Camarillo, California is a quiet suburban city an hour outside of Los Angeles. It might be one of the most unlikely places that you could find a band that has been able to mix technical mastery with a sound that can appeal to music enthusiasts across the board. Over the years, Calcutta's unique sound, a fusion of quotable lyrics, screaming guitars, catchy melodies, and energetic rhythms, created the background for many high-energy shows and albums that have attracted a loyal following across North America. The culmination of their years of musical training and their love of rock music immediately distinguished them from local garage bands.
As the demand for the "Calcutta sound" increased, the original band produced their first album in 1998, self-titled “Calcutta”. After graduating from Camarillo High School, they balanced college life with their passion and commitment to Calcutta. These best friends and musical soul mates went on to win the KROQ and UC Sponsored UCLA Battle of the Bands and the prestigious UCLA Spring Sing. In between recording sessions of their third release, “…and I Remain Unchanged”, Calcutta also performed with Sum 41, Yellowcard, Unwritten Law and on the 2002 and 2003 Vans' Warped Tours.
In the fall of 2003, Calcutta released “The World Alone”, expertly engineered and produced by the band. It reflects Calcutta’s matured and fine-tuned style that has developed as certainly and steadily as their enthusiastic following. Calcutta’s fan base began to extend across North America as the band found itself to be one of the featured artists on the soundtrack for ESPN NHL 2K5 for the X-Box and Playstation 2, which features 6 songs from “The World Alone”. With many requests to play at local venues, such as the Ventura Theater, Calcutta quickly honed their live performance skills as they began to receive offers to play showcases at Los Angeles venues such as The Roxy, El Rey, The Key Club, and The Viper Room where they still continue to fill the venue to capacity.
In the summer of 2005, Calcutta performed as a showcase artist at the Midwest Music Summit in Indianapolis and became Music Edge’s Spot Light Artist for their accomplishments as a D.I.Y band. In 2007, GoDigital Records and Sony released Calcutta’s acoustic sessions recorded at Sony/BMG studios on Sony Connect and iTunes. This recording spurred the band to go back into the studio to record what would become the band’s next album, “Out of Daylight”.
In 2008 Calcutta partnered with GoDigital Records to release a deluxe edition of “The World Alone” which began to receive a significant amount of media attention. In early 2009, the single "Driving On" was featured on "Champions of the Silverman" which aired on Universal Sports and "Monster" was featured on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for "Loaded" starring Jesse Metcalfe and Corey Large. Music from “The World Alone” will also be included on the soundtrack of the feature film “Troublemaker” due to be released in the fall of 2010.
Calcutta is releasing their new album “Out of Day Light” in August of 2010 and will be supporting with concerts beginning in the fall.
But Calcutta is more than just a group of musicians. While the band aggressively pursued their musical interests, each member was able to achieve personal success as well. Now in their mid to late 20’s, Calcutta is longer just made up of musicians, but also a lawyer, a Phd, an engineer, a journalist, and a banker. The story of Calcutta continues as they evolve as a band, musical soul mates, and as individuals.
