MUMBAI: Six years after its inception, and dozens of live gigs across the country later, Mumbai-based alternative Hindi rock band Sparsh has finally released its first single. Right off its debut album, the single ‘Ab Jaag Jaa’ is the band’s oldest composition, penned before the new line-up settled in.

Vocalist Soham Pathak joined the band in 2011, and tweaked the lyrical details of the composition, ensuring the melody remains the same. “Sparsh participated in a lot of college competitions. And more often than not, the Hindi rock bands were asked to perform a cover song and an original. We eventually grew up tired of the rule. The band had so many original compositions in store, and we were always asked to play cover songs. This song ‘Ab Jaag Jaa’ is a result of the entire concept. It’s an awakening or marching against the rule or the idea that only covers can make a band popular.” Sparsh won the 2011’s Mood Indigo competition in 2011 with the same composition. A year later, drummer Virendra Kaith (Viru) and keyboardist Nikhil Pachpande joined the existing line-up comprising Pathak on vocals and the original members Rahul Bhavsar (guitarist) and Ajinkya Jadhav (bassist).

The band began with the album preparation as early as 2011, however the 7-track effort received necessary boost with the arrival of Kailasa’s guitarist Paresh Kamath on production duties in 2013. “Paresh (Kamath) turned us from teenage rockstars to matured musicians. Initially, we had planned to execute the production duties by ourselves but I suppose the universe had better plans for us. Not only did he work on the album, he worked on us as musicians. How to present our sound, and educated us about elements that we had no idea of before. He opened the doors to Kailasa studio for us and allowed us multiple sessions. Nikhil Mulay recorded the drums for the single.” Abhishek Ghatak mixed and mastered the track at Headroom Studio.

Pathak added that the band’s newest association – Farout Media as Media partners – had the same effect on the band’s overall identity as well. “Sparsh opened on the day when Farhan Live headlined at Pillai College’s music festival. Farhan and his band loved our sound. Two months later, Anurag Rao (Farout media) called me and suggested to work together. And although it took us three years, we could not be more glad of the outcome.”

The band will release another single in the upcoming month and the vocalist informed that two music videos would accompany the release of the album. The album had December as its initial release month, however, the team has now decided to postpone its release. “Samandar (upcoming single) will have a music video, and so would another single from the album. The release of the album will be followed with a 4 or 5-city tour,” informed Pathak.

The single ‘Ab Jaag Jaa’ is available on Gaana, Saavn, iTunes, Hungama, Times Music, Wynk and Eros Now.