Our attempt has always been to make honest music that is a representation of the people we are, the places we come from & the experiences we have had. Indian Ocean
Nam myo ho re Kya Maloom Bondhu Boll Weevil Jhini Kandisa Marewa Bhor Kaun Nam myo ho Nam myo ho re Kya Maloom Bondhu Going to Boll Weevil Brisk Lonely Kandisa No Comebacks
About MusiCulture MusiCulture About
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ONEmpire:
The English pop band, set to take the world stage
Blackstratblues:
The magician that is Warren Mendonsa
Indus Creed:
The progenitor of Rock in India
Lost Stories:
The international sensation
Mihir Joshi:
When music became his truest form
Parvaaz:
The music that touches soul
The Local Train:
Unstoppable, unforgettable, unprecedented
Daira:
The Awadhi Rock Band
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Indian Ocean:
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Tetseo Sisters:
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Shankar Mahadevan Academy:
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Sula Fest:
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The biggest and the most influential band ever Redefining the laws of fame and popularity
Changing the way music is learnt The festival of music and fun
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About MusiCulture MusiCulture About MusiCulture MusiCulture isis aa company company incorporated incorporated in in March March 2015. 2015. Brain Brain child child of of Deepak Deepak and and Ashutosh, Ashutosh, the the company’s company’s vision vision isis to provide visibility to the artists who have the potential to provide visibility to the artists who have the potential to to create create aa niche niche for for themselves. themselves. As As aa country, country, we we are are ardent ardent music music loving loving citizens. citizens. Be Be itit in in our our movies movies or or in in our our festivals, festivals, music music isis aa very very integral integral part part of of our our culture. culture. We We have have aa highly highly organized organized music music industry industry in in the the form of Bollywood, but at the same time we have a parallel form of Bollywood, but at the same time we have a parallel industry industry of of Non Non Bollywood Bollywood music music as as well. well. Its time now that the Non Bollywood Its time now that the Non Bollywood music music industry industry gets gets its its due. due. We We have have all all seen seen them them perform perform at at various various events, events, festivals, festivals, venues. venues. We We know know them them in in bits bits and and pieces, pieces, we we follow follow some and we don’t follow some. But one thing that we some and we don’t follow some. But one thing that we don’t don’t yet yetknow knowof, of,isiswhat whatthese thesemusicians musiciansare aremade madeof. of.MusiCulture MusiCulture wants wants to to delve delve deep deep into into the the Non Non Bollywood Bollywood music music industry industry and and create create aa platform platform for for the the artists artists as as well well as as the the music music followers. followers. AA platform platform where where the the music music lovers lovers get get to to know know more about these loved artists and for the artists to let more about these loved artists and for the artists to let their their fans fans explore explore more more into into their their lives. lives. We We as as aa company company stand stand for for creating creating aa visibility visibility for for the the Non Non Bollywood Bollywood music music industry industry which which has has existed existed for for ages ages but but isis only only known known in in bits bits and and pieces. pieces. We hope to receive huge We hope to receive huge support support from from all all the the music music lovers lovers and and followers followers as as we we take take this this initiative initiative to to redefine redefine the the shape shape and and horizon horizon of of Non Non Bollywood Bollywood Music. Music. Thank Thank you you for for your your support! support! Love Love and and Regards, Regards, Team MusiCulture Team MusiCulture
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The English Pop band, set to take the World stage Every band has its own creative journey. Tell us about yours. Initially, we grew as musicians quickly—playing for parties, weddings and events. We had built up a fairly popular brand under our previous name. However, whilst continuing to do what we currently do in the form of covers and playing for parties, weddings, events, etc we also want to branch out into the bigger picture which is creating, recording & releasing our own music and hopefully one day breaking into the International music scene as Indian Pop Musicians playing western music! We are all still growing as musicians. It doesn't matter how long we've played or how many shows we've done. We are good at what we do and are looking to only get better.
name, as it signifies solidarity and unity.
chance to really go all out, but it's definitely going well. Your inaugural show was at High It’s a slow process but it's definitely Street Phoenix in Mumbai. How was moving in the right direction. that? Our performance at High Street Your music influences and Phoenix was received really well. inspirations. We added in newer elements like light We are referencing a lot of artists like design and visuals, which is something Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic, Snow we haven't done before Patrol and Maroon 5. Also, artists like Jesus Culture and Hillsong, which have a more gospel ‘Mumbai’s newest band on the vibe to them.
block’, ‘One of the prominent band launches in recent times’
And what has been the response since then? The response has been very heartening so far. Our online interaction ONEmpire is a unique name. Tell us is building up nicely and our shows are how you came up with it. also being received really well. We wanted something strong that Unfortunately, there puts across some kind of a statement. are not too many We all liked authentic live music the idea of venues in Mumbai having & India right now "ONE" so we haven't as a part got a of the
Currently, you are recording your first album. Tell us all about it! We are working on our new EP, which has a modern pop/soft rock sound to it. We’re composing the songs based on very real feelings and factors that exist in the world. The recording so far has been a dream—we have been recording at the Ribbit Studio in Mumbai, which is owned by Mikey McCleary. We have been simultaneously working with the Toronto producers on the final mix & getting it mastered
These are just some of the memes being touted around about this up and coming band. by one of the top mastering engineers in the world in the UK. Hopefully, the first release will be in October 2017. English music has limited reach in India. How are you planning to bring your music onto the global map? That's the million dollar question! It's something we are constantly and consistently working on every day. The nature of the industry globally requires you to network a lot—meet new people, make new connections, learn more, explore more. We are currently working in the studio in Mumbai with Mr. Loy Mendonsa (from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) who brings so much more to the table. We have also tied up with Steve & Ben, a producer duo in Toronto, who work out of the beautiful Kensington Sound Studios. We are having listening sessions with them, getting feedback, building relationships. It will give us exposure to break into and compete with the big boys in the global market! Are you optimistic about the current Indie music scene in India? I agree that the indie music is growing in India however, I think here's still a lot more scope to it. I don't think and believe that live English original music is being promoted and encouraged and pushed enough by industry professionals here. There's A LOT more scope. What according to you should change? There needs to be more support for bands—right from nurturing, helping them write, compose, record, market and release. All this is expensive and not easy for an independent artist to do alone. The more people support bands and music in India, the bigger, better and faster we will grow. It's great to see that the indie music scene is improving and there are people out there doing everything they can to improve it even more, but there's still scope for so much more. Any goals, aspirations for the future? We hope our EP will be relatable to audiences around the world, irrespective of age, nationality, race and
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sex. We want to really push our music out—get the radio stations to play it, videos to play on TV, and do some promotional tours around the world for the upcoming singles. I truly believe we will be able to have a good impact on audiences in a very positive way and connect with them through our music.
We caught up with them recently, to get to know them and their music better. Your message for fans and music lovers. Music is the most powerful tool of communication. We as artists are trying to create music to connect to our fans and people all over the world. We artists create music to make a difference. We want to show that an English pop/rock band from India can find a place in the international music scene—and succeed! We want to share OUR stories with audiences around the world. We want people who listen to our music to become a part of our family…this one
big Empire that we are trying to
create! ONEmpire has been moving from strength to strength since the time of its launch. Having closely followed the band, which is being mentored by none other than Loy Mendonsa, they are gradually creating a name for themselves. They already have a dedicated fan following in Mumbai which is sure to grow pan India and soon at the international level too. ONEmpire will surely build an Empire which others would aspire to create too!!
Zarir Warden: Vocals Garth D’Mello: Keyboards Gavin Cason: Guitars Loy Henriques: Bass Atish Thomas: Drums & Percussion Article by Neha Kirpal
blackstratblues The Magician that is Warren Mendonsa
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lues as a music genre evolved from the South of United States originating from African Americans. A music that was termed as a melancholy form of music has gone on to influence other musical forms like rock and roll, jazz and popular music. As a form of music, Blues has its imperative presence in the history and has a very wide audience base globally. As a music form, artists have been experimenting it with Rock, Pop, Folk, to name a few. In India, blues with a fusion of Rock, Psychedelic, Folk, Pop, Electronic music has been synonymous to Blackstratblues and Warren Mendonsa. He has been one of the most prolific proponents of this art and has been widely acclaimed for his excellence in it. We had a chance to have his views on various aspects of his life and music a few days back and he opened up with us very candidly. For some people music comes naturally and he has been very acknowledging about this fact. He says “I was lucky to be born into a musical family, nearly every member sang or played an instrument. Every
family gathering would inevitably turn into a musical event of sorts.” We went on further to know, when was it that he thought of taking up music as a full time work. To this he recalled “I studied engineering till I got a job at a recording studio in my third year. It was probably then that I figured a job in the music industry was probably going to be the most satisfying in the long run.” Given that he has played on numerous venues, it was natural for us to ask about that one performance which he enjoyed the most. Warren recounts “I don’t really have a specific performance as such, but playing at Rang Bhavan in Mumbai was always a thrill as I had grown up watching bands play there.” We can only imagine the excitement, pride and satisfaction, playing at Rang Bhavan that Warren would get, knowing the background. Warren has been one of the best musicians in India and he has won many accolades for his artistic excellence. However, he was very humble when asked about his evolution as a musician. In his words “It’s very hard for me to tell as I’m so close to the music I make. This is a question better directed at the listeners”. Listeners, we are sure, are very appreciative of his musical prowess and they only want to hear him more. We also delved into his aspirations as a musician. When asked as to what is he looking to achieve as a musician, he was very candid in replying. “My goal is to leave something behind that would hopefully stand the test of time. If people still listen to my music long after I’m gone, nothing would make me happier” says Warren. With the way he has shaped an ever evolving music form in India, he is already becoming a part of legacy and the coming times will only add more to his stature as a musician. Adding more however, comes with more music that he produces and he gave us an insight into his upcoming
projects too. His recently released album is titled The Last Analog Generation. The title in itself arouses nostalgic feeling. While talking about his latest album he explains “We have recently released the fourth Blackstratblues album titled The Last Analog Generation. It features Jai Row Kavi on Drums, Adi Mistry on Bass, Beven Fonseca on keys and Tejas Menon guests on vocals on one track”. The Last Analog Generation is very interesting mix of talented musician. The album featured as the No. 1 album on iTunes India chart for many days post its release. We discussed at length on the music culture in India and how it is evolving. We also spoke about the way industry has developed from an Indie Artists’ perspective. Talking about the above, this is what he has to say “Apart from Bollywood and EDM, there still exists an audience for independent live music. I guess this will always be the case, which is a good thing. The number of artists that
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“My goal is to leave something behind that would hopefully stand the test of time. If people still listen to my music long after I’m gone, nothing would make me happier” are exploring diverse forms of music is increasing, and there is an audience for the same. At music festivals the average age seems to be getting younger every year, it is heartening to see so many kids who love different kinds of music”. While Warren has been observant of the changing music dynamics in India, his passion for music remains intact and is reflective in his body of work. Blackstratblues, which started as a solo project in a family which has
produced musicians in every generation, has become a benchmark in the industry for musical excellence. All the accolades and honours aside, Warren still remains the man who carries this music in his own natural form. We see many musicians featuring sporadically but only few are able to survive the test of time. Blackstratblues has surely been one of those.
Article by Deepak D.
The Progenitor of Rock in India
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day Benegal and Indus Creed are two names that are synonymous with the Indian Rock Music scene. Indus Creed started way back in 1984 when Mahesh Tinaikar, Mark Selwyn, Ian Santamaria, Aftab Currim and Suresh Bhadricha came together to form a band named Rock Machine. After a few concerts in 1984, the line up changed to Uday Benegal, Mahesh Tinaikar, Mark Selwyn, Jayesh Gandhi and Mark Menezes followed by Zubin Balaporia adding to the line with his keyboard. Indus Creed’s journey in the independent music industry can been witnessed in three distinct phases. From 1984 to 1993, where they performed and composed as Rock Machine, from 1993 to 1999, where they re-branded themselves as Indus Creed and from 2010 till date, where they
re-united after a hiatus of 11 years to get an official re-launch on 7th October 2010. As a part of their re-launch, they headlined Harley Davidson’s Harley Rock Riders concert in Hard Rock Café Mumbai. In one of the candid chats with Uday Benegal, we delved deeper into Indus Creed’s journeys. He was at his usual best while describing their journey and also giving us insights about the present industry trends as well as his take on the future of music. To know more about Indus Creed, we went all the way back to where it all started. The year was 1984 and this is what Uday had to say. “Initially, it was all about getting on the stage, expressing ourselves and making some noise. Our performance, the way we put our act on stage, the way we dress and play some rock music was all that mattered. It was about having fun! But then Mark Selwyn, who had a different spark in our band, was the one who directed our energies and was the one who used to get more gigs to us. At that point of time it was just about getting more gigs and playing them as well as we could, sounding as well as we
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could and presenting ourselves as well as we could. We were one of the first bands to travel with our sound engineer which was way ahead of its time. When I look back, these were the things that probably worked for us. Nowadays, the bands are completely aware of their sound, back then it was very different for us.”
“1984 to 1993 was a bunch of college guys playing rock music because they wanted to. That was pretty much it! By 1993, we became more aware about our music. We realised that we could make a career out of it as well.
When asked about the journey of the band in the three phases that they have been into, Uday very candidly recalled “1984 to 1993 was a bunch of college guys playing rock music because they wanted to. That was pretty much it! By 1993, we became more aware about our music. We realised that we could make a career out of it as well. Our focus, however, was on the quality of our sound. We went to Los Angeles to get our songs recorded, as you will largely get the best sound engineers in LA. We wanted to take our music out of India and changing the band’s name to Indus Creed was a step towards that. It gave us a more mature and distinct identity.” One of the early highlights in the journey of Indus Creed was the video of Pretty Child featuring at 9th spot on MTV Asia Best Video of the Year competing with international artists like Madonna, Michael Jackson, and more. Recalling that time Uday added “It was an experience full of adrenaline rush. We were 25-26 years old at that time. We never thought that our video will be such a success. I would like to credit this to our hard work only but I have to acknowledge that a lot of things fell in
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place for us. When we started playing, we never knew that MTV will come to India. We never knew that we would become a regular feature on a channel as huge as MTV. We were coming up with videos that they liked along with the audiences which gave us the boost that we needed.” Uday also spoke to us about the long awaited reunion of Indus creed in 2010. “2010 reunion was a renewal for the band. We got two new members in. The band was down from a 6 piece to a 5 piece set up. Bringing in younger members added that new element and dimension to our sound. Three of us, Zubin, Mahesh and myself, are the original members in the band. Jay and Krishna are the new members in the current line up. From a lyrical point of view, we carry more experience now which reflects in our songs. We are still a rock band; in fact we’ve added more layers to it sonically, lyrically, philosophically, energetically.” When asked about what is coming up from Indus Creed, he gave us an insight into his new album. “We all started recording last year but somehow we all got tied up with something or the other. Somehow songs also dried up, which
happens on certain occasions. We have restarted the process of writing & composing and we’re looking forward to completing the album soon.” He was very appreciative of the Indie Music at the moment. He says “Bands today are coming up with a lot of original content. There is good music being produced by quite a few. While 2016 saw a slight slump in the demand for Indie Music, 2017 has started showing increase in demand, where people want to watch live band performances to enjoy the thrill of it. This is a parallel industry to Bollywood and it will always have its audience. Even a small percentage in India means a very large number. So, there will always be a large number of people demanding good quality indie music.” While Indus Creed is currently busy with the album that is on the verge of completion, we had a great time getting insights into the band’s journey. From a college band that was playing to have fun to a band that has emerged as the progenitor of rock music in India, Indus Creed has already written its name in the history of Indian Music. Article by Princey Wilkins
The international Sensation
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oday, music is not just about the musical instruments. It’s a unique blend of instruments and technology which has given rise to the new sounds like Electronic Dance Music, popularly called as EDM. EDM has a long history however, in India, this form of music has been gaining popularity over the last few years now. ‘Lost Stories’ is a band of young guys who aspire to carve a niche with their style of EDM. Let’s explore the ‘Lost Stories’ with Rishabh Joshi who is one of the most aspired EDM artists of the current generation. ‘Lost Stories’, how did it happen and what about the name? Well, it’s interesting how Lost Stories happened. I met Prayag in an online forum wherein I was going through the playlist of Tiesto in 200708. Prayag was already an established artist whereas I was trying my hand on dance music. I discovered that we both were working on the same kind of compositions. So, I e-mailed him my music, he liked it and we met. Prayag was, at that time, producing music for Bollywood however, we felt that our quality was getting compromised as we were working on someone else’s terms. Our desire to create our own sound was the mother of ‘Lost Stories’. The name “Lost Stories” has a certain element of mystery around it. It is related to the sound we make. Dance and pop music with Indian elements may not necessarily fit into one genre style or element. The mystery around our sound resonates well with the name of our band. Tell us about your first song “False Promises”. We released False Promises in 2009 on Tiesto’s Black Hole Recording. We
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had composed this song and we sent it to them. We were skeptical to begin with but to our surprise they liked the composition and signed us up. It was an amazing feeling. We got a very good response for the track and it was played multiple times on ASOT shows of Armin Van Buuren. We were very lucky to have received such a support. Now that you have made a name for yourself in the industry, there would have been a starting point too. What drew you to music? I am from a musical family so music was something I grew up with as a part of my upbringing. My father, Mr Pankaj Joshi, is a famous Gujarati folk musician. So music has had its influence on me since my growing years. Prayag, however, is an accidental musician. He once met with an accident and broke his arm. During his recovery, he downloaded a software and invested sufficient time to discover its fine areas. It was then that he realized that EDM is the form of music which he would like to pursue further. But why Electronic Dance Music? The technology that goes behind creating this music fascinates me a lot. We have been followers of acts like Daft Punk, Radio Head, KHSMR, Chemical Brothers etc. The use of synthesizers in the compositions used to always attract our interest. However, it was the song ‘Alone Tonight’ that got me hooked to EDM. The music of KSHMR, the IndoAmerican musician, has been especially inspirational for us. It is a fusion of Indowestern music, very similar to what we wanted to create too. Also we felt that EDM is not as popular as it can be which further strengthened our determination to pursue it further. How is the chemistry of team ‘Lost Stories’ : Rishabh and Prayag? We are a happily co-ordinated team. If we are touring regularly, Prayag looks into the business management side of our work. He manages the school we had started around a year back. We are giving young guys a chance to learn from our experience and guide them to avoid failures. We are providing them with a studio where they can come over and work when they want to. We have a small agency ‘Black Paper White’, which nurtures like minded people.
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Having performed over a considerable time now, which is the most memorable performance that you can recall? When we think about our most memorable performance, Tomorrowland stands right at the top. We were going to perform in Tomorrowland for the first time. Of course we were slightly nervous, but we were confident of our work. When we started performing there were about 200 people in the audience. However, as we played our third track, the whole place was packed. It was buzzing and crowd was having an absolute blast. Everything was so perfect that we can say without a doubt that it was our most memorable performance so far.
“Our music should move masses” You have been touring China recently. How has been your experience there? We have just come back from China. The atmosphere there reminded us about India some 5-6 years back, when EDM was a new thing here. It’s a very similar situation in China at present. EDM artists have only recently started performing there. China is a growing market with much bigger scale. We will see more and more artists reaching out to China in the coming years.
Tomorrowland are also in the making. We had in the past also collaborated with Armaan Malik for his single ‘Ferrari’. What does ‘Lost Stories’ aspire to achieve in the coming years? ‘Lost Stories’ wants to help upcoming artists by extending our experience to them. We have learnt things the hard way, out of our own experiences. We believe in learning from the first and being better for the next. We do not want upcoming good talent to repeat the mistakes or go through the same rough times as we faced. We take it as our moral responsibility to guide and assist the new talent that wants to get a platform for being successful. Through our music though, we want to touch more and more number of people. So, we want to create music with which our audiences can connect. Our music should be counsellor to them which has an emotional appeal to the listeners. The way we are stepping forward, I feel we are on the right track because we get highly emotional messages when we release our music.
How do you see yourself evolved as a Musician over last few years? We have been creating music for past many years now. The soul of our music has not changed though the style, attitude, music quality and target audience have changed. Our philosophy of being unpredictable remains the same, though the music may change slightly depending upon the audience. Our music should move masses. We now know the pulse of the audience. The moment that you need to grasp and make the audience move to your music.
How do you see Music Culture evolving in India? EDM started with hype and is a big business today. Earlier there used to be one international artist in a long gap, but now it’s frequent. So, while it is getting big, there are many gigs that go half sold. Ultimately it is about the quality of music that one produces, which will fetch the audience in a longer run. In our view, music culture in India is evolving at a rapid pace and only good content creators will survive in the longer run. Rishabh Joshi and Prayag Mehta are having a very successful career in the music industry, however, one thing that grabs our attention is their humble and grounded demeanour. Their desire to give back to society and guide the upcoming talents speaks about their commitment towards future. Lost Stories has a huge and dedicated fan base and we are sure it will only get bigger as they progress.
Tell us something about your upcoming projects? ‘Spread the Fire’ is our recently recorded track with Spinning Records. It is a summer anthem with uplifting lyrics. Some of the Bollywood projects and a track with Sonu Nigam for
Article by Shveta Mishra
When music became his truest form
‘The Mihir Joshi Band is the truest way I get to be me!’ Singer, emcee, talk show host – Mihir Joshi wears many hats. He is one of the most talented artists in India and has been very successful in carving a name for himself in the industry. We got a chance to get to know him better in an interview with him. While he is currently busy with his assignments, he found some time for a candid chat with us. You started your career as a radio jockey. Tell us about this interesting journey from a radio jockey to a musician. I was the lead singer of my college band—the only thing I loved about engineering. However, I knew no professional musicians and didn’t have a band. But I could talk and I knew a fair bit about music. This is how my journey started. I combined the two (speaking and music skills) and became an RJ. I auditioned for AIR’s FM Rainbow and got in! I was one of the first few people to interview Indian English bands on radio. This was very rare back then. However, in my eight years on radio, I interviewed over 300 artists. It was a very beautiful experience. I loved the process of getting
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to know another creative person better. It also gave me an opportunity to learn from and jam with people I’ve loved and admired over years. This is how I found musicians who would become my band members going ahead. While I progressed on my musical journey, I was also fortunate to have received support f r o m m a n y individuals a n d / o r
organisations. One of the brands I’m most grateful to is Harman. I signed with them in 2010 and have been a brand ambassador for them ever since. Their support to me and my music has been phenomenal. I’m very happy to support GoPro Cameras as well with whom, I’ve just signed up and I am looking forward to creating some really interesting content with them. You have been a part of numerous bands. What did you learn from each of them? I started my music career with my first band The King Keys. It was a tribute to The King, Elvis. My keyboard player Rohan Merchant and we did 6–8 gigs together. Through this band I got to know one of the finest drummers, Virendra Kaith. After The King Keys, my second band was a covers band called The Works. With The Works, over five years, we did many gigs and I also wrote some original songs. It was while working with The Works that I learnt about networking, reaching out to brands, and the importance of brand identity. It taught me the business of music along with its art form. From The Works, I moved to my third project, Bombay Rock Project. With this band, we did Bollywood music adding our own elements to it. We took old Bollywood songs and spiced them up with blues, funk, rock and jazz. We
also did really well in season 3 of India’s Got Talent. One of the musicians from BRP is in my current band—guitarist par excellence, Sanju Aguiar. My current band, the Mihir Joshi Band (MJB) came about in 2014. Tell us more about MJB and your music. MJB is the truest way I get to be me! We’re a rock and roll band that loves the blues. We create our own sound incorporating the Rock and Roll with Blues. We are five very different musicians— Sanju on guitar, Ruell on bass, Viru on drums and Vedant on keyboard. We get together to have a great time playing music that we all love. We have also been able to understand each other’s strengths as we have progressed in our journey. The gigs are few and far in between, but when we meet and jam, it’s magic! Tell us about your musical influences. I’ve always been a rock music fan. However, the roots of rock n roll are in the blues. All bands I love have their origins in the blues in some way or the other. The list of such bands can go on but some of the names that come to mind immediately are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and his various projects, Queen and The Eagles. They have been very impactful in my early years of music influences. Tell us about your debut album Mumbai Blues. It’s a rock n roll album with foundations in the blues. Produced by Ashish Manchanda at Flying Carpet Productions, it was released worldwide by Times Music in 2014. The lyrics of the songs are about potholes, traffic jams, heartbreaks, relationship drama and love. The album basically talks about things that everyday people can relate with. There’s even a song that is a small tribute to a man who has been a massive influence in the lives of millions of Indians including myself– Sachin Tendulkar! Which is your favourite track in the album?
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My favourite song on the album is a ballad called Sorry—a conversation between a father and his daughter. It is a song where a father is apologising for the world he’s giving her today. It was written imagining what I’d say if I had a daughter and if she were a young woman in India today. Mumbai Blues received the GIMA Best Rock Album in 2015. Have things changed since then? Not significantly I must honestly say. That’s the sad thing about English music in India. It doesn’t seem to matter too much to people that we have a GIMA award-winning album. However, it’s nice to have won it since musicians and others who understand the value of the GIMA Award appreciate & respect it. What do you see as a goal for yourself? The first person I ever interviewed was Engelbert Humperdinck. He was 70 then and when he performed at NCPA Mumbai, old aunties were losing their collective minds! I hope when I’m 70–75, I can still go on stage and sing the songs I love. That’s the goal I’ve set for myself. Talk to us about your show, The MJ Show. If there’s one thing I’m truly proud of, it’s The MJ Show. It has over 10 million views on YouTube.
T h e idea is a n a t u r a l evolution of what I did on radio. I have completed 75 episodes over two seasons. Over the span of these 75 episodes, I feel
very humbled to have received such a positive response from my audience. I hope to start season 3 soon. What do you think of the evolving music culture in India? There are a lot of gigs, but no one’s really paying the musicians. There are very few bands making a living out of being English musicians. It’s a crazy world we’re living in but I’m not complaining. Technology has been the driving force in the evolution of music. There have been some amazing bands and some fabulous music in the last few years. The scene has gotten better but it’s a long way from being sustainable. To quote an old ACDC song: “You think it’s easy doing one night stands, try playing in a rock n roll band. It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll”. That’s as true today as it was back then. All we can do is keep adapting and getting better at what we do. A rock and roll artist, an excellent orator and a very humble as well as sensitive human being, Mihir Joshi is one man with multiple dimensions to his personality. It was a great experience knowing him and we surely look forward to more music from his end. Not to forget the MJ Show Season 3 too!
Photography by Saleel Pednekar Article by Neha Kirpal
The Music that touches Soul
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usic is all about expressing the emotions that we otherwise can’t explain. Artists have their own way in which they define themselves. But as we all know, art is all about defining and redefining ourselves over time, which is exactly what Parvaaz has done over the years. A band that started their journey with a casual discussion between Kaashif and Khalif, later led themselves and their band (now of 4 members) towards a musical extravaganza. A lot of us love the band’s name ‘Parvaaz’, but only a few would know that it was a spontaneous decision made. “It was a very spontaneous call to name the band Parvaaz when we were asked about our band’s name for a gig. The funny part is that the gig never happened but name
music. As random as it may sound, but it was an overnight decision for us”, says Fidel who is the bass guitar player for Parvaaz. Parvaaz has been producing some of the most soulful and heart touching songs. When asked about their genre, they have been very open in describing themselves. “Parvaaz is trying to define a genre for themselves. We have been referred to as a Sufi Rock band for almost two years. But if we think about it, our influences range from Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Radio Head to Swarthma, Indian Ocean, Avial, Thermal and a Quarter to name a few. For instance, Color White has a very specific flow and feel to both the video and the track. We are
m a d e such a deep impact on us that it stayed”, says Sachin, Band’s percussionist. As spontaneous is the name, their journey defines spontaneity too. “We used to work during the day and then jam in the night. Sachin got an internship opportunity with a major production house. Parvaaz was relatively new then and I was working as well at that moment. But 2010 seemed to be our year of calling! We both decided to quit our jobs and concentrate on our
trying to experiment with our music. We like to create music that we believe in”, says Sachin. While they enjoy creating new music, they enjoy performing in front of the audience even more. We asked
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“Our aim is to reach out to all the parts of the country and to have our music known”
them about their most memorable performances. “We were in Bangalore and we had a gig at The Humming Tree, which later got cancelled. However, we received a call from the venue that the gig is on and we will be on stage at the scheduled time. We reached the venue and were doing sound check. At 8 PM we started the sound check and almost at the far end the PA system went off. We had no option but to use two monitors on each side for the gig. It was a moment of madness and we had to convince ourselves that even though the PA has gone down, monitors will work as much. The event started at 10pm and our gig started at 11. It is unbelievable how the audiences’ loved the performance despite the technical challenges. Thanks to the audiences’ love for music, we had a really great time. Felt like those
days back in college. It was real fun”, say Fidel and Sachin, while almost getting nostalgic about the show. “While we perform at cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, we are also reaching out to the audiences of cities like Varanasi. “Our aim is to reach out to all the parts of the country and to have our music known”, say Fidel and Sachin as they continue further. “Technology is playing an important
role in making musicians’ voice heard. Audience is getting connected over phones, tablets, laptops, etc. The
“While we perform at cities like Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, we are also reaching out to the audiences of cities like Varanas
amount of content that goes up on the internet is also huge these days which makes the industry even more exciting as well as challenging. Only good content will have an impact while the others will struggle to find an audience”
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says Fidel. Currently, promoting their new song Shaban, Parvaaz is also engaging with Bollywood for some new projects. They are currently working with Kushal Shrivastava for his upcoming movie Vodka Diaries. They are currently touring the world and talking about their Canada tour, Khalid and Kashif said, “We are really excited about Canada tour. It's going to be an opportunity to play in front of a fresh audience. We are very eager to see how they respond to our music.” While they might have some butterflies, we are sure that the audiences would love to hear their sound. From a spontaneous decision way back in 2010 to signing up a Bollywood project, Parvaaz is indeed making a mark for itself. The band is high on quality and promises to give us many more memorable songs. Color White has already been a huge success and we are looking forward to their new releases as well.
Khalid Ahamed - Vocals & Guitar MirKashifIqbal - Guitar & Vocals Fidel D’souza - Bass Sachin Banandur Drums & Percussions
Article by Princey Wilkins
Unstoppable, Unforgettable, Unprecedented
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n independent rock band known for its hit singles and edgy music videos, The Local Train has been ranked as India's No. 1 rock band (Sennheiser, 2015). As the genre-defining new face of Hindi rock, they have performed at some of the most prestigious stages across the country. In a casual tête-àtête, they told us about their incredible journey, musical influences, fan following, forthcoming projects and the music scenario in India.
The Band Speaks How it all started The members all met through music. “I am from Chandigarh, where I met Ramit and then Sahil,” said Raman. In 2013, the trio began writing their own music. Finally, they got Paras on board after which there was no looking back. “We decided to stick together. It worked and we have decided to keep doing what we do,” he said.
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Their first recording “When we made our first album in the studio, we had stayed in Mumbai for nine months without a gig. We wanted to go through the entire process and learn the art of recording,” they said. And an interesting time it sure was. “We were four people living in one room, next to a railway line—and completely broke—LICs had been revoked, FDs broken and loans taken from friends. We would show up everywhere in our chappals and shorts, and sleep along with rats on the studio floor! For six months, we did shows to raise money, have vada pao, chai, smoke, chai and vada pao. During the last couple of months, we got kicked out of the house.” That one-time experience was instrumental in improving their skills. “It was an exploratory journey. We realized our weaknesses and strengths as musicians,” said Sahil.
songs—‘Chhoo lo’—became famous, we stuck to the name.” Linking it to the kind of music they create, the members said, “Our music is guitar-driven—hard rock to grunge to heavy metal—much like the bands from the 70s, 80s and 90s. In that sense, the sound is somewhat characteristic.”
The story behind the name “The music came first and then the name,” they said. “We thought of changing the name, but when one of our
Their huge fan following “It is only due to audiences that we have come this far. With 7 million hits on our YouTube channel overall with
Hindi rock as their genre “It was not a conscious decision, it came naturally to us. Being guitarists and drummers, we all end up playing rock whenever we pick up an instrument.” They also attributed it to some of their earliest musical impressions. “We grew up listening to various artists—Indian Ocean, Avial, Lucky Ali, Parvaaz, Amit Trivedi and A R Rahman—so, Hindi chose us,” they said. “The alternative rock era comprising several contemporary artists like Zogoa in Delhi has been the most influential for us,” they added.
Khudi having 350 thousand view, it trended among the top 50 videos on YouTube. The comments were all from the people who had watched the song live.” Recalling their most memorable performance, they add, “Our level of connect with the college crowd is amazing. There have been a lot of shows but MIT Manipal stands apart. Here, we played twice in one year and even made a few friends. The intensity of the crowd was something else.” Looking ahead at the next few months, they said, “Our Second Album Vaaqif, was released in August. We have been extensively promoting our album, having multiple city tours within India” The band’s phenomenal evolution “We have become faster at writing, composing and jamming. Staying together has also helped us understand each other’s sound better. We have realized that it’s not about one great line or instrument, it’s about collective effort. We are also experimenting more now, as we feel we have a dedicated fan base,” they said. There have been other more subtle learnings along the way. “As you grow older, you understand when not to play, when to start, and when to stop. The joy lies in creating your own
song and then hearing people sing it.”
Raman Negi: Vocals + Acoustic Guitar Paras Thakur: Lead + Acoustic Guitar Ramit Mehra: Bass Guitar Sahil Sarin: Drums + Percussions
The evolving music culture “The business of independent artists is taking shape. There is something for everyone—R&B, pop, rock, rap, etc. Regional rock bands have emerged in various cities,” they said. As the supply has increased, so has the demand.
“People have started going for gigs, as independent music has raised its standards. College festivals have become open to playing new independent artists during their band nights,” they said. On the role of the internet “The internet has given one access to new content. Everyone can put out whatever they like. YouTube has completely changed the dynamics, as one can reach out to anyone in any part of the country. If you have good music, you will get a stage to play,” they said. According to them, the sensibilities of listeners have also become more sophisticated. “People want to listen to Hindi music and they have become smarter. Lip syncing is not appreciated anymore. Bollywood content comes and goes. There is very less music that stands the test of time. Indian Ocean has been one the very few bands that has lasted so long, because of their quality. They are huge inspiration.” On that bright note, we hope The Local Train stays inspired and keeps churning out more and more awesome music that, in turn, continues to inspire us!
Article by Neha Kirpal
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The Awadhi Rock Band
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usic is a tranquiliser, rejuvenator, accelerator, revitaliser and healer. It has a different feeling in the mind of each individual. However, for those who are passionate about their love for music, they stand out of the crowd and opt it as a profession. This is what happened with Daira Band members. Prateek loved drumming and was a frequent drummer since college days. “I have been doing this since my college days. I had been playing in competitions, all over India. It started as a hobby to begin with. However, after college I got a job as a software engineer and worked there for 2.5 years. I reached a point where I had to quit drumming completely. But then, as a drummer I could visualize myself advancing to the
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next level. I quit my job in 2013 and was doing sessions with a few bands.” Daira, which means ‘boundary’, is a rock band of five young passionate music lovers namely, Prateek, Piyush, Vikalp, Chaitanya and Govind which happened in September 2014. Earlier, they were a part of a band called ‘life’. There was creative limitation for them so they decided to go independent. They were looking for a drummer and then Prateek went for an audition. At first, they were skeptical about him but later went ahead and by December 2014, they were composing their own songs. But why the name Daira? “Piyush came up with this name. Its meaning is ‘boundaries’. The idea is for us is to
push our boundaries musically, that’s how we relate to Daira. We don’t want to be limited and stick with a particular genre” say the band-mates. The band classifies itself as an Awadhi Rock Band. The selection of ‘Awadhi’ was not a random one. The dialect has a presence in music industry as well as in Bollywood. It’s a delicate blend of Urdu and Hindi, which makes its understanding easier in masses. It also has known influence in ghazals. Such blend of rock and roll and Awadhi is still unknown in music industry which makes it stand above the rest with an ethereal fragrance of the language of the land and at the same time, gives the band an edge over the others. Being a rock band, it’s natural to have
an influence from the great names of But we still performed like we were Chemistry has also become better for the field. “As a band, I would say that performing in front of the full crowd. us and we have developed the knack of rock and roll is the genre that we closely Such was the feel of our performance getting the pulse of the audiences”. relate to. Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Avial, that the friend of the owners came up Being a band of young artists, their are some of our biggest influences. to sing with us. The crowd increased dreams are also high which they are However, we keep experimenting with to 5 by the end of our performance. working on rigorously and confidently our sound constantly.” We have seen bands playing very sadly to realize them. They feel they are still When we spoke with Piyush he said, if the crowd is low but we respect the exploring themselves as they have a long “Jagjit Singh’s work has a great influence audience no matter how big or small it way to go. Currently, they are working on me, its simplicity is amazing. He once is”. on a new album. On asking to throw said that if the listener has to sit with Though still a young band, Daira has some light on their present project, dictionary to understand your lyrics then had a good journey since its inception in they mentioned, “It’s an unnamed it is difficult to make your music reach out 2014. The band has performed in over album. We have done the song writing. to people. From a thought process, I like 100 live shows with their own composed We are doing it at home to begin with George Denis Patrick Carlin. He is a great lyrics. This has groomed the band-mates and then we will go for a studio version. influence in terms of issues he brings to become more confident stage artists The album is expected to have eight up. Salvador Dali is another big influence with great audience appeal. As per songs. The difference between the for me. His eccentricity is the key to his Piyush, “We have added more theatrics first and this album is that we have expressions. That’s what the artists should to our performances. Earlier we used jammed more which has resulted into a be, mad at expressing themselves and to think about how to play songs to better sound and a better composition that’s what we wish to be”. cover the time. But now we have a good sonically. This will be a live album. It is For every artist, there is always a original songs base. Now we plan fixed expected to be completed by the end of memorable performance which he number of songs within the time slot. 2017 or the start of 2018”. cherishes in his list of memorable Music Culture in India has moments, be it good or not so undergone a great change. good. When asked about their Internet has transformed the most memorable performance, access of music from witnessing Piyush Kapoor: Vocals and Lyrics Piyush recalled “Goa performance, a live concert to the audience the performance had only two across the world at their own Vikalp Sharma: Guitars and Backing location via Youtube, Facebook people as the audience. We were coming from Nagaland, the rock and the likes. Therefore, the vocals hub and we were having a paid band feels that in future, the gig at Goa. We landed in Goa, we group with strong music and were all geared up to rock the attractive visual appeal will Shivam Pant: Guitars and Backing stage. Sound check was done with have more audience. Hindi vocals full enthusiasm. We were waiting rock is also in nowadays. Thus, for the performance time, waiting ‘Daira’ with an amalgamation of for the audience. There were Awadhi and rock is surely one of Pratik Kulgod: Drums three people in the audience. Out the band to look forward in the of the three people, two were the future. owners and one was their friend. Article by Shveta Mishra
Photo Credit: Ashwyn Warrier
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“An Indo-rock fusion with Jazz-spiced rhythms”, “Sounds like a revolution”, “Fusion that perfectly blends Sufism, Shlokas, Mythology and environmentalism” These are only a few among an ocean full of descriptions that music critics provided us with, when asked them about Indian Ocean.”
The biggest and the most influential band ever
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n 1984, Susmit Sen met Asheem Chakravarty during a concert and for the next three years, the duo jammed together. Little did they know then, that they were up to something that was going to be remembered for generations to come. It was only in 1990 that the band was officially formed when Shaleen Sharma (drums), Indrajit Dutta, Anirban Roy (bass), and Sawan Dutta (keyboard) joined. The rest, as they say, is history. Indian Ocean recorded a demo the same year and landed a deal with HMV. History Behind The Name The name ‘Indian Ocean’ was suggested by Susmit’s father over a casual evening discussion. Legend goes that when he first said the phrase, all the band members instantly went with it. No real explanation was sought as to why— it was just something that appealed to everyone and they unanimously agreed
on the name (So glad they did). It was only years later that music writers and industry executives described the band’s music as “Deeply rooted yet expansive like the ocean”, hence the name. (But you know the real deal now). The Ups, Downs, Departs And The Arrivals While the band kept growing and changing over the years, the most prominent changes were the arrival of Rahul Ram in 1991 and Amit Kilam in 1994. However, after the tragic demise of Asheem in 2009 the band was shaken. But all was well after Himanshu, Tuheen and Nikhil joined in. Even though the band’s historic timeline resembles that of a ‘rolling stone’, it is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of the Indian rock scene. We caught up with the band members over a chat about the band’s journey, their distinctive music process, earliest
inspirations, outstanding performances, upcoming projects and the current music culture in India.
The Band Speaks On the subject of the band’s evolution over the years “Every band member brings their own personality, playing style and influences into the music. This has always been true. When Rahul and Amit joined, the sound evolved from what it used to be earlier. That is the reason why Desert Rain and Indian Ocean (self-titled debut) sound different from Kandisa and Black Friday.” Reflecting once again about the contrast in music produced by changes in the band, they add, “Our most recent album Tandanu (2014) has a very distinct sound but it still sounds like us because of the newer band members and phenomenal guest collaborators.”
had,” they said. On their musical influences Their take on the current music “All of us have been exposed to Their most memorable performances scenario different genres of music. Our parents When asked about their most “India now has a great mix of have always liked music and it has always unforgettable performances in the talented bands, world-class festivals, been around us,” they said. And some twenty-seven years that they have been concert experiences, skilled technicians variety it sure is! While Amit has been around, they recalled, “Our shows in as well as a network of agencies, agents, exposed to Kashmiri folk, ghazal music, Japan, the Reunion Island, and Russia managers, and vendors. All these things and rock from a young age, Himanshu has have been some of the most memorable.” together can provide for a top-of-thetrained in classical music and is familiar The members also shared details about line production and sound experience,” with Garhwali folk music, ghazals and some of their forthcoming projects. they said. Further, they added, “The film music. Rahul, on the other hand, is What’s in-stored in future? film industry has opened up to indie in more comfortable with jazz, reggae and “We are currently working on our first a big way. The internet and the content rock and roll. Nikhil too is accustomed full-length album with the new line-up. consumption is constantly evolving, and mostly with jazz, pop, country, rock, We plan to release the album in 2017– we have authentic home-grown artists fusion and world music. Finally, Tuheen 18. We are also making songs for a film who can fill this space.” has been trained in Hindustani classical (tentatively titled Chakki) by first-time Needless to say, learning more and his genres of choice include fusion director Satish. Apart from this, we also about one of the most well-known and and world music. have a few national and international respected names in music block was a It’s no wonder then that the music they tours in the pipeline,” they said. pleasure. We can’t wait to hear more of create is a combination of their music! all these varied musical impressions. “Our Amit Kilam: Drums, percussion, and vocals attempt has always been Rahul Ram: Bass guitar and vocals to make honest music that is a representation Himanshu Joshi: Vocals of the people we are, Tuheen Chakravorty: Tabla and other percussion the places we come from Nikhil Rao: Guitar and have been to, and the experiences we have
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Article by Neha Kirpal Photo Credit: Ashima Yadava and Shatabdi Chakrabarti
Redefining the Laws of fame and popularity
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he true cultural ambassadors of the North East, the Tetseo Sisters is a quartet of sisters from Nagaland who have taken their native folk songs to the stage. The band sings in Chokri—the dialect of the Chakhesang Naga tribe. We spoke to them about all things music—their journey, influences, performances, aspirations and upcoming work. About their music Their music has a unique home grown feel and that is what sets them apart from the rest of the world. While describing their music they said, “We Chakhesang people are known for our lyrical music and musicality, so it is in our blood. There is much more to the folk treasures of our land than just tunes-music-words. The stories, finer nuances, incredible depth of wisdom and history make Li even more precious. We have spent years bringing the songs of our people to the popular stage in a contemporary format, while keeping the traditional aspect intact,” they said.
Tetseo Sisters Evolution as Musicians Tetseo Sisters have been performing for past 23 years. While describing their evolution Mercy recounted, “We have grown from shy youngsters who loved singing to seasoned storytellers and performers proud of their heritage. As we grew, our music evolved and we
started experimenting to create folk infused with other genres. We now take our music to different cultural and music festivals, schools, exchange programmes and educational events. We put in great effort to keep the dying art of folk performances alive. Whether it is our vocals, instruments, costumes or confidence on stage—everyday we become better persons and artists,” they said. When did music happen! While some of us choose an art form for ourselves, it so happened that music chose Tetseo Sisters. While recollecting from where they started, Mercy admits “There never was a particular moment when we decided to go full time. We just grew up in a time when there were more options and music was working well for us. Most importantly, we enjoyed performing and people were beginning to pay good money to artists,” they said. There are other fringe benefits. “We get to travel for music, connect with people and experience new things. That inspires us to continue.
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Moreover, we are happy, proud and humbled to do what we love and pass on our legacy even in the smallest way possible,” they add. Making folk music known and celebrated There are few celebrated artists in folk music. While talking about the genre, they say, “Not enough people were doing folk nor were they interested in carrying it forward. We got in deeper and our love and appreciation for it grew”. Needless to say, support from home helped. What influences Tetseo Sisters “We all grew up listening to different kinds of music—at home, school or church. Our parents encouraged us to listen to pop, soft rock, classical music, gospel—whatever was good for the ears and the mood” explains Mercy. When asked which musicians inspire them, they had a long list. “Boney M, ABBA, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Queen, The Corrs, Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, Adele, Taylor Swift, Swarathma and Raghu Dixit,” they said. On memorable performances “Each performance is memorable— for various reasons—sometimes the audience, the venue or the kind of musicians we play with. We sisters get
to catch up at a gig, as we all live in different cities. Whether we are singing for two people or twenty thousand, we share a part of ourselves through the music or the stories that we present,” say the sisters. Given that they have performed over years and still stay so humbled about their experiences, speaks volumes about them. On music culture “From a Bollywood-centric audience,
Mütsevelü Tetseo (Mercy) Azine Tetseo (Azi) Kuvelü Tetseo (Kuku) Alüne Tetseo (Lulu) we are slowly moving to support and appreciate homegrown, indie and other genres of music. Folk is now playing at pub/bar gigs as well. This is largely due to music channels and social media,” says Mercy. Further, they add, “There are more opportunities for music festivals, venues and corporate events. People are warming up to the idea of paying for live music and are coming to new musical experiences. This is good news for artists, and efforts should be made to sustain them. As more people take up music professionally, the respect for the art is growing and hopefully the
market will also expand.” The change that is needed! “There is still a dearth of big indie stars to draw out massive crowds. We need more professional talent management services. Musicians are hugely underpaid and looking at expanding their earning potential. There is an audience for each genre and we need to tap and expand that market to its maximum potential,” they said. Tetseo Sisters’ future plans and aspirations “We are working on a few collaborative singles and a fusion album that’s almost ready for launch,” they said. And what are their goals? “We hope to capture more audiences. We would love to be the first name you think of when you say folk/fusion,” they said. We hope so too. It’s been a delight to learn about this exotic band from Nagaland. True to the beauty of Nagaland, Tetseo Sisters have also been giving India some of the most beautiful folk music to have ever been made. We wish them all the best!
Article by Neha Kirpal
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Changing the way Music is learnt
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aunched in March 2011, Shankar Mahadevan Academy is the first online music academy which has a global foot print. With a vision to spread Joy of Music, the academy now has its presence in 72 countries, has conducted over 100,000 classes and has more than 15,000 students to its credit. It is an academy that is operational 24/7 providing courses with a progressive curriculum in both Hindustani and Carnatic Classical Music. It also provides courses for children, courses in Film and Devotional songs and specialized courses in Teacher Training, Voice Gym, Contest and Concert Preparation. We had a chance to interact with one of the founders of Shankar Mahadevan Academy, Mr Sridhar Ranganathan, lately, who gave us more insight into this venture of the Shankar-Sridhar duo. Going all the way back from where they started, we asked him about the challenges they faced when they started out. He says, “Challenges were 2 fold when we started this effort 7 years ago, technical connection (bandwidth) and the association between the teacher and the student. In the ensuing years, the technical part is less of a challenge as the Internet bandwidth has improved significantly. The association between teachers and students has also been bridged with the use of smart technologies and special Teacher Training courses for musicians. Om Riyaz and Sur Sadhana – mobile based, for example, has reduced dependence on the teacher for practice by a great deal. The Academy also organizes various events where the students are invited in person to share their experiences with their teachers”. As understood from various the schools also, where Shankar
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Mahadevan Academy (SMA) operates, classes are delivered in the classroom by trained teachers and teachers get a first-hand experience of working directly with students. This experience, then, can be used to deliver online classes. Many such activities have helped bridge the lack of personal touch in an online class, which was one of the challenges foreseen by the SMA founders. Having said that, students today are not how they were years back. There are expectations, experiences and
knowing the structure and progression. A Guru is very revered even today; however, the challenge has been to have gurus or teachers who are also more relevant to today's generation. The need for a Guru/Teacher to be patient, encouraging and understand the need for structured programs is an expectation which is one of basics these days. We ensure that our gurus and teachers are also receptive of that”. And as it is with all the challenges, there is an opportunity as well. So was the case
awareness amongst the students which is important to be understood for any academy. We asked Sridhar one basic question. If he was a student, what would he have expected from SMA and how do they deliver it? To this he very candidly replied, “The delivery of a music class has in itself changed from what we have known, from a traditional point of view. Students want music education to not be very different from other forms of education in terms of structure and delivery. Most students are not comfortable to learn without
with SMA too. He further adds, “SMA has used this opportunity to create teacher training programs for classical music teachers for the first time in India”. When we talk of opportunity, in the same breadth we can also talk about the aspirations of students too. Music as an interest is growing at a regular pace with many people coming up for learning music and having aspirations. It was interesting to understand what SMA believes in, when it comes to aspirations of students. While
explaining this, Sridhar emphasises on the very vision of SMA. He says, “Our mission is to spread the Joy of Music. SMA's foundation is built on the fact that its courses are not tailored only to produce great musicians. There will be many who are musically gifted and their journeys will unfold based on their preference to become a fantastic musician, performer. However, there is more to becoming a performer than just the natural gift. For many others, who may not have been naturally blessed, SMA charts a journey for them that may make them a performer too, if they choose to. In keeping with our mission, SMA also allows them to use their persistence and eagerness to make themselves and people around them happy with their music. The foundation is based on the fact that Music has the power to produce joy, positivity and well-being of the learner and people around them. CloodOn comes in with a powerful intelligent way of organizing content and use of the content in a more customized and personalized learning/ teaching. Learner profiles are used to engage with students. Parameters such as age, preferred learning styles, inherent interest in music, other interest areas, natural gift for music and persistence are used to engage with students in different ways. Teachers are trained to create personalized lesson
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plans around the same concept”. While online learning has created more scope for musicians to come up and learn a new skill, this also means a lot of talent availability. It is only fair to know from the masters of music as to how would one outshine in the ocean of talent which is about to come in the industry and how does SMA help in that? To this question, Sridhar explains, “Pursuing a career in the Music Industry is a subject by itself. While SMA prepares students with the necessary skill, the students will need to go out and pursue their interests on their own. SMA also recognizes the need to create skills around music that are essential in the industry. SMA is working on courses that are career oriented such as Music Journalism, Music Anthropology, Teacher Training and such which will allow a student to pursue their careers in music with a livelihood. The Online Medium is just one way of delivery, but the basic tenets are built on quality education and setting high quality standards”. While we spoke about the softer aspects of SMA, we also spoke about the software aspect of SMA as well. Upon asking what makes CloodOn an industry leader Sridhar says, “CloodOn comes with a powerful tag and search technology that allows teachers to create personalized lesson plans called
TeachKits for the same course material. It empowers teachers to deliver the same course in very different ways personalized to a particular student. CloodOn also allows Blended or Hybrid learning where some content is consumed by the student in a self-paced manner and then the students may choose to attend classes online or in a classroom. We believe listening to music is more than 50% of learning music. For this purpose, we have developed an app that is personalized to the need of a student to listen to a specific song”. We must say that Shankhar Mahadevan Academy is changing the way music is learnt and taught in the same breadth. CloodOn with its powerful technical competencies is establishing an industry benchmark worldwide. With an ever growing students base, technical maestro Mr Sridhar and music maestro Mr Shankar Mahadevan, SMA is all geared up to change the future of music education. If Joy of Music is what you are looking to have in your life, Shankar Mahadevan Academy is the place you need to head to!
Article by Deepak D.
The festival of Music and fun
SulaFest 2017: Music, Madness and Memories
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hen the music is played in an atmosphere of a vineyard, the hang over we get remains for a long long time. This is what we experienced at SulaFest 2017 in February which gave us some of the best musicians playing some of the best high voltage music for the audience. SulaFest 2017 was a three-day event which got us jumping with madness, fun, excitement and much more. The value addition to all this was the wine! We had the opportunity to experience the SulaFest this year and it is worth capturing our experiences into words. The 10th edition of SulaFest featured artists from over the world, including UK, Italy, Bosnia, Israel and of course the homeland of SulaFest, India. The line-up stood at more than 130 artists playing
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at its three stages, the Amphitheatre Stage, the Atmasphere Stage and the Tropical Stage. There was a healthy mix of genres like fusion, techno, house, psychedelic, rock, etc. Having said that, the first thing we noticed while we entered the festival ground was the uncluttered set up. There were no unnecessary additions to the stages and the venue was very well placed. All the three stages, Amphitheatre Stage, Atmasphere Stage and Tropical Stage, were given unique treatments. And one thing that caught the attention of all the visitors was the #SulaFest board, in the middle of the vineyards. It was a Music Extravaganza!! SulaFest in its tenth edition created a huge impact in the form of music. It
has gradually gained a name for itself for incorporating a blend between commercially popular Indian acts along with many promising international acts. Infected Mushroom, Bloc Party, Dubioza Kolektiv, Loco and Jam, Hilight Tribe, Indian Ocean, Jan Blomqvist and Band, Swingrowers, Dhruv Voyage, Nucleya, Ska Vengers, Afro Celt Sound System, The Raghu Dixit Project were amongst the major attractions for the festival. The first day of the event showcased Zoya as the opening act. Her acoustic sound and soft vocals set up the stage for the fun filled event. What followed after the opening act was the musical extravaganza on day 1. The hugely
popular acts like Raghu Dixit Project, Nucleya, Anant Donn Bhat entertained the audiences. One of the most
reknowned bands, the Indian Ocean topped the audiences in the way only they can. French rum and Scotch on day 1 along with these powerful musicians had already got the crowd started for the next two days! Day two was about the 'Sulafest Bazaar' which had a collection of exemplary items for sale. There were also many fun activities, including grape stomping, one activity that
that they played on and on. We also quite liked Shaun Moses who kicked off his set and Loco and Jam who closed the day with their stunning act on the Atmasphere Stage. On day three, the musical madness took its own course. Tejas Belkond, The Fanculos set the tempo for a leisurely Sunday afternoon with wine. The performance by Dhruv Ghanekar along with Kalpana Patowary gave the fest
the visitors queued up for, the most. However, on the musical side, Reggae Rajahs's surprise set, The Ska Vengers created a buzz. Additionally, Dubioza Kolektiv, came up with one of the most memorable performances of the day. While there was already magic brewing up, the biggest act came as the Bloc Party arrived on the stage. On a debut in India, the crowd cheered the group which featured a Drumming Lady Rockstar. They simply stole the show and this debut of theirs will never be forgotten ever! Australian saxophonist Simon Hewitt and German producer Peter Schuman treated the audiences with their beautiful music and we could only hope
some of the most surreal moments. Ghanekar guitar solo having a folk sound to it and Artur Grigoyan with his magician’s touch on saxophone got the audiences transcend into a world of surreal imaginations. Afro Celt Sound System, who were also one of the debut acts at SulaFest, gave the audience some of the best moments of day three. Their contemporary electronic dance rhythms fusion with traditional Irish and West African melody was very well received in the festival. The Punjabi Dhol only
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added to their popularity in the festival! While people were waiting for the biggest acts by Highlight Tribe followed by Infected Mushroom, Reggae Rajahs's
set for 20 minutes was good enough to pump up the energy. At Amphitheatre, Infected Mushroom set the stage on fire. Their unimaginably, uniquely, insane sound brought the house down. While Infected Mushrooms did what they do best, the 'Army of mushrooms' made the audience fall in love all over again with their three-dimensional sound that has been their signature tone. The
visual treatment of the sets, the lights, the confetti blasts, all added to the performance on the stage! As we said earlier, it was a three days extravaganza of music and fun. Given that wine was freely flowing, the overall ambience was all about creating memories for one’s lifetime. And so did we too, came back with innumerable experiences of people, music, fun, entertainment and looking forward to create more memories during Sula Fest 2018!
Photo Credit: Team Sula Fest Article by Sneha Negandhi