Gauley Bhai's music is a combination of rock, contemporary ethnic and regional roots music, created with the spirit of a jam band.
Gauley Bhai ("the boy from back home/of the neighbourhood" in Nepali, lit. "younger brother from the village") is a transtraditional rock band, based in Bangalore and Kalimpong. In 2017, a group of friends met in a jam room in Bangalore - Siddhant, Veecheet and Anudwatt from Kalimpong (Gorkhaland - Nepali-speaking north-east India) & Joe from Calicut (Kerala). They began creating music that reflected their journeys of migration. The music drew from the sounds of their childhood, growing up in small towns, and the fractures of life in a city.
Over the years, through many ups and downs including a global pandemic, their search for a unique sound carries on. Their eclectic influences range from Nepali folk (Jhalakman Gandharva, Bir Bahadur Biswakarma), South-Indian Singari rhythms, Malian folk (Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba), Tuareg rock (Tamikrest, Mdou Moctar), western guitarists like Marc Ribot or R.L Burnside, and of course the great classics of rock, blues and hip-hop from the US.
In 2019, they released their debut album Joro ("fever" in Nepali), a thematic exploration that weaves together love, identity and memory. The next album in making reflects their individual & collective journeys, the personal and the political, in all its beauty and tragedy. Unhindered by labels, their music continues to be genre-fluid, dynamic in its inspiration and exploration: perhaps it can only be defined by the way it makes you move and groove.
Glass Beams ✴ 20 Years Of Numbers: Hudson Mohawke & Spencer ✴ Or:la ✴ Mella Dee ✴ Dele Sosimi ✴ I. Jordan ✴ Paula Tape ✴ Kareem Ali ✴ Orpheu The Wizard ✴ Jennifer Loveless ✴ DJ ADHD ✴ Deadbeat ✴ Otik ✴ Nosedrip ✴ Jitwam (Live) ✴ Moopie ✴ Bake ✴ Sandunes: The Ground Beneath Her Feet (Debut) ✴ Resident Advisor: dotdat & Amaliah b2b Danielle ✴ Dolorblind Presents 'NO SIGNAL' A/V (Debut) ✴ Dualist Inquiry: 'When We Get There' A/V (Debut) ✴ Coffintexts ✴ Dar Disku ✴ Mixtress ✴ AAGUU Presents: Solar Spirit Feat. AAGUU x Alex Kassian , TaoFu & Rishi Sippy ✴ Gazzi ✴ Gauley Bhai ✴ Vridian Presents Etymon (Live Debut) ✴ Elle Shimada ✴ Fieldlines: _RHL & Vaibhav Wavikar, Nusrat Apoorv, Anuja Zokarkar & Vinay Sugatha Ramadasan ✴ Dynamite Disco Club & Friends ✴ BFR Sound System: Midnight Dub Club Feat. Delhi Sultanate & Guests ✴ Meba Ofilia ✴ Unnayanaa : Osmosis (Debut) ✴ Angus 12 (Live Debut) ✴ Girls Night Out ✴ Alboe (Live) ✴ Raj ✴ Ox7gen ✴ Antariksh Records Showcase: Antariksh Daddy , Zequenx , Marbman & Sentient ✴ Many Roots Ensemble ✴ Rasa ✴ GoodMostlyBad ✴ Social Isolation Showcase: Philtersoup, Sourya Sen, Farah Mulla, Zequenx, Noni-Mouse & Coma Conscience ✴ Sanoli Chowdhury ✴ Warehouse Mix: No Mo Soul & Tartaruga ✴ Kandy Kuri ✴ Suhas Mellow ✴ Goya