Parikrama – Delhi
Galeej Gurus – Bangalore
Something Relevant – Mumbai
Big cities. Big bands. Ever wondered what kids in small towns are doing? Ever wondered why the music bug hasn’t bitten them? Well, it has. It’s simply a matter of awareness. We just aren’t aware of bands from small towns. They exist, and they are striving to carve a niche for themselves, slowly but surely. Here’s a list of some of them:
Sparsh – Hailing from Ranchi, they are a classic rock band, who got their biggest break on December 21, 2007, when they performed at Pizza By The Bay in Mumbai. The band is greatly inspired by Deep Purple and Pink Floyd, with Ajit Horo on bass guitar, Ujjwal Lakra on lead guitar, Rishiraj Kachhap on rhythm guitar, and Adolf Khalko on drums. They have all studied outside Ranchi, and have performed in places like Pune, Kolkata, and Guwahati. They also formed the Jharkhand Rock Music Association to help promote the rock music scene and also help other emerging bands.
Joshish – As the name suggests, the band’s music is lively, inspiring, and heartening. Joshish started in 2006 in Bhopal, with Asif Zaidi as the lead vocal, Shatarchi Hundet on lead guitar, Shwetang Shankar on drums, Sameer Rahat as bassist/backup vocal, Amit Mishra on rhythm guitar/vocals, and Pranjal Joshi on keyboard/vocals. Their first break came when they hosted the Youth First 2006 at Bhopal. There is a distinct Indian classical influence in their music. Interestingly, the band claims that they are not restricted to any one genre of music and that their music is ‘universal’, just like music is. They do, however, play their own genre of music at times; something they call ‘Cold Metal’.
Bodhi Tree – ‘XL ki kudiyan’ and ‘GMD’ are perhaps a few of the most memorable Hindi songs by bands that the youth remembers. Sung by Bodhi Tree, a band from XLRI, the B-school, these songs are imprinted in our memories for their catchy and contentious lyrics. The band consists of members from senior and junior batches and keeps getting replaced with every new batch. Bodhi Tree started in 2004 and they play rock, oldies, sufi and eastern. They play mostly in the college campus and practice at night.
Origin – This band started with three members, who were together in school. Now a six-member band based in Mysore, they draw their inspirations from Scorpions, Metallica, and Iron Maiden, and put themselves in the classic rock and heavy metal genre. It has Sweekrith on bass, Nikhil Koundilya on drums, Shreyas as the vocals, Nadia on keyboards, and Dhiraj and Nikhil Eapen as guitarists. They’ve participated in a lot of intra-city competitions and are the first choice for most of the popular destinations for gigs in Mysore. Currently working on originals, they’re also trying to make a particular genre, ‘Vedic Rock’, popular. Origin is one of the few bands in India that plays this, and the fact that their vocalist is trained in Carnatic music definitely helps. They are also trying a fusion of many instruments, such as the bongo and the drums, the violin and keyboard, etc.
Afflatus – A part of India’s own ‘far east’ movement, this all-woman band is from Shillong. Originating in 2004, they’ve got Grace Miller as the vocals, Sharon Zadeng on bass, Karen Donoghue on guitar, and Mercy Miller on drums. Mercy, Karen and Sharon have earlier been members of bands, and Grace was a vocalist in her father’s gospel group since she was a child. Their debut performance in 2004 won them a prize at the national level. Afflatus was also the opening band for the South Asian Bands Festival ’09 at New Delhi.
Decayed Souls Renegade – Going by the name, one assumes this band from Ahmedabad has some connection with Satan. That assumption isn’t wrong. It was formed on Satan’s Day (July 6) in 2008. The current line-up of this extreme metal band: Vishal Dave as the vocals, Joel Mogera on guitars and as backing vocals, Siddharth Nair on guitars, Urvish Patel on bass, Falgun Pandit on drums, and Rishi Dave on keyboards. Decayed Souls Renegade draw their metal creativity from Cradle of Filth, Children of Bodom, and others. They won their first competition (SFM Rock Competition) in 2009, but they have been only semi-active since then due to the members’ varied academic pursuits. Currently, they’re preparing hard for upcoming band competitions.
The Down Troddence – More popularly known by their acronym ‘T.D.T’, this band is from Kannur, Kerala. Their music is of the metal, trash metal, death metal variety, and they marked their existence in this scene with their debut single ‘Death Vanity’. Comprising of Varun and Rinoy on guitars, Ganesh on drums, Munz as the vocals, Sushin on keyboards, and Nezer on bass and as vocals, T.D.T aims at causing a social revolution of sorts, as their songs are mostly about the evils in the social system. The band recently released a music video for their single, ‘Shiva’, and is currently working on their debut album.
A4Apple – This band from Manipur is a punk rock act, comprising of three brothers. John, Lawrence, and Paul developed an interest in music in school itself, and would often jam together. The band took shape in 2002, and their first concert was at the Maram Students’ Conference Meet in 2003. This was followed with gigs at Chennai’s Unwind Center, as well as in other places in the North-East. The trio is inspired by bands like Blink 182, Green Day, and Nirvana, but hasn’t found time to get together and perform owing to their individual academic schedules. Regardless, they strive to meet twice a year to make new music.
There are several other bands from small towns all over the country, all trying to make it big in their own way. And not just in English, either. A lot of these bands play in Hindi or other vernacular languages, too. Audiences are now also more receptive to such bands, thereby propelling them to much larger platforms over time. One can only hope for this trend to keep moving upwards all across India.
