Whenever we think of 90s girl bands, we automatically think of the Spice Girls. The girl group, which spelled Girl Power, was one of the best selling girl bands of all time and is responsible for making 'girl power' a rallying cry for fans everywhere. It was a show of power for girls in particular and saying how strong they can be.

Fast forward to 2017 and you have Ladies Compartment, a dynamic all-female music project based out of Mumbai. Unlike the Brit based Spice Girls who came together after answering a newspaper ad in a trade newspaper and are termed as a girl band, the four young ladies in Ladies Compartment came together as friends who decided to form a band, and referred to as such, instead of being known as a girl band.

The name Ladies Compartment is a tribute to the daily trials of a working woman in the city of Mumbai and its local trains. Consisting of four extremely talented young girls, there’s Ramya Pothuri (acoustic & vocals), Aarifah Rebello (drums & vocals), Aditi Ramesh (keys & vocals) and Nandita V. (bass & vocals) who make up Ladies Compartment. The band talks about everyday experiences in their songs. They also do covers of popular songs, the Beatles Blackbird is a must listen. The piece has a lone guitar with the ladies’ perfectly harmonized vocals in a haunting, stripped-down rendition: a truly unique cover of a timeless classic.

The band’s sound is a refreshing mix of jazz, soul and blues, with the occasional, intriguing addition of Carnatic classical music.

Verus Ferreira met up with the band for a short interaction.

How did the idea for forming Ladies Compartment come about?

Ladies Compartment: It stemmed from the idea of having a safe space for women that chose to do music. Just like the Mumbai local trains that have different women from all over traveling to a destination. We're all on this journey together.

Why the name Ladies Compartment?

LC: As a tribute to the Mumbai local trains.

Can each of you give a brief about yourself and also what each contributes to the band?

Nandita: Aarifah is a drummer, singer-songwriter and guitarist who sings and plays drums in the band. Ramya is a producer, guitarist and singer-songwriter who sings and plays guitars, Aditi is a singer songwriter and a keyboardist, and I am the bassist in the band.

What message do you want to convey through your band Ladies Compartment?

LC: We want to just play our music and normalize the stereotype about women musicians.

Were any of you in other bands before you decided to leave and start a new band?

LC: No.

What has been your experience so far as an all-female project in the Indian indie music industry?

LC: We have been well-received and supported by multiple platforms and performance spaces. We have pushed forward by focusing on our music, but the truth remains that people love to overuse and push the ‘all-female’ aspect for branding and this sometimes shifts focus away from the music. We’re trying to move away from this type of branding.

Do any / all of you have any musical background?

Nandita: Ramya has been trained in Hindustani, Aditi has been trained in carnatic and piano, Aarifah has been trained in drums.

Do any of you also have any other musical projects / bands you work on besides Ladies Compartment?

LC: Aditi has Voctronica and her solo project, Ramya has her solo project, a duo called Water and Rum, and works with producer Trodd, while Aarifah has her solo project, and punk band called Toycatcher.

What kind of music do you all usually perform?

LC: As a band we seem to more lean towards R & B and blues

Who are your musical influences?

LC: Each of us has our own influences and styles and bringing that to the band is fun as it mixes things up.

Give us a little detail into your songwriting process. How do you go about it?

LC: There is no one process we follow. With our earlier songs, Aditi would come up with chords and a rough melody. The band would add instrumentation together, while Ramya and Aditi worked on lyrics and Aarifah and Nandita sealed the piece with smooth transitions and rhythmic patterns. With one of our newer songs, Nandita wrote the lyrics, melody, bassline and backing vocal parts and the band fleshed it out by adding instruments and modifying the chord structures in certain bits. In our newest song, Aarifah created a rhythmic pattern which the whole band then sat together in one space. Each of us has written our own verse over the same music and you can see how different we are as individuals by the varied ways in which we all have interpreted the music. There is no one process we follow and we are continuously experimenting with different methods. So our songwriting has been very random so far, we've been working at finding a structured way of writing as a band and that process will take time as we're musicians that are all used to writing a certain way individually and no we have no music out yet.

Are the four members of Ladies Compartment fixed, or do you have other members who join in occasionally?

LC: We started off as four members, but we hope to collaborate with other artists too.

You also do a bunch of covers and also a few originals. Are any of the songs addressed to women’s issues?

LC: The covers are usually songs that we enjoy singing/playing. We feel our songs are real and relatable to almost anyone.

With the indie scene still being at a somewhat nascent stage, what changes would you like to see for artists to really succeed and cross over into larger audiences?

LC: Monetary returns for artists in the indie scene need to go up. There needs to be more respect for artists, and the careers of artists need to be more sustainable for artists to grow and reach larger audiences. There is an attitude with many venues that if they can get the same act for a lower cost they’ll take the opportunity and pay them less. As a result, many artists are scrambling for survival, and this often stunts their artistic development and ability to reach more people.

Besides music, do you have regular jobs?

LC: We work as musician’s full time.

In a male dominated music industry, have you faced any sexism? Do you want to see a change?

LC: Every one faces sexism whether you're a male or a female. We are often underestimated or not taken seriously by concert goers or venue programmers. Sometimes a programmer will say we can’t get a drum kit and must do with a cajon when know for a fact that bands with male members have used drum kits at such gigs. However, we combat this by being assertive to such people, not dwelling on it and instead aiming to excel in everything we do. Do we want to see a change? Of course. But change takes time, open mindedness and being willing to change.

How did Ladies Compartment become what it is now, from when you were just a jam band?

LC: We're still unraveling that. Figuring out our sound our vibe and the process although tedious will be rewarding.

For young people who want to be musicians in India: what is the one thing you would tell them not to do?

LC: Peer pressure is real. Take advice and critique from people about your music, but do not be in a rush to release anything. Take your time. Discover your music. And when you're ready release it. Not because anyone else is telling you to release it, but because you want to.

What do you want changed in the music industry for girls?

LC: Bands comprising of all female members should be considered a band and not a ‘girl band.’ More female musicians should be encouraged to play and the novelty value of female musicians should be replaced with a genuine appreciation of their musicianship.

What are your future plans for the bands?

LC: Future plans are to write more and to flesh out our sound. We are also in the process of arranging new covers, so you can expect new material at our live performances.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira