Nischay Parekh (in pic) and Jivraj Singh are the hottest music duo out of Kolkata in recent times
Next time you say I love you baby to your sweetheart, she may just jump to her feet and start singing I love you baby, I love you doll. And unless you have heard of and listened to Parekh and Singh, you can bid good bye to the love of your life.
And if you are from Kolkata and haven't heard of them yet, you are just not with it.
Nischay Parekh, 23, and Jivraj Singh, 29, are the hottest music duo out of Kolkata in recent times to bust the charts. Both from La Martiniere, their USP is their pastel suits, their deadpan faces, their Kolkata settings for their songs that are a mix of electronic, rap, blues, reggae and jazz.
And they say their kind of music could only have come out of Kolkata. "It is very Indian music and very Kolkata music reflecting the languid, magical experience we have had living in this city," says Jivraj who plays the drums and co-writes the lyrics with Nischay.
"There is a lot of strong nostalgia embedded in our music," says Nischay who dropped out of a music course at Berkley to come back to Kolkata and make music. Now that he has made it to the Billboard magazine, Berkley has offered him a course that he can complete online.
The two came together five years and have been playing across India. Last year, they emailed some of their songs to a bunch of music labels and Peacefrog, UK, signed them up and will take them on a tour of the UK, Europe and the US this summer.
"Performing in a city where they know nothing about us, that's our big challenge. Let's say Poland, where they have no frame of reference for us Indian musicians. They will expect the sitar and they will get us. That should be interesting," says Jivraj.
The most popular song of their album, Ocean, is "I love you baby, I love you doll" and when it rocked youtube, Parekh & Singh realized they were getting somewhere.
"Once there were a lakh views for a music video from India in English, then it crossed three lakh fifty, we knew something was happening. We were connecting," says Nischay.
But why the pastel suits? Nischay wears a lot of powder blue and Jivraj mustard. A very deadpan answer to a question everyone is asking: it just saves us the bother of wondering what to wear for our shows.