What did you accomplish your freshman year?
Most likely, it looks like nothing next to the achievements of Moksha, one of Tufts' newest student bands, made up of freshmen Jahn Sood, Amod Rajbhandari, Job Mukkada, Ryan Coughlin, Joe Stein and sophomore MacKenzie Rawcliffe. In less than one year at Tufts, these six have established a band that is wise beyond their years.
The bandmates attribute their formation to a higher power: the Office of Residential Life and Learning. In a fortunate twist of fate, the core of the band met as roommates in Hodgon and Haskell Halls. Soon after, they added drummer Stein and backing vocalist/percussionist Rawcliffe, who, Rajbhandari jokes, merited an invitation "after we heard her singing in the bathroom."
Moksha, the Hindi word for a "spiritual breaking point," is similar to the Buddhist state of nirvana, and the group formed just in time to play at the International Club's Parade of Nations on Feb. 25.
Positive feedback from the audience persuaded the Moksha gang to continue playing around campus. Since then, they have appeared at various club benefits for groups such as Pangea, the Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA), I-Club and Oxfam, as well as a recent show at Colby College in Maine.
"We have a musical identity issue," said Rajbhandari, who plays both classical and electric guitars, alluding to the fact that each member of the band comes from a different musical background. The title that they give to their unique sound is "experimental acoustic Latin groove orchestra," a label that shows how committed they are to breaking down barriers between different genres of music.
Job, the bassist, and Rajbhandari were both in rock bands during their high school years. Rajbhandari points to guitar shredder virtuosos Steve Vai and Joe Satriani as influences, along with classical and flamenco guitarists he was introduced to at home in Nepal. Coughlin, one of the Moksha's percussionists, plays trumpet in the Tufts Big Band, and Sood follows in the singer-songwriter tradition of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley.
Yet the group aims to incorporate all these influences into their playing. Sood considers the group's eclecticism one of its best attributes. "Lots of groups today go for a commercial rock sound," said Sood, adding that Moksha, on the other hand, experiments with their music.
Though the band looks forward to recording, they are currently focusing on performing live, explaining that, as a coalition of underclassmen, they must first work to build up their reputation around campus. Sood says that their other goal in playing live is to "let the audience have a good time and get the people dancing."
Their concerts exemplify the diverse styles of the band; Moksha plays both acoustic and electric, instrumental and vocal sets, both with and without the backing of a drum set. Moksha competed to open this year's Spring Fling at the Battle of the Bands. They lost the spot to The Juice, but they promise to be back for next year's competition.
They are quick to point out, however, that they were the only predominantly freshmen group performing, a testament to the hard work that helped turn them from six underclassmen into one of Tufts' top bands in less than a semester's time.
With three years at Tufts still ahead of them, the future is looking bright for Moksha. Most bands don't accomplish as much in their entire four years as they have in their short time together. If you listen to the band talk about their music, it is clear that they have a love for their craft and a desire to spread that affection to others.
As Sood said, "If you could express everything with words, there wouldn't be a need for instruments. The goal is to feel and experience the music."
Moksha's upcoming performances include an appearance tonight at Oxfam, a joint effort on April 22 with Bare Bodkin, and another concert for TASA on April 28.
