Nischay Parekh Goes Solo as TV Dinner, Drops New Song ‘Non Believers’
TV Dinner aka Nischay Parekh. Photo: Nikhil Sridhar
For those still dismayed by the end of Kolkata dream-pop duo Parekh & Singh, Nischay Parekh’s solo project TV Dinner might ease the blow with his newest song “Non Believers.” “Nothing that we know can last forever,” he sings over familiar blips and steady grooves, all carried by a hook that offers comfort to those still reeling from the breakup.
When we point out this interpretation to Parekh over a Zoom call, he’s surprised. “Oh man, that’s a hard one. But yeah, I feel like that’s one of those universal truths, you know?” Parekh says. He goes on to say that these kinds of “broad philosophies” imparted through “Non Believers” are new territory for him, in terms of becoming more comfortable introducing more perspectives in his songwriting.
Truth be told, “Non Believers” was written around 2016, back when Parekh & Singh were very much still part of the rising wave of Indian indie and their album Ocean had gone global. He finally completed it in 2023, picking it back up after several life changes, including getting married and becoming a father. Fast forward to March, days after Parekh & Singh was dissolved, it was clear that TV Dinner was going to be Parekh’s focus, with the debut single “Guessing Games” out in February and a revamp of the duo’s social media and YouTube. It builds on the calming yet confessional tone of Parekh & Singh, but with more folk and singer-songwriter influences, from Paul Simon to Sufjan Stevens, coming to the front.
Parekh had been plotting this project for a while, finally recording it with producer/artists Rohan Rajadhyaksha and Aria Nanji in May last year. Parekh reminisces about meeting Rajadhyaksha for the first time when the latter was on stage singing and playing keys for rock act Spud In The Box in 2013.
He says of Rajadhyaksha, “He’s evolved and grown into such a prolific, multidisciplinary artist, in a sense, because he does his film-composing work, but he’s also just a really great musician. He’s a very sensitive producer.” Nanji popped up on Parekh’s radar through singer-songwriter Mali, who had put up a post about working together as producers and songwriters. Parekh says, “She [Nanji] also went to Berklee [College of Music] and we were actually there around the same time, but we never met when we were in Boston.”
The conversation between the three of them didn’t have to go very deep. “It was just about how we do it and when we do it,” he says. “The fluidity of the work that we did was nothing like I’ve ever really experienced before,” the artist adds. With Singh, the processes were often remote and self-contained before tracks were sent off to be mastered. Here, he was leaning on Rajadhyaksha to bring his production chops, his way with keys as well as Nanji’s Sixties and Seventies-inspired songwriting and vocal craft to push him, sometimes even recording songs in a single take without a metronome.
To reiterate, TV Dinner might be Parekh’s solo project, but it’s certainly collaborative. Drummer Nikhil Vasudevan (from singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad’s band, plus rock acts like NokNok) hopped in for drums, Rhys Sebastian added bass, Parekh & Singh’s go-to visual and design collaborator, Ayesha Kapadia, too created artwork for “Non Believers” and created the nifty, quirky props for Parekh in the music video made by Kevin Chris Johan.
Parekh says right now, it’s “too much fun.” He adds, “It’s like going to a playground every day with your friends.” There are plans to take that playtime on stage, starting with a show in Dubai (where Parekh lives) on Apr. 12 alongside Bengaluru-based singer-songwriter Frizzell D’Souza. TV Dinner will have a fluid lineup based on different situations. He says, “It’ll probably be curated very specifically and thoughtfully for each appearance. It’ll be a rotating band. There will be guests, and there will be very different versions of the same songs.
Another draw is the promise that he’ll be including Parekh & Singh songs in the setlists as well. “I feel a lot of those were sort of integral to my journey as a songwriter, so I wouldn’t want to discard those from my setlist. It gives me an opportunity to do brand new versions of them,” he adds.
