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Produced in India

Updated on: 21 August,2011 06:30 PM IST  | 
Suprateek Chatterjee |

No longer content to hastily record albums practised over jamming sessions at home, indie bands are turning to a tribe of talented, business-savvy music producers to tweak their sound and direct their raw riffs

Produced in India

No longer content to hastily record albums practised over jamming sessions at home, indie bands are turning to a tribe of talented, business-savvy music producers to tweak their sound and direct their raw riffs

Two hours. That's about how long it took Mumbai-based post hardcore band Scribe to make 1234 Dracula, a song from their album Mark Of Teja, wildly popular among their fans. Ask producer Anupam Roy about it, and he laughs, "Akshay (Rajpurohit, guitarist) had a collection of riffs that he wanted to make a song out of. I sat with the band, worked out a structure, thought of arrangements, tried out a bunch of permutations and combinations, and we had the song ready in a couple of hours!"

Randolph 'Func' Correia, 34, Mumbai
Associated with: Pentagram, Shaa'ir + Func


One of the first real producers in the indie scene. Started experimenting
with groove-boxes and technology back in the late '90s. Pioneered the
electro-rock genre in India and dabbles in other genres, while also handling
guitar and production duties for both, Pentagram and Shaa'ir + Func.


This anecdote points to a tectonic shift in the Indian indie music scene that signals a growing collaboration between indie rock bands and artistes and music producers in the past few years. What's more, owing to better technology, the tribe of music producers is growing, too.

Roy who started out in 2004, worked on one album and two EPs (Extended Plays, a shorter version of a music album). Now however, the New Delhi-based producer "barely has any free time," working on five albums and six EPs a year.

Until recently, the modus operandi of a band involved all five guys jamming together in a room coming up with originals or working on covers and going up on stage. Most professional venues demanded a demonstration before offering the band a gig, so bands would rush to studios to hastily record a few tracks. That isn't the case anymore.

Zorran Mendonsa, 26, Mumbai/Auckland, New Zealand
Associated with: Them Clones, Indus Creed, Joshish, Goddess Gagged
I always find out how involved the band wants me to be. If they are happy with their songs, I will speak out only if there'su00a0 something grinding my gears. But if they say they need help with writing, I will get into the smallest details and treat it like my own song.


Comes from a musical family that includes elder brother Warren, guitarist
of Zero and Backstratblues. Works with a number of bands in both,
New Zealand and India belonging to various genres, ranging from classic
rock to progressive alternative metal. Is acknowledged as one of the
most influential and respectable producers in the scene.


"Most bands tended to confuse producers with recording engineers," says Ayan De, a Mumbai-based music producer. "They would end up recording whatever material they had and upload it on MySpace or Reverbnation (online music-sharing websites) without realising that the resultant quality of their work was mediocre." What De is referring to is the sound of music. Musicians are now turning to producers for musical and sonic direction.

"A producer's job is to get inside the heads of the musician and realise their vision. This includes getting acquainted with their influences, likes and dislikes and making sure they give out a world-class product at the end of the day," says Zorran Mendonsa, a music producer for indie bands in Mumbai and Auckland, New Zealand since 2005.

"A producer is like the mother, father and the best friend that a band can have, all rolled into one. He is someone who helps the band figure out what they want," says Roy. According to De, the phenomenon has unfolded in the last few months. On the other hand, New Delhi-based producer Keshav Dhar feels it has been bubbling under the surface for a couple of years. However, both De and Dhar, who'veu00a0been music producers for two years, agree on one thing: these are better times for indie music in the country.

Kuber Sharma,
25, Mumbai
Associated with: Exhumation, Pangea

A live engineer with post-hardcore giant Scribe, Sharma's production
skills impressed guitarist Prashant Shah enough for him to be brought on
as a producer for Shah's death metal outfit Exhumation. Sits on the
console for a number of Mumbai-based metal bands including thrash
metal act Devoid.


Randolph 'Func' Correia, rated as one of the finest and most experienced hands in music production, agrees. "People are finally accepting the value of good production. It's good that bands and artistes are letting go of their egos and letting another set of ears evaluate their music," says the veteran, who has been producing music since 1997.

What's more, bands now go on a producer hunt not just while recording an album, but also to tighten and define their sound. "I have been asked to produce bands that have not played a single gig. That's when I ask them if they are okay with accepting changes I suggest. Usually, they agree," shares De.

Technology makes it happen
Technology is making it easier for musicians to consider a career in production. With music production software easy to use, composers now have the option of making scratches or rough tracks on their computers and give form to the ideas swimming in their heads. "It's like jamming with your computer," says Dhar, who taught himself how to produce music while in college, because he couldn't find anyone who wanted to experiment with music the way he did.

Keshav Dhar, 25, New Delhi
Associated with: Skyharbor, Providence, Chaos, Nasya

A major influence on the Indian djent (a subgenre of metal) scene,
Dhar is also working with international biggies like Marty Friedman
(ex-Megadethu00a0guitarist) and Daniel Tompkins (of British progressive metal band
TesseracT). Tired of the 'djent' tag, he has begun producing bands of
different genres and claims he wouldn't even mind producing a pop album.


For Correia, the Internet and YouTube are the best tools for an upcoming producer. "I remember, when I started back in 1997, I depended on foreign magazines to figure out the technology. Since they were all expensive and hard to acquire, I would frequent raddiwallahs to source older editions for cheap," he recalls.

A multi-faceted role
The other hurdle technology eases is physical distance. "When I work with say, Bhayanak Maut (based in Mumbai), we usually start the process three months before getting into the studio," says Roy. "They send me scratches or lyrical ideas over mail, and I share my feedback with them. This ensures that I am deeply involved in the creation process of the album from the very start."

Anupam Roy, 26, Delhi
Associated with: Scribe, Bhayanak Maut, Kryptos, Circus

A producer is like the mother, the father and the best friend of the band, all rolled into one. He is someone who helps the band figure out what they want.

Ex-guitarist for Delhi-based death metal outfit Narsil, Roy is also co-founder
of Grey and Saurian, a record label that manages several artistes. Has
been producer for a number of rock/metal acts for the past five years.


However, not every producer is comfortable feeding a band from scratch. The extent of involvement depends on how experienced a band is, according to Mumbai producer-engineer Kuber Sharma, who has been in business since 2010 and is already working with two bands. "If they are experienced songwriters, then I'd concentrate on the recording-mixing-mastering process. With newer bands, I'd step in and make stronger suggestions," he says.

Dhar enjoys getting involved in the details, including the lyrics, but producers needn't have absolute authority. "After all, it's the band's intellectual property. Telling them their material isn't good is like calling somebody's baby ugly," he says.

Ayan De, 24,
Mumbai
Associated with: Blek, Love Kamikaze, The Venus Project

'
A young, upcoming producer, De is a popular choice with bands that are
starting out and looking to shape their sound. Has worked with a spectrum
of bands/artistes that cut across a genres from Brit-rock to Indie. Plays
keys and guitar with his own acoustic project named Bones For Bertie.
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Mendonsa plays it by earu00a0and leaves it to the band to figure the role he is expected to play. "If they're happy with their songs, I will speak out only if there's something grinding my gears. But if they say they need help with writing, I will get into the smallest details and treat it like my own song," he says.

With the indie music scene gaining strength every year, bands hope their work will meet international standards. And with the advent of full-time music producers, most of them young, talented and business savvy, music lovers can safely expect an exciting chapter in the story of Indian independent music.




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