Demonic Resurrection started out as a bunch of kids looking to give India a taste of extreme metal. This was an untouched genre back in 2000 but that did little to stop Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija.

Demonic Resurrection

Today they’re one of the biggest metal bands in the country with 10 years of experience and 3 albums to their credit – ‘Demonstealer’ and ‘A darkness Descends’ followed by the third album ‘Return to Darkness’ which was recorded in August 2009. They also released their first ever music video for ‘The Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance’ that you must’ve seen on VH1. The album release early this year was followed by a tour across the country termed as ‘The Resurrection Festival’ and their 10 year mark was celebrated with a performance at an international festival called ‘Inferno’ in Norway in April 2010.

Divya Srinivasan helps us get to know the guys better

Viru from Demonic Resurrection

VIRU – Drums

What do you do when not with DR? I work as a content editor, where the content is lyrics. So we listen to the latest albums and correct errors in the lyrics in a particular format. It is fun as I get to listen to music from various genres all the time and be able to know what style of music is famous on the charts. For me jamming with bands is like a daily routine much like going to work. My workplace is cool about me taking an off as long as I make sure that my weekly targets are met. My colleagues at work do know the bands that I play for and make it a point to come and see us play live.

Major Influences: For me music is life. My choices are not genre bound and this is why my influences are from across different styles of music. Meshuggah, Textures, Despised Icon, Pantera, Jimi Hendrix, Decapitated, Death, Michael Jackson, Dave Matthews Band, Prodigy, Sepultura, Cannibal Corpse, A.R. Rahman, East India Company, Lucky Ali are some of the favourites I can recollect right now.

Where do you see yourself 25 years from now? I would want to keep playing music till I die. And I am still working on becoming a full-time musician. After 25 years, I would surely be married and taking care of my children’s college admission I guess! But if I can pursue my career as a full-time musician, I would be a satisfied man.

Best part about being a musician? Expressing yourself. You get to express yourself with the music that you make. There are people who are waiting to hear you play live, waiting for any new material that you make. I like the whole experience. I personally hate travelling. But the excitement of reaching a new place and performing in front of the crowd makes me travel to different places.

Memorable moment: The best moment on stage would be when DR was playing at Brutal Assault, Czech Republic, and there were so many people waiting to see us for the first time. Another one would be when DR was playing at the Inferno Festival and I could see a bunch of guys singing along to the lyrics of our song. The best moments are when we play a new venue and see that the audience is digging the music like they have seen us before.

Worst moment: There has never been a worst moment on stage so far. It can be a bad day where you don’t get good sound or the equipment provided is not up to the mark. But other than that I can’t recall any worst moments as such. I take each gig as an experience and learn from it.

Sahil from Demonic Resurrection

SAHIL (Demonstealer) – Vocals/Guitars

What do you do when not with DR? I work for Furtados where I am the artist relations and event manager. I double up as a product specialist and handle online PR.

Major Influences: Constantly influenced and inspired by music. I mostly listen to metal and some rock/alternative. Some of the bands that really inspired me over the years are Metallica, Iron Maiden, Fear Factory, Sepultura, Pantera, Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend, Blind Guardian, Theatre Of Tragedy, Nile, Behemoth, Scar Symmetry and the list goes on.

Where do you see yourself 25 years from now? Touring the world with Demonic Resurrection and signed to the biggest record label and being able to say that playing with Demonic Resurrection is my day job.

Best part about being a musician? Apart from creating the music and playing it live, I love the marketing aspect of it. I love the thrill of having new music ready and releasing it to the fans and seeing their reactions to it.

Memorable moment: ‘GIR 2005′ when I said “let me see those hands in the air” and all 7000 hands went up. And of course playing all the international festivals this year. But the whole experience of winning the ‘Golden God’ and going to the UK to collect the award would be at the top of the list.

Worst moment: I-Rock 2002 and 2004 when we got a bad reception from the crowd. Off stage I would say 2002 when DR seemed like it was over; again in 2007, when we were not able to find a full time drummer. So there has been some downtime.

Daniel from Demonic Resurrection

DANIEL – Lead Guitars

What do you do when not with DR? I’m a final year undergraduate student of English literature at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and I love it. Managing college and the band isn’t difficult, except when it comes to juggling attendance when on tour. Some of my classmates and professors are Demonic Resurrection fans!

Major Influences: Paul Masvidal, Ihsahn, Daniel Mongrain, Fredrik Thordendal, Brett Garsed, Obsidian Claw are my primary influences as guitar players and composers.

Where do you see yourself 25 years from now? I imagine myself being a professional musician, hopefully making a living from touring and making music with Demonic Resurrection, apart from other additional music jobs.

Best part about being a musician? For me, the best part about being a musician has to be the sheer satisfaction the creative process offers. There’s no better means of catharsis than making music, and the feeling of having completed a song I’m happy with, is what keeps me going.

Memorable moment: Best moment on stage would be playing our first international gig at Inferno festival in Oslo, Norway in April 2010. I felt like we had finally broken out of the sandbox of the local scene and that all the hard work we had all put in as a band was beginning to pay off. Plus, playing in the country that has produced some of the greatest metal musicians alive, in addition to being a fantastically beautiful and charming place, was exhilarating.

Worst moment: I don’t particularly remember any exceptionally bad moments on stage or off with the band, but I’m always disappointed when I play a show without warming up enough or when I don’t put up an energetic performance.

Mephisto from Demonic Resurrection

MEPHISTO – Keyboards

What do you do when not with DR? I’m a Creative Director at Rediffusion Y&R – Digital. The agency happens to be very understanding and supportive when it comes to my music (even though they don’t quite understand my penchant for ear- shattering decibel levels).
Some of my colleagues have genuinely surprised me by asking for CDs and merchandise. In fact, I just discovered that the soft spoken project manager in my team is Niel of Naked Earth/Earth Clan fame!

Major Influences: I listen to a lot of symphonic Black, some Folk and Avant Garde Metal. My major influences would be Dimmu Borgir, Old Mans Child, Emperor, Ihsahn, Immortal, Nightwish, Summoning, Opeth, Dodheimsgard, Rotting Christ and so on.

Where do you see yourself 25 years from now? Hmmm I’ know I’ll be 50. I’ll probably be paying more visits to a chiropractor from all the headbanging than playing gigs.

Best part about being a musician? Being on stage, at a venue packed to capacity, with the crowd chanting away is an unbelievable feeling. I love how it’s not monotonous. Every tour takes us to a new place, meet new people and have new experiences. But the best part about being a musician is the challenge to keep the music fresh and original.

Memorable moment: Brutal Assault at Czech Republic comes to mind. To hear an audience you’ve never played to before chant “one more song” after the set, was really something! 

Worst moment: My first I-Rock. It was 2003 I’m not sure. We got a terrible mix on the PA and a drunken section of the audience started pelting stones, cigarette butts and what not. We all got hit. Since I was not mobile, I got hit the most. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience and I think Arjun Ravi made a “funny video” out of it too. A year down the line we almost beat him up at RAIT!

Husain from Demonic Resurrection

HUSAIN -Bass

What do you do when not with DR? I am currently working as a media planner at an agency called Mediacom. Have been doing it since the past 4 to 5 years and I love it. It’s not too difficult unless it’s a long mid week break required for gigging and yes my MD and some of my close colleagues do come for my shows!

Major Influences: John Myung, Roger Waters and most of the bassists of newer bands like Ihsahn, Meshuggah or Soilwork.

Where do you see yourself 25 years from now? Working with the scene, doing what I would then love doing the most. 25 years is a vast span in time and a lot would have changed by then.

Best part about being a musician? It’s a nice feeling to be a small part of something big called Demonic Resurrection and of course the attention you get as a musician feels good.

Memorable moment: Playing at Inferno and meeting the metal stars in Czech.

Worst moment: None yet.

DID YOU KNOW

Demonic Resurrection

• Demonic Resurrection’s first drummer was a guy called Yash, and before metal, Yash played Dandiya!
• Nikita who was part of DR in its initial days left the band to go on and become a doctor.
• DR has the worst luck with I-Rock with its band members quitting right before on multiple occasions.
• Maphisto came to audition for DR with a 2 octave keyboard! It was Sahil who convinced his parents to invest in a Rs. 55,000 keyboard which he promised he’d make up for by doing Ad jingles!
• Prashant an ex member of DR now plays for Exhumation and Scribe.

Article by Divya Srinivasan

Taking music and arts beyond boundaries in their bid to bring about ‘Culture Immersion’, this desi sounding venture is well and truly global. Divya Srinivasan finds out more about Sound Tamasha.

Culture Must

The Sound Tamasha has been initiated by a group of friends (from India and abroad) in Delhi. “It all started with a DJ friend of mine from Berlin, Germany (22ROCKETS) who wanted to come to India and perform over here. As a group of friends we are very fond of Indian traditions, culture and heritage. Personally I’ve been coming to India since 1996 and have spent more than 6 years here. Throughout the years we’ve witnessed changes in the cities and new trends that emerged, such as electronic music which is the sound we grew up listening to in the places where we come from. With our enthusiasm and passion for Indian culture, we

Shalom Peace Experiments

always thought that we would love to fuse parts of Indian tradition with the arts from our own cultures. Everyday people in India celebrate weddings, religious festivals and many other occasions. We wanted to combine the Indian way of celebration with the music we love, connect people from different backgrounds, share our emotions and create anatmosphere open to everyone. In the traditional Tamasha, tolerance, secular thoughts and unity of religion is always highlighted. Through Culture Must (a division of Knowledge Must) we promote that vision of bringing people together, discovering new cultures and enjoying our planet’s great diversity. The name of the city preceding the words ‘Sound Tamasha’ shows the origin of its artists. At the moment we have Delhi, Goa, Tokyo, Hamburg, Berlin and Lisbon Sound Tamashas” informs Peter Braun, one of the founder members of Knowledge Must. To know more about this unique venture, visit.

DJ KRICK

DJ KRICK

Ever since his first mixing and scratching experiences in 1998, DJ Krick has always been interested in improving his sound by searching for musical influences from the past as well as present. Starting with Hip Hop and R&B he began to intersperse House and Dance classics which got him DJ residencies in clubs all over his hometown. He moved to Berlin and together with his mates, he founded the DJ crew Edelmut Berlin. With legendary DJ Sets at the notorious Bar25 they became a vivid part of Berlin’s club scene for playing a funky, minimal tech-house sound.

DJ ANDRE GARDEJA

DJ ANDRE GARDEJA

A legend in the German and European electronic music scene, André Gardeja started his early DJ career in 1992 performing at Berlins’ house club ‘Walfisch’, known as the world famous ‘Sage Club’ today. His early gigs were followed by regular DJ sets mixed for the unexcelled ‘Studio B’ underground parties in and around Berlin.

22ROCKETS

22ROCKETS

For almost eight years now, 22ROCKETS has been a vital part of the techno and house scene in Berlin, Germany, the city where he was born and grew up. 22ROCKETS works as a DJ, producer, promoter, club operator, event-manager and entertainer on different projects – solo or with other artists and friends. 22ROCKETS loves a wide range of music. In the early days he played electro-disco sound and later moved to deep-trance techno. These days he’s been playing warm & sunny house-music.

Article by Divya Srinivasan

I have always been passionate about music and have written and composed songs since I was 6 years old. Since my upbringing was mostly in American schools in Europe and my influences in music were all the classic bands such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, etc., most of the music and lyrics that I wrote were in English and of western style.

Visionary - Aditya Bhasin

On moving back to India I joined rock bands in school and college, took some training from Delhi School of Music and also learnt informally from my friends. But even though I had this hobby which I loved, I never thought I’d make it my career. So I got busy with professionally educating myself and joined the field of hospitality management. I managed hotels here in India and in US, but after 8 years of work and an amazing promotion waiting for me back in Mumbai, I realized something was missing. This instinctual feeling coupled with angry guests and the whole corporate scene altogether forced me to realize that my underlying and nagging problem was that I needed a change.

It was at that time that I met up with good family friends – John and Faith Singh, who had successfully run a contemporary hand block printing company – Anokhi, for 30 years and had spent the years of their retirement working in the field of heritage conservation. They’d started an NGO called Jaipur Virasat Foundation along with running the Jaipur Heritage International Festival.

Potful of talent: Some artists forming Rajasthan Roots

After one meeting with John, discussing the possibilities of working with thousands of artists from different communities of Rajasthan, the scope for experimentation, production, freedom of expression, and thus empowering them and providing a stable livelihood – seemed like a mission and a vision that I just couldn’t walk away from. So without any job confirmation with the foundation, I came back to Delhi, turned down my promotion, quit my job and went on to settle down in Rajasthan.

The next few years were a crash course for me in every sense – a new language – Marwari, songs and traditional beats I’d never heard before with many different instruments and sounds. Vinod Joshi – the anthropologist who worked with the foundation was a storehouse of knowledge and a genuine grass root contact. We would get a call at any random hour, informing us that there was something happening in some remote village like storm chasers, etc. Vinod and I would jump into John’s SUV and drive off into the countryside. Sometimes it would be all night Jagrans, an opportunity to meet Jasnath Ke Bhope – dancing barefoot on burning embers of coal, or a whole village of Tejaji ke Bhope – dancing with hundreds of defanged cobras and sometimes it would be Momasar – where on every Holi, for 3 days everyone dresses up in drag, in unimaginable characters and they dance, act and perform street theatre.

Also an effort to discover the best artists of Rajasthan was made by JVF, organizing talent hunts and regional festivals in small villages. The response and outcome was tremendous, attracting hundreds of undiscovered artists and thousands of spectators. All this ground work was a seed which spawned the collective and soon many of these artists began performing in concerts in Jaipur and all over India.

Gifted: Kutle Khan on Kartals

When the work load of touring and performing became overwhelming I had to leave my day job in the foundation and concentrate entirely on production. Soon with support from John and the others, we saw the beginning of Morchang Studios – the production house and Rajasthan Roots – a collective of folk musicians.

We stayed away from the typical fusion – either with western drums or drum beats and allowed for the sound to evolve on its own. By introducing instruments which made the music and tone warmer such as the bass guitar and other melodic instruments such as the bamboo flute, guitar and saxophone, the outcome was an easily palatable sound to people all around the world across all age groups.

7 years went by and we’d showcased performances all over the world. In places like England, Singapore, Japan, Europe, Abu Dhabi and the middle east, as well as prestigious events in India such as the Times Delhi and Kolkata Festivals, blueFROG in Mumbai and Central Park and Garden of Five Senses in Delhi.

Production and collaboration has always stressed upon learning from other world cultures such as Cuban, Latin American and Mali of Africa while collaborating with different musicians such as Idan Rachel and Shye Ben Tzur.  Rodney Branigan from US, Raghu Dixit from Bangalore and many others from France, England, and Middle East provided training, learning and a cultural exchange for all musicians involved. So you will find in our music, traces from different folk cultures and styles. My favorites are the African Blues, the Middle Eastern scales and of course the Sufi traditions.

Rajasthan Roots has been able to promote some of the finest musicians and dancers in a contemporary representation of Rajasthan’s folk culture. The vision is and always has been for the music of Rajasthan to evolve and to represent a current state and emotion. Once the musicians are given the freedom of expression and guided to stay away from songs which have become a stereotype or in some ways a novelty, the new and real sounds of Rajasthan can emerge.

Article by Aditya Bhasin with Divya Srinivasan

Midival Punditz

Midival Punditz Karsh Kale

Back in 1997 Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj were bored and tired of the Bollywood- Remix type music which was dominating the scene in India. As a reaction to this feeling they began producing original electronic music and sending out demo tracks to labels and other producers.

Simultaneously, their monthly parties ‘Cyber Mehfil’ began growing in popularity and quickly reached a cult status. Artists and producers from the UK and US began noticing them, word began to spread and they came to be known as ‘The new sound of 21^st century India. It was only in 2000 that Six Degrees Records, home label of producer friend Karsh Kale expressed interest in signing them on. Since then they have produced extensively with Six Degrees records. In addition to three studio albums, a remix album and a compilation, they have been featured on over 50 compilations across the globe.

Midival Punditz

To really appreciate Midival Punditz and understand the magic at work, you need to hear them live. By picking up experiences from all over the world, they have mastered a unique art that is electronic but still has room for jamming, innovating and remixing. The end result: no two live performances of the Punditz are ever the same. The live performances are also featured with a video background which is synchronized with the music and also captures real-time images and clips of the band performing on stage. This unique live setup has been pioneered by the Punditz making their performances unlike any other electronic act in the country.

Karsh Kale

Being a predominantly self-taught musician, Kale was able to break rules at an early age as he began experimenting with different instruments and styles. His own ingenuity and experimental nature helped Kale in developing his ‘Electric Tabla’. As he grew he found himself working with musicians like Mocean worker, Robert Moog, DJ Spooky, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Amel Larouix, Bill Laswell. His studio savvy and original style kept him in demand to this day and he has recently done sessions for artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Yoko Ono as well as his longtime collaborators, the Midival Punditz.  Kale has, as of date, recorded on over 50 releases worldwide as a session musician.

As the 20^th century came to a close, Kale found himself inspired and began creating his own solo work and created his first self produced E.P called ‘Classical Science Fiction from India’. A nationwide tour with electronica legend DJ Spooky allowed Kale to spread his sound and also allowed his music to fall into the hands of the then upstart record label Six Degrees Records. After the label took notice, curiosity brought them to NY to witness more of Kale’s work.  Karsh Kale was immediately signed to a multi-album record deal, making him the very first Indo-American to attain a solo record contract in the states. Kale released ‘Realize’, his first solo international release in 2001 and it featured collaborations from Ustad Sultan Khan, Gigi and some of NYC’s finest musicians

Karsh Kale

In 2005 Kale began work on Broken English, which for Kale was a new direction in sound and musical approach. But it was time for him to flex his songwriting skills. Broken English, which is Kale’s first album predominantly set to English lyrics, boasts collaborations with vocalists like Trixie Reiss (Crystal Method), Sol Seppy, Dierdra Dubois (Ekova) and MC Napolean.  Kale also worked with artists such as sitar genius Niladri Kumar and the Mumbai Cinematik strings.

Around the time of the release of Broken English, Kale began collaborating with sitar visionary Anoushka Shankar. Their collaboration eventually turned into the 2-year project, which became ‘Breathing Under Water’ released in 2007.  For both Kale and Shankar, the collaboration proved to be their most ambitious musical venture to date.  Kale not only played many of the instruments but acted as composer and co-songwriter which allowed him to pen songs for the likes of Sting and Norah Jones. The album also boasts collaborations with Pt Ravi Shankar, Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Shankar Mahadevan and Sunidhi Chauhan and was co-produced by Gaurav Raina (Midival Punditz) and Salim Merchant.

As a film composer Kale has created music for crossover films such as ‘Chutney Popcorn’, ‘Ocean Of Pearls’ and ‘Indian Cowboy’. His music has also appeared in Bollywood hit films like ‘Fashion’ and recently ‘Luck’ and ‘Kambakht Ishq’. Kale’s music has also been featured on TV such as the HBO series ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ and ‘True Blood’. Karsh continues to share his musical vision with an ever-growing legion of listeners who continue to hold his music as paramount within the global music scene.

MPKK

India’s electronica pioneers, Midival Punditz (Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj) have teamed up once again with visionary composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist Karsh Kale to form their new film music production team Midival Punditz – Karsh Kale (MPKK). The trio will made their debut into the world of Indian cinema with their score of Farhan Akthar’s new romantic thriller Karthik Calling Karthik that released on February 26^th, 2010.

MPKK

Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale have worked together for nearly ten years now, producing each other’s music, performing together on albums and even touring the world together extensively. Recognizing their strength as a team, they have now formed their new production unit Midival Punditz – Karsh Kale (MPKK) to create music for film projects.

Their first foray into the world of film together began with them creating an entirely new background score to the 1973 Bruce Lee classic Enter the Dragon, which they have toured the world with. They recently completed the background score for Ajay Naidu’s independent crossover film, Ashes, which will make its debut in 2010. The trio’s filmography includes appearances on film soundtracks such as Monsoon Wedding, Closer, Chutney Popcorn, Kambakht Ishq, Fashion, Don and Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants II.

Karthik Calling Karthik, the much-anticipated thriller marks the first time MPKK have scored a major Bollywood film. Written and directed by Vijay Lalwani, the film stars Farhan Akthar and Deepika Padukone. Working as music directors has allowed Midival Punditz – Karsh Kale to explore the range and depth of their music influences; it allows them to step out of the realm of pure electronica and embrace a much larger soundscape. With this film, they have run a gamut of genres from a full orchestral set-up to rock and jazz to edgy electronica. Midival Punditz – Karsh Kale, as music directors combine a modern sound with a very classical approach; the Punditz bring a modern feel to the music utilizing electronic composition and modern soundscapes while Karsh Kale brings a more classical approach as an orchestral composer, pianist, guitar player and songwriter. The combination gives them great perspective as composers.

Karsh Kale and Midival Punditz continue to break new ground as artists and performers and tour the world with their genre-bending sounds. MPKK are poised to make 2010 the year that they are able to forge new avenues for their music within the world of film.

MPKK Performing

DID YOU KNOW
Midival Punditz

• Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj of Midival Punditz are childhood friends
• MP was the first electronic music act from India to sign an international album deal
• They’ve given music for video games like ‘Project Gotham Racing 3′ and ‘Need for Speed Carbon’
• They’ve also given music TV shows like ’6 Feet Under’ and ‘Prison Break’

Karsh Kale

• In his childhood he was inclined towards the drums and not the tabla.
• His father, a fan of the sound himself introduced him to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
• He began his career in music while a student at NYU (New York University) where he studied music production and performance
• Kale collaborated with Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell on a track called Milan (named after his daughter) which has now become one of Kale’s most requested works
• Two of the songs from ‘Realize’, ‘Distance’ and ‘One Step beyond’ are now included in the Microsoft Vista Operating System

MPKK

The trio is able to perform the entire score of the soundtracks they compose live; something they plan on doing with all their releases

MPKK - Live

The duo of Delhi boys Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj, better known to the world as Midival Punditz were till this moment regarded as India’s most acclaimed electronic act. After being featured on multiple international compilations and being the first electronic act to sign an international deal, the band rightly dubbed as ‘The New Sound of 21st Century India’ has added another feather to their cap, this time being the first Indian band to compose the entire background score for a Bollywood movie – in this case the Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone starrer ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’. This break into mainstream came with the assistance of likeminded producer and composer Karsh Kale, who is featured along with the twosome on a few tracks of the soundtrack album, mainly the remix version of the movie theme plus a hard rocking version entitled Kartik 2.0.

Karthik Calling Karthik

The trio stopped by Blue Frog in Mumbai on the day of the movie’s release, February 26^th, to give the eager audience a taste of what to expect. Cementing their reputation as one of the best live acts around, the MP duo stepped on stage to spectacular atmospherics, lights and images on screens flashing in tandem with the crowd’s excitement. Taking their place at pre defined consoles; they were accompanied by Karsh Kale on Drums and Tablas. The scene was set perfectly to display MPKK’s unique blend of Indian classical and techno.

Playing songs predominately off of their 2009 release ‘Hello Hello’, the MP pair along with their KK counter part had the crowd in their grasp from the get go. Starting off with a remixed version of the ever popular ‘Tonic’, the south Indian folk rhythms of ‘Raanjhan’ soon translated into the smooth club vibe of ‘Kesariya’.

Songs that followed were stand out tracks like the up tempo ‘Electric Universe’ and 80’s dance rock ‘Atomizer’ complete with an electronic vocal track and a gratifying crescendo.  Their versatility of sound with songs ranging from instrumental to electronic rock to orchestral soundscapes pioneered the sonic approach to music providing those in attendance a night to remember.

Article by Divya Srinivasan & Shikher Chaudhary
Images Courtesy: Shiv Ahuja, Rafique Syed, Gaurav Vaz

After composing music for a long time, Arijit Datta found himself at a dead end desperately hunting for a muse. Chasing melodies which only ran away from him, he was frustrated and suffered from a severe creative block. Repeatedly singing his old songs pleased the audience but did nothing for him. “Music on the whole has ceased to be a beautiful experience” he realized and it was this that finally pushed him to unplug himself from it all and pull out of the music circuit completely.

The Big M recommends: Airport

But thankfully, things did not go the way Arijit anticipated. Getting a fresh perspective he found his long lost creativity and “melody began pouring in like rain” in Arijit’s words. Everything fell into place when Arijit met Vinay Lobo who he’d only heard of in the past. Vinay on the guitar and Arijit’s lyrics led to an explosion of fantastic music. The songs were propelled to unbelievable heights with Vinay’s skill and expertise on the guitar. Vinay’s crunchy blues style with Arijits love for jazz and old classic Hindi music, proved to be a dynamic combination. Both of them knew that there was something magical in what they were doing. This is when AIRPORT happened.

Some time later Arijit was at a gig in Pune where Sid Coutto was performing with his band ‘Tough on Tobacco’. Even though Arijit knew that Sid was a killer drummer and was with Zero, he didn’t know him personally. Conversations after the gig led to a bond of mutual admiration between the two. From then on, Sid Coutto is a member of Airport. Arijit says that “When you stop chasing and accept what you have or don’t have, things just start to happen.” Airport was on a roll.

Things fell into place in a similar manner with Amit Ahuja who was a college buddy of Arijit. He jumped on board without much hesitation and finally Airport was complete.

After the awesome opening gig on 9^th December, the band is contemplating about how to progress. Should they record an album? Or focus on live gigs? Or should they write more music before making any further decisions? Let’s wait and watch Airport closely. They seem to have some great stuff in store for us. Airport in 2010 is definitely on our ‘must check out’ list.

Band Members

>Arijit Datta- Vocals/Guitar

>Vinay Lobo- Lead Guitar. Very strong blues influences. He also plays with Nikhil D’souza’s band KNAP and The Vinyls.

>Amit Ahuja- Bass.  He’s the bopper and can groove just about anything. He also plays with Shridhar/Thayil.

> Sidd Coutto- Drums. Singer & songwriter. He was recently featured in Sutasi as a composer. His songwriting made him form his own band “Tough on Tobacco” which has a happy reggae funk pop sound.

Article by Divya Srinivasan