The concept of a backdrop with visuals is not new in the Western world. Pink Floyd was among the first bands to take the audiovisual route, followed by renowned acts like Radiohead and Tool. It is common in electronic music, with Chemical Brothers to Martin Garrix. But concept-driven visuals with a rock band are not usual in India, let alone in West Bengal.
Being a visual jockey is a niche job in Kolkata; only a handful of people integrate moving images on the LED screen as a backdrop for live rock bands at big venues — Arindam Sen from Salt Lake is one of them.
Taking art from page to stage
Sen has been the visual jockey for the Bangla rock group Fossils for a decade Aanjan Reek Basu
Sen translated his love for art from the page to the stage. He has been the visual jockey for the Bangla rock group Fossils for a decade. His videos, made with the help of software, sync with the time signature of the songs and help the band stand out as storytellers at the concerts, along with enhancing the experiences for the listeners.
Sen is the only Bengali plying his trade in the circuit Courtesy Arindam Sen
He also works with Somlata And The Aces, and has done visuals for The Anupam Roy Band earlier. Philip Gordon is another visual jockey in the city who works with The Anupam Roy Band, but Sen is the only Bengali plying his trade in the circuit.
It is the lyrics and moody guitar work of Fossils that brought out the best in Sen. He became a talking point in indie circles when he designed two astronauts lost in a different planet with mountains during the iconic song Aro Ekbar Cholo Firey Jayi Paharer Oi Buke Te Dnarai.
“I had started with subscription-based websites, but gradually, I found ways to customise the video content. I had offered to work with bands as a visual jockey while learning the tools ahead of a Mirchi Jalsaghar gig in 2013. Nobody except Fossils replied,” Sen, an ex-student of Information Technology at Jadavpur University, tells My Kolkata.
The 33-year-old Sen is a guitarist himself, and a Bengali, which makes it easier for him to interpret the lyrics of Fossils and relate to the soundscape of the band. He learnt the craft from Nikita Mukherjee, the daughter of the late PC Mukherjee of Shiva, the man behind the renowned sound and light company Friends of Shiva, where Sen has been an employee since 2012. “Nikita, who was handling the LED department at Friends of Shiva, taught me the basics. PC da was the first man to introduce the LED screen to Kolkata back in the day,” he says.
Visual jockey vs video jockey
“Since it is such a new thing, nobody spoke about it. But it is the nature of the job; you remain invisible. The designation ‘visual jockey’ is not to be confused with a video jockey,” says Sen, who also plays the guitar for progressive metal band What Escapes Me.
Sen looks for keywords and themes to play with visuals. “You have a laptop connected to the LED screen, and you are running a software with a visual bank of thousands of footages. You improvise and perform your visuals with the band. When Fossils played at NH7 Weekender in 2014, Deep Ghosh (one of the guitarists) had reached out again, and since then, we have been together. Now LED is an unsaid thing in every gig,” he says, explaining the nature of the work.
A decade with Fossils
Fossils still remains the first band in town to incorporate a visual jockey as a team member. “I have developed an understanding with Fossils,” says Sen.
Fossils provide him the freedom to express through visuals. “I keep innovating. I used to do a particular visual for their song Acid, which basically talks about social problems and how one should look at himself before correcting society. I wanted to use something related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I designed an image of Russian president Vladimir Putin for a split second during the line Acid Chhoro Mukhey,” adds Sen.
Sen's visuals lighting up the 25th anniversary concert of Fossils Aanjan Reek Basu
Deep Ghosh of Fossils, who supported Sen’s vision from the onset, believes the lad is exceptional because he has the skills to execute his vision. Sen’s aesthetic sense is visible in his work. It is not only about the music but how he fused his art with the sound of the band that makes everything work, feels the guitarist.
“Arindam is a fantastic person. We keep talking about life. He also expresses brilliantly as a guitar player. One can know a lot of technology, but execution is a different ball game. He has a lot of art in him, and that’s why he can work flawlessly,” adds Ghosh.