‘Challenge for indie artistes is competing with big labels backed on grand scale’

CHENNAI: Formed during the Engineering graduation days of Bhumit, Austin and Subodh, the name Last Minute India was decided because they didn’t have any name for their name till the last minute of a contest. Since their college days, they have been showcasing original compositions. Overcoming a lot of hurdles, the band has carved a name for themselves in the Hindi independent music world. Their songs include Jaane Anjaane, Aao Na, Yaadein and Rehnuma, among others.

Their latest release, Bas Mere Hi Ho, is garnering positive responses from the audience for the concept and soulful composition. In this chat with DT Next, Subodh Gupta, Bhumit Gor, Purusharth Jain and Samaksh Namdev talk about the idea behind Bas Mere Hi Ho, the growth of independent music, the difficulties they face in sustaining in the field as newbies and delve deep into their future projects as well.

Bas Mere Hi Ho deals with commitment and true love.

In this Gen Z world, why did you all choose old-school love as the concept?

Subodh Gupta, songwriter and founder of the band: Honestly, even though we are just 26 and 27 years old, I would count ourselves in the old-school category. When we were in school, we had our first crush, our first relationship, and we paid attention to such minute details, emotions, and actions. I believe in the concept of one girl for life and that led me to write on this old-school love concept because all of us in this band resonate with this.

Where did you all take inspiration for the song's music?

Purusharth Jain, lead vocalist: We drew inspiration for Bas Mere Hi Ho from personal experiences and emotions. We wanted to capture the longing and yearning that comes with loving someone. The title Bas Mere Hi Ho means 'Only Mine', representing the deep love for your soulmate.

Being independent musicians, how difficult was it to venture into Hindi pop?

Bhumit Gor, rhythm guitarist: When we first started, we focused on rock music. Recently, with tracks like Bas Mere Hi Ho, Rehnuma, and Kaagaz Ki Naav, we have transitioned into the Hindi pop genre, which is a significant shift from our earlier style. In the beginning, we managed everything ourselves—playing, creating, maintaining relations with Digital Service Providers (DSP), pitching to labels, dealing with radios, PR, and marketing. This made it challenging to focus on our music.

Subodh Gupta: As independent artistes in the Hindi pop space, we compete directly with established artistes in both film and non-film music. They have label backing and extensive marketing budgets that we can't match. While our songs are performing well organically, we lack the funds to effectively reach the right audience.

Additionally, we are competing with artistes who have substantial production budgets to create visually compelling music videos and content for their YouTube audience. Unlike them, our recent releases have only had lyric visualisers instead of full-fledged music videos.

Breaking into the Hindi pop space as independent artistes is incredibly challenging, especially when trying to compete on the same scale. However, despite the difficulties, this is also the best time for us to make our mark in the industry.

What are a few difficulties newbies face while entering the field and what is the mantra you all follow to sustain in the field?

Subodh Gupta: As an upcoming independent musician, I firmly believe in consistently putting your music out there. In this industry, you can't stop making or releasing music because a couple of your initial releases didn't succeed. Many artistes required over ten consistent releases to gain an initial push in their listener base.

The key to sustaining in this field is to stay true to your music and audience, no matter how small the number is. Stay present, be vigilant, play shows, and that should pave the way for success.

With Indie music reaching greater heights in the country, according to you, what can be done to reach more heights?

Subodh Gupta: Honestly, this is the best time to be alive as an independent artiste because of the digitization as well as the growing maturity of the listener where they are appreciating music more than ever before. The Indian music industry, for the longest time, has been a subset of Indian cinema where only Bollywood existed and dominated the music space.

However, today OTTs and filmmakers have started syncing independent music in their films and series. We see a rise in independent music being used in movies. We see the audience recognising independent musicians, and listening to non-film music.

Do you all have any plans to work in other languages?

Samaksh Namdev, drummer: As a band, we're passionate about connecting with audience from diverse backgrounds. While Hindi is our primary language, we're definitely open to exploring music in other languages. If the opportunity arises, we'd love to collaborate with artistes from different languages and cultures, learn from them, and share our music with a wider audience.

What are your future projects and can you please elucidate the concepts as well?

Bhumit Gor: We have quite a few things planned in the pipeline. We have a few releases that are quite different from the last two releases. These releases touch upon some deep emotions, one is sad, one is about heartbreak, another is an apology to your loved ones, and one is about falling in love. We’ve got a mixed bag that will take the audience through a rollercoaster of emotions but great music and quality is constant in all.

We’re also really excited to get started with the touring season soon, nothing like the adrenaline of being on stage!