Some bands pick a name for how it sounds. The Western Ghats picked one for what it carries. "'Western' for the English influences, and 'Ghats' for our Hindi/Urdu side," the band explained to News18 Showsha in 2025, adding that everyone remembers the mountain range from school geography, "so the recall value was solid." Since 2019 this Mumbai act has lived up to both halves of that pun, moving between English alt-rock and Hindi-Urdu poetry, between synth-led electro-rock and acoustic folk, and and from cover versions to the NH7 Weekender stage. On Spotify's Rock in India playlist today, two of their songs sit side by side in the top sixty: "Kitabon" at No. 46 and "Faces of The Moon" at No. 56. This is the story of a band that never wanted to fit in one box, and built a catalogue out of refusing to.

The Western Ghats at a glance

  • Based in: Mumbai, Maharashtra
  • Formed: 2019, by keyboardist-producer Sunil George, vocalist Aryaendra Shekhar and guitarist Kaleb Shaji (Rolling Stone India, 2020)
  • Today: presented on Spotify as a duo founded by Aryaendra Shekhar and Sunil George
  • Sound: electronic rock that pulls in folk, pop, R&B and old Bollywood melody, sung in Hindi, Urdu and English
  • Releases: debut album Self Help Radio (2022) and a long run of singles from "Humne Bhi" (2020) to "Qafila" (2026)
  • Rock in India: "Kitabon" at No. 46 and "Faces of The Moon" at No. 56 (checked 14 October 2026, about 12:03 PM IST)
  • Stages listed in the band's Spotify biography: NH7 Weekender, Mood Indigo, Zomaland, Udaipur World Music Festival, GIFLIF and the ASEAN World Music Fest

From covers to "Humne Bhi"

The Western Ghats started the way many bands of their generation did, by playing other people's songs. According to vocalist Aryaendra Shekhar, it was Sunil George who first got in touch with him about forming a band; guitarist Kaleb Shaji joined soon after, and for the first few months the group mainly played covers (Indulge Express, June 2020). One of those, a version of "Raabta", gave them their first real audience. "It taught us that people really love a good melody, no matter who's singing it," the band told News18. "That cover gave us our first push."

The first original arrived on 14 May 2020. Rolling Stone India's David Britto described "Humne Bhi" as "delightful", a song "filled with synths, bright acoustic guitar strumming, clever arpeggios, dynamics as well as strong and hooky vocals", and noted the band's stated aim: folk music set against pop-rock and electronica. Shekhar framed the lyric as a contrast "between an unreal state of being 'woke' or 'informed' filled with immaturity, and an actual state of realization about things in life."

The song was recorded at George's home studio, and the producer remembered that "the guitar parts took almost two entire days with the entire band in the house deciding on what to keep and what to change." Sound engineer Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar mixed and mastered it, beginning a partnership that would run through the band's early catalogue. A planned music video was shelved when the pandemic arrived. The song found its audience anyway: on Spotify, "Humne Bhi" has passed 1.2 million plays.

A band in lockdown

By the time the funky R&B single "Din" came out in September 2020, Rolling Stone India reported that the members were back in their hometowns, that bassist Rex David was part of the line-up and that a new drummer, Ritik Suntwal, had joined. Each musician recorded his parts at home; Shekhar tracked vocals at a studio in Lucknow, and George produced from Kerala. "We decided to ditch the idea of a compiled album for this year and go with the singles format," Shekhar said at the time.

That decision shaped everything that followed. "Oh Look", "Tu Hai", "Thousand Miles" and "Le Chal" came out between November 2020 and October 2021, each in a slightly different colour. The band later explained its thinking to News18: "We approach music like Indian films do songs—every track gets its own treatment." Looking back in a 2022 interview with Radio and Music, they described lockdown as the period that defined them: "there was a silver lining; we could focus on creating new music with the right people, which was, in my opinion, the birth of our sound as a band."

Self Help Radio: the debut album

The album they had first promised in 2020 finally arrived on 11 February 2022. Self Help Radio is a compact seven-track record: two versions of "Le Chal" (one titled "Le Chal (Pilot)"), "Kitabon", "Phir Kabhi", "Faces of The Moon", "Thinking About You" and "Stories". Its title, the band told News18, came from the circumstances of writing it. "The album was born during peak COVID when everyone was locked up, overthinking life. Writing it felt like therapy, honestly."

Two of its songs carry the band's name on Rock in India today, and between them they sum up the band's two halves: the Hindi-titled "Kitabon", first released as a single in November 2021, and the English-titled "Faces of The Moon", which appeared with the album. The album also won the band industry recognition: at the 2022 IRAA Awards, "Le Chal" from Self Help Radio was named the winner in the Recording/Mixing/Mastering – Progressive/Alternative category, credited to Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar and Sunil George for recording and Nalinkumar for mixing and mastering.

Khushnaseeb, Parwaaz and the breakthrough years

The months after the album brought the band into a bigger spotlight. In June 2022 they released "Khushnaseeb" with Viacom18's artist-first digital label KaanPhod as part of its Mic-Test series, a song whose seed dated back to the "Humne Bhi" sessions, when Shekhar asked Shaji to jam over a few chords and they recorded the idea on a phone. "Initially, it was an English song with the chorus, 'I feel so good, I don't know if I should,'" the band told Radio and Music, before Shekhar rewrote it in Hindi. They described it as being about "finding the light in the darkest of times."

Then came the songs that turned a following into a fanbase. "Nazaare" (2023) and "filhaal" (2023, with Alyssa Mendonsa) led into "Parwaaz" in February 2024, which News18 called the band's breakthrough track. "I hadn't written a heartbreak song before because I thought you had to 'live it' first," the band's songwriter explained. "This one wasn't drawn from any personal heartbreak—it was just that universal feeling of loss we all understand." (Readers should not confuse the song with the Bengaluru band Parvaaz, a different act.)

2024 was the band's busiest year. "Gustakhiyan", released in September on Merchant Records, the label owned by Salim–Sulaiman, "practically wrote itself in two weeks because we promised Salim Sir a song." "Mazhabon" followed, a song the band admitted was "deeply political" and written so that it would not "sound preachy or target anyone", and then "Beshumar", which, like "Mazhabon", had been written back in 2022.

Songs from closer to home

The most personal song in the catalogue arrived in February 2025. "The Other Side", featuring Zeba Tommy, is, in the songwriter's words to News18, "written from my dad's perspective—he passed away when I was young—speaking to my mother from wherever he is now." Of Tommy's contribution, the band said simply: "her voice added the exact weight the song needed."

The following month, on 29 March 2025, The Western Ghats played the one-day NH7 Weekender in Indore at Phoenix Citadel, on a bill led by Euphoria and Usha Uthup. "Dilshad" and "Ajnabee" followed in late 2025, and 2026 has so far brought "Parwaaz (from 'NOT A STUDIO SESSION')", a re-recording with Noor House, and the single "Qafila" in February. Spotify's Popular list for the band currently opens with "Ajnabee", followed by "filhaal", "Parwaaz", "Kitabon" and "Humne Bhi".

How the line-up changed

Early coverage shows a band whose membership moved quickly. Rolling Stone India's first report in June 2020 named three founders; Indulge Express that same month described a quartet with Steve Kurian on drums; by September 2020 Rolling Stone India listed five members, with Rex David on bass and Ritik Suntwal on drums. In June 2022 Radio and Music again listed George, Shekhar and Shaji. Today the band's Spotify biography describes The Western Ghats as a Mumbai-based duo founded by Aryaendra Shekhar and Sunil George, and in the 2025 News18 interview the band described its division of labour plainly: "writing is my lane, production is Sunil's." The sources do not say exactly when the other musicians stepped away, so the honest summary is this: The Western Ghats began as a band and now works as a songwriter-producer partnership. On stage, they told News18, "backing tracks and layers help a lot."

Why The Western Ghats matter

The Western Ghats are a useful reminder that Rock in India is not only about distortion pedals. Their records sit at the point where Indian indie rock meets the melodic instincts of Hindi film music, and where a home-studio production can carry a song as far as a big-label budget. Like Mumbai's The Yellow Diary or Chandigarh-born The Local Train, they write Hindi songs with a rock band's ear; unlike them, they make synths and programming as central as the guitar. Their story, from cover versions to a debut album built over lockdown, is also a clear example of how independent bands build their sound and release music without a record label.

Asked by News18 where they fit in India's independent music scene, they answered without pretence: "We still see ourselves as part of the new wave. Honestly, there's enough space for everyone, and the scene's only getting better." Seven years and some twenty releases in, that modesty may be the most convincing thing about them.

FAQ

Who are the members of The Western Ghats?

The band was formed in Mumbai in 2019 by keyboardist-producer Sunil George, vocalist Aryaendra Shekhar and guitarist Kaleb Shaji. Early line-ups also included drummers Steve Kurian and Ritik Suntwal and bassist Rex David. Today the band presents itself on Spotify as a duo of Aryaendra Shekhar and Sunil George.

What genre is The Western Ghats?

Rolling Stone India calls them electro-rockers, and their Spotify biography describes electronic rock. In practice they blend rock, electronica, folk, pop, R&B and old Bollywood melody, and describe themselves as "genre-fluid".

What was The Western Ghats' first song?

Their debut original single was "Humne Bhi", released on 14 May 2020, recorded at Sunil George's home studio and mixed and mastered by Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar.

What is Self Help Radio?

Self Help Radio is The Western Ghats' debut album, released on 11 February 2022. Its seven tracks include "Le Chal", "Kitabon", "Phir Kabhi" and "Faces of The Moon". The band says it was written during the pandemic and felt "like therapy".

Why is the band called The Western Ghats?

The band says the name is a metaphor and a pun: "Western" for their English influences and "Ghats" for their Hindi and Urdu side, with the bonus that everyone remembers the mountain range from school geography.

Which The Western Ghats songs are on Rock in India?

On 14 October 2026, "Kitabon" was at No. 46 and "Faces of The Moon" at No. 56 on Spotify's Rock in India playlist.

Sources

Cover: The Western Ghats in Mumbai, band press photo published by Rolling Stone India (June 2020), photo courtesy of the artist. Cropped and resized to 1200×630; metadata stripped. Source: https://rollingstoneindia.com/mumbai-electro-rockers-the-western-ghats-release-pleasant-debut-single-humne-bhi/.