== Cassini's Division The Band ==


For five years Cassini's Division have been taking their brand of emotionally charged modern rock to an ever growing audience with whom the band seems to share an uncanny, almost spiritual connection.

Based in Calcutta, India, the band weaves a sonic tapestry that combines the whiplash distortion of nu-metal and the melodic heart of emo with the ambient darkness of Goth pop.

With major Indian rock festivals and a limited edition EP under its belt, the band is set to enter the studio in August to begin recording their first full length album The Ringside View


>>> Cassini's Division is... <<<

Rahul Guha Roy


Born in Calcutta in 1972, Rahul spent his early years in Arusha, Tanzania where he studied at the European Public School. As part of the curriculum he studied piano, received voice training and learnt to conduct the school orchestra under the tutelage of S. Ngalianguo, one of Tanzania's best-known music instructors. His ability to sing in 'different voices' was noticed and he was further groomed to sing for school musicals. He was among the three chosen child artistes to perform for the then President Julius K. Nyerere at a civic reception in 1981.

For all the Western Classical training he received, music was on the outer periphery of his activities - a slightly more enjoyable subject than Math (which he dreads to this day). At this point the Guha Roy family was in transit accommodation at the Safari Hotel - the most happening nightspot for Arusha's burgeoning soukos (also called Congo jazz) groups. One night he managed to slip into the hotel disco and witnessed a live jam by the Afrika Union Band. After 15 minutes he knew that music was 'it' for him. 'It was the most important experience of my life till that time, 'coz I never knew that music could get so wild and exciting before watching these cats - it all sounded like it was happening on some other planet, man!', says Rahul. Subsequently his father introduced him to the music of the Beatles: he hasn't looked back since then.

On returning to India at age 14, Rahul lived in Shillong, home to one of the country's most vibrant rock scenes in the late '80s. He acted in musicals like Wizard of Oz and Smike, finished school and took up studying English at graduate level. By this time Rahul was writing lyrics, playing guitar and singing for local prog-rockers Quasimyd. From the late eighties to the mid nineties he got involved in technical music, studying jazz, fusion and prog rock and working to develop his instrumental skills. He also performed original compositions for All India Radio's North Eastern Service.

Rahul moved to Calcutta in 1992, and from '95, worked with the band Sweet Leaf for two years, playing a fusion of rock and Indian musical styles, and not necessarily the Classical sort at that. Ex-Division drummer Arka shared percussion duties in that band. The group split when Rahul moved to Kathmandu to take up an advertising job. Between 1996 and 1999 he was musically inactive. He returned to Calcutta in I999. Next, Cassini's Division took shape in 2001.

Today Rahul wants to play "music that is more about the vibe and sound than technique or flash." Writing both the lyrics and a large share of music for Cassini's Division is just the gig he wants to do. "I am both surprised by and confident of the music this band is doing - it's fresh., ego-less and totally devoted to highlighting the song as opposed to getting out there and trying to impress people with stunt guitar whines and screaming vocals," smiles Rahul.

Sukanti Roy


Sukanti Roy was the kind who would make his parents worry very often. A kid with die-hard King Baby Syndrome, he soon succumbed to isolation and was an inherent introvert. His parents realized that this was not the kind to be groomed at home, so off he was sent to the hills to a boarding school where confinement and discipline would (supposedly) make him the man that we now see in the Division.

His interest in music grew during his school years at Victoria Boys in Kurseong - one of North-East India's music hotspots . "There were a lot of students interested in music, and in the hills there's a lot of rock 'n' roll," says Sukanti. He subsequently went on to teach himself guitar, and developed a taste for hard rock and the then nascent British metal acts. Rainbow, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were his early influences. At the same time he was also listening to other music and improving his guitar playing.

A few years later found Sukanti gigging around Calcutta with the Injuns - a cover act doing diverse music for clubs and fests. His passion for art was also surfacing and Sukanti worked hard at graphics, painting and comic book ideas. After some time with Injuns, Sukanti moved on to the Bangla band Cactus and was part of the original lineup. Soon, though, he was to take a complete break from music for a full five years.

Then, in July 2001, he met Rahul at founding bassist Shamik Chatterjee's house and the three decided to undertake the Cassini's Division project together. Sukanti says, 'I wasn't thinking of really building a band at that point, but I totally enjoyed the material Rahul was proposing. Today, the sound that we have in the Division is something I never imagined."

Sukanti opines that the way the two guitars work in the Division's music allows for textural playing. "Our band doesn't call for specific rhythm and lead roles most of the time, we play to the architecture of the song and create the ambience for it," he says.


John Bose


John replaced founding bassist Shamik Chatterjee in May 2002.

John started playing his sister's guitar when he was 12. 'I used to sit in church in the front pew and watch these guys do their stuff more than listen to the preacher,' smiles John. With no formal musical education, he went through school playing, by ear, first the guitar and then drums for the school band.

"I never had a problem picking up a new instrument and playing a tune on it pretty decently okay," he says. But in High School when he had to fill in for the regular bassist in a competition, there was no looking back for him. "It just felt so right. I knew right then that I ought to quit looking while I was ahead." He played bass all through high school and college. "I had always been crowd-shy, and this way I didn't have to be center stage and yet the heartbeat flowed through my fingers to the rest of them."

When he started working, the time he could spend playing reduced drastically, 'and covers really didn't do me anymore'. He quit the bands with whom he played and spent his time working on his technique. 'My greatest drawback even today is my ignorance of theory. I need to work that. Being able to read music and like, break it all down, is to die for... opens up a whole new gamut of shit.'

In January 2005, he quit his job around the same time as Rahul, and went into music fulltime. When asked about Cassini's Division, John says, 'What more could I ask for? The freedom to each play our own interpretations of what a song should sound like and then come together to meld into a twisting, weaving dance is really intense. They are family.'

Ludo


"He became a conguero before I noticed: now he can really blast it," says ex-drummer Arka, of his younger brother Ludo. That's a fact: one wouldn't know that this 21-year-old musician is hailed as one of the most promising drummers-percussionists of the Kolkata circuit.

Ludo exudes a cool air of mastery over his instruments, primarily the drums, bongos and congas. According to his own confession though, he is still a "below-average conga player".

Ludo didn't take music studies seriously before he was 14. However, his childhood lessons in the tabla lasted far longer than his brother's. Noticing his flair for hand drums, his mom decided to put him under the tutelage of the legendary Monojit Dutta back in 1998. Now a member of Dutta's core study group, Ritoban recently played on Colores, the latest release from Monojit Dutta & The Orient Express.

Ritoban cites Santana as his biggest musical influence. But prod him a bit more, and he would rattle off a host of Afro-Cuban artistes: Carlos 'Patato' Valdez, Changuito, Walfredo Reyes Sr., Tito Puente, the Buena Vista Social Club and many more. But it's not just Afro-Cuban and African artistes that encompass his musical tastes: Ritoban likes to be open to all music, ranging from Bangla folk to classic rock to funk and reggae.

With a Masters degree in Philosophy fresh under his belt, Ludo is now full-time drummer-percussionist for The Division.



Musical Influences:


Rahul: Singer-songwriters Bob Dylan, Eddie Vedder, Michael Stipe, jazz-fusion guitar greats from Jeff Beck to Larry Carlton, progressive groups like Yes and King Crimson, African and Indian music.'

'John: Dilip 'Nutun' Dutt - acoustic guitar guru, who got me really listening and my sister, Lena, for hiding the chords. Phil Keaggy, Michael O'Martian, Pat Metheny, Eric Johnson, Nathan East, Stefan Lessard, Nightwish, Rhapsody, Nirvana, Radiohead, Incubus, Staind, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit.

Sukanti: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, Tesla, AC/DC, Jethro Tull, Poison, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Linkin Park, Eminem, Crazytown, 311, Alien Ant Farm, Disturbed, REM, Pet Shop Boys.

Sukanti: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, Tesla, AC/DC, Jethro Tull, Poison, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Linkin Park, Eminem, Crazytown, 311, Alien Ant Farm, Disturbed, REM, Pet Shop Boys.


Ludo: Santana, Sting, Mongo Santa Maria, Tito Puente, Pink Floyd, Carlos 'Patato' Valdez, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, The Police, DMB, Richie Gajate-Garcia, Al Di Meola, Giovanni Hidalgo, Amyt Dutta, Monojit Dutta.



>>> Various bits of information from which the band has drawn either influences (material or personality) or, using which, parallels may be drawn... <<<



Cassini's Division

Cassini's division is the obvious large gap in Saturn's rings as viewed from Earth.

Cassini's Division is named for the Italian-French astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini, who discovered four of Saturn's major moons and the dark, narrow gap, Cassini's Division, splitting the planet's rings.

" Cassini's Division is not entirely void but contains fine material...particles moving within Cassini's Division would orbit Saturn in periods ranging from 11 hr. 19 min. to 12 hr. 5 min. This is 1/2 the period of the satellite Mimas, 1/3 that of Enceladus, 1/4 that of Tethys and 1/9 that of Rhea. This is another example of resonance. "

Two problems crop up when we talk about actually seeing this division. The first is familiarity. Most of us know what the Cassini's looks like and how far out it is, so we might tend to "think" we see it when we actually don't.

The second problem is the ring contrast between the A and B rings. The B-ring is brighter than the A-ring, which tends to reinforce the perception that there is a dividing line between them, especially at low power. The division exists of course, but at what point does it become visible as a curving arc, and not just as a contrast effect?