MUMBAI: In a world of bands being formed left, right and centre that present pop music, ‘Crooner’s Collective’ stands out with their playlist based on old school music. A band that was formed just a year ago, has already been a part of most niche events across Delhi-NCR region and is all set perform at The Irish House, on the occasion of St Patrick’s Day on 17 March.
“When I was living in Mumbai for good six years, I was a regular visitor at The Irish House. For its ambiance to it the menu to the amazing music, The Irish House is a place to be. I am so glad to perform at The Irish House, that too within a year of formation of my band. Also, performing in Noida is always amazing, since I have lot of friends here”, says Pranav Sehgal, the lead vocalist of the band.
Crooner’s Collective, is a band that brings the old charm by singing songs by likes of Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Louis Armstrong from the Swing genre to the upbeat Elvis Presley. As the name suggest, the band is a collection of all the singers who are known as ‘crooners’, a male breed of singers in olden days, with a full on orchestra.
The band comprises of five members including Pranav Sehgal as lead vocalist, Ashley Vaz on keyboards and vocals, Vipul Mehlotra on Drums, Aniruddha Wattal on Guitar and Mustafa Pasha on Bass.
What also makes it unique is that every performer in it is an experienced musician for the longest. Pranav shared, “Ashley, our man on the keys, has been in the industry for over 27 years. Be it Shibani Kashyap or Sunidhi Chauhan, they all had Ashley as the man behind keys. But after a while, Ashley wanted to move out of Bollywood and come to the kind of music we make. On percussion, we have Vipul Mehlotra, who is all of 26, but his body of work is vast, as he has been in the circuit for a really long time. All of us our bound by the same passion for the swing genre. We don’t do Bollywood at all, as we believe music comes from heart, and that’s not the music we are much connected to.”
The band is all set to perform at The Irish House, Noida this Saturday 17 March at 8.00pm, for which they have curated a special list. Without revealing many details, Pranav said, “We will try to bring some Irish flavour to music when we perform there, since it is St Patrick’s Day.”
Pranav, the lead vocalist of the band, also has a day job. “I work at a management consultancy at this point, but music is my passion. Also, I have been a crazy fan of Frank Sinatra, and he has influenced by mind a lot. I have been listening to his music, since I was two, thanks to my father for that. So in that sense, I have actually grown up on that music.”
Crooner’s Collectives, has performed across Delhi and NCR already, and are taking bookings for other cities too. Though, Pranav is reluctant to share the details, as it’s too soon. However, the band is planning an album of their original, “The work is on” as told by the lead vocalist.