The Dakoha Stop is a 4-piece alternative rock act that was formed in 2016 when Karan Mahajan and Abhishek Kumar met in Punjab while in college. Soon after, the band was joined by bassist Nikhil Khurana and drummer Tika Thapa. The four members have assimilated several Rock n Roll, Post Rock and alternate rock influences but it is their own want for self-expression that makes their sound unique. Having made their name around the live circuit by giving charged live performances, the band has finally released a studio recorded version of their single ‘Sabab’, off of their upcoming debut album.
‘Sabab’ is a cool, alternative rock song with a modern pop tinge. The song features the interplay of all the band members as they take their time to build layers upon layers of rhythms, harmonies and beats. The lyrics, written by Karan Mahajan, talk about love and warmth, with the word ‘Sabab’ in itself translating to ‘the reason’ or ‘the cause’, indicating the fact that when you’re in love, your partner becomes your reason to do a lot of things in life. “In Sabab, the protagonist is talking about how he feels after losing his beloved, how his world has changed but at the same time he is happy for her. So, he is not delivering it in a sad manner, it’s a sad song but still with a happy vibe to it to deliver the message of positivity. See everything happens for a reason & we can’t fight it, we have to accept things and move on in life.”
The song was recorded, mixed & mastered at Plug ’N’ Play Studios in New Delhi which is owned and operated by Advaita and Shadow and Light’s Anindo Bose. The band says they waited quite some time to realize the true potential of this track. “This song is very special to us as we waited for 3 years to record and release it. Two years back, we were not sure about whether we will be able to deliver what we had in our heads. So we did a lot of changes in the song in the last 3 years and when finally, when we were sure about it we approached Mr. Anindo Bose. He is the best and we only wanted to work with him for this upcoming album.” says the band.
Being an unusual name, the band explains the significance behind The Dakoha Stop. They tell us “Our drummer Tika Thapa was studying at LPU (Phagwara, Punjab) and was living in a rented apartment in Dakoha (a small place near Jalandhar Cant). We had some friends over there so we basically used to go there and jam with a bunch of musicians. After a few months we got hold of Tika and we jammed and then we all decided, yes, we can pursue this thing together for life. So when the time came to name the band, we decided as the lineup of the band got completed at Dakoha itself, so let’s name it The Dakoha Stop”
The Dakoha Stop have also been in conversation online for a cover of Parvaaz’s song (link below).
What’s in store for the band in the future? A lot. They tell us “Our plans for the future are pretty clear, we are going to release two more singles from the album with their official videos and then we will announce the album with it’s release date. This is just the first single out of the lot of songs that we have decided for the album. We are incorporating a lot of different sounds & we feel like the magic is going to happen soon! We are still hoping that the Covid situation ends soon so that our plans of doing live gigs, which we used to do regularly, can happen again and we can share our songs with a live audience and create a magical experience with the overall coordination of the whole team”
