A song that captures the vibe of Bengaluru's Cubbon Park

The Hindu

2 days ago

A young couple walks along a lane in Cubbon Park, each carrying a single long-stemmed rose, shoulders grazing, eyes interlocked, clearly in the courting stage. A few yards away, in the parking lot, a young man wearing silver cufflinks and a barrister's band, is getting into his car while on the lawns beyond, a few older men are in deep siesta, their rhythmic snores interjected by the squeak of bounding squirrels, the caws of crows and the rustle of leaves dancing in the wind. Adjacent to this, at Queen's Park, a young woman in a sari fixes her camera to a stand and begins recording her Bollywood-style dance moves, while tourists convene near the statue of Edward VII aka 'Bertie', their casual jeans, sneakers and backpacks, starkly contrasting with the former king's close-fitting breeches, long cloak and dapper shoes.
It is this laidback, eclectic vibe of the park that a recently-released song, 'Cubbon Park', is trying to capture, explains Derek Mathias, who wrote this song last January while on a flight to Nagaland. 'I was on my laptop, and I thought I'd just write something because I hadn't written anything for a while,' says the Bengaluru-based musician and leader of the band, Derek & The Cats, as we settle on one of the benches situated amidst the undulating green of the park, insulated from traffic and the general bustle unfurling around it. The song made him feel ' content and happy… like a Sunday morning.'
For Derek, a true-blue Bengalurean and trained classical pianist who began learning to produce and record his music in college, Sunday mornings are also inevitably linked to Cubbon Park. 'I was trying to visualise this Sunday morning feeling, and since I've come here on Sunday mornings, calling it Cubbon Park seemed like a really apt thing. This place has had a positive impact on my life.'
'Cubbon Park', which was released on YouTube on June 1, is an ode to the park, offering an immersive experience of what the city's green lung looks and feels like on a weekend morning. In the video, a live performance of Derek & The Cats at the park is interspersed with footage of trees and lawns, bounding dogs, people playing badminton and frisbee, taking a ride on the toy train or boat, having breakfast at Airlines Hotel, and some regulars offering sound bites about what makes the park special.
'You come to Cubbon Park in the morning, take your dog for a walk, enjoy the space, go to Airlines, relax under that big banyan tree, have masala dosa and coffee and go home,' says Derek. 'That is the full experience…the emotion I wanted to capture.'
The journey
The band, which consists of Derek on the piano, Adesh Vinod on the guitar, Joel Rozario on percussion, Vishal Varier on bass, Kenneth Besterwitch on drums, Gautam David on saxophone and Anand Murali on keyboard, began working on the music video in March this year. While they had already been playing the song at various venues nationwide, testing and modifying it based on how people responded to the music, Derek wanted to release it only once the video was ready. 'I was particular that it had to come out with a video,' he says, pointing out that since the band makes instrumental music, 'it is hard for someone to just hear a melody, and think, Cubbon Park. We needed to find a way to document it.'
Since professional photography is prohibited in Cubbon Park, they had to get creative, using an iPhone 16 Pro, a GoPro, Insta360 and RayBan Meta glasses to document the park over several weekends. 'I am an engineer: jugaad is the way to do things,' he says, with a laugh. They even borrowed Appam, a friend's dog and attached the GoPro to his leash to 'document Cubbon Park through their (dogs') eyes,' he says.
In May this year, the band performed at the century-old bandstand in Cubbon Park, which has been revived recently, 'one of the best gigs I've ever played,' admits Derek. Unlike in a regular gig, where the performance takes place in dark, smoky venues at night, this gig occurred early in the morning, he recounts. 'There was greenery, Sunday morning breeze, completely open…it felt so inspiring to perform our music there…such a great way to start the day,' he says. 'We were just really happy.'
Derek hopes that 'Cubbon Park', which will be included in the band's second album that will be released in August, will make an impact. 'If a person from Bengaluru watches this video, they should feel nostalgic. And if someone from outside watches the video, they should say 'Wow, this is a place I'd like to go to',' he says.
In his opinion, people do not know enough about Bengaluru, and he hopes the song will help change this. 'We are a Bengaluru band, and if a band from Bengaluru doesn't spread its culture, who will?' he asks. 'Most of us in the band are born and raised here, so it has to be us.'
You can listen to Cubbon Park at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCs1j1gTCZE