The Jiverz band beautifully captures the essence of retro rock music, taking audiences on a nostalgic journey through the timeless sounds of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. From their humble beginnings at Skinny Mo’s jazz club a year ago, they have become a sensation in the city, performing hits from legends like Sade, the Doobie Brothers, Bill Withers, and the Eagles. Their talent quickly gained recognition, leading to performances at prestigious social clubs such as Tollygunge Club, Bengal Club, and Calcutta Rowing Club. A highlight of their journey was the Allen Park Christmas concert, where over 2,000 fans grooved to their soulful tunes. The band’s lineup includes Sucheta Sanyal and Kushal Kundu on vocals and guitars, Sayan Mukerji on bass, Tilak Kundu on drums, Renfred Anderson on keyboards, Kaushik Sen on percussion, and Bryce D’ Rozario on guitars. A t2 chat with Sayan.

How did The Jiverz unite as a band?

To be honest, when I had decided on Jiverz a couple of years ago, I had dreamt of an English retro rock cover band, with diverse exceptionally talented musicians with the main intent of having sit-in concerts in large halls, and primarily for attentive listening by an audience without distractions. I had also always deeply desired to have a large musical production alongside this musical performance, which would give a more complete concert experience, with large LED screens and customised displays exponential lighting, and so on. Most Jiverz concerts still have these two elements as our main drivers.

We did initially start with slow-mood retro rock, which would appeal easily to all age groups, especially those above 40. They were starved for this genre of music, as this was earlier heard mostly through radio, LPs, cassettes and later CDs, sadly all of this vanished in less than a decade across continents! Also, in Calcutta, we have now very few sit-in concerts like the good old days with Shiva, High, Harvest, and Hip Pocket, and so there is a big gap in this genre, specifically with very few English rock bands in the city now.

What does the name The Jiverz signify, and how did you choose it?

The Jiverz portray the buoyant mentality of the seven band members who basically jive with their individual musical prowess. I had initially chosen Jivers but my dear friend Michael Calvert suggested we add a Z for a bit of “zing”. We are now JIVERZ.

How has The Jiverz changed over the years?

Obviously, as musicians, we have individually matured over the years and collectively we are now a force to reckon with, often termed the best retro rock band in the city. We have evolved with regular individual practices and collective hard work. We also work around our individual limitations with the strength of our musicality. We used to be criticised initially for not having enough male voices in our set lists. We now have three additional male vocalists to support Sucheta! Very few bands in the city have four vocalists in their lineup. Also apart from pure retro rock, we now play groovy up-tempo numbers, termed lazily as dance numbers, which unfortunately is the request in most social clubs these days. I could not imagine Jiverz playing four hours of party music on December 31 night. Yet we do so, but strictly within our genre. It’s just that we have now extended our set list to 1990s/2000s rock music as well. It’s been a difficult decision but so far we have transitioned quite easily.

Can you share some memories that have been attached to the band over the years?

Our Freedom Concert at ICCR in 2022 was very special as this was dedicated to the 75th year of our Independence. We always have a message attached to each of our concerts, as a central theme. In the Freedom concert, we asked the simple questions: “Freedom is at the beginning or at the end?” and “Freedom is an inward or outward activity?” We composed Freedom as a theme song. At the Allen Park concert in 2022, we had over 22,000 live FB views and over 5,000 fans at the venue. The biggest ever to date.

What are The Jiverz’s goals or dreams for the future? Do you see original music on the horizon?

We want to continue with one big sit-in concert every year, keeping with our initial ethos of having an attentive audience listening to some good old retro rock music with the attention this deserves. We will continue to play concerts in collaboration with local partners right through the year, and especially during this winter season. We are looking forward to playing at the CC&FC concert tonight. We have a concert at Science City supporting cancer (SBOH Concert) in early December. We have a couple of gigs lined up before the year-end.We want to take our musical concerts to other cities as well. Both Bangalore and Hyderabad have shown interest in Jiverz. Unfortunately, our overseas trip to Bangladesh had to be postponed due to the present crisis. Our fans have grown across the country and they are all demanding that we perform in their respective cities as well. Let’s hope this is our path forward in the coming years!