Interview: The Superfuzz

Sanchal is a victim of post-Britpop fashion disaster. With a flop-top crop of mushrooming hair, John Lennon-ish round frames, and skin tight denim the boy is anything but unassuming. A cross between Julian Casablancas and Alex Turner, Sanchal is lead singer and guitarist for The Superfuzz – one of Delhi’s premier rock acts, and possibly, harbingers of a new era in Indian rock music.

“They beat us to it” says Sanchal. The band was originally called Superfuzz Bigmuff after American grunge band Mudhoney’s first EP. The Bigmuff was dropped from the name therefore. However, there is a need here to dig deeper. Other interviews of the band say that they dropped the Bigmuff because “it sounded cheesy”. And here is where the crux of the matter is – there is an air of pretense, but itâ??s shrouded by the band’s nervousness. “Let me be a pain – we won THIS YEAR’s GIR” says Nikhil, bassist. The band may be a victim of their own success, evading revealing themselves too bare. Here in Mumbai for just the one off show, they’ve already got four different media persons waiting to interview them. “It’s cool. Sometimes. I like this interview, it’s going well” reflects Sanchal on how his band deal with the relatively large amount of attention they’ve been getting lately. â??I donâ??t think weâ??re guarded with what we say, things havenâ??t changed that muchâ? he admits somewhat apologetically.

The Superfuzz first shot to fame when they won the Campus Rock Idols competition, and were given the opportunity to open for Bryan Adams when the Canadian singer toured India. After that they went on to win GIR, or Great Indian Rock, arguably one of the biggest rock competitions in the country. “People call us these days” says Nikhil, referring to the fact that the band scarcely has to approach promoters to play concerts.

Aditya (drummer) seems the outsider to this party. He’s the band’s fourth drummer after the first three left due to academic and other reasons. “I’ve started liking punk rock” says the lanky boy who works in a consulting firm. Aditya’s been with the band for only about a year but the bond that seems less than obvious externally, is pretty strong when you get up close. “He’s just a little quiet that’s all” says Sanchal.

The Superfuzz’s music is a precocious mix of punk rock, with new-age garage sensibilities. The result is songs like ‘Four Times And Once After’ and ‘What I Really Think’ that sound a mix of Arctic Monkeys, Jet, The Vines and The Strokes. Though the lyrics front still is native (even naive… show me an Indian band with great lyrics and I’ll show you a sting operation) Indian territory, the music has flourish and an infectious rhythm that’s unlike anything you’ll hear from their less illustrious Indian peers.

So do they see themselves playing big international festivals in the next 10 years? “Maybe earlier!” says a very confident Nikhil. Book your tickets now.

This interview originally appeared in the Indian Express.
Listen to The Superfuzz on MySpace.