Cassini's Division

{{Short description|Indian alternative rock band}} {{about|the musical group|the rings around the planet Saturn|Cassini Division}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox musical artist | name = Cassini's Division | image = Cassini'sdivisionbandpic1.jpg | caption = | image_size =  | alias = | origin = Kolkata, West Bengal, India | instrument = | genre = Alternative rock Modern Indian rock Hybrid | occupation = | years_active = 2001–present | label = Saregama | associated_acts = | website = [http://www.cassinisdivision.com www.cassinisdivision.com] | current_members = Rahul Guha Roy Sukanti Roy Ritoban Ludo Das John Noel Bose | past_members = Shovon Mukjerjee [https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-noel-bose-3b824a37 John Noel Bose] [http://www.grinningtree.net Shamik Chatterjee] [http://www.myspace.com/fivelittleindians Arka Das] }}

'''Cassini's Division''' ({{langx|bn|কাসিনিস ডিভিসন}}) are  an alternative rock band from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Formed in 2001, they are named after the Cassini Division, the largest gap in the rings of Saturn.

==History==

=== Testing times and change (2001–2004) === Cassini's Division was founded in 2001 at Liberty Hall, Rahul's Salt Lake residence when Rahul, Sukanti, Shamik and Arka started jamming original material. Much of the songwriting was to Rahul's credit, with the band coming together to arrange the music. In mid-2001, Arka's brother Ritoban (Ludo) joined the band on percussions. The band went on to record its first demo EP, ''Animal Wisdom'', in late 2001 with this line-up. In 2002 Shamik left the band and was replaced by John Noel Bose, a longtime musician friend of Rahul's. In 2004 Arka left the band and Ludo took over as drummer. The band has, since, remained in this line-up.

===2005–2009=== In 2005, Cassini's Division signed on as a house band at the hub of the Calcutta live music scene – Someplace Else – and played almost weekly gigs there for the next 3 years.

Early 2006, Cassini's Division performed in Guwahati and Shillong as part of the initiative ''Jaago Grahak Jaago'' by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs – a consumer awareness campaign targeted at the youth of the Northeast. Cassini's Division appeared as themselves in the 2006 Indian film ''The Bong Connection''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.indiantelevision.com/release/y2k10/oct/octrel49.php|title=THE BONG CONNECTION on Zee Studio|work=indiantelevision.com}}</ref>

Cassini's Division organised the first edition of ''The Calcutta Rock Festival'' in February 2007, together with The Supersonics.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070819/asp/calcutta/story_8206406.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205152224/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070819/asp/calcutta/story_8206406.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2010|title=Rock on hold |work=The Telegraph |first=Chandreyee |last=Chatterjee |date=19 August 2007}}</ref> In December 2007, the band signed on for ''Sutasi'', a pan-Asian talent search. As part of Sutasi, they recorded four of their songs with UK producer Simon Henderson, performed in Singapore in 2008, and went on to become winners of the Wildcard category amongst participants from 13 Asian countries.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nh7.in/indiecision/2009/08/19/sutasi-winners-announced/ |title=Sutasi Winners Announced |work=indiecision.com |first=Arjun S |last=Ravi |date=19 August 2008}}</ref> The show was aired as a series on Zee Café in 2008. Cassini's Division performed at the ''Eastwind Festival'' in New Delhi in February 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080225/jsp/entertainment/story_8946131.jsp |title=Blowin' in the WIND |work=The Telegraph |first=Diya |last=Kohli |date=25 February 2008 |access-date=4 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526034218/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080225/jsp/entertainment/story_8946131.jsp |archive-date=26 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Only for a While'' appeared on the mixtape ''The Underground'', released by major Indian label Saregama end-2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/City-city-rock-rock/Article1-246406.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120911035623/http://www.hindustantimes.com/City-city-rock-rock/Article1-246406.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 September 2012 |title=City city rock rock |work=Hindustan Times |first=Arindam |last=Chatterjee |date=5 September 2007}}</ref> {{listen | filename = Cassini's Division - Story of My Life (sample).ogg | title = "Story of My Life" | description = A 53-second sample of the song "Story of My Life" from the album ''Ringside View'' released in 2010 | format = Ogg }} Cassini's Division participated in [[Channel V|Channel [V]]] Launchpad, a rock band talent hunt-turned-reality show. The band was one of the three finalists<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090318/jsp/entertainment/story_10684158.jsp |title=Rocking reality |work=The Telegraph |first=Malini |last=Banerjee |date=18 March 2009 |access-date=28 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529172743/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090318/jsp/entertainment/story_10684158.jsp |archive-date=29 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and went on to play the ''Concert For Change'' at the Andheri Sports Complex (Mumbai) in May 2009.

===2010=== In April 2010, the band signed with Saregama and recorded ''Ringside View'' with producer Simon Henderson. The album was released in October 2010<ref>{{cite news |url=http://indianrockmp3.com/2010/10/08/ringside-view-cassinis-division/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012235929/http://indianrockmp3.com/2010/10/08/ringside-view-cassinis-division/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=12 October 2010|title=Cassini's Division's debut album 'Ringside View' released.|work=indianrockmp3.com |date=8 October 2010}}</ref> to critical acclaim.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=344142&catid=43 |title=At war with the best |work=The Statesman |first=Mathures |last=Paul |date=7 October 2010 |access-date=15 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020181420/http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=344142&catid=43 |archive-date=20 October 2010 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' (September 2010) described ''Ringside View'' as "an eclectic and informed piece of work", and it swiftly made the 10 best Indian albums of 2010 (January 2011).

Cassini's Division played the Greenpeace Earth Day Festival (Kolkata) in May 2010.

=== 2014 and 2015 === Cassini's Division hit the studio of Universal Music Publishing in the middle of 2014 to record their second album titled ''Animal Wisdom'' with Universal resident recording engineer Devashis Ray. This album includes works of Rahul, which predates the band's 2010 debut album ''Ringside View''. The album revolves around the concept of how all the species on earth, except human beings, coexist in harmony with the nature. This album features the same line-up of ''Ringside View'' except John Bose, who left the band and went to Delhi in 2011 to fulfil personal work commitments. While they searched for a new bassist all this time, Sukanti, the lead guitarist of the band, found a way to deal with this gap by playing bass with his guitar itself. He uses a thicker string for the 6th string and a processor to trigger bass while he plays his and bassist's parts in a song. Before they hit the studio this setup was tried and tested in several live gigs in and around Kolkata including in an open air gig at Jaipur Law University. The date for the release was not fixed however, the band has put its emphasis about a concert release of the album. The frontman Rahul wants to have a sit-down-concert kind of release for the album.<ref>{{Cite web|title = In The Studio: Cassini's Division -|url = http://rollingstoneindia.com/studio-cassinis-division/|website = Rolling Stone India| date=2 December 2014 |access-date = 2016-01-22|language = en-US}}</ref>

After some initial balancing of tracks and basic mixing by Sukanti and Rahul at Sukanti's Kolkata studio in early 2015, the album was sent for mixing and mastering to Universal Music Publishing studios. It is expected that the album will be released sometime in 2016.

==Discography==

{{Infobox album | italic_title = no | name = ''Ringside View'' | type = studio | artist = Cassini's Division | cover = CassinisDivision-RingsideView-Album.jpg | alt = | released = October 2010 (India) | recorded = June 2010 – July 2010 | venue = | studio = | genre = Alternative rock, Hybrid | length = | label = Saregama | producer = Simon Henderson | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = }}

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" !Year of Release !Title !Label !Language |- |2001 |''Animal Wisdom'' demo (with Shamik Chatterjee, Arka Das) |Independent |English |- |2002 |''Satyr9'' (with Ludo on percussion, Arka Das) |Independent |English |- |2004 |''Only for a While'' (The Underground – Kolkata) |Saregama |English |- |2004 |''Living in the Loop'' demo |Independent |English |- |2005 |''EP'' |Independent |English |- |2010 |''Ringside View'' |Saregama |English |}

== See also == * Bangla Rock

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20030419154347/http://www.cassinisdivision.com/ Official website]

Category:Musical groups established in 2001 Category:Indian musical groups Category:Pop punk groups Category:Bengali musicians Category:2001 establishments in West Bengal Category:Indian rock music groups