The Fanculos Record at Alibaug Farmhouse

The Mumbai ska/reggae/funk band go old school for their full-length debut record.

- David Britto

OUR CONVERSATION WITH musician Ramon Ibrahim on the phone is not the smoothest—thanks to the sketchy network, it is punctuated with incessant lags and call drops. The frontman of Mumbai ska/reggae/funk band The Fanculos is speaking from a farmhouse tucked away somewhere in the coastal town of Alibaug on the outskirts of Mumbai. He arrived there the night before with his bandmates to camp in, set up a makeshift recording space and track their debut album.

But turns out building a temporary studio in an idyllic bungalow is not as romantic as it rounds. “[It was] like a racing driver arriving at the race and finding out that he has to assemble his car before he can race it,” jokes Ibrahim.

Besides Ibrahim, The Fanculos features drummer Jehangir Jehangir, saxophonist Ryan Sadri, bassist Saurabh Suman and guitarist Apurv Isaac.