Acts India Grooves To
- Dualist Inquiry, New Delhi: Genre: Electronic
- Peter Cat Recording Co, New Delhi Genre: Swing
- The Lightyears Explode, Mumbai Genre: Garage Punk
- Goddess Gagged, Mumbai Genre: Progressive hardcore
- The Bicycle Days, Bangalore Genre: Psychedelic rock
- Adam & The Fish Eyed Poets, Chennai Genre: Experimental
- Avial, Kochi Genre: Fusion Rock
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Gaurav Malekar’s instrument of choice is his computer. Hunched over it, sampling sounds from across the world, he creates soundscapes for the visuals his collaborator Avinash Kumar, a visual artist, puts together. Together, they are Basic Love of Things or BLOT—one of the few musical pairings in the world that practise “Visual Jockeying”, a combination of stop-motion photography, animation, video and electronic music. Performing more than a 100 gigs in India and another 15 abroad in a year, most of their weekends are booked and there is practically little else they do except breathe, sleep and live the music they make. But BLOT is not a singular anomaly. As the indie music scene ramps up in India, the urban youth is on a musical high. Several alternate acts, all with members in their 20s or younger, are experimenting by mixing and mashing sounds, styles and genres to create their own unique sound; sounds that are attracting attention, not only in India but even across the world.
The youth-driven change in the country’s soundscape hit Sahej Bakshi when he came back to Delhi from Los Angeles, where he was studying music production. “I’d met an old college friend who was doing quite well for himself. That’s when I knew that I had to come back. That India was the place where things were happening.” Now, Sahej’s minty-new solo electronic act Dualist Inquiry, which shifts between “dreamy, chilled out tracks” to “dance music”, is getting him noticed in the club circuit. He is slated to play at the NH7 Weekender Festival in Pune. Ten years ago, the best bands were the best copycats. That had lots to do with the attitude of the audience. Today, it is the exact opposite that holds true. “The audience now gives an artist the room to play. Being an Indian artist at this time is cool. People are looking at Indian bands and sounds. I think the Raghu Dixit Project is a fine example,” says Sahej.
The internet lies at the heart of the revolution in the urban music scene. Gaurav says the willingness to experiment among Indian artists is solely due to the way “interesting music travels” across a flatter world. Accessing new sounds and keeping up-to-date with global music trends has become a fluid process for both artists and fans in India. Anindo Bose of the psychedelic fusion band Advaita argues the internet is allowing “19-year-olds to come up with original tracks in their bedrooms”. For example, Shivang Patel, one such 19-year-old from Ahmedabad, has collaborated with Nucleya’s Udyan Sagar on his album Horn Ok Please while Harsha Iyer, again 19, from Chennai, has self-released his own alternative rock album for free download and is getting positive reviews. Anindo calls the laptop a “necessity” even though Advaita relies mainly on western and Indian instruments to create their sound. “Sound software allows us to add texture to our pieces and make the sound even better,” he explains. Similarly, SkyRabbit records “organic” sounds, uses electronic music and mixes these with the sound of live instruments to produce their sound, according to lead vocalist Raxit Tewari.
Dropping a beat Metal band Goddess Gagged performing at Mumbai’s Blue Frog Club. (Photograph by Amit Haralkar)
But the experimentation would have come to naught if there wasn’t a healthy audience interest. India’s urban audiences are definitely looking for new stuff, the pressure to perform “covers” is gone. Siddharth Basrur of Goddess Gagged recalls the crowd singing along when they played their set at a concert near Pune recently. “People had got on to their bikes to drive 40 km from Pune to attend the concert and that too when it was raining,” exclaims Siddharth. Pune and Bangalore are possibly the most enthusiastic when it comes to rock bands while Delhi floats on edm (electronic dance music) beats. Many niche sub-genres like dubstep, drum n’ bass, bassline and minimal techno are finding listeners. Others have more eclectic flavours—reggae precursors ska and rocksteady for Delhi’s Ska Vengers, the ‘native’ rock of Kochi’s Avial, industrial and electro-rock for Mumbai’s SkyRabbit and Chennai’s Adam & The Fish Eyed Poets. Arjun S. Ravi, editor of Indiecision, an online resource for music and bands, says although there is a skew towards club-friendly electronic-infused music and metal is “maligned”, there’s plenty of headbanging going on at college and music festivals, and live music venues spread across the major metros. “Blue Frog in Mumbai, for example, has started Metal Nights. I think all genres of music are finding an adequate platform in India now and the best part is that it is all original music.”
The environment is such that every musician is collaborating with other Indian and international artists, across genres. Anindo is a keyboardist and sampler for Advaita, but has collaborated with singer-songwriter Sajid Akbar. Nikhil of Indigo Children is, at present, “playing for six different acts”. SkyHarbor’s Keshav Dhar is collaborating with a host of Indian artists and Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth lead guitarist) for his debut album this year. Big labels like emi and hmv are getting into the indie scene, which in turn increases the turn-out at live gigs. Sahej in fact distributed 500 copies of his CD, released by indie label Audio Ashram, for free at his gigs. Similarly, Goddess Gagged is coming out with their debut album that fans can “pre-order”. Every album release gives the bands a reason to tour the country to earn some money and serve as milestones on their musical journey.
The indie festival circuit itself is also expanding beyond the college circuit of old, though many upcoming and established bands do score a sizeable number of gigs from campus events. But new, professionally managed music festivals are popping up with rapid frequency. Sunburn Festival has scored a hit on the global music map, while NH7 Weekender is shaping up nicely. This year they have Grammy award winner Imogen Heap and electronic dance music duo Basement Jaxx along with a host of local acts. If that isn’t enough, just wait for the Storm Festival in Coorg. Besides domestic festivals and gigs, younger Indian artists are also getting more play at international venues and getting international recognition. Sahej shared the stage with American electronica star DJ Shadow recently at The Great Escape Festival in the UK and played at the Berlin Music Week. Scribe, a Mumbai-based metal band, has been nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before A.R. Rahman’s Grammys have some company in India. And chances are, the winner will be less than half his age.
