Bombay Rockers get their groove back

Mumbai, April 24 (IANS) Danish-Indian band Bombay Rockers, who created a stir in India with their singles 'Ari ari' and 'Rock the party', are back with their new album but feel the music scene has undergone a change in the country, courtesy Bollywood.

Bombay Rockers had made a mark in the Indian music scene in 2004 when non-film music was highly popular, but feel Bollywood has eaten up their market.

'The music scene in India has changed a lot in all these years. When 'Rock the party' came out there was much more space for non-film music. At that time you had Raghav, Jay Sean, Bombay Rockers, a lot of artistes, and there was space for these artistes. In India today, there's Bollywood mainly,' Navtej Singh Rehal, popularly known as Naf, told IANS in an interview.

'But the good thing is that Bombay Rockers are still sure that all hasn't changed and our fans still love us,' he added.

Naf's teammate, Danish musician Thomas Sardorf, said: 'The new album is about partying, having a good time. There's a serious song on the album called 'Nasha', which is all about what addiction is - it can be love or drugs. If you're addicted to having a good time, you should get the 'Rock and Dhol' album.'

So how different is their new offering 'Rock and Dhol' from their previous albums 'Introducing' and 'Crash And Burn'?

'There are more electronic vibes on the songs in this album. The first two was more hip hop and had Dancehall (a form of Jamaican popular music) elements. The new one is a good party album, more of tempo and catchy songs,' said Thomas.

Bombay Rockers also revealed the reason for their long absence from the music scene.

'We have been touring a lot in India. If you say album-wise, then, yes, it's been a while. We've been touring a lot, making our latest album 'Rock and Dhol'. Now it's finished and we are here,' Naf said.

The new album consists of 12 tracks and they have also shot a video for one of the songs 'Let's dance'.

Collaborations are the flavour of the season. So when asked whether any Bollywood projects are on the cards, Thomas said: 'We have our own style. We have to make sure that fits; only then a collaboration would be right.'

However, Naf gave an inkling of a possible project: 'We are in talks with people for that. Let's see if that happens.'

(Ruchika Kher can be contacted at [email protected])