Rohan Solomon is a singer-songwriter, composer, vocal coach and audio engineer; all rolled into one. Well-known in the Indian Indie Circles as the vocalist of Delhi-based Alt-Rock outfit Cyanide, Rohan started exhibiting his musical abilities at a rather early age. In the era of Channel V Launchpad and the Great Indian Rock Concerts, Cyanide was successful in making its presence felt in significant Indie Rock events of the country, in a short period.
Rohan, moved to New York a few years ago, where he met his soon to be new bandmates By Chance and the trio of business partners decided to name themselves after their fortuitous coming together for the love of music. Alongside Rohan Solomon (Frontman and Vocalist of Cyanide and Siren), By Chance comprises of Jeet Suresh Paul (Frontman and Vocalist of Meaxic) and Cheilean Jacob (Drummer and Percussionist for Siren).
During his time in New York Rohan also was a part of a Grammy Award-winning track called
“Bubblin” by Anderson Paak, in the capacity of an assistant engineer.
By Chance released its debut single titled ‘Blue Sky’ earlier in 2019. The single—a part of a three-song series—as luck would have it, took shape after Rohan returned home to Delhi, and pangs of nostalgia for the blue sky and pollution-free capital city that he grew up in. His next release takes off from where ‘Blue Sky’ ends. Called ‘Hard to Breathe’, the track enunciates the reality of living in the city of Delhi, which is now always in the ‘unfit air quality’ category.
The track is Rohan’s takeaway from an unpleasant real-life situation. Rohan elaborates, “This is a song that talks about the impact of the growing pollution in New Delhi. The song will take the listener through, a real-life incident that led my bandmates to rush me to an emergency room,
because it was indeed hard to breathe, for me. It’s got a Hard Rock/Alternative Rock tonality to it as also a steady melody with pop chorus harmonies and an aggressive rock feel to it. The significance of this track is to give the listeners a bit of a jolt about the alarming state of air pollution, but the tonality of the pop chorus leaves us with a positive note and an affirmation—there is still hope left!”
‘Time’, the final track of the trilogy released worldwide on October 10, 2019, concluding the set, by reiterating the need to take action, NOW—to save the world we live in, the environment that nourishes life and the air that we breathe and be mindful to the fact that the time is, in fact, running out.
‘Time’ speaks about not taking things for granted and taking active steps towards making a difference. But instead of blatantly talking about pollution, we stress more on the relationship that we have with our loved ones… Not taking them for granted, just like nature’s abundant resources, which are now slowly starting to deplete. And, how, this lack of sensitivity is not only affecting us but our future generations as well.
The time is NOW. A line from the song that sheds light on that is “Get up and make a move.
This is your chance today” and the punch line “Time slips away”.
Treatment: It’s a pop/rock song with crunchy guitars, smooth vocals. Everything has been
recorded with analog equipment at Engine Room Audio in New York City. No amp simulators
or MIDI instruments of any kind. Jeet sings lead vocals in this song, and Cheilean and Rohan do
the harmonies.
The band went old school and recorded the tracks in the analog domain at Engine Room
Audio, which is one of the biggest recording studios in New York City. Talking about his
experience of going back to analogue recording, Rohan says, “About the song technology, it
was liberating and refreshing not to be dependent on virtual instruments and MIDI and use only
analog equipment to record this song. I feel that’s what gives this song its depth…”
The tracks are available on all major streaming platforms.