Gaurab Chatterjee

The 'GA' in GAPPU. Drummer. Rock Legend. Mentor.

The name GAPPU is not an accident. Every syllable in it is a tribute, and the very first one, GA, belongs to Gaurab Chatterjee. Known to the Kolkata music world simply as Gabu, he is the drummer and founding member of Lakkhichhara, one of the most beloved bands in the history of Bengali rock. To understand what Gaurab means to this brand, you have to understand what he means to the city that gave birth to it.

Gaurab carries a remarkable musical inheritance. His father is Gautam Chatterjee, a founding member of Moheener Ghoraguli, the band that effectively invented Bengali rock music in the 1970s, a group whose influence on generations of musicians in West Bengal is difficult to overstate. Gaurab grew up in that tradition, absorbed it, and then took it somewhere new. Lakkhichhara became one of the defining bands of a generation: guitar-forward, lyrically sharp, emotionally direct, with Gaurab's drumming giving everything its backbone.

But Gaurab Chatterjee's career extends well beyond the band room. He is a respected accompanist who has toured globally and performed at legendary festivals, bringing the same attentiveness and physicality to collaborative work that he brings to his own projects. He has composed film scores, work that demands a very different kind of listening, an ability to serve the story rather than the song. That versatility speaks to a musician who sees rhythm as a language with many applications, not a fixed identity.

Gappu's founder Anirban came up as a drummer in Kolkata, and Gaurab was one of his formative mentors. That relationship, between a working musician who gave generously of his knowledge and the young artist who absorbed it, is baked into the brand's name. The GA in GAPPU is both personal tribute and philosophical statement: Gappu was built by people who believe mentorship matters, that the transmission of musical knowledge from one generation to the next is part of what makes percussion culture worth sustaining.

Gaurab Chatterjee's presence in the Gappu artist family is therefore something more than an endorsement. It is an acknowledgment of where the brand came from, the specific musical soil of Kolkata, the specific tradition of Bengali rock, and the specific generosity of a drummer who helped shape the person who would one day build Gappu.

At a Glance

• Founding drummer of iconic Bengali rock band Lakkhichhara
• Son of Gautam Chatterjee (Moheener Ghoraguli founding member)
• Formative drum mentor to Gappu founder Anirban, the 'GA' in GAPPU
• Acclaimed global touring musician and festival performer
• Film score composer
• Cornerstone of Kolkata's rock and independent music heritage