There’s a new entry in the list of music awards recognizing talent internationally. However, there’s something that makes these Asian awards truly ‘indie’. Shikher Chaudhary finds out.

“We’re not the Grammys, and not even close to the glamour of the MTV Asia Awards, but AVIMA (Asia Voice Independent Music Awards) is perhaps one of the biggest supported music awards in the world” says Siva Chandran, founder of AVIMA and managing editor of Voize.my, Malaysia’s leading lifestyle and entertainment portal.

Sanjeev T & The Rainbow Bridge

Plainly stated, no awards in the history of Asia have attracted as much hype and public interest in such a short span of time as Asia’s first independent music awards. Established in 2009, these awards exemplified the true indie spirit by doing away with major sponsorships and rather focusing on shining a spotlight on the largely ignored Asian music scene. When asked about the name, Siva explains that AVIMA has a cool unintended meaning. “When broken up, Avi is “my father” in Hebrew, and Ma means mother, so the awards hope to be the mother and the father of Indie awards this side of the Pacific.” In its bid to give a voice to Asia’s very large Indie community and its varied styles of music, AVIMA along with its standard categories of Best Rock Act, Best Hip-hop song, etc., also offers up awards like moody melancholic masterpiece, feel good song and mind blowing video of the year, being a few of its amusingly tagged categories.

Motherjane

Now in only its second year of inception, AVIMA 2010 promises to be the single most anticipated music event of the year with participation from over 20 countries including India, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan, to name a few. A truly global affair, music lovers from across the world are given the ability to simply log in to the online voting site, take a listen to the nominated tracks from each category and vote for their favorite acts with a single click. Although not necessarily a democratic event with public voting only accounting for 30% of the scores, founder and chief judge Siva Chandran assures that the remaining 70% will be based on the unbiased decisions of judges from Europe, Australia and the US.

Though Malaysia might have secured the highest hip hop nominations, India similar to last year, rules the roost in terms of rock nominations. Leading the pact with three nominations are winners of last year’s ‘Best Rock Act’ and the favorites to clinch the same title two years in a row, Motherjane. Without a question, the most prolific band toiling away in the scene today, gifted vocalist Suraj Mani is also up for ‘Best Vocalist’ while the whole band is the only Indian act selected for the ‘Most Mind blowing Video’ category for their understated yet extremely powerful imagery of the song ‘Broken’. When asked about how it felt to be nominated yet again for the highest award of the show, the band replied, “It is awesome that AVIMA is recognizing so many talented artists in India. Major Indie music awards bring international attention to indie artists & that’s great for music. We were honored as AVIMA Best Rock Band in 09 and 3 new nominations in 2010 means our music is reaching people globally.”

Bicycle Days

On par with Motherjane is another man who’s paid his dues and has been duly rewarded with success, Sanjeev Thomas of Sanjeev T & The Rainbow Bridge who commented on his ‘Best Vocalist’ nomination, “I’m glad I’m recognized outside India for the music I make and for the efforts I give into the music. It’s great to be recognized, apart from myself many indie bands from India have been nominated and this is a proud moment, a moment of growth, hope and more music coming from a younger generation who would be more happier in the future to take music seriously and make it a part of their living. With developments and organizations like AVIMA, Indie music has an avenue to be displayed and an avenue to understand expressions of artists, expression which strives for a difference in our existence here. I wish all the luck for everyone nominated and will always join the fight for recognition for our indie artists here. Support is important and from support comes support systems to take this forward.” The Rainbow Bridge also holds nominations for ‘Best Electro-Dance Song’, ‘Best Rock Group’ and ‘Best Rock Song’, a category which also includes the likes of fellow Chennai residents, the funk rock quartet Junkyard groove with their song ‘Imagine’ and Mumbai metal giants Demonic Resurrection with ‘A Tragedy Befallen’.

Finding themselves in the presence of these heavyweights are relative newcomers, Summerpint Junkie with their song ‘Forbidden Fruit-Flower’, featuring a rich blend of psychedelic rhythm and melody and a fair amount of progressive influences thrown in for good measure. A strong song by any standards, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mumbai lads pull off a major upset, wining the category over some of the more experienced veterans. With vocals straight out of the alternative era, the song ‘Hallucination’, finds them with their second nomination in ‘Moody Melancholic Masterpiece’. “It feels awesome to be nominated; it sort of sprung up on us. There is no substitute to the high in knowing that our music is spreading and being appreciated. Summerpint Junkie puts in a lot of emotions in every song, so knowing that someone finds some connection in our music keeps us going, further in till our music, words and message become a part of their reflection. AVIMA is definitely giving us a brilliant opportunity to do just that and we just hope to realize all the faith that our fans have in us and keep spreading our music”, commented the band’s guitarist on its double nomination

Summerpint Junkie

“It is an honor to be elevated on a platform such as this and win or not, more ears are oriented towards the music which is what is important,” mentioned Karthik Basker, another nominee for ‘Best Rock Vocalist’ heading the widely acclaimed Bicycle Days, a band up for the ‘Best Rock Group’. A group with an opulent literary background and wide ranging influences, their songs prove nearly as epic as Albert Hofmann’s infamous 1943 tryst with that faithful drug, the one which inspired the band name.  Giving stiff competition to Summerpint Junkie in the category of ‘Moody Melancholic Masterpiece’ is the stellar ‘Circles’, an unwavering tour de force with deftly played drums and serene vocals amid chiming guitars.

In other nominations, Junkyard Groove’s low key, playful ‘Folk You’ and Zedde’s anthemic tribute to his city ‘Mumbai’ competes for ‘Feel Good Song of the Year’ while Prayag’s ‘Bas Karo’ finds itself as the only Hindi song in any of the categories.

Whatever be the result, the passion and determination of each band nominated undoubtedly boils down to the core of the awards itself, as optimistically stated by co founder M.Tevan, “We’re glad that the Asian indie scene is moving in the right direction. The indie scene is huge in Britain, Europe and in the United States, and some of the biggest brands in the world today are lining up to be affiliated with these exciting and bold new artistes. We’re confident with platforms like AVIMA; Asian indie acts will receive better global recognition.”

AVIMA 2010

Winners at AVIMA 2009

• Best Pop/R&B Song
  • Naino sey – Sanjay Divecha (India)
• Best Hip Hop Solo Act
  • Krishan (Sri Lanka)
• Genre Bending-Mindboggling-Out of this world Track!
  • Together again – Shaair and Func (India)
• Best Rock Vocalist
  • Dia Hassan-Juliana down, (UAE) – Gold

Some of the other nominees at AVIMA 2010

• Best Rock Group
  • The Standards(Thailand)
  • Nikotin (UAE)
  • Tarantist (Iran)

• Feelgood Song of The Year
  • Daybreak – I Like You (South Korea)
  • The Camerawalls – The Sight of Love (Philippines)
  • Breaking up – Nadhira feat king lhota (Malaysia)

Article by Shikher Chaudhary
Images Courtesy: Bicycle Days, Ahruti Marathe, Eva Dowd

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Vikrant Dev takes us deeper into the dark world of Metal, exploring its hitherto unexplored variants. Read on..

Earth

Globally, Metal today is doing pretty good for itself compared to its inception period when it was embroiled in all sorts of controversies, especially for promoting Satanic ideologies. Over the years, the rants may have died down, the sales may have skyrocketed but it still isn’t being taken seriously in art-circles or otherwise. Sure, old school heroes like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath may be viable t-shirt options to extend your love for metal outside your mental realm or maybe because it’s cool to be a metalhead; but, what next? Are you content with the same music and the saturated metal scene? Don’t you want to be swept of your feet by something truly amazing? Those new to metal will not bother much about what I am saying but those who have been following metal for quite some time will agree that they have dabbled in a lot of sub-genres looking for that precious diamond. Metal like other genres has been

Iris

constantly re-inventing itself to keep things afresh and its followers interested. In its 50 year history, many sub-genres and fusion genres that metal has spawned after knocking up various other genres, either have basked in the sunlight or have never made it to the surface, to see the light of the day.

The last two decades have witnessed a small but rising force to be reckoned with – Minimalist/Ambient Metal, which has put the underground under the spotlight. Under this new umbrella term three sub-forms exist – Post-Metal, Drone Metal and Metalgaze. The last four to five years have been the most rewarding to both- the practitioners of this art form as well as the increasing number of followers. Most of the artists belonging to this fusion genre are receiving critical acclaim and are consistently making it to the top of the customary year-end ‘Best Albums of the Year’ lists of magazines and webzines. So what sets them apart from the

Nadja

other stuff? These artists are not busy replicating the monstrous riffs of Slayer or the jackhammer like crushing percussion of Children Of Bodom; they are returning back to the roots i.e. the dirges of Black Sabbath. The emphasis on ambiance and minimalism has never been more prominent. Their sound is a stripped down version of the above mentioned bands without losing the aggressiveness; the aggressiveness and the darkness that metal has come to be associated with is demonstrated by adding a cinematic touch to the music in the form of dark ambient music or other unconventional instruments not associated with metal. Dark ambient sounds could involve everything from using eerie

Russian Circles

samples to brooding, ominous and wistful pads. This form of metal has been championed by independent metal record labels like Hydra Head, Southern Lord, Crucial Blast, 20 Buck Spin, Profound Lore and Battle Kommand in the U.S. while artists elsewhere are releasing albums independently on the internet.

Besides the use of dark ambient music, the artists have a common string of drone music running through them. Drone music is a minimalist music style that involves a sustained and repeated use of notes, tone-clusters that can have varying tempo. Another variant, post-rock, consists of fluid song structures that deviate from traditional methods of song writing as displayed in rock music. The template of these songs can be anything from dub to jazz to hip-hop. Also, the songs, especially,

Wolves

in instrumental post-rock have build-ups in the form of melodic drones that end in a crescendo. Instrumental post-rock generally avoids the rebellious overtones and embraces ambient and minimalist overtones. Also, some bands use the vocals as another tool to enhance the overall effect of their music. A close relative of post-rock is shoegaze music. This music is a psychedelic concoction of garage, noise rock, post-punk and dream-pop. Like dream-pop it features sensual and ethereal vocals, but veiled by a ‘wall of sound’ that is created by droning riffs from two distorted guitars. My Bloody Valentine’s magnum opus Loveless is a benchmark in this genre and much of the band’s experiments lead to the shaping of the sound of shoegaze. The use of shoegaze’s song structures by metal bands has led to the development of a new fusion genre called as metalgaze, which has found takers even in the burgeoning French black metal scene. While metalgaze and post-metal rely on low intensity drones, the intensity of drones in another fusion genre, drone metal, is ear deafening. The above mentioned nuances are the pillars of minimalist metal and their usage is highly synonymous with it.

Moving on to Post-metal, a tag first given to the band Isis is a heady mix of

Irepress

sludge metal and post-rock like song structure. Post-metal marries the dense, epic and primal quality of Bay Area sludge metal greats Neurosis with more subdued elements of ambient greats like Brian Eno and the shoegaze bands with pop sensibilities like Slowdive. Though the heavy riffs, slow tempos and the guttural vocals of sludge metal are present, enough room is given to different elements like dark ambient passages, warm tremolo guitar melodies and staccato bassline that hold the song together in order to create an ebbing and a flowing soundscape that teases and tantalizes you into pseudo-crescendos. People have given various other names to this genre, like NeurIsis and art metal. Like other bands in this fusion genre, Isis over the years has shown an increased maturity and musicianship and has toned down the aggressiveness; enough to satisfy the metalheads and on the other hand has brought in the kind of progressiveness shown by King Krimson and Pink Flyod. Their last year’s release Wavering Radiant is evidence to this fact. The themes of post-metal albums often have a literary reference, which is another reason why critics call it arty. Highly in favour of post-metal, critics have gone on record saying that Isis has helped loosen heavy metal from its hardcore roots by creating an immeasurable and intimate vision which is hard to pin down by rejecting the conventional use of verses, choruses and fast riffs. In totality post-metal has become one of the most omnipresent heavy metal sub-genres because of its artsy nature (cautious progressiveness) and emphasis on experimentation rather than sticking to any particular type of music in spite of the influences. It is the first time that art circles are drooling over metal!

Sunn O)))

Extreme metal has always been about overwhelming the senses, either through a chaotic frenzied style of grindcore, the more spacious and swollen sonic assaults of Neurosis and Isis or like in Sunn O)))’s case using enormous amounts of feedback to create bleakest of bleak and darkest of dark drone metal. Like post-metal, drone metal has lengthy and minimalism inspired songs. The minimalism is to such an extent that it just utilizes chord progressions to create almost static sonic landscapes consisting of cyclonic drones. “How boring!” one would say! But that is where the art lies- in creating disturbing visuals. It’s like we are the shore and waves and waves of hot boiling lava are hitting us. The growls are as sparse as ever and add to the eerie quality of the whole experience. The vocals are harsh and corroding. There is so much darkness inside every note and the heart of every tone that everything around you turns into something scary. The darkness never ceases to descend and ties your body into chains of sadness and fear. The guitars are heavy and foggy, slithering like a venomous snake out to bite you! Though Sunn O))) is currently the most publicised band, they are not the ones who created this sound. A band called Earth (who derive their name from Black Sabbath’s original name) laid the foundation of this genre when they released the 73 minute epic Earth 2: Special Low – Frequency Version that commingled the best of sludge metal godfathers The Melvins, noise rock and the drones of experimental artist La Monte Young. Though Sunn O))) started out as an Earth tribute band, it slowly turned into something serious after various collaborations with artists like Atilla Cisar of black metal band Mayhem, multi-instrumentalist and drone artist Oren Ambarchi, Tony Conrad of Earth, etc. Besides the shock treatment of these artists Sunn O))) adds new elements in every album to sustain the horror. In their live performances, the band members dress up in black robes with their faces generally hidden under the hood and use as many as 6 amps to blow the listeners out of their way!! One can imagine the amount of ruckus being created by them. Also they add an eldritch quality to their sound. For instance, in one of their songs featuring Xasthur’s Malefic they recorded the song with Malefic miked inside a coffin!!

Xasthur

While drone metal and post-metal are related to the dark arts, metalgaze is the opposite and is melodic in nature with the aggro of course. Canadian duo Nadja have particularly helped in defining this genre and giving it credibility. The slow sensual crawl of the melodic drones and their textured sound is reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s ‘glide-guitar’ experiments. In fact Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine once confessed to experimenting with death metal’s guitar licks which suggests that interplay between the two genres is possible.

After reading about these avant-garde musicians, what will come as a surprise to a lot of people will be the fact that how completely unrelated genres have been coalesced into a whole to create three mutant genres! Though long time followers of indie rock may term them as passé, the newly introduced ones will vouch for their ingenuity. It’s like when Radiohead’s electronica influenced album Kid A was released. The ones used to their guitar driven songs were in awe of their new step while long time followers of electronica (especially of the Warp bastion) dismissed their new direction as passé. But, in the end Radiohead won this battle. Why? Because even though they were influenced by electronica, they added their own flavour to the music and built something entirely new for listeners of all types. The same can be said for minimalist metal artists, who besides the obvious influences construct a world entirely of their own in which both metal and the ‘influences’ reside peacefully and that is the hallmark of good musicians.

Article by Vikrant Dev

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This Women’s Day, Vignesh Iyer unveils the power of some independent female musicians across the city, along with some in collaboration with the male species.

The stage just got a facelift, a few men with unkempt hair and rugged looks playing instruments. Good stuff, just about normal really. What facelift? As the music flows, it echoes across the place. It just got better, great build up man! Can’t wait for it to explode, here it comes. Yes, that facelift. Where’s it? What makes that stage different? Fresh? Then the voice, the presence. Its different. Confident, alluring and feminine. Its here now, set to stay and resonate. Not just for a couple of hours but more, much more. This Women’s Day, we at The Big M thought we’ll tell you about a few of the fair folk who light up that platform.

SHEFALI ALVARES

Shefali Alvares

Armed with a repertoire matched by few, Shefali Alvares has performed alongside the country’s most talented musicians such as Louis Banks, Karl Peters, Loy Mendonca and of course with her father, Jazz musician – Joe Alvares. A performer since the age of 13, she grew up listening to R&B, Classic Rock, Jazz, Soul, Blues etc. Now performing with ‘The Band’ (Yeah, that’s the name), her originals have a healthy mix of these influences and they manage to stand out as the kind of music that’s laidback and ambient. Categorization wouldn’t do her music any favors, a sure sign of an artiste who has managed to carve out a niche for herself!

The Band is no ordinary band, it features some truly extraordinary musicians. Guitar Maverick Floyd Fernandes, On Drums Jai Row Kavi/Gino Banks(CV too elaborate to state), Bass maestro Sheldon D’Silva and Sangeet Haldipur/Jarvis Menezes on keys. Its likely that the voice may get overshadowed surrounded by such instrumental virtuosity. However, Shefali’s voice complements the music and successfully accomplishes the difficult task of bringing about a balance in harmony, thereby propelling the sound to greater heights.

Shefali and the band have been performing consistently around the country for a while now and are currently working on an album.

PIA SUKANYA

Pia Sukanya

20 years of training in Indian Classical vocals and listening to authentic American folk music meant that writing songs became second nature for this bohemian artiste. Pia Sukanya is a musician cum actor who handles a busy schedule while also managing to get in time for flights to New York, London or Bombay. Born in Cambridge, NY she took to music at an early age while also ensuring she completed her graduation in 2005 with a degree in Social Anthropology.

Her intimate sounding voice is warm, innocent, playful and instantly likable. The song ‘Not in control’ with its tastefully arranged guitar work is a perfect example. The influence of Indian classical music comes to the forefront in the pop – sounding ‘Promise me’ and a free flowing carefree song aptly named ‘Like a Kite’. Pia’s vocal flexibility and range is powerfully displayed in the song titled ‘Just routine’ with its intense mood, frequent pitch changes and use of vibrato. The instruments in most of her songs are in a background sort of a way, allowing the voice to take center stage and captivate listeners.

Confident that her songs will appeal to majority of the Asian listeners, she is in the process of making an album now in collaboration with lyricist Micheal.E.Ward, Arranger Philip Henderson, Guitarist Sanjoy Das (aka Bapi) and Jazz musician Zubin Balaporia.

ANURADHA PAL

Anuradha Pal

Star Tabla virtuoso & Percussionist Anuradha Pal is an internationally acclaimed popular Tabla soloist and versatile accompanist with top Indian classical, African, Jazz & World musicians in major festivals in U.K, USA, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok & Africa.

Training from Tabla legends Ustads Alla Rakha & Zakir Hussain, dedicated riyaaz, & the support from parents Devinder & Ila Pal & husband Shyam Sharma, have established Anuradha Pal as one of the ‘30 leading Women of India’ & ‘a percussionist par excellence’ (according to the India Today 2006). Clarity, tonal balance, pinpoint precision in rhythm & an amazing repertoire spiced with spontaneous creativity have made Anuradha Pal ‘The most influential female musician of Indian classical music’ according to the A. V Max Music Magazine, May 2001.

Anuradha Pal is the founder & music director of two distinct Fusion groups – Stree Shakti’ is Asia’s much acclaimed, all female percussion-based, instrumental and vocal fusion ensemble whereas ‘Recharge’ is a unique World music fusion group combining various elements of Indian, African, Latin and Jazz music. Anuradha composed the background score in ‘Gaja Gamini’, the acclaimed M.F. Hussain film, which won tremendous acclaim in the Cannes Film Festival. She regularly scores music for music albums, theatre & films.

ASHIMA AIYER

Ashima Aiyer

What started off as a hobby after school life turned into something more meaningful for this 23 year old singer/songwriter. Ashima Aiyer started taking guitar lessons and then progressed on to playing with a band called ‘Three degrees off something’. The band may not have lasted, but the musician in Ashima surely did!

Her song ‘Little green men’ is an extremely catchy number, its like that song which one happens to hear just as the day begins and hums it intermittently throughout the day, before dreams take over by night. ‘Any given Sunday’ has a consistent swingy guitar rhythm led by Ashima’s rich and bright sounding voice. While most of her songs have a hint of jazz, the use of unconventional chords is the most striking aspect. ‘Don’t ask me about scales and keys, I play by sights and sounds’ she states on her MySpace page and follows it up.

Influenced by Dave Matthews Band, Patty Griffin, Coldplay et al, passion for music and the love of playing live spurred her on to write her own songs and perform. Originally from Pune, this musician cum analyst at a consultation firm moved to Bombay about 7 months ago. The balancing act isn’t too difficult then, as she manages to handle work and regularly enthrall audiences while performing at the city’s many bustling nightspots.

SHAAIR N FUNC

Shaair N Func

Rated VH1’s TOP TEN emerging bands out of India, Shaair (Monica Dogra) and Func (Randolph Corriea ) form this pulsating Electronica band. Not wanting their music to be restricted to a select audience, their sound is world music personified. Known as one of the best live acts in the country, their costumes, performance and more importantly the music would be best described as path breaking. They’ve got two albums out – The love album and Light Tribe.

SHKABANG

Shkabang

MTV Viva girl Anoushka Manchanda is on vocals for this high on energy, electronic rock and roll group. Accompanying her on the band are Abhijit Nalani, Johan Pais, Pozy Dhar and Shiraz Bhattacharya. They have also come up with a video of their song ‘ I like crazy’. The music is in your face and so are the song names with ‘Asshole’(Up on Myspace) being the pick of the lot! They are currently working on an album.

SRIDHAR/THAYIL

Shridhar/Thayil

Started off as a collaboration in late 2007 between Suman Sridhar and Jeet Thayil. Their music comes out of Jeet’s guitar and a laptop, which might put the purists off but doubt they’d crib once they actually heard the groovy, beat oriented sound! ‘The Drowning song’ and ‘This be the beat’ are must listens. Suman has been described as a “wonderful ironic soprano” who “provides depth with a clear sound.”

Article by Vignesh Iyer

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A lovely winter weekend saw Pune witness the second edition of this musical extravaganza.

Pt. Shivakumar Sharma , Dr. Aneesh Pradhan, Shubha Mudgal and others at the inauguration

It was that time of the year for Ishanya Mall, Pune when it welcomed the return of this mega event called Baajaa Gaajaa on 5^th of Februrary ’10. Initiated by Indian vocalist Shubha Mudgal and Eminent percussionist Dr. Aneesh Pradhan, Directors of Underscore Records Pvt. Ltd, Baajaa Gaajaa is an effort to bring together and provide interactive space to musicians, music lovers, scholars, instrument makers, publishers and a host of organizations and individuals connected with music making in the 21^st century India.

Not often do you see such a wide range of artists, both popular and newbies, belonging to different genres and generations, all performing under one roof. The three day event kicked off on 5^th of Februrary ’10 after a formal inauguration at the hands of Santoor Maestro Pt. Shivakumar Sharma. What followed was 3 full days of pure bliss for the numerous music lovers from Pune and those pouring in from across the country.

Space was never a constraint at the grand Ishanya Mall. This allowed for multiple events to take place simultaneously at various locations inside the venue. The seminar hall would host seminars and film screenings while various musical performances would take place at other locations. The amphitheatre would host the final event of the day which saw Shastrokta (a concert of Hindustani and Carnatic classical music by various artists) on the 1^st day, Neha Boliyaan (a concert of love songs from India by various artists) on the 2^nd and a grand finale on the 3^rd day that had Motherjane and Indian Ocean providing a fitting end to the event.

What makes Baajaa Gaajaa stand out from other musical events is the fact that, not only does it provide a platform for musicians to showcase their talent, but it also addresses the underlying issues relevant to the music scene in India. The completeness of this event is proven by the fact that Baajaa Gaaja ’10 consisted of performances, workshops, exhibitions, tradeshows, seminars and film screenings on different aspects of Indian Music.

Pulling off an event of such magnitude with so much of efficiency is indeed a job well done. It would only be fair to say that initiatives like these will help secure a great future for Indian music. Shubha Mudgal, Dr. Aneesh Pradhan and their entire team deserve all the applause for making Baajaa Gaajaa what it is.

We can’t wait to see Baajaa Gaajaa return in 2011 and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the 3^rd edition of this musical extravaganza to be way bigger and way grander!

• Inauguration on 5th February 2010 by Santoor Maestro, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma.
• Exhibition and sale of CDs, DVDs, books and merchandise pertaining to music
• Documentaries Screened: Forever Young, Soul Voice Sole Voice, Remembered Rhythms: Live in India
• Live performances by artists like Rashid Khan – Hindustani Vocal, TM Krishna – Carnatic Vocal
• Live performances by bands like Something Relevant, Motherjane, Indian Ocean

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A hundred and fifty years ago, the Britishers built ‘bandstands’ all over the city. As the term suggests, they were stands for bands; sheds in parks within which artists would perform. As time has passed places for open air performances in the city have dwindled in number.

Revival of the Bandstand Culture

The Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry has started an initiative ‘Revival of the Bandstand Culture’ in order to change the scene of open air performances in the city. Unfortunately, from among the 11 remaining original bandstands only two are accessible; one in Dadar and the other at Hanging Gardens, Malabar Hills which is the venue of this 3 month long event. Every Saturday up to end of May, two artists will perform and promote music; not for money, not for fame but just for the sake of music.

Band Stand Performances

Saturday, 27^th of February saw the performance of none other than our very own Mumbai Police Band. A group of 30 odd policemen playing a varied range of instruments including the clarinets, horns, drums, etc. The joy was evident in their faces while playing in front of such a crowd. The humility was something to admire. The other performance for the day was that of Mumbai’s famed ‘jam band’ Something Relevant. The crowd was treated to a never before seen fusion of STR and the Police Band for a brief period before STR took over. In the words of the drummer of the Police Band, Mr. Deepak Kasare, “In my 19 years of service, this has been one of the best shows ever.”

Something Relevant then took over with their trademark stage presence and energy. The beauty of seeing them perform lies in the fact that they truly enjoy playing music. It is evident in all their shows. Their playlist included their originals like ‘Ahaa’ (with the Police Band accompanying them), ‘Harry Mole’, ‘Mosquitoes’ and also covers like the Pakistani band – The Call’s ‘Pukar’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’. All performed with the same enthusiasm and energy.

The Bombay Chamber, which had also initiated The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival hopes that this event too will gain momentum soon and will become as big as Kala Ghoda. One thing is for certain, if you are looking for pure unadulterated music in the purest environment, this is the place to be every Saturday all the way up to May.

Article by Nikunj Bhaiya
Images Courtesy: Shashank Kapur

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