In case you're craving something a bit more melodious, you can always go for independent artists who are innovative, fresh and unique. We already know about Indian Ocean, Parikrama, The Raghu Dixit Project, Agnee, Midieval Punditz, Pentagram and we loved them, we still do. But there are many others who are not-so-popular yet. Here are a few who are making their mark in the independent music industry. Take a look at our pick:

1.   Dualist Inquiry

Dualist Inquiry is the solo electronic project of Sahej Bakshi, a producer, guitarist and composer based in New Delhi. Formed in 2010, Sahej released his debut EP Dualism in June 2011, featuring collaboration on ‘Qualia’ with Monica Dogra, vocalist of an electro-rock outfit, ‘Shaa’ir + Func’. Dualist Inquiry has been making waves on the scene for quite some time.

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2.   Bombay Bassment

Bombay Bassment is a Hip-Hop band formed late in 2010, based in Mumbai. Their tune is upbeat and uplifting, a blend of Hip-Hop, Rap, Reggae, Funk & Drum ‘n Bass which is straight away attractive. Their melody is perfectly made for electrifying live performances.

3.   Advaita

Advaita, formed in 2004 is an eight-member fusion band from New Delhi. Advaita’s music is a blend of Indian classical along with mainstream rock arrangements. They have released their debut album ‘Grounded In Space’ with EMI Records in March 2009.  In 2012, they released their second album ‘The Silent Sea’, with EMI Records. 

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4. The F16s

The F16s are an alternative/electro-rock band, based in Chennai. Formed in 2012 the F16s are an alternative/electro-rock band. The band consists of a variety of influences including dubstep, garage rock, alternative and electronic music. Their music is diverse and high on energy, and they are known for unconventional performances. The band released its debut EP, ‘Kaleidoscope’, sometime during August of 2013.

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5. Reggae Rajahs

If you want to talk about India’s first reggae sound system, there is no one better than Reggae Rajahs. Formed in 2009, Reggae Rajahs is based in New Delhi. The genre the band dabbles in is quite unusual, and features the sounds of dub, reggae and dancehall music across India. Reggae Rajahs started their own online weekly radio show called ‘Pressure Drop’ on Radio79.com in 2013. They have also performed at major international festivals such as Rototom Sunsplash (Spain), Sziget Festival (Hungary), Outlook Festival (Croatia), Uprising Reggae Festival (Slovakia) and Ostroda Reggae Festival (Poland).

6. Soulmate

Soulmate, the blues rock band from Shillong was formed in February 2003. Though the band includes two members, Rudy Wallang and Tipriti TIPS Kharbangar, they team up often with several session musicians when on tour for performances. They’ve released their first record ‘Shillong’ in 2005, second album ‘Moving On’ in 2009 with Blue Frog Records, and currently working on the release of their third record. They have performed extensively in India and around the world including gigs at Kathmandu, France, Memphis TN., Brown University, Rhode Island & Colorado.

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7. Shaa'ir + Func

Shaa'ir and Func, are an alternative, electronic and rock music duo from Mumbai, formed in 2005. Core members are Monica Dogra and Randolph Correia. They have played gigs around the nation and in North America and Europe too. The music duo released their debut album ‘The Love Album’ in 2007 and second album ‘Light Tribe’ in 2008 with Blue Frog Records. The band's third studio album Mantis was released in September 2010.

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8. Nucleya

Udyan Sagar, co-founder of ‘Bandish Projekt’ is better known by his electronic music pseudonym Nucleya. He is one of the leading names in Indian bass electronic music at present. Nucleya has been headlining electronic and bass music stages across the country. After leaving ‘Bandish Projekt’, he moved towards producing bass-heavy music. A collaborator (with Mou Sultana and Brooklyn Shanti) on season two of ‘The Dewarists’, Nucleya has also remixed a couple of Bollywood tracks and released a remixed album ‘Horn OK Please’ in 2012. His first debut album was ‘Koocha Monster’, released on February 16, 2015, and the second album was ‘Bass Rani’ released on September 7, 2015. Nucleya made his Bollywood debut with this song ‘Let’s nacho’ from 'Kapoor and Sons'.

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9. Papon & The East India Company

Papon and The East India Company, the Delhi-based electric folk-fusion band was formed in 2007. Now the band is based out of Mumbai, includes Papon (vocals, guitars), Brin (live electronica), Jeenti (guitars), Kirti (World percussions), Aakash (bass), Tanmay (drums) and Birinchi (keyboards). They have performed at several major music festivals like Oktoberfest, NH7 Weekender, SAARC Music Festival, New Delhi, Eastwind Festival, MAD Fest, Windsong, Goa, Storm Fest etc. Papon is multi-instrumentalist singer-composer who has collaborated with several musicians like Midival Punditz, Karsh Kale, Sushmit Sen, and Welling Jazz Band for their individual projects. Papon has been featured on The Dewarists along with Rabbi Shergill, two seasons of Coke Studio, India and has produced one full episode of the third season, arranging six songs. He had also sung for Bollywood films such as Barfi!, Dum Maro Dum, Madras Café, Satyagraha, amongst others. Both as a solo artist and with his band, he is one of the leading artists within the Indian music community. He has six Assamese albums and his debut album, ‘The Story So Far’ was released with Times Music in 2012, which got him a GIMA award.

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