The Ska Vengers is a New Delhi based band that blends Ska, Dub, Punk, Jazz and Rap in their music. The core band consists of Stefan Kaye, Delhi Sultanate, Begum X, The Late Nikhil Vasudevan, Chaitanya Bhalla 'Chaz' and Tony Guinard. The band is the first and only other ska-based setup coming out of India, and are touted to be the biggest independent export coming out of India and also incorporates Psychedelia, Latin jazz and more experimental genres into their music.
The Ska Vengers released their first self-titled album in 2013, on Times Music. The band released the first music video of the album with the track titled - Rough and Mean, explored subjects around male double standards and the prevalent misogyny in the Indian society. During the national election in 2014, the band released 'Modi, A Message to You', an animated music video adaption of the famous song - Rudy, A Message to You, which denouncing the then Prime Ministerial, and now current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and the issues surrounding his involvement in the riots in 2002 in Gujarat, and his right wing inclinations. The band members started receiving death threats over this video. And could not manage to get clearances from The Central Board of Film Classification Soon after, a music video for Badda was released in the year 2015, this time only on The Ska Vengers' YouTube channel.
Frank Brazil
Frank Brazil, is the first single of The Ska Vengers from their second album XX. The single and music video were released on 31 July 2015, which marked the anniversary of the hanging of Udham Singh, on whom the track is based. The video uses an animated narrative - developed by Kunal and Tisha Sen - to tell the story of Udham Singh, and his travel from India to UK, to assassinate Michael O'Dwyer, who Udham Singh felt was responsible for the infamous Jallianwallah Bagh massacre.
The band's performance at Tihar Jail, India's largest prison, in 2012 was widely covered in the press. The objective of the show was to raise funds to donate instruments for the music room within the prison. The idea was formulated after Stefan Kaye, the keyboardist was jailed at Tihar Jail for over-staying his visa in India.
XX
XX, pronounced "Double Cross", is the second album released by the band on 1 July 2016. The album features 9 songs, and apart from their usual Ska and Reggae sound, XX features new influences like Latin music with tracks like 'El Cumbanchero', and is also seen venturing into Afro-Cuban, Jazz and Psychedelia with songs like 'Afro-fantasy'. The 9 songs were chosen from a list of 18 songs prepared initially.
Following their release of 'XX', the band went on an 18-show UK Summer Tour in 2016. Some of the shows included key slots at Boomtown Fair, Secret Garden Party, Wilderness Festival, London Mela, Bestival, Notting Hill Carnival, along with performing at key venues like Dublin Castle in Camden, Hootenanny in Brixton, The Duke in Whitstable and Curve Theatre in Leicester. In the summer of 2017, the band was back with an extensive calendar of 38-shows, this time playing main-stage slots at festivals like Glastonbury Festival, WOMAD, Love Supreme Festival, Boomtown Fair, Wilderness Festival, Bestival, Camp Bestival, Muziek In De Wilk amongst other. This makes the band to be the first band coming out of the independent scene in India, to do so many dates outside of India, in a span of 3 months.
Media Coverage
The band's image was further bolstered when they were interviewed by known music journalist, Alexis Petridis for a 2-paged feature for The Guardian, UK. This was quickly followed by a primetime Channel 4 News feature hosted by Cathy Newman. The band also went to perform a 20-min set on the WOMAD's Charlie Gillet Stage hosted LIVE on BBC 6 Music, as well as BBC Radio 3 by Cerys Matthews and Lopa Kothari, as well as a live performance in studio on BBC Radio 4's famous "Loose Ends" show hosted by Sara Cox. The band also went on multiple shows including Bobby Friction's BBC Asian Network, as well Zee TV London presented by Kanika Gupta.
Upcoming Tours
The band has also performed at the Royal Jazz Fest in Bahrain, and is currently working on an Australian Tour 2018, as well as UK / Europe Summer Tour 2018. The band is managed and booked by , a music agency based in Mumbai - India.
