Slow Club, an English indie pop/folk rock duo, can’t wait to get the crowd dancing during the NH7 Weekender at Pune. We caught up with them for a quick chat. Read on!
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! You’ll be performing in Pune at The Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2013; what are your expectations from the crowd? Slow Club: We are so excited! We have never played in India so we don’t know what to expect. I hope everybody is up for lots of dancing and fun!
Eight Octaves: What’s your set going to be like, for the day? Will we hear more songs from your albums and EP’s, or more of your singles? Slow Club: We will play lots from our second and forthcoming albums, we haven’t played much this year as we have been recordings so it will be loads of fun to get out there and show everybody what we have been working on.
Eight Octaves: Your latest album, ‘Paradise’, has received Universal Acclaim on Metacritic; how is it different from your first album, ‘Yeah So’? Slow Club: Paradise was a general progression from the first album. We had to branch out and explore sound more and different lyrical themes.
Eight Octaves: The music video for “Beginners” features Daniel Radcliffe, who is a Slow Club fan himself; how was the experience working with him? Slow Club: So lovely, he is amazing! Such a professional.
Eight Octaves: How would you describe the overall musical and lyrical theme of your songs? Slow Club: Everything comes from an experience either of us may have had. We can tell you the story behind every lyric. Musically we both adore beauty and drama in melody.
Eight Octaves: Name one track from your works which is especially close to your heart. Slow Club: There is one song called “You, Earth or Ash” on our second album that is special to me, mainly because it is one of the only songs not about a horrible ex-boyfriend of mine!
Eight Octaves: You guys have started work on your third album, expecting to release it in early 2014; what’s this one going to be about? Slow Club: This album is mostly about how bizarre and difficult it is to be in your 20s.
Eight Octaves: This will be your first time in India; how do think you’ll like it? What’s on your to-do list (not counting the gigs!)? Is there any place in particular that you’d like to check out? Slow Club: I can’t wait to come to India! I am spending a few weeks out there and I am so excited. I want to explore everything!
Eight Octaves: Have you listened to any Indian artists lately? Slow Club: No, but I am hoping to catch some artists at the festival.
Eight Octaves: Finally, what would you like to say to your fans, and the many young up and coming bands in India? Slow Club: Keep going! Never stop playing or getting better at your instrument! Sing as loud and as wildly as you can!
Following months of conflict, Nikhil Chinapa announced today that he will be parting ways with Sunburn, Asia’s premier EDM festival which has been held in Goa every year since 2007. Chinapahad conceptualized and helped create the festival and was, until now, the Festival Director. He was hoping that the issues would be resolved, but following various videos and public statements, he decided to call it quits when it became apparent that he was being pushed out of the very festival he brought into being.
However, Chinapa will very much remain in the Indian EDM scene; he will be working with Submerge, India’s leading dance music portal and a company which has revolutionized the music and clubbing scene in the country. It was Submerge which helped create the blueprint of Sunburn, through countless club events, dozens of DJ’s, legendary beach parties and its online community. Submerge has just launched AAA with Edge Global and Hermit.
Says Nikhil, “Let’s not forget that the scene we have in India today with festivals and the world’s biggest artists playing here has been built on a foundation of DJs and fans that have been championing this sound since the late 80s. Yes, our dance music scene has been around for over 25 years.” Along with Submerge, he has been instrumental in bringing the most prominent DJ’s (such as Swedish House Mafia, Alesso, Deniz Koyu, Armin Van Buuren, Zedd, Hardwell and Tiesto) and a host of international acts to India (Above and Beyond, Axwell, Paul van Dyk, Sanders van Doorn, Skazi, and GMS, to name a fraction). Nikhil intends to continue working with Submerge and his friends, promoting the music he loves.
Hoping to carve a niche for themselves with their edgy Hindi rock music, Antariksh, all set to release their debut album Khoj, join us for a chat about what to expect from them. Read on!
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! You’re getting close to launching your debut album Khoj! How excited are you? What are you expecting out of this album?
Antariksh: We are tremendously excited. We hope this album will disrupt the world of Hindi rock, and help us establish a unique identity for hard edgy Hindi rock music.
Eight Octaves: How did you guys first come together as a band?
Antariksh: We (gT, Varun, Mridul) met about a year ago. We knew each other from our previous bands (Feedback, Prestorika, and Decibel) and somehow the time seemed right for a new musical venture. We really wanted to take the Hindi rock route as we felt there was some great work coming out and still a lot that could be done in the space. So we decided to form Antariksh. Vipul, the prodigal drummer joined us later, followed by Raghav on the bass, to complete the band. At present, bass duties are handled by Varun Kapahi.
Eight Octaves: How did Khoj come about? What are the main themes on which it is based?
Antariksh: We hadn’t really taken it up seriously until we released a video for our first single, Dheere Dheere. We were completely overwhelmed by the fantastic response we received, both from the music critics as well as well as common listeners. This is when we started taking the writing process a lot more seriously. It had always been a dream for all of us to put out a coherent piece of work, and as we gained momentum, we decided to push forward on an album.
Khoj is focused on the process of discovering and learning about yourself. The aim of the album is to highlight life situations where we feel strong emotions like doubt, frustration, desire, and guilt, and use those situations to understand ourselves better.
Eight Octaves: Tell us a little about your song writing process.
Antariksh: Very iterative. The band is usually bubbling and full of ideas. Mridul, Varun, or gT come up with an idea/guitar riff/melody; they record a demo and send it across to the entire band.While rehearsing, we all throw forth our ideas which we capture. Mridul then usually gels them together and records a quick demo, which the entire band works on. For the lyrics, Mridul usually writes the first draft after which the band helps in iterating.A lot of cool ideas come actually came and were incorporated while recording the songs (for Khoj).
Eight Octaves: What’s your first single, “Dheere Dheere”, about?
Antariksh: Dheere Dheere is about being trapped. It is about slowly losing your own identity, giving in to peer and societal pressures and becoming one of the million faceless, nameless people out there. It is about forgetting who you are and why your heart beats.
Eight Octaves: You released your second single of the album, “Tum”, a few days ago; tell us about the song. Baiju Dharmajan (ex Motherjane) has played a guitar solo in it – what was it like working with him?
Antariksh: It was fantastic. We were very pleasantly surprised to see how happy and excited he was to play on Tum. We met Baiju at a previous gig where we’d opened for the “Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate” and he was extremely gracious. Tum was the perfect song for him to play something on and we think his solo has taken the song to a whole new level.
Eight Octaves: What was it like working with the other guest artists featuring in the album?
Antariksh: It has all been excellent. Gaurav Chintamani (Advaita) has been a strong force behind the album, giving us a fantastic mix, doing additional production work on Parichay, and Tum, and playing some awesome guitars on Aashayein. Sid Mathur did an awesome job on the bass for the same song. Kartik Dhar (Nasya) helped uplift Tum with some great string sections. We are very grateful to have all these talented people involved in Khoj.
Eight Octaves: You spent a lot of time together for this album – recording, doing photoshoots, etc. How was the experience?
Antariksh: Crazy. First thing, I think none of us realized it would be so much work! Between co-ordinating recording, sitting in the studio and mixing, pushing to get everything done on time, to printing CD’s and designing the album inlays, it has been a rollercoaster ride. But I think we are all very proud of the final output. It just makes everything worth it.
Eight Octaves: Any personal favourites from the album?
Eight Octaves: What’s next on the cards for Antariksh?
Antariksh: We are playing a launch show at the Blue Frog in Delhi, on the 8th of September. After that, a tour and lots of shows to promote the album!! J
Note: To go along with the interview post on our website, please send us one large band portrait, 4-5 pictures from your live gigs and links to your music/videos. Please mention photo and video credits too.
INTRODUCING THE BAND MEMBERS
Antariksh is:
Mridul Ganesh (Vocals/Guitars) – The front man of the band is renowned for his brilliant singing, guitar playing and music production abilities. A singer with a great vocal range, Mridul can mesmerize you with his singing in English, Hindi and even Spanish. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, with years of experience in Management Consulting, Mridul is also known for his strong work ethic, affinity for ‘chai’, and a sharp sense of humour. Mridul also directed the music for a Bollywood movie, ‘The Bet’, released in 2010.
Varun Rajput (Guitars/Backing Vocals) – Founder and guitar player of the band, he loves to try his hand on various instruments, record and produce music. Varun is best known for his work with progressive rock bands (Feedback, Under Siege) and folk-fusion band Nasya. He also directed the music for the Bollywood movie ‘The Bet’, with Mridul. Other than being a versatile musician, he is also an engineer from DCE, a former Management Consultant, and a state-level hockey player.
Gurtej Singh (Guitars/Backing Vocals) – Guitarist. Composer. Lyricist. With over 10 years of guitar playing under his belt, Gurtej aka gT was primarily linked with the Delhi-based metal band Prestorika. gT has spent the last few years composing and recording tracks for his solo album titled Inertia, before founding Antariksh with Varun and Mridul. gT is also an expert level Flash/Flex developer and an experienced graphic designer.
Vipul Malhotra (Drums) – Though just 20 years of age and the youngest in the band, Vipul has been playing drums avidly for the last 10 years. Self taught, Vipul believes in versatility and focuses on being the groove master and backbone of the band. Although a hard working musician, he ensures that the atmosphere in the band remains pleasant and fun. He is currently pursuing a B.Tech in Computer Science from NSIT Delhi, and is a semi-pro graphic designer.
The city, as with any IT hub sees an extensive internet branch out into every imaginable facet of information sharing. From a musical perspective, there has always been more of an inclination towards torrent usage in the city, but also, a deep-rooted and honest mixture of respect and support for local music.
Album sales used to be the primary means for a band to earn a living. However, simultaneously, the common listener shouldn’t be expected to pay for all his/her music. The increasingly commercialist viewpoints of music are overshadowing some of the key ethical values that an artist would consider central to a creative flow. When a commercialist stance overtakes the actual mentality of creating the music, then it is hardly democratic to be asked to pay for it. There is a thin line between the ethics of selling music and just playing it.
As with international acts, good Indian bands are often downloaded or shared and their albums are not purchased. Yet, more than the sales, local support is what has propelled these bands into stardom. The act of “following” an artist by listening is at least of as much importance as the total sum cost of purchasing albums that an individual fan might do. Many international bands that are highly popular in Bangalore, such as Tool, Opeth, Mars Volta and Porcupine Tree all try and convey the sense of musical flow that fits precisely into an album format. They try to carry aesthetic vision through right to the packaging, to encourage album purchases. However, none of them are typically against downloading music. When Karnivool recently released their third album, Asymmetry, it was on a live stream. This was so devoted fans could hear it online from start to finish, in all its originality and just as the band would want you to hear it.
Another example would be someone who has just purchased the latest album from a rock band but has never heard their music, versus someone else who has gone for all the gigs of the band but has never purchased an album. Thus, while we can accept the democracy of buying music, it is only till the limit of actually appreciating an artist. Recent orders by the Indian high court have barred several torrent sites, yet solely this action will by no means see a direct rise in musical sales. In this day and age where we needn’t get up from our computers, the purchase of real, tangible, physical produce holds little appeal anymore. However, Brit-band Radiohead released their 2007 album “In Rainbows” online for a purchase price that could be decided by the fans themselves. They took a confusing step forward with their next album by pre-releasing it for free online before the stipulated release date. This kind of mentality from the artists themselves shows that the main concern and focal point of musical creativity is not the sales, but the feel of sound.
In this way, a musician can fight back, not only against the economics of album sales, but also against the inequalities of internet file-sharing.
“An entertainer can make music to please his fans; an artist has to make music to please himself.” –Steven Wilson
De’SaT is an Experimental Progressive Metal Band from Bangalore. When asked about the name of the band, they said De’SaT is just the short form of the word De-saturation written in a fancy way!! Haha!! They released their Demo CD’s somewhere in July 2011 which opened up the doors for De’SaT. Read further to celebrate Metal Mayhem and know more about De’SAT!
Eight Octaves: How did you guys come together? De’SAT : Victor and Srikiran got together and randomly started jamming after Victor’s return from ‘MTV Rock On’ first edition. Later Naveen joined the band that actually got the Metal essence into the band. So De’SaT was officially born during September 2010. And later Avinash (Necro) our growler vocalist joined the band which actually made our sound heavier. Rohan joined the band sometime in 2011. That actually improvised our unique sound. The old bassist Avinash Kaushik had to leave the band since he had to pursue his education. Hence Nithin joined the band that had simple yet matured bass playing skills. And from then on we’ve had this lineup.
Eight Octaves: Where do you draw your influences from? In your opinion which ‘Metal’ Band really started the genre? De’SAT: Our band has different tastes depending on each Individual musician.
Victor is more into the old school era. Haha !! But he likes new stuff as well. His is inspired by Guitar players like Steve Morse, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Van Helen, Kirk Hammet, Slash, Alexi Lahio etc. Naveen is inspired by guitar players like James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Chuck Schuldiner, Alexi Lahio, Muhammed Suicmez and Pat O’brien and so on. And he is more into the Technical Death Metal side when it comes to musical interest. Avinash draws his inspiration from Vocalists like Randy Blythe, Corey Taylor, Bruce dickinson, Alexi Lahio, Nergal. He too is more into Technical Death Metal side when it comes to musical interests. And he also listens and trips on some Dubstep and Trance music. Hahaha!! Nithin is more into the blues/funky types and Old school metal but listens to all kinds of music though. He is inspired by Bassists like Cliff Burton, Steve Harris, Evan Brewer, Jason Newsted, Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Prakash KN (TAAQ). Rohan is a diehard Children of Bodom fan. Haha!! His musical interests are more into Melodic Death/Power Metal side. He draws his inspirations from keyboard players like Janne Wirman, Tuomas Holopainen, Jordan Rudess, Jens Johansson, Vivaldi etc. Srikiran listens to a lot Melodic and progressive Metal. His Drumming inspirations are Mike portnoy, Chris Adler, Dave lombardo, Jo Jo mayer, Joey Jordison, George Kollias, Tomas Haake etc.
So as a band of musicians from different musical backgrounds we experiment a lot with our sound with metal as the basic layer, hence the genre Experimental Progressive Metal. And yeah according to me bands like Black Sabbath, Queen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc started Heavy Metal. If I have to give one name then it is Black Sabbath.
Eight Octaves: What are your favorite heavy metal bands and why? If you were to evolve heavy metal, how would you do so? De’SAT : Like mentioned earlier each one of us have different tastes when it comes to music. But as a band we like Lamb of God, Opeth, Symhony-X, As I Lay Dying, Nightwish, Firewind, Cynic, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, Within Temptation, Meshuggah etc and also Indian bands like Demonic Resurrection, Undying Inc, Skyharbor, Bhayanak Maut etc. Sometimes we even do covers from Bodom, as I lay Dying and Lamb of God but of course with our own touch to it. Well Heavy Metal is pretty much evolving day by day with a lot of bands coming up with their own unique sub-genre of Metal. What makes De’SaT different is we experiment and we also have a Hindustani touch to a few of our songs. Mr. Sunil Pariyar who currently resides in Nepal helped us with that Magical touch with his amazing skills on the flute. You will probably get to know about this when our Album is out. And we are pretty much known for our intense head banging and On-stage energy during our live shows. No matter if there is 1 person or 10,000 people in the crowd we still give our best. We are probably the first metal band to come out with a Patriotic song which covers the under-rated beauty of our Nation. Here is the link to the Music Video: And also a Live gig:
Eight Octaves: can you tell us a little bit about the gear you use. Could you also give us few tips for budding musicians out the trying to get better acoustics? De’SAT : Victor uses a Cort X-6 Viper Guitar, Boss GT10 digital processor, Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah Pedal, Line 6 Wireless, Fender Cables and Marshall Amplification. Naveen uses a custom made and a Jackson DT10 Dinky guitars, Floor Pod plus digital processor, Fender Cables, Marshall Amplification. Nithin uses an Ibanez SR-350 5 string Bass live and a fender 75 Jazz Bass for recording sessions. He also uses a Korg AX-1500 guitar processor as a compressor, Hartke Amplification. Rohan uses Casio CTK 5000, Yamaha PSR 225 keyboards, Hercules two tier double x stand with a lot of his own customizations, Peavey/Hartke Amplification. Srikiran uses Pearl Eliminators double bass pedals, Pro mark Sticks, Zildjian and Wuhan Cymbals. Both Avinash and Victor use standard Shure SM58 microphones.
Be nice to the Sound Engineer and know his name. Haha!! Tune the Guitars before going on stage. If you are using any wireless gadgets make sure you Change the batteries regularly and always have a spare with you. Check if the cables are proper. Check you sound individually and once everything is set check together as a band. Cut down on the sound frequencies if you have feedbacks. Well all the basic stuff.
Eight Octaves: You have won some major competitions across the country including the famous Wildfire at IIT Kharagpur.You have also performed alongside international bands. How different have these performances been? De’SAT: The win at IIT KGP was a breakthrough for us. I guess it was pretty much the first gig we won with the new line up. And the struggles we faced throughout that journey were miserable right from paying triple the amount to confirm 3 seats for 6 people in train with all our gadgets and luggage to paying all our money to the registration fee at IIT and left with no money for food and we were literally thrown in a small dome as accommodation with other bands. Hahaha!! That pretty much built up a strong bond between all the band members though. Well like they say Hard work always pays off. We also got an Album recording deal at Groove studios Delhi. We also went on to win competitions like Till Deaf do we part – 2012 at BITS Pilani Hyderabad where we got to play alongside Thurisaz from Belgium. The best part was we got a standing appreciation from these dudes who were the judges and amazing compliments back stage. It was also an amazing experience to play alongside some solid Metal/Rock bands from the Country like Sycorax, Turnkey and The Family Cheese. That pretty much opened up our Name outside Bangalore. From then on we’ve won almost all the competitions we have played. And the biggest victory would be Channel [V] Launchpad – 2013. And we’ve got to share stages with some amazing International bands such as Dhishti (Srilanka), Amplifier (Manchester, UK), Xanadoo (Singapore). We were also on the running to open for Slayer in that voting competition. That pretty much gave us good publicity.
Eight Octaves: What does De’saT have in store for this year? De’SAT: Well we are currently working on our Debut Album ‘WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING’ which is scheduled to be released somewhere by the end of 2013 hopefully. All the recording parts are done except the vocals which is on hold due to a few technical glitches. We should kick start that very soon. We will also be releasing another Music video for our song ‘NOSTALGIA’ before the album launch. We have a lot of college Headliners and music festivals lined up including THE M.A.D FESTIVAL, OOTY. So yeah we have a busy schedule ahead.
Eight Octaves: If you had to convince somebody to buy your album/music, which would be your main argument? De’SAT: Well like I said we have a very unique sound. The plan is our album will be divided into two parts with one part consisting of all the Heavy songs and the other which would be a mix of Heavy, soft stuff and a bit of Indian Music. So basically the buyer would get to please his ears with a variety of genres in a single album. Also we have some killer artworks done for us from Mr. Danish R.D from Rockology designs. So why not buy it when you get everything in one Album and support the band and the scene?
Eight Octaves: What according to you is the image ‘metal’ music carries in India at present? De’SAT: Metal music in India is ‘RISING’. Indian Metal bands are hitting the International shores. Many International bands are touring India. The year 2012 was a Breakthrough for Indian Metal with more than 5 or 6 Big International bands playing at different places in India. So that pretty much says what the scene is. Only thing that we lack is unity among Indian Metal Bands. The irritating part is the old school new school fights. Many big musicians piss on upcoming bands which is a sad part. But apart from that I guess every upcoming band has learnt that “If you have to survive as a band, you need to stick together, tag along with musicians of similar genre, make you own fucking scene”.
Eight Octaves: As a band, where do you see yourself in the next five years? De’SAT: We would have probably released 2 more studio Albums. See more people buying our merchandises. Hit the International scenes and tour with well know bands. Reach out to people all around the globe with our Experimental Music. Playing more live shows with the same Intensity and power we have right now. And still kick some serious Metal Asses.Members of the Band: Avinash (Necro) – Vocals Victor Charles – Guitars/Vocals Naveen Prasad – Guitars Nithin Iyer – Bass Rohan SM – Keyboard Srikiran Gosangi – Drums
Allegro is Italian for ‘cheerful’ or ‘merry’, and fudge is a yummy dessert made by mixing together a variety of ingredients. So Allegro Fudge could literally mean a lively and uplifting mash-up of a variety of techniques and sounds. Their music contains elements of pop, funk, folk, country, blues, jazz, progressive, rock and even Celtic, which makes it difficult to put it one specific genre. The band lists Dream Theater, Eric Clapton, Jaco Pastorius, Muse, Rush, Deep Purple, Pentagram, The Raghu Dixit Project, Dave Matthews Band, Dire Straits, Mozart and Elton John as its musical influences, yet sounds very little like them. They themselves prefer not to classify themselves as a particular genre, instead preferring music that is inspired from people and events around them. Unlike most bands, where the drums are the lifeblood, Allegro Fudge relies heavily on keys for percussion. Formed in 2007 by keyboardist Jason Zachariah and Joey Sharma, the band has had quite a few changes in the line-up over the years.
The present line-up consists of – Jason Zachariah (Keyboards), Saahas Patil (Vocals), Shalini Mohan (Bass) and Anish Nadh (Guitars).
The band’s debut album, Maximum City, is a celebration of everyday life, influenced by Bangalore, the city they call home (the album artwork features a stretch of MG Road), and their immediate surroundings. The 56 minute album with 9 tracks is dominated by piano riffs; Jason has magic in his fingers and I guess the band didn’t want to let that go to waste! Also noteworthy is the brilliant vocal co-ordination of the various members, and clean, fresh music that you would give a second listen. Ideally, I would recommend a rainy day and hot chocolate to go with this (:D). The first track, ‘Adrift’, was one of the first songs written by the new line-up in 2010. It was inspired by the movie ‘The Soloist’, featuring the schizophrenic musician Nathaniel Ayers. This track sets the mood for the rest of the album, with the beginning, and the clean vocals are amazing. Meaningful lyrics (“Shut this open door to the growing darkness that leads my step astray”) talk about a man’s lonely journey to fulfillment of dreams. Up next is ‘Day Dreamer’, a pop rock song talking about the endless and ever-present dreams of youngsters. At number three we have ‘Colors Fly’, an upbeat, optimistic song, with lovely piano flourishes and encouraging lyrics (“If they could see the world through your eyes, you’re a diamond in the darkness, waiting to shine”). I could imagine myself dancing to this one! ‘Far Away’ was originally written by Noella D’sa, the previous vocalist, and redone later by the present line-up. I personally feel that this particular song could have done without the extra percussion beats, as it’s a dark story about a woman trying to break free from an abusive relationship (“Her happy dreams a lifeless misery… Her mind is free but her hands are tied”). The fifth track is ‘Enchantress and the Hillbillies’, the only instrumental track of the album. Jason unleashes all of his magic in this one, structuring the piano chords around the opening guitar riffs with a fabulous end result. This could be one of my two favourite tracks of the album. Next we have ‘Waiting’, a country number with blues elements. The song has a relaxed feel to it, which is a nice deviation from the overall tempo of the album. Again, the vocal co-ordination is very pleasing to the ear! At number seven, ‘Hear Them Say’ is as country as the band goes, with a “Yee-haw!” thrown in with the guitar twangs. There are a whole lot of guitar, piano and drum solos, which may get a little overwhelming towards the end. This brings me to the next track of the album, and this is my other favourite pick of the album. ‘City of Sin’ is structured mainly around the theme of temptation; although the song starts off in a jazzy funky style, it features a darker, more ambient interlude, with sassy lyrics (“So once again the evening turns to night/ She slams the phone down, another pointless fight/ Turns up the music loud to get him off her mind/ Calls up a girlfriend, says Let’s get drunk tonight!”). The ninth track is ‘Rock All Night’, which, as the name suggests, is a rock number, with a little jazz thrown in. The tempo change is very interesting, without breaking the actual thread of the song, and the heady bass and suggestive lyrics make this a winner. The next track, ‘Eye to Eye’, is a progressive funk rock number with an odd time signature. The bass is good throughout, and the drum solo at the end is amazing! The eleventh and last track is the title track; starting off with a guitar riff which almost sounds like a sarod, this song is a tribute to Bangalore, the city that the band calls home. ‘Maximum City’ is an acoustic rock number, and talks about the inevitable changes that the city has gone through over the years.
Overall, Allegro Fudge has done an outstanding job with its debut album. With excellent vocal co-ordination and the magical piano, they’ve created fresh and meaningful songs, without having to depend on drums for the most part. I’d keep an eye out for their next one, for sure.
One Nation, One Music, One Love. The Indian youth is the country’s biggest resource, but there are few creative platforms to express nationalistic sentiment. So, Rakshak Foundation came up with Desh Raag, an original music competition, which enables the youth to bring about the change that they envision, without the use of guns and violence. After the success of its first season, Desh Raag is now all set to launch Season 2.0, aiming to rejuvenate the waning patriotic spirit, while ensuring an opportunity for passionate musicians to create songs which are powerful enough to be called anthems. Participants are given chances to perform in front of music industry hotshots like Shankar Mahadevan and Prasoon Joshi, and maestros like Indian Ocean, thus giving them the required exposure. You may want to check out the following:
The first phase is an online phase (8th June to 1st October 2013), in which participants have to register their profile on the Desh Raag site and upload self-recorded compositions on the profile page. The compositions will then be judged by experts and 3 finalists will be chosen from this stage (tentative date for declaration of finalists: 1st December 2013). Please refer to the Desh Raag Registration Guide to create and update your profile.
The 3 finalists chosen from the first stage will go on to perform live and compete. This stage culminates with declaration of the winner. There will be attractive prizes worth INR 4 lakhs for the three finalists, both in cash and kind (gift vouchers, software, opportunities etc).
One Nation, One Music, One Love. Don’t miss Desh Raag 2.0!
Barney Stinson said, “Suit up, bro!” and this Chennai based quartet did exactly that. Started in 2008, Blues Conscience was formed with the intention of bring blues into the spotlight in today’s rock and metal favouring audience. With all time greats like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf as their musical influences, there’s not much scope for them to go wrong.
Blues Conscience are – Anek Ahuja (Vocals, Bass), Aum Janakiram (Vocals, Guitars), Neil Smith (Drums) and Sid Kumar (Keys).
Their 56 minute debut album, ‘Down & Dirty’, had me hooked since I first saw the name, and I simply HAD to listen to it! Packed with 14 songs and with a host of artists featuring in different tracks, the entire album presents a diverse musical collection which one wouldn’t normally expect from a blues band. Then again, these guys love to jam. Starting off with ‘Like What Music You Got’, featuring DJ Dean, this foot-tapping number with good clean vocals is classic blues, with full on sax blaring; the scratches provided by DJ Dean lend a whole new twist to this one. ‘Blues Santa’, about spreading Christmas cheer in the community, is another peppy track which thrills me with the background choir music. The lyrics also get me interested (“Don’t buy her a diamond ring; spend some money to make them sing”). The third track is ‘Closer’, a lovely romantic number, with Indian vocals in the background. Ujjayinee Roy, the guest vocalist, has a lovely dreamy voice I would love to lose myself in. The lyrics are amazing too (“I’ll be there, everyday, When you’re flying high like a kite, I’ll be the one right by your side”). ‘Tipalo’ has some nice guitar work, along with percussions. At number 5, ‘Dreamland’ is the first instrumental track of the album; it’s the kind of relaxed song I would expect at a beach party. ‘Morning After’ is fun and lively, with some good guitar work. The lyrics are awesome too, and DJ Dean is back with his signature scratches; I especially love the instruments in this track. Halfway down the list, we have ‘Perfectly Reasonable Girl’, a romantic number in every sense of the word; refreshingly cheesy, melty and warm lyrics (“You got the groove, woman, I’m loving your lips, I’m loving you more and more with every kiss”) make me go “awwwww”! This is almost my pick of the album, but not quite. Next up is ‘No Life Without The Blues’, featuring Ed Degenaro, Siddharth Srinivasan, and Nipun Nair. This is a straight up blues track, with soulful vocals and astounding guitar work, and it’s my pick of the album. ‘Looking For A Girl’ is a simple song, with a country feel to it; foot-tapping music and lyrics make it extremely enjoyable to listen to. At Number 10 we have ‘Obama’, where “the only way to make her stay is if Barack Obama comes with me”! ‘Janis’ is awesome, with its unusual lyrics and blues beats. And with that, we come to the 3 songs with the best names I’ve ever seen. ‘Five Naked Virgins’ starts off in true blues style with drums and keys. Boasting of more amazing guitar work, this instrumental track is another one that almost became my pick of the album. The second last track, ‘Shagging My Dog’, is a total scream; the guys were obviously having a good time when they performed it! The final track is, ahem, ‘Kamasutra’! Seriously, hats off to Blues Conscience for the innovative names! Another straight up blues track, this one makes me groove and shake!
With clean vocals and a good variety of music, this album is a must listen. There are virtually no slips, and each track offers something new to the ears and soul. Bottom line, if you’re going for a long drive, play ‘Down & Dirty’ and enjoy. Oh, and call me too :P.
What do you get when you blend jazz, blues, Indian classical music, Latin music, African rhythms and add a dash of hip-hop? You get the Bangalore based band UNK, one of India’s most versatile bands consisting musicians from various parts of the globe.
UNK (The Radha Thomas Ensemble) are – Radha Thomas (Vocals), Aman Mahajan (Keyboards), Ramjee Chandran (Guitars), Matt Littlewood (Saxophones), Mishko M’ba (Bass Guitars) and Suresh Bascara (Drums).
At just a little under 38 minutes, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ is a heady mixture of jazz and Indian; the eight track album consists of four originals, three straight-ahead jazz numbers and one Latin track. It starts off with ‘Call’, one of the original compositions, which opens with a gentle guitar riff; Thomas’ voice is perfect jazz/blues material, husky but with a lovely smoky feel to it, and the Indian classical parts are a treat for the ears. The saxophone compliments her voice amazingly well too, sounding almost like a flute and highlighting the underlying Carnatic influence. The next track, ‘Menina Moca’, meaning ‘young girl’ in Portugese, is a romantic number; the lyrics of this Latin jazz track are by Thomas herself. The percussions are pleasantly uplifting, something I would expect to hear around a campfire. ‘Connections’, the second original of the album, gives me the engrossing piano chords I was hoping to hear, which are perfectly blended with the bass and the sax. It’s got a slightly melancholy feel, which is brought forward by the amazing saxophone (kudos to Littlewood). The third original, ‘Bluesette’, is fun and lively, encouraging a girl not to get depressed because of love. The lyrics impart a positive and hopeful vibe even in the midst of heartbreak. The bass in ‘Refuge’ is astounding, capturing the desperate nature of the song. And Thomas does it again, flawless Indian classical at the end blending with the sax to prove once again just how culturally diverse yet musically similar the band members are. This would be my pick of the album. The next track, ‘Almost Like Being In Love’, is another lively track, describing the typical signs of being in love. The hurried yet vivacious lyrics, the peppy beats and the overall jazzy feel make me want to tap my foot and twirl! Number 7 on the list is the title track; with a strong Indian feel to it, this bluesy song is something straight out of an old English movie. I can almost imagine UNK performing this number in a dimly lit bar with smoke swirling everywhere. The eighth and last track is ‘Watermelon Man’, a tribute to my favourite fruit, so naturally I love it! But this song with its hip-hop-y feel would cheer up anyone! The lively beats and vocals are a delightful mix, reminding me about the torturous summers and my cravings for watermelons!
UNK consists of seasoned musicians who know what they’re about, so there are no slip-ups or unnecessary embellishments in the album. I can’t stop raving about Thomas’ voice and Littlewood’s sax, they are just too awesome! The album, as a whole, has a lovely bluesy feel to it, and what I love about it is how each and every musician is given a chance to show off their skills, instead of focusing on only the vocalist or the drummer. It’s very evident that the all the artists thoroughly enjoyed working on the songs, and that lends this album its feel-good vibe.
Eight Octaves: Hello and congratulations on releasing your debut album “Groove Sandwich”! You guys were pretty scattered for 3 years till 2012, because of studying in different cities; how excited were you to finally releasing the album?
Anthracite: Hey! Thank you so much! Yeah, we were all over the place from 2009-12 when Abhishek Nair was studying in Chennai. We weren’t really a band back then. More like an idea that existed online between the emails of song ideas that we used to keep exchanging. Nair came back last July and since then we were only focused on getting the album out there. So yeah, when it did release we were extremely excited for everyone to hear our music.
Eight Octaves: So how have you been? Getting good gigs?
Anthracite: We haven’t gigged since the release of the album mainly because we spent the better part of the last two months on the music video which should be out very soon. However, just a week ago, we got Pratika Prabhune to manage us who is helping us to line up some really exciting prospects.
Eight Octaves: How did Anthracite start off? Any particular reason regarding the name?
Anthracite: In our bio, we say that Anthracite was a high school joke that became serious. Back in 2008 or so, Sahil and Abhishek used to randomly cover songs and they got together with some close friends to make a ‘band’. They called themselves Gravity Pulse at that time. The name change came up from Pranay who was the other guitarist along with Sahil. He was really into environment friendly products and anthracite, being the best form of burning fuel; he changed the name to that. Nair did leave for Chennai soon after that and even though we got Siddharth to do guitars once Pranay left, we never really were a band. As we said we were an idea that existed solely in those emails. However, our proper lineup formed when Nair returned to Mumbai for good and Dev and Deep joined the band and that’s what we count as the proper formation of our band.
Eight Octaves: Tell us about your song writing process.
Anthracite: The 5 of us all have varied musical interests ranging from Punk rock to melodeath to Nu metal etc. However, Nair has had a clear idea of what our sound has to be so with the first few songs, he was the sole person to compose the rough ideas which were then polished out into a proper track by the rest of the band. It has pretty much been always like that with each new song we write, taking us to a more mature sounding Anthracite along with newer ways we write the songs. The one fixed thing is that we write the lyrics much after the song structure has been made which makes each song unique in that the sound of the track decides the lyrical theme.
Eight Octaves: Your singles ‘No Fear Left’ and ‘Found My Way’ are 2 of your most popular tracks. What’s the story behind them?
Anthracite: Those two songs were demos back when we were experimenting with our sound. Both were recorded during the time Nair was in Chennai and he took a week off to come and record these tracks. However, we have changed our sound a lot lately and the above mentioned tracks aside, we believe that Facts and Offtune tend to get a lot of attention from our listeners.
Eight Octaves: How do you go about making music that appeals to all kinds of audiences, without deviating from the metal roots?
Anthracite: Simple songs, great riffs, catchy vocals and insane groove are what we combine well to create our tracks. To appeal to the masses, we have generally looked at the way our influences have appealed to their fans. Everyone has at some point heard Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit. They took heavy music and made it appealing to a massive audience! We also keep in mind that our tracks are not just about audio. They HAVE to contain a large visual component too. Every track we compose is made with the sole purpose of first playing it live and then releasing it as a recording. We have got comments like: “I’m not a metal person but you guys absolutely killed it yesterday. I loved loved LOVED the energy. Keep at what you’re doing, because it’s obvious you guys are loving every second of your time on stage, and I envy that. 🙂 Best of luck!” which pretty much prove that we are making music that a large section of music lovers will enjoy.
Eight Octaves: Who are your biggest musical influences? Are there any Indian artists you look up to?
Anthracite: Our biggest influences in terms of sound have been without a doubt Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park along with System of a Down and the likes. Nu metal plays an important part in our songs and many artists are who we draw inspiration from. Apart from Nu metal, we also look up to We Came As Romans, Slipknot etc. Indian artists we look up to are The Down Troddence, Limit Zero, and Skyharbor. Mainly because they sound so damn good.
Eight Octaves: Was there any particular gig which turned your luck around and gave you the required exposure?
Anthracite:Strawberry Fields 2012 without a doubt. There was also a show at Army Institute of Technology, Pune which was another level of crazy with the crowd going berserk during Offtune. It was madness.
Eight Octaves: The teaser of your Inner Voice music video is out; how was the experience, working on it?
Anthracite: The main part of the shoot was done in one day, and that day was excruciating to say the least. It was 10 hours of non-stop shooting with a really dedicated and talented crew. We were exhausted to the point that all of us were in pain over the next 3 days. The final product looks really good and the pain was more than worth it. A shout out to the guys who helped us on it, Raunak, Nishq, Nikhil, Karan and our bunch of friends who helped us out that day, you guys were amazing!
Eight Octaves: What’s the current music scene like in Mumbai?
Anthracite: The current scene in Mumbai seems to be doing really well with major local bands like Workshop, Demonic Resurrection, Scribe and Pangea having regular shows. We love that the fans are coming out to watch and support their favourite bands. Our scene will just keep progressing forward.
Eight Octaves: You guys have a good momentum going on, playing in various colleges, qualifying as finalists at Strawberry Fields, winning the finals at Rhythm ‘13. So any plans of a multi-city tour?
Anthracite: A Groove Sandwich tour is in the works with a lot of logistics still to be planned out.
Eight Octaves: Lastly, what are your future plans?
Anthracite: We are looking to release the music video first and foremost. We have written some new material and are looking forward to a proper Groove Sandwich tour. We are also looking to be signed on by a label.
