The better the food, the better the music: EKA

EKA comprising former Euphoria members — Benjamine “Benny” Pinto and Hitesh “Rikki” Madan — along with Lokesh Madan, get talking
Life after Euphoria
Our last performance with Euphoria was back in 2010. We’d been part of the band for about 17 years and more each. It was awesome, but it was also about time we did our own thing. Since we formed EKA, it’s been just music round the clock.We’re probably one of the few bands who are completely into the band. We’re always working on new songs, trying to fix concerts or just finding new material. Honestly, in the last one and a half years since we got together, we have never been compared Euphoria. Our songs are very sing-along kind of numbers.
The ‘Swatantra Rock’ tag
Our music has elements of jazz, rock and other genres. How do you categorize this kind of music into a single genre? That’s when we came up with the term, ‘Swantantra Rock’. It means music without boundaries. Moreover, for us, it’s the the songs are more important than the type of genre it belongs too. We believe in the power of the song and that a good song can come from any genre.
Hyderabadi khana
We are foodies, so the first thing we do wherever we land is start thinking about the food. We loved the biryani here and the kebabs. We also had some fabulous ‘Guntur idlis’. Our funda is simple, the better the food, the better the music. Food apart, we also make it a point to check out the city. We just finished two shows in the last month, one at the Film City and another at a private gig.
Private albums versus filmi music
Ah! We’d love to compose for Bollywood. Today, the Bollywood music scene is pretty awesome, so if something comes up, why not? We would also love to compose for Tollywood. Hitesh and Lokesh almost get the local accent right. Infact when we’re in different cities for shows, we make it a point to sing regional songs too. Like for the gig at Geetanjali College, we sang “Ringa Ringa” and “Langavoni”.