If you’ve seen Medusa, now Sky Rabbit, on stage, you would notice that they’re a relaxed, almost lazy bunch who take nothing else but their music seriously. Frontman Raxit Tiwari’s dreamy stage shtick is an amplification of their jam room antics, as it is with the rest of the band. Minimum talking, quick succession from song-to-song, cigarette breaks and playing in a dark room is what makes up a Sky Rabbit jam. It may also include some newspaper reading and adrak chai.
Sky Rabbit’s eponymous debut album has been a long-time coming for scenesters. With nine tracks, most of them being songs that have become regular fixtures at live sets, one extended tour, and at least one video, the quartet is now set to release the album as the new year begins. We sit the band down, in their heritage-esque jam room by Dadar Chowpatty in Mumbai to take us through each song on Sky Rabbit. We also explore the possibilities of the record being a concept album (which it’s not), why they changed their name from Medusa, and how they make music.
Raxit Tiwari of Sky Rabbit
‘Anti-coke Ganpati’
NH7: Is this an anti-drug song?
Raxit: No way man. It’s totally pro drugs. In fact, it’s about Siddharth (Shah, bassist). And, anything to do with him is always pro drugs. (laughs)
Siddharth: No way man. It’s about women in Dubai, who are possibly promiscuous if they drive Range Rovers (a news story in a leading national daily reported about this).
NH7: Okay, let’s move on to the next song then?
Raxit: Ah, that was easy then. No, but seriously…
Siddharth: It’s about women in…
NH7: Tell us what it’s really about and when you wrote it.
Raxit: I wrote it about three years ago. One thing that it’s specifically about is, I guess in a way… faith, in a very human way. (thinks) Is that articulate enough? You know, it’s about consistency and how we are as people.
Siddharth: Well done, that’s articulate.
NH7: Will it be easy to do this for another eight songs?
Raxit: Yes. Let’s do this.
‘Oil’
Raxit: (to the rest of the band) Tell me what you guys take from the song?
Siddharth: It’s about many things really. But, to pinpoint it…
Raxit: I don’t know man. Just a lot of visuals. Painting a picture. A lot of these songs are momentary. They’re not results of planning, but just impulse. All of them do come from one space. (break of thought; to Siddharth) Dude, why are you playing footsie with Rahul, man?
(to Rahul) Dude, this is hardly the time to joke.
Made For President
‘March’
NH7: Okay, let’s move to the next one.
Siddharth: Yeah, let the articulate person talk.
Raxit: Arre, what did you tell that guy?
Siddharth: The TIME Magazine one?
Rahul: TIME Magazine? Quite big you’ve become.
Raxit: (thinks) Guys, what do we understand of the songs, now?
Actually wait, I’ll tell you. It’s fairly simple. It’s a joke. Time is a joke. You know, putting your hands up. It’s fairly straight.
Siddharth: I think it has some sarcasm.
Raxit: Sarcastic, you think? It’s a ‘hands-up’ song. It’s a joke, fair enough.
NH7: Like Siddharth’s jokes?
Raxit: No, no way. It’s a worse joke. I’d never write a song about him and his jokes; they’re okay, those are fun.
‘Sweet Smile Diving’
Raxit: Again, a lot of imagery. For me, ‘Sweet Smile Diving’ is a pair of lips diving from a 40 metre-high board into a pool, and the smile just completely drowning whoever there is. It could be associated with growing up, the loss of innocence.
NH7: Is that why the next song is ‘Swimmer’?
Raxit: It’s not a follow-up, but it just happens to be there coincidentally. It wasn’t written one after another.
NH7: It just comes across like this.
Raxit: I think we shouldn’t speak about these songs, and let people understand. This could be a fun concept album.
Siddharth, fooling around with the drumkit
‘Swimmer’
Raxit: Again, like ‘Sweet Smile Diving’ this one is very personal. This has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s just about me. It’s like having a conversation with anyone I know well enough.
NH7: When you’re writing a personal song like this one, how does the band relate to it when you bring it to the jamroom?
Raxit: I don’t think they care at all.
Siddharth: (laughs)
Raxit: We’re quite a feudal band that way. They don’t have a say. (laughter) That’s not true. To be honest, I don’t think they look so much into the words, when we’re playing the music. It affects our subconscious of course, and plays around with it but yeah, that’s it.
NH7: So, when you write a song, and talk to the band about it, obviously there are bound to be some questions…
Raxit: That’s not a consistent rate, exactly. More than half the songs are results of writing alone, in a very different environment. Some are written while jamming with either one of the band members.
Rahul: Didn’t you write (this) while jamming with me?
Raxit: No, no. I had written to lyrics earlier, and we put chords to it.
Rahul: Yeah, yeah. That’s right.
‘I Become I’
NH7: This one is one of your older songs.
Raxit: Yeah, it’s fairly old. It’s a song about evolution. Me becoming me, you becoming you.
NH7: It was on the India Rocks compilation as well, wasn’t it?
Raxit: Yeah, yeah. It was on Soundpad (the British Council Soundpad compilation that also featured Indigo Children, Advaita and Swarathma) as well.
Siddharth: That Shyam Benegal film?
Raxit: There are so many deserving directors man. India rocks, hardly man.
Siddharth: What was that film? Welcome to…
Raxit: Sajjanpur.
Siddharth: No, no. Discovery of India.
Raxit: India Rocks and Discovery of India on the same page. Wow man.
Harsh Kalangale, on the drums
‘Try’
Raxit: This one is about a couple of birds, it’s about animals. How they would feel in the world right now.
NH7: Really?
Raxit: Yes, really. I’m not kidding. I’m very serious when I tell you about these things.
NH7: Okay, we’re not going to take that.
‘Clone’
NH7: Is this one about more animals?
Rahul: See, he’s trying to connect the two again!
NH7: Maybe cloning animals or something.
Raxit: See, you’re looking at it like that. It’s unconsciously taking the shape of a concept album.
(Siddharth leaves for ShriLektric @ Blue Frog, Mumbai)
NH7: So, what is this really about?
Raxit: Take a bow / Make a vow / It’s time to make a clone / And I want three of those / And I want three of these (gets lost in thought).
NH7: I’m sure there’s more.
Raxit: (still thinking, prolonged silence) ‘Clone’. Rahul say something about ‘Clone’.
Rahul: Erm…
Raxit: It’s fairly articulate, I think. You know, it’s about not being a clone, really. Getting an identity.
NH7: Is there a reason why the songs are lined up the way they are?
Raxit: Not really. We just felt that ‘Anti-coke Ganpati’ was a nice lead-in and is simple and a very nice way to open the album. A lot of the album is lined up because of the way the songs are played, they blend into each other. And ‘Hilltop’ is last because again, we felt it was a good song to end with.
Visitor at the jamroom
‘Hilltop’
NH7: Apart from the obvious reference in the name, what is the last song exploring?
Raxit: It comes in a very subconscious manner, going back to this quote I had read a long time ago, I don’t even remember where. It talks about to be at the peak as much as you aspire to be, is the darkest and loneliest place. It’s devoid of so many emotions, unless you’re able to carry them with you.
NH7: We think that works quite well, as an album closer.
Raxit: We did get articulate then.
The band feels the album will help reach out to people who wouldn’t have heard of them, outside the scene. When questioned about another album and other releases the band seemed quite focused on releasing singles and EPs in the coming year, having understood that creating an album is a tedious process, but a fulfilling one.
Rahul Nandkarni, on guitars
As for the change in name, the band compares it to how the album was overdue. Tiwari explains that the change in name was more to do with the band’s visual identity and the shift in their sound. Sky Rabbit, to them, encompasses the emotions of being calm and innocent, which is a reflection of how their music is created.
“We feel it gives us a large, open expanse to work with,” Tiwari signs off.
Taking a cue from this explanation, I walk out of the jam room by the beach, looking for a rabbit-like figure in sky. I’m still not taken by the change in name. But about the innocence and calm in the music, whilst humming a majority of their songs, I’m more than convinced.
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