Biography

Tushar Banerjee is a professional instrumentalist based out of Kolkata, West Bengal. Presently the drummer of Krosswindz, Tushar started his musical journey back in 2004. Through his growing years, he developed an inclination towards music. What merely began with playing pots and pans culminated into an intense passion towards rhythm and took shape in the form of playing the drums. In 2005, he started his musical career by creating one of the very first metal bands of the city, called Nitric Dreams. In less than a year, he shot to fame because of the band’s complex compositions and odd time signatures, which was much ahead of time. Nitric Dreams got their first label contract from ‘Prime Music’ after they went on to grab the third place at a regional Band Talent Hunt in 2006. Although the band lasted for a short while, it paved the way for the metal scene. Tushar was one of the founding members of a community called ‘Naktala Metal Pally’ and was instrumental in organising the very first underground metal concert in 2007, which was well acclaimed by the music circuit as well as the media in Kolkata. After the band had disbanded, he continued to grow as a musician and began exploring different genres in the form of rock, funk, and Latin. In 2011, Tushar happened to get the biggest breakthrough of his career when he made it to one of the premier bands of the country, Krosswindz. Formed in 1990, the band's main aim was to urbanise Bengali folk music. World, folk, and ambient sounds are included in their progressive fusion work. They are not only touring all over the country but have also toured USA twice and also went on a South East Asia tour on behalf of the Indian Embassy. They have the credit of collaborating with international artists of repute, like Herbie Hancock, Sky High (Sweden), Pandit Ramesh Mishra (Indian Sarangi Player) and the Jazz Ambassadors (USA). Numerous documentaries, films and commercials have the band’s music featured in it. Apart from touring with Krosswindz and working on its upcoming albums, Tushar continues to give workshops and drum clinics. He is also presently working on Drummerzone Project, an initiative to bring together all drums’ and percussions’ related performances under one roof. It regularly holds drum clinics, interviews, and drum jams featuring various talented musicians. This project has also hosted a product demonstration by Roland where Tushar explained the concept of hybrid drums in the presence of representatives from Roland Headquarters Japan. With immense passion of improving and uplifting the music scene, he has opened up a studio dedicated specially for LIVE drum takes by the name ‘Pentatonic Studio’. Started in 2012, it is already very popular among all the upcoming bands of Kolkata and beyond. Having worked for more than 20 artists, he already has the credit of producing a few EPs, which were released from record labels in US, Sweden and Bangladesh.