sudden temperature difference somehow the "B" chord has been muted in output and our song is not being started at all... Because our intro part cannot be played at all! Then we managed to start again and had a bang show but the thing is... The "B" chord is not at all played in the whole show! And public enjoyed! (Similing)

#localturnon: How has the musical journey been so far for you / your band and what are you looking forward to?

#CrossChords: Not for being the founder member of this band but Cross Chords is teaching me a lot always and I think same is applicable to any one of our members. Moreover, we dream of rocking on Rock Am Ring one day; so that is how we want our band to proceed!

#localturnon: Do you have any words of advice for youngsters who want to form their own bands or are thinking of getting into this line?

#CrossChords: Just a few words for those who are being interested to join in this line and form bands, especially in Bengal region. Firstly what is important, not to select dudes from around and start show-off. The most important thing is to learn and practice and learn and practice and learn and practice and continue this procedure with all your band members. This will lead you to something surely. Before being a musician become a good human being.

\ Rock Ashokto /

You can book Cross Chords the Band for your events, gigs, performances at www.localturnon.com/bookings

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