Eco-friendly music just for you at Bangalore's CounterCulture

One of the newest ventures in town, CounterCulture has left Bangalore impressed… The founder Vishwaraj Mohan, moved away from the corporate framework with a thought to create a space that interjects art into today’s predictable hospitality world. Less than a year old, CounterCulture has been consistently working towards exactly that.

Why CounterCulture? What made you say “Bangalore needs more space for live gigs”?
CounterCulture came about through a series of conversations that revealed the need to create a space for alternative ideas and thoughts. Restoring an old factory and converting it into a restaurant surrounded by trees, it is located in a quaint part of Bangalore suburbs. In a city that is undergoing more makeovers than the residents can keep pace with, CounterCulture imparts a faint whiff of the quintessentially Bangalore, a relaxed open space.
A humble restaurant by design, it proposes to highlight music, art and culture by inviting artists from different spectrums who can display their work, conduct workshop and have a drink amongst much else. It offers a participatory platform for a diverse set of activities and experiences. Everyone is granted the space to showcase their individual pursuits — however modest or ambitious in scale. Recent events highlighted genres and activities from blues concerts to flea markets to film screenings and music festivals focusing on various themes.

What are some of the elements you’ve incorporated in the place that you’re really proud of?
The Gujarat water boiler, Gonzo (the dog!), the garden we grow things in, the reuse of almost everything here, the fact that we don’t have AC, the minimalism in design, the art work on the wall.

How challenging is the day-to-day functioning of such a large space?
The maintenance of the space is crazy — not just the fact that it’s big but also that it’s a 27-year-old building. There are a lot of challenges that come our way when you’re running a restaurant… The one that comes to the top of my mind would be the upkeep of plants and vegetables — it’s not too easy!

Does the distance affect your footfall?
Yes, it surely does. We have a fair amount of corporate people coming in from the nearby area during weekdays, weekends are good, again thanks to our events, Sunday takes a dip. But the challenge for footfall is beyond just distance; we aren’t a typical food space, because of which we don’t get a lot of the typical crowd. Our food is experimental and don’t have paneer which is a big draw! But now coming to almost a year, things are surely looking up for us.

Do you think Bangalore appreciates what you’re doing?
We have a great amount of regular customers coming our way and we have a varied segment of people appreciating us and even many who don’t like us. There are people who like the design, the unpretentiousness, the environment, the music, the art, the greenery, the food, the minimalism, the idea, the gigs and Gonzo. And I don’t know whether this is appreciated or not, but we feel we are offering Bangaloreans what they have been missing for a while now — no airconditioning!