"I think our existence means something and being at the same place and be involved into the same activity in itself becomes the source of inspiration... " states Saurav Debnath of DEE EN - an emerging post-rock sound from New Delhi. The four members of DEE EN, Saurav Debnath, Ashrey Goel, Aditya Kapoor and Katyayan Rabha bring a bunch of diverse aesthetics into their collective output - bits of psychedelic rock, specks of new-romantic doom, ambient and synthy, disco, 'retronica' and even shades of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia! Peculiarly haunted and enchanted, the sound of DEE EN seems to oscillate between an age long gone and a future rather morbid. The lyrics and the dead-pan placement of the voice transports the listener to a melancholic head-space. "I've been trying to get you out my window"(Dancing with Pink). Restless yet soothing. Reminds us of John Maus and Alan Parson's Project at the same time. Imagine Boy George and Spandau Ballet without all the fashion, fake hair and frills! The songs, and not individual postulation remains at the centre of DEE EN's narrative. The band's latest video 'Hope To Be', depicts animated characters, lost and running through surreal landscapes, a Blade-Runner meets 2001 Space Odyssey, eventually submitting and dissolving within the 'higher power'. The style clearly cinematic in intent and inspired by cyberpunk aesthetics, in ways reminding us of Jaques Derrida's theory of Hauntology. A short interview with Saurav Debnath, speaking about the band's formation, the new video and "escaping idealistic structures and cultures..."
DEE EN ? What's the name all about?
The name 'DEE EN' was an easy word play of my last name 'DN' and the song 'The End'. A cool way of looking at it, is the endless loop of 'DEE ENDEE ENDEE END... and it's irony.
How did the band come about? Did you conceive a sound for DEE EN?
The band or call it project, started off with me and my friend Ashrey recording songs that I had written at home. We inherently imagined a band to play these songs live so over time we started collaborating with more friends who shared similar taste and interests. We were mostly working with a bunch of friends so it gave us this freedom to incorporate new identities and styles, which I think gave the whole act a feeling of rawness ... I think someone once described our songs to be simply 'bollywood melodies over weird beats' ... it's pretty apt.
The press-note for your latest video speaks of a narrative, based on "escaping cults and idealism"?
Our new video has been envisioned by Aditya Rahul - I found one of his videos online and instantly wanted to collaborate with him - his work is mostly animated stuff, inspired by cyberpunk and sci-fi narratives. For our song he wanted to play around the song title 'Hope to be' - as a self explanatory statement about people thinking too much about their ideal selves all the time. Hence the video is following the narrative of the character escaping idealistic structures and cultures, ruled by preachy gods and leaders, as wisdom and power. I think our existence means something, and being at the same place and be involved into the same activity in itself becomes the source of inspiration. Call it flame to the fire, hence it doesn't really matter where we are from, yet to be at the same place, making the music probably means we were inspired by it.
Our new video has been envisioned by Aditya Rahul - I found one of his videos online and instantly wanted to collaborate with him - his work is mostly animated stuff, inspired by cyberpunk and sci-fi narratives. For our song he wanted to play around the song title 'Hope to be' - as a self explanatory statement about people thinking too much about their ideal selves all the time. Hence the video is following the narrative of the character escaping idealistic structures and cultures, ruled by preachy gods and leaders, as wisdom and power. I think our existence means something, and being at the same place and be involved into the same activity in itself becomes the source of inspiration. Call it flame to the fire, hence it doesn't really matter where we are from, yet to be at the same place, making the music probably means we were inspired by it.
How do you view the music and entertainment industry - given the 2020 pandemic?
I personally do not think that any kind of public performance such as live music, festivals, theatre, dance can ever be compensated by a virtual experience - quite obviously the pandemic has shown us newer ways of doing things however i do not think its an alternative to any of the older stuff so what would be great to look forward to - is a merger of both in full scale rather than a dissolution. All kinds of industries are at a panic otherwise, but we can still focus on other things such as intellectual property, planning or self growth. Apart from that - now is a great time for consumers to help the artists and show them the true value for their work, it is also a good time for artists to realise that they should not be undervaluing their work in the future, ever again...
DEE EN ·
