After releasing her postcolonial pop rock debut album Lingua Franca in 2013, Tanya Palit assembled Boston-based punk rock band Awaaz Do (meaning “Make Some Noise”) to pay tribute to modern and classic Bollywood hits, and channel the Fender Stratocaster-playing character Saraswathi Jones. (Read The Aerogram’s interview with her to find out more about Palit and how Saraswathi was born.)
Awaaz Do features Jagdeep Singh of Faux Ox, New Orleans-trained bass player Maanav Thakore, Leilani Roser of Hammer and Snake on drums, and Sapan Modi, guardian of SubDrift Boston, on dhol. The band has been working on its debut EP, due to be released tomorrow, July 30, at Cambridge’s Lilypad Inman as part of a raucous night of desi punks and hindie rockers with bands Humeysha and The Kominas performing alongside Awaaz Do to provide Late Night Rock Therapy for the Postcolonial Soul.
The new music video for the EP’s title track “Kite Fight” is out now, with its confrontational kite-themed lyrics posted on this page beneath the video. In an email to The Aerogram, Palit shared how the idea for the song came about: “I’ve always been inspired by the drama of Kite Fighting in South Asia and throughout the world. I was surprised no one’s ever written a song about it, so our band did it last May.”
She also revealed the source of the colorful kites featured in the punk rock video’s rooftop setting: “My father actually hand carried about 100 paper kites from India to America last winter, and we then carried them from Michigan to Boston for the shoot!” Visit the event’s page on Facebook for ticket/venue details on tomorrow’s album release and Cambridge, Massachusetts, show. Awaaz Do will also be performing on Sunday, July 31, in Brooklyn, NY, at FUNCTION: A Festival Devoted to (South) Asian Music in the US (and UK).
I’m gonna win the war, I survey my kingdom
cut cut cut cut the cord, why would you even try?
I’m gonna take your paper cuz I am made of glass
I’m gonna cut you off, cut you off at the pass
call me Raja, baby, cuz I’m the King of the Sky
kite! fight! kite! fight!
they’re gonna write about me, they’re gonna chant my name
down in that puja pandal, they’re gonna light my flame, they’re gonna light my flame
they’re gonna light my flame
they’re gonna spark a deepak, they’re gonna write my name
array ki holo, bhai? is your kite, like, caught in a tree? HA!
kite! fight! kite! fight!
from the Howrah Station to the Howrah Bridge
from Victoria Memorial to where the Red Road is
back down from Science City and down in Tangra too
they’re gonna talk about me, but no one’s heard of you
I’m gonna win the war, I survey my kingdom
cut cut cut cut the cord, why would you even try?
I’m gonna take your paper cuz I am made of glass
I’m gonna cut you off, cut you off at the pass
ekhon ki holo? oh, bujchi…ami jitechi. HA!
kite! fight! kite! bolo!
kite! fight! kite! chalo!
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Pavani Yalamanchili is an editor at The Aerogram. Find her on Twitter at @_pavani, and follow The Aerogram at @theaerogram and on Facebook.
