A 4-member music collective, The Yellow Diary has a sound that is best described as 'Poetry with Rock'. With a blend of electronic music and rock, they are touted to be a compositional powerhouse with widespread praise from music and film industry in India.

The Yellow Diary consists of Rajan Batra (lead vocals, lyrics), Himonshu Parikh (keys, production), Stuart DaCosta (bass), and Sahil Shah (drums). They have released two EPs (3 songs each) in the past 2 years, too much critical acclaim and are building a loyal and engaged fan base across the country.

Building a loyal fan base across the country, with hits like Rab Raakha and Marz, the alt-rock powerhouse band are back to win millions of hearts yet again with a power-packed track Sajni. It also features the band’s ex member Vaibhav Pani on guitar.

Verus Ferreira met up with the band to know more about their music, their new song Sajni, and of course how the name The Yellow Diary came about.

So let’s go back in time to 2016 when The Yellow Diary first came together. How did you all meet?

Himonshu : It was actually 2015 when Rajan and I met. We met in a professional capacity, but soon realised we had some magical musical chemistry and decided to form a collaborative project to make music together. The first song we worked on was Marz, and that’s when I called Vaibhav Pani, our then guitarist, who was working as an IT consultant. He loved the song, came in to the studio and totally nailed his guitar bits. After getting a lot of encouragement and validation for our music from some greats like Vishal Dadlani, Raghu Dixit, we decided to take our act live. Which is when I called up Sahil, a long time friend and an absolutely insane drummer in 2016. He’d heard the music before and loved it, and he introduced us to our very own legend Stuart. Once Stu heard Marz, he was in. And that’s how TYD began.

What were you guys doing before forming the band, studying, working..

Himonshu : I was a Production(Manufacturing) Engineer before getting into music. But before the band formed I’d already been working in music for 2-3 years.

Rajan : I was a Merchant Navy cadet. But before the band, I was working and learning about the music industry, with a few producers.

Sahil : I was working as session drummer in the Independent and the commercial circuit. But before getting into music fulltime I had finished my BBA and was studying for CFA.

Stu : Before the band was formed I was still a full time musician. But before that I worked in advertising.

From a five member outfit, you guys are now four after the exit of Vaibhav Pani. Any reason that made Vaibhav leave the band? Do you plan to replace him with another member on guitar?

Himonshu: Vaibhav wished to further his career as a music producer which he felt was more his calling. He didn’t want to be a part of the band if he couldn’t give a 100% of his heart and mind here. So he took the hard decision of moving on. We love him and wish him luck in everything he does. We‘ve been touring with the incredibly talented Harshvardhan Gadvi. He’s a magician on the guitar and an absolute blast to hang out with.

Who does the songwriting process in the band and what topics do you try to focus on?

Rajan : It's a very natural process for us. We all write in our ways. I write the vocal melody and the lyrics. Songwriting for me is more of a mental release process. It’s a way for me to let my thoughts out. I believe I'm driven by life, so the songwriting is very inspired from my experiences, emotions, thoughts, opinions. Just like for some, it's going back home and writing in their personal diary.

What is the story behind the band name The Yellow Diary?

Himonshu : Our songs come from personal experiences, experiences of people around us or thoughts and philosophies. The kind of things you would go home and pen down in your personal journal like a “Dear Diary” vibe.The colour yellow is a mysterious colour. It generally denotes happiness and brightness. But it has a dark side to it as well, physical illness, cynicism, etc.So just as the meaning of the colour yellow spans from dark to bright, our songs span emotionally as well, some being dark, some being bright and some in between.Hence every page of the diary is a different song with a different emotion.

The band became a household name with the song ‘Marz’ and the support it received from Sony Music. Can you tell us something about the song?

Himonshu : Wow, thank you. Honestly ‘Marz’ is the song that we say wrote us, and not the other way around. It’s what brought us all together including us as a collective with Sony Music India. It talks about the dilemma you face when your heart and mind are in 2 different places. And when that dilemma turns into such a strong obsession, it’s almost like an illness.

The album ‘Izafa’ in Urdu was an out and out success. You also write songs in different languages. Any reason?

Rajan : Over time, I've found value in honest thoughts. For me, that honesty also stems from the language I might have thought or related a certain idea to. I've heard my family speak Punjabi and Hindi and it's very common in the north Indian dialect to have Urdu references, here and there. So, I allow my thoughts or ideas their honesty by writing them in the language they come to me in.

You’ve signed with Sony Music. How has the journey been for you the past few years and getting a record contract.

Sahil : In today's day and age where so much music gets released on a daily basis, marketing becomes a very important factor in deciding the success or failure of your music. Rohan Jha and team at Sony Music have done a splendid job at giving us that reach and making our music available to millions of people not only in India but also around the world. It's been almost 5 years since we signed with Sony Music and we couldn't have asked for a better group of people to be associated with us on this journey.

You recently released a new song ‘Sajni’. Tell us something about the making of this song and its beautiful music video.

Himonshu : ‘Sajni’ is one of the first songs that we wrote during the initial days of the band and since then we have been waiting to release it. Frankly, the song has had its own journey. Today what we’ve released is what we feel is the proper journey that we could share with the listeners. We played it live a lot, and we rearranged this song a few times over the years, and finally decided to go to the studio, let feel and emotion dictate our musical decisions. In fact quite a few parts of the arrangement were made while recording the song itself.

Stu : The video was made by the wonderful crew at Schbang, who took a really lean crew and shot it beautifully in the North. The performances by Saurabh Goyal are Anna Kler are stellar too. Really moved us and brought some of us to tears.

From your first song ‘Marz’ to ‘Rab Raakha’, ‘Kaun Mera’, and now ‘Sajni’, how has your creative process and sounds cape evolved over time?

Sahil: We try every idea we have. Nothing gets swept under the rug but you got to separate the idea from the person. We all check our egos at the door and go with whatever we think works best for the song. We're always learning and evolving as musicians and that will always show in the music that we make. We all predominantly enjoy rock music but frankly it's an open canvas when it comes to making music.

Who are your musical influences in Bollywood and International music?

Sahil : Since we all come from different musical backgrounds our influences are also very different. Which is amazing because we keep showing each other new music and that really expands our repertoire as a group. Some of the artists that we are really into are Coldplay, Billie Elish, AR Rahman, Amit Trivedi, Dave Mathews Band, Snarky Puppy, Hiatus Kayote, Foo Fighters.

Do you have any plans or wish list to collaborate with any music artists in India or overseas, like the collaboration you did with Shilpa Rao.

 Rajan : I think, with time, we've learnt that collaborations can allow us to express even more and in so many different forms and colours, so, as and when the song needs, we'd always be open to collaborations. About the list, I don't think there's an end to the number of artists we look up to and look forward to work with at some point, especially in this day and age where talent is just over flowing in all directions.

Have you done any work for Bollywood?

Stu: No, we haven't yet. But we're looking forward to it. We've done a few songs for OTT platforms and brands last year. This year, we are looking forward to a bunch of them and more.

Any memorable live gig you’d like to share with your fans?

Sahil : The first time we got to play at the NH7 Weekender in Pune. It was a really special moment for us. We've always dreamt of playing on that stage. The first time we heard the crowd singing our songs back to us.

If not music, what would each of you be doing?

Himonshu : Dreaming of how I could get into music.

Sahil : I'd be working in my family business cribbing about how horrible my life is. 

Rajan : Merchant Navy cadet. But mostly what Himonshu and Sahil said.

Stu : Professional Basketball player

What are your future plans?

Rajan : Writing and releasing a lot of music remains priority. Apart from that, collaborations, lots and lots of performances, we've already written a couple songs for OTT platforms and brands, and we're working on and looking forward to many more.

Message to your fans.

Stu : Your unending love and support means the world to us. Don’t stop the love. Loads of more music coming soon.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira