November 2013: The True School of Music (TSM), Mumbai, will host its first Band Boot Camp, aimed at providing coaching and support to young and upcoming bands, on the 15th of November 2013. TSM, launched in September this year, in association with The Manhattan School of Music, New York, is India’s first comprehensive institute of contemporary music. The selected bands will get the opportunity to showcase their music for, and interact with an expert panel of judges that has been responsible for shaping many artists’ careers in the country in recent times including Lalitha Suhasini, Editor, Rolling Stone India; Naveen Deshpande, Director, Mixtape; and Arjun S Ravi, Co-founder/Editor, Nh7.in. Through the Band Boot Camp, the bands take away the first resources and exposure that will help them along their career – invaluable feedback and advice through a coaching session from the panel, as well as a multi-track recording of their performance on state-of-the-art facilities provided by TSM.
The process
To register for the Band Boot Camp, bands are required to upload audio or video samples to YouTube or Soundcloud, and send links to these to [email protected]. The final date for submission of entries is the 10th of November, after which, four chosen bands will be intimated by phone or email on the 12th of November. Then, on the 15th of November, the chosen bands will showcase their music before the expert panel and the TSM faculty.
For each of the four bands, this is an opportunity to get invaluable feedback from the expert panel of judges. Following their performance, each band will be given feedback and a 30-minute coaching session with the panel. They will also be given the multi-track recordings of their performance on state-of-the-art facilities provided by TSM, giving them a great recording of their music to help start them on their careers. One winning band from amongst the four will also be given a live video recording of its performance, with which they can cut an official music video, as well as a 50% scholarship for the much sought-after 3-month band coaching module at TSM.
Expert panel for Band Boot Camp
Lalitha Suhasini is one of the best-known names in the music industry in India today. Having been a music journalist for many years, she is currently the editor of Rolling Stone magazine in India, has previously been the Deputy Editor of Time Out Mumbai and contributed to publications such as Mint and Forbes India. Naveen Deshpande is the director of Mixtape, an artist and event management company in Mumbai that manages some of the most popular bands in the country, including Shaa’ir + Func, Scribe, ViceVersa, Junkyard Groove and Indus Creed. Arjun S Ravi, as co-founder and editor of NH7.in, is very closely involved with the growth of the Indian independent music circuit, as he has been critiquing and promoting bands though NH7.in, Indiecision.com and as a young journalist at multiple publications since 2002.
About The True School of Music
The True School of Music (TSM), launched in association with The Manhattan School of Music, NYC, is India’s first comprehensive institute of contemporary music. It’s at the vanguard of providing music education of the highest calibre: helping students take the initial steps or continue their journey to higher levels in the music industry. TSM incorporates the best practices from international music and sound pedagogy, but at the same time, relates it to the Indian scenario. Its rigorous training programs open up lucrative careers in music for professionals and budding musicians. Spread over 15,000 square feet, TSM hosts the state-of-the-art infrastructure, recording studios, a comprehensive music library, rehearsal rooms, auditorium for live gigs and consoles for DJs, in addition to resident faculty from Manhattan School of Music, New York, professional instrument courses authored by leading music educators in the USA and sound engineering and music production courses authored by The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM), UK. TSM has two primary departments – the Pro School, and the Foundation School. The Pro School predominantly teaches five western instruments, sound design and music production. The Foundation School teaches five western instruments as well as five Indian Classical instruments.
