Indie Week Showcase - Hitherto

Delhi based post-rock act Hitherto started as a collaboration project between two musicians - Shrey Kathuria and Arsh Goswami, in early 2016. Initially, the band experimented with its own sound, tried something exclusive simultaneously through distinct changes during the process. They roped in a few members for drums and bass duties which helped in bringing Hitherto alive. The band debuted with single "Peppermint Sunset" in the summer of 2016 (Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Ritwik De), and finally released their debut EP, Levity, in October 2016 which received a lot of appreciation. (Mixed by Vaibhav Bhutani; Mastered at Chris Graham Recording). And, post several rounds of experiments and line up changes, a new single - Demerara, was released in mid-2018. (Mixed and Mastered by Apurv Agarwal).

1. What is Hitherto's story?

Hitherto is the brainchild of Delhi based musicians Arsh Goswami and Shrey Kathuria who have collaborated on various musical endeavours in the past including a Stoner Doom project under the alias that had something to do with nuclear radiations and Chernobyl; and a Black Metal project where Shrey got together with a friend and released a single that featured Arsh Goswami as a guest vocalist. It was majorly because we both shared a common musical interest, this collaboration took place wherein we were aiming to try out something new that revolved around the idea of ‘post-rock’ in general. The band was brought to life after we found a drummer and eventually a bass player to make music with. The quartet released their first single “Peppermint Sunset” in 2016.

2. We haven't seen you perform in the city. Why so? Are you planning to play soon?

We have been pretty inactive regarding playing live since our Bandstand gig that happened a year ago, due to various reasons– one of them being the lack of a solid lineup. With one of our members taking a back seat and the other deciding to leave the band and go for higher studies. It took us a while to conduct auditions and find the right replacements and to finally get in shape with them. During this time, a lot of new music was worked upon and considerable time was spent on perfecting it with the new member(s). However, we did play a gig with our new drummer accompanying us at Listening Room that took place at Banana House, Delhi by REProduce Artists in April. The response was surprisingly impressive, and we managed to play a whole new setlist. We have got yet another upgrade to the lineup recently, and we plan on playing live very soon!

3. You are one of the few in India producing Post Rock Music. Tell us about your early influences and the time you all first started out your production.

The post-rock/instrumental rock scene in India has been ever increasing so I am not sure if we’re ‘one of the few’ anymore haha! But yes, back in 2016 we were heavily influenced by both Mogwai as well as Explosions in the Sky when we started off, along with other artists we have always been a fan of like Isis, Russian Circles, Tides from Nebula, etc. The idea was to incorporate ‘abstraction’ as an overall expression, not fill it up too much and still manage to sound complete. Our influences and what we both listen to have changed over time. Artists that have a special place in our hearts our Deafheaven, Isis, Russian Circles, Neurosis, Klangstof, Porcupine Tree, Deerhunter to name a few.

4. How has life and your dreams - as a band changed after Demerara?

We have started to see Hitherto as a collaborative initiative, and we have begun to build a workflow so that every bit of our effort is counted, and so that we invest more time in ‘doing’ rather than ‘just planning.’ As far as dreams are concerned, we hope to play shows across the country someday, and we also hope there will be more and more support for this genre and that younger artists like us will get enough opportunities to put their music out in front of people.

5. What is next for Hitherto?

New music. New Releases. A collab or two. Probably a new EP. Probably another vacation while we work on an album. Who knows? And with that, the promising post-rock band - Hitherto is off to big things. Here is looking forward to some more amazing music by the duo, and hopefully we get to see them perform soon!