The Supersonics Disband

In October ’08, Indiecision contributing editor Amit Gurbaxani and I, along with a few friends, headed to Hard Rock Cafe in Lower Parel, Mumbai to check out a band we’d barely heard of before but intrigued us because of their name, and the few demos they’d uploaded to their MySpace page. Tuesday night at any venue in the city usually has poor attendance and October 14 was no different, with just about 50 diners at the south Mumbai restaurant. The band quietly made their way to the godawful-over-the-bar stage at the venue and began their set.

That gig was an A- set, one of only three to receive that grade in 2008.

Since then, the Kolkata quartet received a bunch of accolades from us including the Most Promising Indie of ’08, the Best Song of ’09 and the Best Album of ’09, both of which made it to our top 25 songs and album lists of the decade. It’s no secret that we dug them.

The Supersonics have now disbanded. The band will not perform live or press any new releases in future. Frontman Ananda Sen recently left the country to complete a course in sound engineering in Glasgow. The remaining members of the band are pursuing their own projects. Bassist Nitin Mani is currently performing with Kolkata rock act Cassini’s Division, while drummer Avinash Chordia regularly performs with several bands in Kolkata.

Sen cited creative differences within the band as the reason for the split. He will embark on a solo career in Glasgow, performing as an Indian artist, and is currently working on his debut album that features ‘sonics guitarist Rohan Ganguli. The band promises to make available demos, scratches and live gig recordings online free of cost.

RIP The Supersonics. You will be missed.

Check out a gallery of select pictures of the band performing live over the last three years, including one from that first gig.

Ananda Sen of The Supersonics @ Blue Frog, Mumbai (Aug '09)