Bangalore-based rock band The Puncher Shop are back with a brand new single titled “Band Aid Love.”
Band Aid Love is the band’s second release and is a deep dive into the band’s creative vision which clearly involves rock genre elasticity. After the release of their first single The Specter in 2021, The Puncher Shop takes Band Aid Love, their second song, towards a new direction both stylistically and musically.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with The Puncher Shop about the latest music, technology, adapting during a pandemic and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
We are The Puncher Shop, currently a three-piece band based out of Bangalore, India. Our music can be broadly described as hard rock music, but we like to see ourselves as voyagers in our little “rock-ship”, taking a trip across that vast soundscape that is music. As a case in point, our new single, Band Aid Love, is both stylistically and musically different from our first single, The Specter.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
Each of us had a different journey leading up to us forming a band, but what unites us is the love of making music. All of us had the same dream of wanting to make original music and release it, being avid music lovers ourselves. For us, the process of creating new music – the writing, rewriting, scrapping, reinventing, recording, and finally having the finished piece of art in our hands – is the most exhilarating experience. It’s the best kind of drug, the best high. Do we want the listener to connect with our music? Yes! Is it a requisite to make more music? Not at all. The art of making music is independent of external validation, though it is something we hope is a serendipitous by-product of releasing our songs.
Sharjes and Anirban were already jamming for a few years before they teamed up with a passionate drummer like Gowri to form the band. We are all working-class people doing full-time jobs, but our true passion is music. The three of us knew there was something special as soon as we had our first jam. Very early on, we had song ideas and we knew we had something to offer as a band. All of us have very varied musical tastes, and that will be heard in the music we make. We feel we have a very elastic idea of the rock genre. Despite the pandemic stalling our plans, we kept working on our craft and are now gearing up to record our first album.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
We have released two songs so far, and both are in contrasting styles while staying within the rock genre. Our first release, The Specter, had a stoner rock vibe and was over 10 minutes long, with lyrics about violence, death, and revenge. Our new release, Band Aid Love, is a much shorter bluesy up-tempo hard rock song with lyrics about relationships, heartbreak, and self-healing, and is much more accessible to the casual listener. Either one of them could be our sound because we enjoyed making both these tracks. We are not really looking at pigeonholing ourselves into a genre. We plan to write albums that have different vibes, moods, and themes, so these two songs will not appear on the same album.
Tell us about your new release – Band Aid Love.
Our new song, Band Aid Love, revolves around a bluesy riff Anirban had been working on for a while. He bought into the jam room on our first jam together as a band, and we immediately clicked over the song. We jammed it out, and eventually we had the arrangement in place. Gowri laid down some really interesting grooves that keep the track moving forward while being in lockstep with the guitars. Bass duty for this song was taken up by a friend and prolific musician, Titus Pinto, and he slayed it. Sharjes’ lyrics have a compassionate twist, speaking of love and forgiveness, and about moving away from a difficult break-up and finding the strength to love again; not only forgiving others, but also yourself. The song’s artwork reflects the theme of the song. It depicts a couple in good and bad phases of a relationship but in the same background, making it look like one seamless image.
The song was mixed and mastered by Mumbai-based musician and audio engineer Chinmay Agharkar. The song was released globally across all streaming platforms on April 15th, and we have been getting some positive reviews and shoutouts. For a young band like ours, we are really proud of this song as we hope it shines a light on our musical depth and creativity. We always try to write songs for ourselves, but when listeners connect to them, the songs take on a life of their own.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
It’s been tough for everyone, everywhere. The biggest challenge we faced was our very existence as a band. We were only a few months old when the pandemic hit, and it stalled our plans to finalize a live setlist and debut album. Add to that, we ended up in different states for two years because of the pandemic. We made sure we communicated with each other openly and regularly during this time. We knew that would be important: communication. We got on video calls constantly to keep a check on each other and to talk about music. We practiced at home and recorded track references and shared them on our Whatsapp group, which we then discussed on calls. We were able to finalize 75 percent of our debut album’s track list. We thought of ideas and themes for our debut album and discussed how we could collaborate with other artists in completing our albums. We also had a few solo live performances on social media. In early to mid-2021, we were able to get together briefly to record our debut single, The Specter, and release it. This was a very proud moment for us, as the pandemic could have very well ended most bands and their dreams. We were able to hold it together. With the chaos and destruction that the pandemic was causing, we wanted to help out in some way with our art, and so we had a charity drive for the debut release where we asked music lovers to pay what they wanted to buy the single, and all the money went to an animal shelter in Bangalore. We ran the charity for two weeks and collected a decent amount of money and made the donation to the shelter. Though we try not to validate our music with external praise, it always feels good when we get love from listeners and support from the music industry. We feel grateful for all the support we got for our debut and the support we continue to get for our new release.
What was the last song you listened to?
Sharjes – Tighter & Tighter by Soundgarden
Anirban – Clarity by John Mayer
Gowri – Ligature Marks by Meshuggah
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
Growing up in the 90s, all of us have a special affinity for cassettes and CDs. But MP3s are just so convenient, and streaming platforms have made it easier for smaller indie artists to have an audience. But we will go with CDs! There is something special about buying a CD, opening the case, and listening to the music while checking out the artwork, lyrics, and liner notes.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
You can follow us on Instagram – @tpsbandofficial or Facebook page to contact us. Alternatively, you can contact us via email at thepunchershoppe@gmail.com.
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
We want to thank Indie Music Discovery for giving us this opportunity and taking the time to listen to us.
We plan to put out our debut album soon. Watch out! Rock-ship inbound!
The Puncher Shop is Sharjes on vocals and rhythm guitar, Anirban on rhythm and lead guitar, and Gowri on drums and percussion.
