Siddharth Basrur: “I Have Always Felt Like The Proverbial Runt Of The Litter, And It's Empowering”

 

There’s a moment at every great rock gig when the band stops trying to impress and simply exists. No gimmicks, no pretence — just that raw presence that makes the air electric. Runt, the Mumbai-based alt-rock outfit fronted by singer, guitarist and composer Siddharth Basrur, seems permanently tuned to that frequency.

They’re not the band that floods your Instagram feed with studio teasers or carefully curated aesthetic posts. They’re the band that records a music video on a phone in 12 hours — and somehow, it looks cinematic. They’re the band that started on paper in 2014 but never stopped feeling like a rebellion against the idea of “arrival.” Because for Basrur, being the underdog (the “runt of the litter,” as he calls it) isn’t an insult. It’s empowerment. Runt is stepping into the light again at Big City Spiral Vol. 3.

 

This Sunday, October 26, at G5A Warehouse in Mahalaxmi, they’ll share the stage with Serpents of Pakhangba and Contra & Friends, another lineup stitched together by the loose, spirited chaos that defines India’s indie ecosystem. Tickets are on sale at Ticketfairy.com. “I was asked to play bass for Contra,” Basrur says, laughing over the phone. “Then I asked Manas (Jha), why not just have Runt on the lineup?”

 

The first thing you notice when you talk to Siddharth Basrur is his disarming lack of posturing. For someone who has sung for films, fronted metal bands, and lent his voice to half the indie records worth talking about in the last decade, he sounds more like your old college friend who still believes that good things are made in cramped jam rooms.

 

Runt was never designed to be sleek or cool. It’s the kind of project that sits on the edge — always pushing, never quite satisfied. “There’s a mix of alt-rock and punk in our sound,” he says. “Bits of prog thrown in for good measure.” Their debut album (a full nine-song beast, mixed and mastered by guitarist Chandan Raina) is almost ready. Their last offering was a 5-song EP, a teaser of the grit and melody they were building toward. This one, Basrur promises, will be definitive.

 

If you’ve been part of Mumbai’s indie scene in any capacity, you know it’s a revolving door: of venues, of sounds, of enthusiasm. A club opens, hosts a few gigs, then shuts down within months. A promoter emerges, builds momentum, then disappears into the corporate void.

Basrur’s been around long enough to have seen at least three “revivals” of the scene. “There’s a lack of venues that promote original music of all genres,” he admits. “That’s the main problem.”

 

He’s right. Mumbai, with its endless noise and spectacle, often forgets to make space for its musicians. Yet, there’s something about the city’s energy (restless, contradictory, tender beneath all that concrete) that keeps artists tethered. Big City Spiral, now in its third edition, feels like a small act of resistance to that fatigue. The series has grown into a warm refuge for bands that refuse to dilute their sound.

 

12 Hours, One Phone, One Music Video

Runt recently dropped Racecar, a slick, fast-paced music video shot entirely on a phone... in 12 hours flat! It looked like something that had taken a production team weeks to polish. “Ranjabati Sarkar directed and edited. My better half Renuka Fernandes produced it,” Basrur says, almost casually. No dramatic origin story, no budget woes. Just a team that decided to make something honest and got on with it. It’s classic Runt. Part jugaad, part punk spirit. The sort of thing that makes you realize the band doesn’t care about conforming to the industry’s expectations. They’re here to make things happen, however they can.

Basrur’s musical résumé reads like a jukebox. He’s sung for films, dabbled in electronic collaborations, led metal acts like Scribe and Goddess Gagged, and contributed to polished pop productions with Bollywood composer Amaal Mallik. How, we ask him, does he decide where each song belongs? “There’s a clear distinction in genres,” he says. “Runt has a unique sound for me.” You get the sense that Runt isn’t just another outlet... it’s his home turf. The place where he doesn’t have to please anyone, where he can experiment, rage, or whisper without compromise.

The Jitters That Don’t Show

Stage fright have left Basrur a long time ago, but there was one time he had a case of the nerves too. This was for his recent collaboration with Grammy winner Ricky Kej (the one that ended up breaking a Guinness World Record for the largest music lesson ever conducted). “That was the last time I was nervous,” he admits. “The sheer scale of it. Thousands of students, cameras, the whole setup. But it worked out brilliantly.”

It’s a very Basrur thing to say: a blend of self-awareness and calm defiance. He’s seen chaos up close, both in studio and on stage, and learned to call it home. “I enjoy working with other people,” he says. “Whether it’s in the studio or live... it’s always better with others.”

The Eternal Underdog

There’s something charming about the way Basrur talks about being the runt; not as a wound but as a badge of honour. Maybe that’s what keeps him anchored in a music scene that can be unpredictable, even cruel. He’s seen labels come and go, venues fold, algorithms hijack taste and yet he keeps making songs, showing up, tuning his guitar, and getting on stage. Perhaps it’s because he knows what many musicians eventually learn: perfection is overrated. The magic, more often than not, lies in the imperfections: the slightly off-note harmony, the sudden feedback squeal, the sweat-soaked chaos of a live crowd.

Runt isn’t trying to be the next big thing. They’re just trying to be real. As the conversation winds down, Basrur sounds both grounded and excited. They are dropping a new single dropping at the Big City Spiral gig. The debut album is on the horizon. The city’s indie kids are tuning their ears again. “Feels like coming home,” he says.

Runt performs live at Big City Spiral Vol. 3 on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at G5A Warehouse, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai. The lineup also features Serpents of Pakhangba and Contra & Friends.