Side Yard Sounds: Do The Needful
Do the Needful is a punk Bollywood ensemble that filters retro Indian pop music through the prism of ghostly cabaret, post-punk, and blues into something entirely unique. It focuses on the era when filmi-songs were shaped as much by a menagerie of spaghetti western themes, raucous surf rock, and afro-cuban rhythms as they were by South Asian classical and folk. Featuring Hindi vocalists, Bansuri, guitar/fuzz organ, bass, and drums, DTN’s hypnotic beats fill the dance floor while shards of folk melodies and moody improvisation transport listeners to a different space. They evoke Bollywood's rich past and present a powerful modern masala that is a distinct product of Chicago's musical melting pot.
DTN has created a sound that bridges cultural divides, bringing punk rockers, music lovers, Desi hipsters and South Asian aunties / uncles together. There is lots of love for this music in South Asian communities, but uninitiated folks don't care if we are singing in Urdu, Hindi, or Tamil. A jam is a jam.
After countless Chicago indie rock stages (Empty Bottle | Schubas | Hideout Chicago | Subterranean | Skylark | Cali Clipper | Liar's Club), unconventional venues (Spirit of Music Garden | Secret River Show Concrete Dolphin | Vacant Southside Church Halls | Navy Pier Grand Ballroom | Athenaeum Center), college conferences, block parties, protests, and fundraisers, DTN has rocked... all the places! Their draw is solid and consistent across the region. Recently they’ve brought out 300+ people to Madison, Wisconsin’s Garver Atrium / Olrich Botanical Gardens on a Tuesday evening and conjured up 250 people on a Wednesday at Old Town School of Folk Music's Maurer Hall for 2 sets (in the middle of an ice storm).
MUSIC https://dotheneedful.bandcamp.com
VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vRWdQ_9M2V4 |
https://youtu.be/EJL2FimX5rg?is=jitUorRRysuV5inn | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWaFp1-wSOg
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHW1TQT9ShY
PRESS UChicago Magazine
SOCIALS https://www.instagram.com/dtn_chicago |
https://www.facebook.com/dotheneedfulCHI/ |
https://www.youtube.com/@GrandFinaleLikeBonus
BOOKING https://peopleofrhythm.org/artists/do-the-needful/
CONTACT Jamie Osborne | 415-948-6811 | 5751 S Harper
Chicago 60637 | dotheneedfulmusic@gmail.com
DEFINITION "Do the Needful" is a formal phrase requesting that necessary (but unspecified) actions be taken, commonly used in South Asian correspondence. A bureaucratic refrain, the sentiment do the needful, is a request that that you get your shit done and implies a shared understanding that you know the shit I’m talking about.
