“I have a life, and it’s not on twitter.” – were the last words addressed to the mass by the man who is almost single-handedly responsible for the whole sector of independent music journalism that we see today. Santosh Lobo, the owner of Indian Rock MP3, was a loving father, son, husband and brother, but most of all he was a visionary blogger and a crazy music addict. The whole Indian music scene was left in mourning, when the news of Santosh’s death spread over the internet. Santosh was battling rectal cancer for a long time now, when he finally took his last breath on Wednesday, June 19, 2013.

Indian Rock MP3 was probably India’s oldest portal, which started in August 2008, and pretty much got hold of the scene back then. Driven by Lobo’s ambition to promote the local scene, Indian Rock MP3 featured artist interviews, album reviews, artist of the month and gave away free mp3 downloads of various rock and metal bands.  “…my guess is giving away music won’t hurt as much as someone steals it from you”, said Santosh in an interview. IRMP3 was unfortunately shut down last year; however the statistics of page visits and site hits still show one of the best figures till date.

Santosh was a very cheerful, humble and practical man. He never moved from his motto of promoting the Indian Music scene to take the site to a larger scale or get any commercial benefit at such. Musicians from all over the country came out with a few words to observe this unfortunate occurrence.

“He was a man who believed, one who cared and one who had a passion for Indian Rock and Metal. After our gigpad and rsj days he created a little mini revolution with IRMP3. He was a kind, genuine, warm and supportive person. He believed that if you had nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. He lay down the reigns of IRMP3 a while back as he was battling cancer and today he’s lost that battle. But what he created, the support he gave bands and his genuine appreciation and fondness for our scene will never be forgotten. Dear Santhosh Lobo, you will always be fondly remembered. My thoughts and wishes to your family and friends. You were a wonderful human being and a dear friend.” – Sahil “The Demonstealer” Mahija (Demonic Resurrection, Reptilian Death, Workshop)

“RIP Santhosh Lobo! Indianrockmp3 were one of the first indie blogs to spread our music. We will miss you!” – 1833 AD

“RIP Santhosh Lobo. You gave us a chance when no one else did. You will be remembered in the Albatross camp forever. A toast to your name!” – Albatross

“One of the few people who cared less about himself and put everything he had into promoting the Indian music scene! RIP Santhosh Lobo!” – Devoid

Eight Octaves salutes the pioneer of Indian underground music journalism! You’ll always be in our hearts!

RIP Santosh Lobo!