The music of Colours helped make the cultural night a success

Fusion band Colours made their debut at Desi Night on Nov. 21. Held in the Kings Lounge, the event hosted by the Student Association, brought all student cultures together with food, languages, dancing, and music.

“The name Colours came because each of us have different musical backgrounds or come from different countries,” said Yousuf Ghafory, the band’s leader and drummer, and a computer systems technician student at George Brown College (GBC). “I came from Afghanistan while the others come from different parts of India, with different experiences in music and life.”

Focusing on different genres of music in the Bollywood scene, Colours, with a mix of jazz, reggae and rock incorporated with Indian music, played their hearts out during their first performance.

“We didn’t want to limit to one genre of music. It was Indian or Bollywood music. there are so many genres, and we want to keep that diversity just like Toronto,” said Ghafory. “Just like Canada, there are so many different cultures and communities.”

Malcolm Melvin, the band’s bassist and keyboard player, is an international business management student at GBC. “Music is like an ocean and we’re just five drops,” said Melvin referring to himself and his four bandmates.

Ghafory and Melvin were also accompanied by Rahul Thukral, the lead guitarist and GBC alumni who recently graduated from the marketing and financial services program, and GBC student Hemant Agnani on rhythm guitarist and vocals, who is also an environmental scientist.

“To commit to a band you have to get together, make time for rehearsals and make time for each other,” said Ghafory. “It’s so much fun. It involves a lot of hard work but we enjoy that, and we believe that all of that is worth whatever you’re putting into it.”

Agnani also harmonizes with the other vocalist Shivangi Kalra, a student at the University of Guelph, and as Ghafory says, “Shivangi is very talented, and she is very passionate about music, that’s what we all appreciate.”

Ghafory had originally looked into creating a music club at GBC because he wanted to bring together all kinds of musicians, and Agnani had started exploring opportunities for his passion for music once he landed in Canada.

“The Student Association was always encouraging us to do something we wanted and they always give you that support, but when I said I already had formed something with these amazing musicians I work with, I was welcomed and encouraged with us being invited and given the opportunity to perform here,” said Ghafory.

Colours is always welcoming new additions to their band and has high hopes of releasing an EP or even a full album.

“We can have a flute player or someone who plays the banjo. There are so many different instruments we could add,” said Melvin.

Colours is looking forward to playing more Desi Night shows and bringing something new to the stage, and like all students the band never stops absorbing information.

“We’re still learning, and we have so many teachers from whom we are still learning. The journey never ends,” said Ghafory.

 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Yousuf Ghafory was from Evanistan, Pakistan. He is in fact from Afghanistan. His first name was also spelled incorrectly. The article also incorrectly stated that Shivangi Kalra was a student at Humber College, she is in fact a student at the University of Guelph. Her last name was spelled incorrectly too. The Dialog regrets the errors. It won’t happen again, we swear.