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The Ska Vengers Biography
‘The New Delhi ska act have been winning accolades all over for their brilliant stage act, but their album was in every sense one of the best albums of 2013’ – NH7
The Ska Vengers is a new Delhi based band who blend ‘ska’ rhythms with elements of dub, punk, jazz and rap to come up with a form of music that is refreshingly different, energetic and highly danceable.
Keys man, Stefan Kaye rounded up a few of his musician friends to form the band in the fall of 2009. All members are well seasoned performers in their own right. Nikhil, Stefan and Tony also play in jazz-punk outfit The Jass B’stards and they are regular performers on India’s first touring cabaret show ‘The Stiff Kittens’ Medicine Show’. Samara C. aka Begum X. is a singer, actor, and a yoga therapist. She is well known as a TV host for her own yoga show on NDTV Good Times. Delhi Sultanate has garnered much praise for his highly skilled, socially conscious rap with drum ‘n’ bass team BASSFoundation and also his own project Word, Sound, Power. Chazz joined the band on guitar this year replacing original member Raghav ‘Diggy’ Dang.
Various members have either won or been nominated for Jack Daniels Rock Awards in keyboards, bass, drums and vocals categories for their work with the band.
The Ska Vengers play very much for the moment as carefully worked out structures are at times elongated and receive dub treatment and Delhi Sultanate’s unique and highly rhythmic patois provides a suitable foil to Samara’s full throttle vocal delivery. It is the band’s highly dance oriented originals which are gaining plaudits from critics and feet moving with fans.
Following the release of their first song 'Rude Boy Skank' on the Stupid Ditties IV compilation album in October 2010, the band created huge waves with a handful of gigs at Ska! Ska! Ska! evenings at Q'BA with their now expanded line up featuring Rie Ona (sax) and Yohei Sato (trombone). One of their first gigs was a storming set in Delhi with ‘banghramuffin’ legend Apache Indian and soon after, brought the house down during the ‘Justice on Trial’ event at Alliance Francaise. The band have a number of notable musicians and writers among its fan base and received a request from author and social activist Arundhati Roy to perform at the launch of her latest book in May 2011, the band collaborated with Roy and performed a specially written piece accompanying a monologue she had put together for the occasion.
The band completed their first album in December 2011 and released it officially at the end of 2012. It was mixed by acclaimed music producer, Miti Adhikari (Radiohead, Coldplay, Foo Fighters). The album has become a landmark in the Indian music scene since it is the first home-grown full length album devoted to ska and reggae genres with all live instrumentation. Physical copies were produced independently on Stiff Kittens Records, and Times Music International are looking after digital online sales. The album was nominated as best album of the year for JD Rock Awards and was NH7’s album choice for 2013.
In April 2012 the band staged the largest rock concert to be held in an Indian prison, performing for 2000 prisoners at Asia’s largest jail, Tihar. The group managed to donate $5000 worth of musical and sound equipment to the music wards of the jail. The event was picked up by international media and covered extensively in The New York Times, BBC World Service, China Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Arab News and many others.
They have received much praise from critics and audiences alike. Closer to TV channel VH1 India have devoted a 20 minute show to the band featuring songs from the album with specially made animation to accompany the songs.
They made the news again with a song and video they released to coincide with the Indian General election ‘Modi, a Message to You’. The video achieved 40,000 views in less than one month and has been featured on international TV channels, most English language national daily newspapers and international news agency, Reuters.
The group received nominations for MTV VMAI 2013 best group and best music video and GiMA awards for best debut, best pop album and best single categories. They won special jury prize for best Indian band at LIVE Quotient Awards 2013.
In 2015 the band are currently nominated as best band for their most recent video ‘Frank Brazil’ at VH1 Europe Music Awards in the international artist category.
The Ska Vengers are widely considered to be one of the most exciting and relevant live musical
The Ska Vengers are currently working on their follow up album which is expect to release in October 2015.
..ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!
‘One of Delhi's most popular bands, the Ska Vengers is conquering the Indian music scene with a sound rarely experienced before in the country’ – Blue Frog
'They are one of the most exciting musical aggregations to have emerged out of the Indian underground in a long, long time. Ska Vengers are definitely one of the select few who hold the keys to the future of Indian rock & roll.' - NME India
‘There are albums and then there is The Ska Vengers. The New Delhi ska act have been winning accolades all over for their brilliant stage act, but their album (released after a long wait), was in every sense one of the best albums of 2012. One of the best packaged, conceptualised, and written albums that Indian indie has seen in a while, and still packing a pretty strong punch in terms of content. There can be only one. This one.’ – NH7
‘A celebration of creative dissent wherein The Ska Vengers regaled the audience with a dose of quirky political rap’ – The Hindu
‘A true representation of the forward thinking artists that are bringing the spotlight over to the Indian music scene. Mesmerising and moreish, it is impossible not to find your limbs loosening while your body wills you to skank to the music’ – Wild City
‘Energetic, almost eccentric and dramatic music’ – Indian Express
‘an early contender for the 2013 Album of the Year lists. This is a record that works on many levels, bridging the gap between dance floor bangers and politically informed lyricism.’ – The Sunday Guardian
‘The Ska Vengers will “make it”, quite simply because, on top of being very, very good, they show no weakness. They look terrific and they sound terrific. They are the product of deliberate, single-minded artistic focus, a collective vision that’s entirely coherent, complete and in perfect balance within itself. And because, unlike most groups, they know exactly what they’re doing; unlike most groups they’ll end up big.’ – Moop City
YOU TUBE LINKS:
Promo video for Badda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeBflNNVVr0
Promo video for Rough and Mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOyQWVpgPg
NH7 Weekender Festival, Pune 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ_aoxvccvA
Live performance in Tihar Jail, Delhi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCBR1BQR5cE
Chaiwalah sessions (NH7), Mumbai:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU-WEN8G77I
Read MoreThe Ska Vengers is a new Delhi based band who blend ‘ska’ rhythms with elements of dub, punk, jazz and rap to come up with a form of music that is refreshingly different, energetic and highly danceable.
Keys man, Stefan Kaye rounded up a few of his musician friends to form the band in the fall of 2009. All members are well seasoned performers in their own right. Nikhil, Stefan and Tony also play in jazz-punk outfit The Jass B’stards and they are regular performers on India’s first touring cabaret show ‘The Stiff Kittens’ Medicine Show’. Samara C. aka Begum X. is a singer, actor, and a yoga therapist. She is well known as a TV host for her own yoga show on NDTV Good Times. Delhi Sultanate has garnered much praise for his highly skilled, socially conscious rap with drum ‘n’ bass team BASSFoundation and also his own project Word, Sound, Power. Chazz joined the band on guitar this year replacing original member Raghav ‘Diggy’ Dang.
Various members have either won or been nominated for Jack Daniels Rock Awards in keyboards, bass, drums and vocals categories for their work with the band.
The Ska Vengers play very much for the moment as carefully worked out structures are at times elongated and receive dub treatment and Delhi Sultanate’s unique and highly rhythmic patois provides a suitable foil to Samara’s full throttle vocal delivery. It is the band’s highly dance oriented originals which are gaining plaudits from critics and feet moving with fans.
Following the release of their first song 'Rude Boy Skank' on the Stupid Ditties IV compilation album in October 2010, the band created huge waves with a handful of gigs at Ska! Ska! Ska! evenings at Q'BA with their now expanded line up featuring Rie Ona (sax) and Yohei Sato (trombone). One of their first gigs was a storming set in Delhi with ‘banghramuffin’ legend Apache Indian and soon after, brought the house down during the ‘Justice on Trial’ event at Alliance Francaise. The band have a number of notable musicians and writers among its fan base and received a request from author and social activist Arundhati Roy to perform at the launch of her latest book in May 2011, the band collaborated with Roy and performed a specially written piece accompanying a monologue she had put together for the occasion.
The band completed their first album in December 2011 and released it officially at the end of 2012. It was mixed by acclaimed music producer, Miti Adhikari (Radiohead, Coldplay, Foo Fighters). The album has become a landmark in the Indian music scene since it is the first home-grown full length album devoted to ska and reggae genres with all live instrumentation. Physical copies were produced independently on Stiff Kittens Records, and Times Music International are looking after digital online sales. The album was nominated as best album of the year for JD Rock Awards and was NH7’s album choice for 2013.
In April 2012 the band staged the largest rock concert to be held in an Indian prison, performing for 2000 prisoners at Asia’s largest jail, Tihar. The group managed to donate $5000 worth of musical and sound equipment to the music wards of the jail. The event was picked up by international media and covered extensively in The New York Times, BBC World Service, China Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Arab News and many others.
They have received much praise from critics and audiences alike. Closer to TV channel VH1 India have devoted a 20 minute show to the band featuring songs from the album with specially made animation to accompany the songs.
They made the news again with a song and video they released to coincide with the Indian General election ‘Modi, a Message to You’. The video achieved 40,000 views in less than one month and has been featured on international TV channels, most English language national daily newspapers and international news agency, Reuters.
The group received nominations for MTV VMAI 2013 best group and best music video and GiMA awards for best debut, best pop album and best single categories. They won special jury prize for best Indian band at LIVE Quotient Awards 2013.
In 2015 the band are currently nominated as best band for their most recent video ‘Frank Brazil’ at VH1 Europe Music Awards in the international artist category.
The Ska Vengers are widely considered to be one of the most exciting and relevant live musical
The Ska Vengers are currently working on their follow up album which is expect to release in October 2015.
..ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!...ska!
‘One of Delhi's most popular bands, the Ska Vengers is conquering the Indian music scene with a sound rarely experienced before in the country’ – Blue Frog
'They are one of the most exciting musical aggregations to have emerged out of the Indian underground in a long, long time. Ska Vengers are definitely one of the select few who hold the keys to the future of Indian rock & roll.' - NME India
‘There are albums and then there is The Ska Vengers. The New Delhi ska act have been winning accolades all over for their brilliant stage act, but their album (released after a long wait), was in every sense one of the best albums of 2012. One of the best packaged, conceptualised, and written albums that Indian indie has seen in a while, and still packing a pretty strong punch in terms of content. There can be only one. This one.’ – NH7
‘A celebration of creative dissent wherein The Ska Vengers regaled the audience with a dose of quirky political rap’ – The Hindu
‘A true representation of the forward thinking artists that are bringing the spotlight over to the Indian music scene. Mesmerising and moreish, it is impossible not to find your limbs loosening while your body wills you to skank to the music’ – Wild City
‘Energetic, almost eccentric and dramatic music’ – Indian Express
‘an early contender for the 2013 Album of the Year lists. This is a record that works on many levels, bridging the gap between dance floor bangers and politically informed lyricism.’ – The Sunday Guardian
‘The Ska Vengers will “make it”, quite simply because, on top of being very, very good, they show no weakness. They look terrific and they sound terrific. They are the product of deliberate, single-minded artistic focus, a collective vision that’s entirely coherent, complete and in perfect balance within itself. And because, unlike most groups, they know exactly what they’re doing; unlike most groups they’ll end up big.’ – Moop City
YOU TUBE LINKS:
Promo video for Badda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeBflNNVVr0
Promo video for Rough and Mean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOyQWVpgPg
NH7 Weekender Festival, Pune 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ_aoxvccvA
Live performance in Tihar Jail, Delhi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCBR1BQR5cE
Chaiwalah sessions (NH7), Mumbai:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU-WEN8G77I
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