From instruments like hang drums and didgeridoo to steel pan drums gathered from various places, Beat Blasters, a percussion band from Calcutta, wants to live by their tagline — ‘Drummers can be a frontman’. There’s mystery about the eight years of the band’s journey, the period during which they travelled to various places and gathered stories, besides percussions. They’ve dropped originals (like Furaha), hosted drum circles, a special dhak circle during Durga Puja last year, and covered pieces that have received positive responses and Beat Blasters managed to make Melody Through Beats an event. Its second season was held a few weeks ago on the grounds of Calcutta Press Club. Helmed by Himadri Shekhar Das (founding member of the band), the evening of instrumental music found a special place in the hearts of the audience.
The evening witnessed the diversity in percussions and instruments that easily blend in to form interesting combos, like the sitar and hang drum. There was also a fusion of African instruments, a tribute to Tagore’s songs, tunes by filmmaker Satyajit Ray, and iconic Western pieces. Beat Blasters also presented some of their originals and made some unique presentations — the laser stick act, the liquid drumming act and, above all, the drum circle, on the second edition of Melody Through Beats (which made a comeback after its debut in 2019). Twenty drummers and prominent instrumentalists like Shouvik Mukhopadhyay on the zitar, Sankha Subhra Ghosh on the bass, and Sunny Karmakar on the electric guitar, acoustic guitar and mandola, made the event one of its kind. The evening featured memorable performances (choreographed by Arpita Das) by dancers of Adwitiya Dance Academy.
“We want to do this event every year. It was not possible to do much during the pandemic. We released our original album last year. So this year we brought back Melody Through Beats,” said Himadri Shekhar Das (on steel drums).
(L-R) Ritam Gayen, Chiranjit Sarkar, Himadri Sekhar Das, Namit Bajoria and Ranit Das: Team Beat Blasters at the event.
Ritam Gayen played the didgeridoo.