Music

Kinaara's latest album, Denial, is music tinged with angst

Anjani Chadha

In April this year, Ronit Singh Soin (24) from Greater Kailash and Vivek Vihar-based Sujay Srivastava (25) decided to spend some leisurely days in Himachal Pradesh. “For the past two years, Sujay and I have had our own trials and tribulations… obviously, because of COVID but other personal issues as well. I thought why not just have a change of place,” says Soin.

It was during this trip that Srivastava, coincidentally while sitting under an apple tree, penned a few words that Soin and he later made into a track. This is how their latest track Denial came into being; it is the first track from their upcoming EP and deals with the stages of grief. In this interview, we speak to the musical duo, together called ‘Kinaara’Srivastava is the lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist while bass and lead guitar is by Soin their song, and more. Excerpts…

Tell us how Kinaara came about?

Ronit: Sujay and I have been friends since college. We met during one of the meetings of the music society and we have been jamming since then.  We went to this small rustic guesthouse in Himachal Pradesh called Raju’s Cottage. This one night, we were just sitting around a bonfire, which was right beside a river. While jamming, Sujay told me that ‘I have made something, let's see if we can make this into a proper song’. We jammed the whole night and that is how we started working on Denial. This is also why we named the project ‘Kinaara’ because it started from the banks of a river.

Was it complex to write the lyrics of ‘Denial?

Sujay: When we went for the trek, I had carried a few things with me that I wanted to bury there just to give myself closure and give some sort of ending to the grief I was going through [after a heartbreak]. When you ask if it was difficult to write the song, I think Denial came to me because in 30 minutes of just thinking about what had happened, I started writing the song. Later that night, I told Ronit that I had written it, and if he wanted to work on it with me.

Since this is your first song, did you struggle with the creative process?

Sujay: When we came back to Delhi, we worked on multiple drafts with producer Sarthak [Sarthak Dilawari]. Once that was done, we decided to go into the studio and record the song. But before that, Ronit and I put in a lot of hours. We would meet after office hours, practise two to three hours every day. When we went for recording, it was the first time we were entering a space like that—it was kind of intimidating also, but we had a good team to back us. When I was recording the song, it was also like revisiting memories that do not make me feel good but because I was in that space with my best friend, everything became easier.  

Talk to us about your musical influences…

Ronit: The kind of music and bands we listen to really differs from the kind of music we produce. I am more into progressive metal, progressive rock, and sometimes dabble with ambient music and jazz. Notable influences are bands like Tool, Radiohead, a bit of Jon Hopkins. 

Sujay: We share a lot of musical influences but I also listen to a lot of Hindi music because I have been playing the record. My music ranges from Jagjit Singh to death metal. Hindi bands such as Aswekeepsearching, The Local Train, and to some extent, Prateek Kuhad as well. My influences also come from places which one will get to listen to in the album.  

What’s next?

Ronit: We are going to release the album Phase 5 in the coming months. Our next two songs are recorded and in the production stage. They sound different from Denial because they represent a very different stage of grief. The music style is influenced by the emotion that is attached to the song.