20 September,2009 11:13 AM IST | | Lalitha Suhasini
Sunday MiD DAY tells you what makes Delhi the country's music metropolis
If you've been to the rundown-home-turned-rehearsal pad on 16/330 Khajoor Road, Faiz Road in Delhi with its leafy courtyard and watched a crazy jam by Indian Ocean, then you might understand why the city lends itself effortlessly to the growing independent music scene. An open mind, a pace that allows artistes to realise their musical ambition and over the past year, more and more new venues to feed the musician and his audience has turned Delhi into the hotbed of new talent and sound.
"It is the best city to play at," says Delhi-band Indigo Children's bassist Nikhil Rufus Raj. And even if you'd rather disregard an insider opinion, "Delhi has soul", in the words of Pentagram guitarist and Bandraphile Randolph Correia who has been touring across India and abroad with both his bands Pentagram and Shaa'ir+Func. "Bombay is arrogant in how far ahead it is and has lost its soul. The more aggressive audiences and vibe in Bombay encourage mostly heavy metal and techno bands, but Delhi has a more relaxed atmosphere that lets diverse forms of music take shape and also gives them time to learn," says Randolph. Delhi bands are also removed from the commercial scene (of Bollywood music), which pushes them to explore alternative forms of music.
Agrees Advaita lead guitarist Abhishek Mathur, "We've received offers to do commercial stuff but it helps that this option of making mainstream music as soon as we're out of college is not in your face in Delhi."
Delhi band The Circus touted as the next big thing by Pentagram's Randolph Coreia
Where Delhi stages it
Even if America's biggest pop stars have been harping about the dead music industry and weak album sales only over the past two years, non-film musicians and artists in India were faced with this reality right from start. Live music is where the bread and butter are.
Over the last year alone, several new pubs and clubs have opened up in Delhi giving local bands an edge over bands from other cities. More venues mean more competition to show the band and its audience a good time, feels Randolph.
There's The Living Room Cafe at Hauz Khas Village, which opened recently and hosted Delhi Sultanate, a plucky songwriter and gifted newcomer to the Delhi scene at one of their Reggae Collaboration nights. Attitude, in Gurgaon has been actively supporting extremely talented local bands like Half Step Down, Advaita and Them Clones since they opened up in July and hosted Mumbai rockers Pentagram this month. Although, Delhi bands are put out with the newly opened Hard Rock Cafe's (June 2009) pro-cover tracks and "service first," music next, policy.
Older venues such as Tabula Rasa have been steering the electronic movement in the city with performances by everybody from headliners Midival Punditz to innovators such as Teddy Boy Kill. The venue re-opened this month after a three-month renovation gap. Other old haunts for the best gigs in Delhi include The Mezz at New Friends Colony, Turquoise Cottage or TC previously known as Thai Cafe, which has been driving the nightlife in Adhchini before it moved to open a branch at Vasant Vihar, a few months ago Cafe Morrison at South Extension and Chicane in Noida, all of which have been regular venues for Pub Rock Fest, the only pub fest of its kind in India kicked off by Rock Street Journal magazine editor and event organiser Amit Saigal.
The DLF Promenade's The Hub at Vasant Kunj, where Indian Ocean performed recently, has also been around for the past few years. But Haze Blues and Jazz Bar tops the list of old favourites. The story goes that Delhi alt-rockers menwhopause want to name their second album Haze after the club that backed them all these years. Soulmate, from Shillong one of the finest blues acts to emerge out of the country have a permanent residency at Haze, who swear their allegiance to what has now become a landmark in Vasant Vihar. Most venues in Delhi are open until at least 1 am.
The capital also has some fantastic open-air venues such as the magnificient Lodhi Gardens, the Garden of Five Senses (where Indian Ocean's Live DVD was shot), the Hamsadhwani theatre (where the first-ever Channel [V]'s Launchpad was held) and the NSIC Exhibition Grounds (the venue for the first East Wind Festival) amongst others.
The future is here
Mumbai too is nodding to the fact that Delhi is where it's at. Mumbai-based music professional Shatadru Sarkar who kicked off the Underground project for HMV Saregama that tracked and recorded with indie bands says, "Delhi is a melting pot of influences and sounds, and therefore more experimental." Agrees Advaita's Abhishek, "Delhi has the most progressive scene right now. Very rarely would a band be asked to play covers at any venue here." Abhishek points to Constellation Project, a budding experimental folk electroacoustic act: "They're a new band just out of college and I saw them perform recently and was blown away." Vijay Nair, also from Mumbai and Director, Only Much Louder, an artiste management company that works with India's leading indie acts including Pentagram, Them Clones, Swarathma and Indigo Children agrees that Delhi's driving the scene. "Delhi in general has been churning out quite a few bands and consistently has had the most number of gigs as well," says Vijay naming bands such as Advaita, Teddy Boy Kill, Jalebee Cartel and Undying Inc from the capital.
S+F's Randolph lists bands such as The Circus and Faridkot saying, "These guys will define the new generation of music." Alongside lesser-known bands such as Rusted Strings, Zinc and Nephunk, there are the likes of Oidua, Hypnosis and Another Vertigo Rush which have gained a steady following. East India Company, which is a little over two years into its electronica folk act, is already a hit. Collectives such as B.L.O.T. (Basic Love of Things) and D.E.S.U. (Delhi Electronica Supply Unit) have made sure that the vibrant cultural wave loosely called electronica rides high. Parikrama's Subir Malik, who helms Parikrama Inc that books shows for about 75 bands and manages 26 says, "I know that every school in Delhi has about three to four rock bands because I judge music events in school. Today parents are coming into stores and buying music equipment for their kids.
There are at least 200 music schools in Delhi." There's also radio support from Hit 95 FM which plays tracks by local bands and invites bands to participate in events such as the Ultimate Santana Challenge and showcase their talent on air.
Mumbai:minimum city
OML cofounder Bobby Talwar (ex-bassist, Zero) feels otherwise. "If the state governments elsewhere in the country were pumping in as much money as the North-East was into music, cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata wouldn't be far. Mumbai's got talent as well." Bobby refers to vocalists Nikhil D'Souza and Naina Kundu, upcoming college act Rosemary, funk rockers Tough on Tobacco comprising ex Zero and Helga's Funk Castle members, and industrial metal-turned-electronica act Medusa as Mumbai's future.
Mumbai's Blue Frog, the newly opened Zenzi Mills Bar & Lounge, Il Terrazzo, Bonobo Cafe, Four Seasons (San Qi), Novotel (Gadda-di-Vida) and Hard Rock Cafe have improved the live music scene but clearly, it's lagging behind the capital. Besides, Bollywood, the omniscient, omnipotent industry stifles or sucks in the best talent from the city inevitably and IROCK, the biggest rock festival of the city also encourages covers "by popular demand." IROCK audiences too are pretty ruthless when it comes to taste showing absolute intolerance for anything that's not metal. Most bands bring out their loudest set for the competition, stick to it because "it works" and eventually self-destruct with the exceptions of Pin Drop Violence (PDV) who take their metal seriously. The lot that begin with metal and defiantly make a turn, last it out because evolution is the only way ahead cases in point being Pentagram and Medusa.
North-East: national disconnect
Undeniably, the North-East is a powerhouse of talent with most bands who are straight out of school and college displaying incredible maturity and remarkable skills both as musicians and vocalists. Bands such as Diatribe, reggae rock act OFF, rock n rollers The Verbs, and thrash metal band Alien Gods made a sweep at the Hornbill fest last year with OFF standing out as the most original act. But there's little visibility because few bands brave it out to what they call 'the mainland'. When long-running music festivals such as Roots, Hornbill and Dylan fest call it a wrap, the region suffers a dead live scene until the next festival season.
Bengaluru: needs more juice
In defence of Bengaluru, folk rocker Raghu Dixit insists that bands from his city began the trend of playing only original music, turning a deaf ear to the roar for covers. "There's not much learning in Mumbai but that's where bands get their bread and butter. Delhi and Chennai have always been known as the seat of learning."
Bengaluru too has had new groups such as the electronica act Tempo Tantrick and alt rockers Lounge Piranha, with new venues such as Kyra and B Flat opening up this year, but there's a lot of catching up to do. Besides, the ban on live music has been imposed and lost steam more number of times than bands can remember.
Although gigs are looking up in Bengaluru currently, the ban cut into the schedule last year with gig-friendly pubs such as Opus axing their shows. Raghu says that finding a platform isn't easy. "I've been playing Mysore Se Aayi for 10 years and it just got noticed. I got noticed only after two years of my album launch." Mumbai remains the publicity mecca, but Bengaluru and Kolkata have supportive audiences.
Chennai: no show
New Chennai bands that caught our attention online include two new ones Adam and the Fish Eyed Poets and No Safe Word. Few Chennai bands actually make it to the national gigging circuit with the exception of The Rainbow Bridge recently. Although, according to MySpace, only 5.6 per cent bands from Tamil Nadu have their profiles up on the site, with Delhi topping the list with 17 per cent bands and all of Maharashtra with 19.1 per cent bands followed by Karnataka with 9.6 per cent bands, Kerala 3.7 per cent and Kolkata with 7.4 per cent profiles. Says Tony John, lead vocalist of Avial, "Most Indian bands don't have an identity. I can't say there are a lot of upcoming bands in Kerala really." While factors such as internet and recording equipment access play a major role here, both Shatardu who worked on the Underground project and composer Ram Sampath, one of the hosts on MTV's Rock On, a talent hunt for the best original desi band feel that Kolkata has the most potential.
Kolkata: real rockers
"As far as original song writing and musicianship goes, I thought Kolkata had great talent to offer. While the scene there is limited to one genre rock there is superb original content coming out of there in English and Bengali. We felt we got the best 'songs' from that city," says Shatadru. Ram agrees that Delhi is taking forward the surge of new talent by giving them a platform and that Kolkata has the best, untapped talent.
"The main reason for this is local and regional pride. It's not jingoistic but they feel a connection to their own history and language. Look at the number of Bangla bands." He also emphasises that every artiste needs attitude. "And these guys have it. They sing in Bangla with a funky accent and breathe attitude; there's so much irreverence. We've got to start a movement where we make ourselves fashionable, we need personalities, we need animal magnetism and we need people to look upto."
DELHI INDIE
Our top picks from the capital's booming music scene
Delhi Sultanate
www.myspace.com/delhisultanate u2013 Taru Dalmia writes some radical lines and splices dub and reggae for his gritty, almost cinematic tracks
Oidua
www.myspace.com/oidua u2013 Think minimalistic. Clarence Gonsalves' solo project is a trippy ride
Constellation Project
www.myspace.com/constellationproject u2013 The five-member band is driven by fluid arrangements, clean vocals and haunting originals.
Another Vertigo Rush
www.myspace.com/anothervertigorush u2013 If you're looking for progressive metal freaks you have to listen to The Vibe
The Circus
www.myspace.com/circustheu00a0 Another unconventional band that sounds as colourful as they look, with some killer bass lines
