Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, who would have imagined India to have an independent, non Bollywood, music scene? Who would have imagined Indian bands getting accepted for their original compositions and not for their covers? Great bands like Indus Creed & Zero tried to survive by playing original music but they perished, only to reunite again. Bands like Parikrama, Indian Ocean & Thermal and a Quarter, stuck on, undeterred, and are basking in glory. Yes, as a great man once said, the times they are changing, the indie music scene is brimming with life and we are all part of it. The number of music festivals happening in India is a testament to the brilliance of the music scene prevailing here.
With so many genre-defying bands & artists contributing to this music scene, international tours and international recognition give them the extra impetus to keep doing what they do best. A lot of Indian bands which have taken their music to the international crowd and have got widely recognised for it are:
The Raghu Dixit Project, Advaita, Swarathma, Soulmate, Dualist Inquiry, Thermal & A Quarter, Indus Creed, Junkyard Groove, Skyharbour, Indian Ocean, Papon and the East India Co., Demonic Resurrection, Devoid, Sky Rabbit, Something Relevant, Emergence etc.
However this section is not to talk about artists who’ve already gone global but to talk about those indie artists who deserve to go global. The below, open-to-discussion, list comprises of my pick of those brilliant acts which have rocked the Indian music scene for a while and are all set to put the international stages on fire.
Blackstratblues– The band that comes first to my mind when talking about going international is Warren Mendosa’s solo project Blackstratblues. With two brilliant albums out (check them out here), it is remarkable how he expresses all those emotions and infuses all those feelings in the listener with just the sound of his guitar. He can get you drenched in the infamous Bombay Rain and also take you under the cool shade from the hot sun by playing the serene Ode to a Sunny Day. When asked about his plans of performing internationally, this is what the man had to say “We’d love to. We are trying to put something together that will be financially feasible so we can break even. Being a non mainstream act, this may take some more time but fingers crossed we can find some gigs that will make this possible. If anyone feels like contributing towards the cause, please get in touch 🙂 “. I sure hope the international crowd will soon get to Rock n Roll with the man holding the Black Strat!
Agam– A band which has defied all standard genres to make a genre for themselves is Agam. Their progressive sound fused with Carnatic melodies and metal riffs feels like a collaboration between the great M. Balamuralikrishna and the mighty Dream Theater. With their debut album The Inner Self Awakens (Buy the album here) doing very well with digital downloads, they are definitely capable of rocking any international crowd. Their live performances are filled with mesmerising music and improvisatory jams which leaves the audience in awe of their brilliant on-stage presence. Their ‘language no bar’ attitude towards composing music and their performance in MTV Coke Studio Season 2, of their song Malhar Jam have only helped build their popularity in India.
Lagori – They are a band from Bangalore who have been rocking the whole country with their unique blend of hard rock and melodic vocals. It is very difficult to not fall in love with their sound and at the same time its even more difficult to define their sound. This year has been pretty awesome for the band, from releasing their self titled debut album (Buy it here), being top of the charts, to pulling off a ‘Let it be’ on the Bangalore crowd by playing on the rooftop of Lee, Brigade Road. All I am waiting is for them to announce a big fat tour abroad so that the whole world gets to experience the brilliance of Lagori.
Tough On Tobacco – This band which is fronted by Sid Coutto, has a sound which cannot be defined but can only be felt. You listen to one song and you categorise them as reggae but you soon realise your failure when you listen to the next song and say, fine they are pop rock but then the next song you listen to is Forrest Of Doom which is a psychedelic tribute to The Beatles and then you realise, some things are just meant to be. This is exactly what happened to me when I picked up their first album The Happy Goat (Listen and buy here). Their second album cover is the funniest I have ever seen (their profile picture on Facebook). Their live performances are so much fun that it’s hard to stand still and not groove along and laugh your ass off. I truly believe that they should start touring internationally so that the crowd outside gets to laugh as loud as we do here.
P.S. You have to check out this interview that they did with eightoctaves.com. It is insanely hilarious.
Zero – Arguably the best band coming from the Indian indie music scene is Zero. They are just an out-and-out alternative hard rock band. So why do I choose them if their sound is so easy to define? That’s because they are just too damn good at it (see it here). It’s a freaking treat to hear Bobby laying out those bass lines in unison with Sid’s drums, Warren playing those face melting solos on top and Rajeev going crazy on the vocals. The only problem is that they just play one gig per year. So, I placed this issue of national concern in front of Warren and this is what he had to say about it “Rajeev lives in London and not too many promoters are ready to cover international airfare. If travel, accommodation and our fees are taken care of, we’d be willing to play as we love hanging out together. If thousands of people are keen, maybe start a collection ;-)”.
Here’s Zero performing their cult classic PSP 12
Mad Orange Fireworks – The groove band from Bangalore is my next pick for the list. They have come up with a brilliant album called Lifeline Cast (Buy it here) which is one of the best albums in stores right now. They just know how to groove and know how to get the crowd grooving with their orange rock (Their words not mine). Be it their ode to a working Saturday in Empty Saturday or the crowd favourite Feet Ain’t Movin’ where three of them (excluding the drummer for obvious reasons) stage an absolutely endearing dance sequence, when performing the song live, thus contradictorily justifying the name of the song. Innovative lyrics, clean guitars, soaring vocals ably backed up by groovy bass lines make their sound very pleasant to listen to and is one of the main reasons that I want to see them take this sound to the international audience and groove them out.
Bevar Sea – The Indian Sabbaths, as I call them, are a band from Bangalore who define what Indian doom metal means. Their first self-titled album (Buy it here) is so good that it can be placed next to a lot of top doom & stoner rock albums ever produced. They are a breath of fresh air amidst all the death / thrash metal bands that India seems to be producing now because of their 60’s & 70’s blues rock influences. I just have a dream to see them open for Black Sabbath and in the middle of their set Tony Iommi walks in with his guitar to join them on stage (Like Santana did for Soulmate. Picture here) Aaah pure bliss!!
Goddess Gagged – One of the most popular metal bands in India currently is the Djent/Ambient/Progressive/Post-Hardcore band Goddess Gagged (check out their debut album here). They have a sound which is so international that only Skyharbor could manage to pull off a similar sound and that too with Daniel Tompkins as the vocalist. It’s their sound that attracts me most to this band because it is so much more than the genres written above in its uniqueness and that’s what differentiates Goddess Gagged from all the other metal bands in India. I am pretty sure that it’s just a matter of time that we will be seeing Goddess Gagged playing in a lot of good metal fests of the world.
