Indian Ocean to let Pittsburgh ride wave of global music

One thing is for sure — a global band with an upcoming show beats the hell out of the Atlantic… One thing is for sure — a global band with an upcoming show beats the hell out of the Atlantic Ocean.

Sometimes it takes longer than expected for the world to catch on to something special, like Indian Ocean.

The Indian contemporary band will be performing at Carlow University’s Antonian Theatre on Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m.

With influences that range from Indian classical to rock, the band gets classified as anything from Indian folk rock to Indian jazz. Even Rahul Ram, bassist and vocalist, admitted that the band hasn’t found a term to describe its unique sound.

“A lot of people ask us what genre we’d be in, and we aren’t sure ourselves,” Ram said. “Listen to the music and come up with where you think we fall into.”

The band’s first album sold 40,000 copies but got very little response otherwise, a discouraging number to the group, which had only done seven concerts in its first five years of forming.

“That ridiculous [of a response] and most people would have given up and gone home, but it sounded so good to us that we said, ‘Look we don’t care.’ The response of the audience and our own conviction in our music kept us going. We were so convinced this music was good, so we just did it,” said Ram,

Despite a discouraging start, Indian Ocean’s determination, continued belief in itself and hard work eventually proved the band right.

Since then, the group has had success with its albums, including its self-produced 1997 live album, Desert Rain, which hit No. 2 on the iTunes UK world music charts.

“We felt so good. We loved it. And, you know, the nice thing is when we recorded that album, we took it to all the music companies in India. To get it into the iTunes top 10 is so much a vindication of our confidence in ourselves,” Ram said.

The band has also had several firsts for an Indian band — a live concert recording and a documentary. The group has also been asked to record for several Bollywood movies, such as “Black Friday.”

Indian music might not be a genre you’ve thought of listening to before, but “Jhini,” Indian Ocean’s latest album, is a combination of sounds that you might associate with Indian music with clear influences from other genres.

“Jhini” has a very interesting flair and a sound that’s almost impossible to describe. It’s contemporary Indian music spiced with flavors of jazz, rock and folk — all blending to create a deliciously different sound. While a first-time listener might be hesitant about delving into international music, the energy of the musicians and captivating sounds will erase any second thoughts.

After hearing the album, it’s clear why the band is known for its live performances. The liveliness of the songs and performers is apparent even in the album and would be undoubtedly even more dramatic in concert.

“Frankly, we love playing live, and we sound much better live than not, and a lot of people who hear us for the first time get completely blown away,” Ram said. “It’s not about sitting down quietly. Come clap, dance, do whatever you want, just have a lot of fun.”