The singers debut single, Panic At The Party, is out now!
Image: Jamie Heath
Mumbai born, Brisbane based singer Ash Lune has made her debut with her single, Panic At The Party. To celebrate the release, the singer is taking us on a tour of Bombay, Mumbai, sharing with MILKY five things about Bombay that she think are really cool.
“Panic at the Party is really about social anxiety. You'd think "Well if you don't like parties, don't go parties". I love parties because I don't like being alone, so that makes me social. However, I hate parties because I get anxious about every single thing I say or do in a social scenario” Lune says of the single. “There's always at least one moment during a party when I'll look around and realise that if the lights were on we'd all look like idiots intoxicating ourselves into a temporary bubble. In that moment the weight of the world comes back, the bubbles breaks, and everything goes south.”
Without further adieu, check out Five Things About Bombay That Ash Lune Thinks Is Really Cool.
IT'S VERY HARD TO FEEL ALONE
Everyone from Bombay will always tell you that the city never sleeps, and I can confirm that it’s true. You could go out on the street at 3 am and there’d still be about 5-6 cars passing through street and 3-4 people just hanging out. Something is always going on. Further, if you go closer to the oceanside you’re bound to see at least twenty people just hanging out, drinking tea in the middle of the night. There’s always something happening. You wake up to construction noise and fall asleep to the sound of light traffic. Even your neighbours randomly pop into your home to give you the latest tea on someone else. For a quiet, anti-social introvert it can seem like a nightmare but after you get over the culture shock, you fall in love with the sense of community.
THE ART
The indie music scene, especially for English music, is so underground that it’s almost Atlantis. You would never know of the talent that existed there, if you didn’t go seeking and ready to immerse yourself in that culture. In my early years of writing original music, I would go to this little cafe called Indie Habitat where artists from all over Bombay would come to sing their original music for an audience of other musicians and music lovers. I met several great artists and musicians there. Sabu and Adi are some of the Bombay bred musicians whose music I really admire. Adi’s Rain girl is definitely one of the top songs on my personal playlist. Bombay also has some other really cool indie film directors like Siddhartha Bedi who filmed the coolest Wes Anderson styled short film about his little sister, Tanya Bedi. There’s no shortage of beautiful, underrated and honest art back home, but you won’t know until you go. Fun fact- did you know that Freddie Mercury lived in Bombay for a short time when he was a child and was sent to a boarding school in Panchgani, near Bombay, at the age of 8?
THE FESTIVALS
I miss the Ganpati festival so much. It goes on at this exact time in August and lasts eleven whole days. It revolves around worshipping Ganpati, the elephant God and regardless of whether or not you believe in idol worship or even God, you thoroughly enjoy being a part of the festivities. There’s Indian sweets everywhere and all you have to do is go to other people’s homes, eat the sweets and the great food they serve to you after you pray to God. There are tons of bank holidays in those 11 days, so people just take leaves from work for some of that time. Another festival is Rakshabandhan which is about the sacred bond between a brother and a sister. Basically, the sisters have to tie this thread, which is symbolic of the bond, onto their brother’s wrist and in return they get “Kharchi” which is money. So, you get paid to go to meet your cousins, eat great food and follow traditions. If you’re Indian, you typically have a long list of cousins so you can make serious bank in just one day.
THE CINEMA EXPERIENCE
I’m talking about the experience of going to watch a movie in the theatre. In Bombay even the cheapest theatres will offer you several different flavours of popcorn, great sandwiches and heavenly Samosa. In fact, our concession stands at movie theatres back home offer an insane variety of food. They have everything from pizzas, pastas, Chinese wok stations, Pad Thai counters, chaat counters (Indian street snacks), samosas, curries and cakes. Our concession stands are taken so seriously that we have something called movie intervals, which don’t exist in Australia. They pause the movie midway for about twenty minutes so that everyone can get up, stretch their legs, use the toilet and grab something to eat. The whole movie theatre experience is also much cheaper than what it’d cost if the idea was replicated here.
THE FOOD
I would like to start off by saying that there is no such thing as a chicken Samosa in Bombay. I don’t know if it exists anywhere in India, but it definitely isn’t there in Bombay. The food back home is quite different from anything else you’d get in other parts of India. If you ever find yourself in Bombay you have to try a classic Bombay sandwich from, Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji, Pani Puri, The Noodle Frankie from Smarty outside Podar school and the momos from Carter Road.
Panic at the Party is out now! Watch the visual below.