User:Arpan Kumar Saha/Sample page

Bisher Doshok (বিষের দশক)

Bisher Doshok

Overview and members:

Bisher Doshok (Bengali: বিষের দশক) is a Kolkata-based rock band from Kolkata. The band comprises members Arijit Nandi (guitars, composition), Arka Mukhopadhyay (vocals, lyrics, composition), Antarip Ghatak (bass, lyrics, vocals, composition, harmonica, melodica, kazoo), Arijit Karmakar (guitars, bass), and Arpan Saha (drums, percussion). In the past, various other members have collaborated with the band, notably Abhishek Mukherjee (Kapala; guitars) and Avishek Deb (Solo; guitars/bass).

Influences:

Influenced by the likes of Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Rush, Deep Purple, Mohiner Ghoraguli, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the band strives for a unique voice of its own; their songs can be classified into one particular genre, with particular tracks having elements from types like funk, punk, punk metal, punk rock, etc.

The band's lyrics are influenced by Hungrealist poetry and Beat poetry and reflect a desire for societal justice and a love for dissent against fascism, religious sectarianism, casteism, sexism, and government policies that encourage capitalism and class-restricted poverty.

The band has played in both acoustic and electric settings, at live settings and open mics.

Formation and history:

Arijit and Arpan used to be classmates at the Department of English, Presidency University, Kolkata. Despite knowing that they both played guitars and drums, respectively, no collaboration of any kind happened over the three years of college from 2013 to 2016.

It was after Arijit moved over to Delhi University, that he met Arka and the two started composting original songs previously written by Arka. Antarip, a friend of Arijit's, joined in with fresh lyrics.

After two years of postgraduation￼, all three moved back to Kolkata and decided to form a band. The name Toxic Twenties was thrown around in discussion, but since the band predominantly sang originals in Bangla, the name was rendered as a pun in Bangla, as বিষের দশক; বিষ being the Bangla word for poison, and similar in pronunciation to the Bangla word for twenty; দশক meaning decade.

After deciding that they needed a drummer, Arijit contacted Arpan, who was working at the time at Kolkata, thus completing the initial line-up of the band in late 2018.

Soon after, due to logistical reasons, the band unanimously decided that another voice on on the guitar was required. That was when Arijit Karmakar, a friend was called in. This was after a number of members had been let go of due to differences in opinions, and Abhishek Mukherjee and Jishnu Goswami filled in slots during performances.

Performances:

The band has performed at every major open mic in the city and has performed live at Someplace Else, Kolkata as part of a three-band line-up in 2019.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arijit and Antarip have been performing as a two-member duo, under the band's flag online at a number of open mics and live jams.

Two singles, Khide and Sorbonasha have been released on Bandcamp, and a number of the band's tracks can be found on YouTube and Spotify as well. The band does its own mixing, mastering post-production, and video production as well. All graphics and album covers are done by Arka.

The band's first four-track EP will be out on all major platforms on 18th July, 2020.