The Local Train

New Delhi-based quartet The Local Train’s soaring, arena-ready sonic approach and poetic lyrics (in Hindi and Urdu) have made them one of India’s top rock bands. • The band formed in Chandigarh in 2008 when bassist Ramit Mehra and guitarist-vocalist Raman Negi met, with the latter resigning from his day job at a multinational company to move to New Delhi with the band and pursue music full-time. • Drummer and percussionist Sahil Sarin—a previous bandmate of Mehra—joined soon after, while guitarist Paras Thakur entered in 2011 when he was 19, dropping out of his college course in engineering for the opportunity. • Initially including Bollywood covers alongside their own music, The Local Train first found a wide following in India’s college festival circuit and used prize money from band competitions to record their debut album Aalas Ka Pedh, released in 2015. • Songs such as “Choo Lo” and “Dil Mere” hone in on an affecting lyrical tenderness, while “Aaoge Tum Kabhi”, first released as a single online in 2014, made its way into the soundtrack for Hindi film Angry Indian Goddesses in 2015—a first for the independent band. • Their second album Vaaqif (2018) features finessed and incisive rock tracks like the driving, socially conscious “Gustaakh”, a metaphorical commentary on Indian politics.