Capital Rock (as written for the features section of The Pioneer)
The peace signs silhouette against the dark winter sky, swaying side to side to the reverberations of the electric guitar. The sky turns a neon blue as the cell phone cameras flash in contrast. The crowd responds with an ‘encore’ and roars with satisfaction. There are snatches of old classical rock doing its rounds along with tiny flasks of whiskey. The song in the air is ‘smells like teen spirit’ and the men on stage are longhaired, brash and brilliant. The guitarist keeps motioning to the crowd to scream louder as he turns his attention to the lead singer, belting the best all that is rock into the mike. The crowd cheers wildly and the smell of smoke and dope is inhaled. The floor is strewn with tickets of the show and bottles. It is rocker’s paradise and delirium incarnate. No, this isn’t Aerosmith in Times Square. It’s our very own indigenous Parikrama at a Delhi University fest.
Rock music, frowned and looked down upon by rule abiding ‘older’ generations was initially a western import, a hobby fostered by the rich, the bold and the brash. A quick start up pack to aggressive rebellion, rock was the religion of the youngsters who decided that turning bad was the ‘in’ thing. Metallica, Megadeath, Iron Maiden cassettes were played till ad nauseam in the back seats of Maruti Vans and anonymous bars.
Cut to 2007 and welcome to our very own subaltern rock movement in sadi dilli. No it isn’t only butter chicken and Daler Mehendi that gets Delhi on to its feet, it’s a whole movement that has accosted the youth in all its entirety. There are gigs, almost every night, at neo-urban hip joints like Café Morrison and the crowd is more than obliged to come listen to their favorite ‘Indian’ rock band heat up the scene.
Rock Roots
They start early, they do. The picturesque lawns on campus, the sprawling acres are witness to a cultural amalgamation, which is far removed from books. It’s musical fermentation that eggs these rock prodigies on to pursue a talent that isn’t traditionally accepted.
“DU campus shows present themselves as major opportunities for groups that are looking to make it big in the Delhi Rock Circuit. It’s a chance to get noticed and gain in publicity. We play at almost every rock show on campus and the response is phenomenal. The encouragement grows everyday as more people are being exposed to rock music.”says Adhir Ghosh of the campus band, Five Eight.
Most bands that have turned professional and have become reputed names in the Delhi circuit got a head start to their career from influences on campus. “ Even five years back, campus rock shows were a rarity. There were these staple annual competitions everyone would look forwards to, like IIT and NSIT. But all that has changed and the willingness of people to explore ‘nu’ rock and other alternate sounds have caused the Delhi rock scene to leapfrog into a genre of its own.”says Rahul of Joint Family.
And this isn’t just an enthusiastic rocker speaking. Amongst the burgeoning rock festivals in the country, many are held in Delhi. Delhi based bands have swept all three Campus
Rock Idols tours, which is the biggest amateur rock competition. Prestorika in 2004, Superfuzz in 2005 and FTN in 2006.
And even though the love of rock may find substance under strobe lights in a stage show, its roots lies in the heart of a teenager, lurking in the darker passages of school life. “Kids as young as twelve now play in homegrown bands, discovering art in attics. Rock has that big a following and it’s growing everyday. Most of these semi-professional college bands find their beginnings in school. That’s where you find your core group.”adds Bharat of Cynaide.
The road to rock
With the exception of Turquoise cottage, Delhi was a metro that sorely lacked a ‘rock’ joint as they’re now famously called. There was a huge indi-pop culture, a dance music culture and even a jazz culture. But rock music was considered the domain of doped, anti-establishment individuals. All that has changed now, as rock has come into its own and found its own standing. The opening of joints that promote the culture of live performances all over Delhi have led to a rise in rock performances. Café Morrison, Pragati Maidan, Dilli Haat, Blues, Thai and Chinese Café in Gurgaon and Elevate to mention a few, are the new haunts of rock enthusiasts. Anil Chaurasia, the manager of Café Morrison is in complete agreement, “ Earlier, the demand for rock music was restricted to annual events that were typically known for their ‘rock’ performances. Now the genre has spread. Now we have a live performance every Sunday night. The number of bands that entertain in our café now is close to 250. The response is good and so is the business.”
Sunayana Wadhawan, the drummer of a Delhi’s first all girl band, Who’s Jim, accredits this rise in rock to the various rock shows organised in the city. “ The Great Indian Rock Festival and Campus Rock Idols are the reasons why a lot of bands are born in the first place. The opportunity to showcase talent in front of an audience is complete high in itself. Winning one of these means being able to open for a hugely popular international act. This is incentive enough and in such situations, monetary concerns become secondary.”
Bands like The Superfuzz and Level Nine, who’ve been playing in the Delhi rock circuit for a while now too seem to find the scenario an amicable one. The initiative of organising rock concerts earlier lay only with Rock Street Journal, India’s first rock magazine. But there are a dozen other companies in the fray too like DNA, Gigpad.com, Prospect AM and Only Much Louder, that now organize stage shows for various bands and are willing to promote them.
“Getting a good gig, even two years back was next to impossible. If you wanted to play in a pub, the only people you could contact were RSJ. Now it’s much easier as a lot of these theme pubs are open to entertaining their patrons. It’s a steady progression.”adds Nikhil form Level 9.
Un-covered
‘Copy karte hain’ has been the common consensus on Indian musicians for the longest time ever. Rock in India began with bands playing covers of internationally acclaimed acts like Aeromsmith, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden. “ The demand was for covers and that’s what were played. People were never exposed to original Indian rock and thus didn’t know the vast body of potential that lay in originality.”says Randeep, the bassist for menwhopause. Menwhopause were the first indigenous rock act to perform only original tracks. “At our earlier concerts, when we’d play our original stuff, people would go into a stunned silence. But now that they’re familiar with our sound and style of music, they sing along to the music. The diversity of shows have helped tremendously in showcasing original talent.”says Anup Kutty of menwhopause.
Taking their cue from established bands, the new blood too is taking to playing original compositions at gigs. “It’s really un cool to play covers now. The audience may still relate to covers better, but a metal band’s worth lies in their ability to compose their own music.”adds Nikhil from Level 9. Delhi’s audience has turned over a new leaf as ‘cover bands’ slowly turn passé. “Earlier, people would go especially to listen to bands that covered Megadeath or Aerosmith well. That was their specialty. Now your genius lies in bringing in crowds through original compositions.”adds Adhir.
“There is immense potential in the new crop, both metal and non-metal. Now they can create sounds that can become crowd-pullers and genre in themselves. People too have become more experimental and are willing to give new bands and their music style a chance.”says Anupam, composer and sub-editor of RSJ.
The ‘rocking’ audience
The beelines outside Turquoise Cottage grow with every Prestorika performance- a glaring testimony of to the fact that Delhi officially has a rock audience. “The patrons of rock in Delhi are well versed with their stuff. The response to our music has improved over a period of time. In fact, all the aspects of being in a band have become rewarding in one way or the other.”says Nikhil of The Superfuzz.
Delhi is well on its way to becoming a mature audience. People have diversified their tastes from death metal and thrash to incorporate new sounds like ‘nu’ metal, grunge and jazz influences in rock. “Heavy metal may not be passé just as yet, but the audience has learnt to appreciate variety. Contemporary western influences like Slip Knot, Limp Bizkit and Rage against the Machines have lead to a completely new alternative sound becoming popular. The growing numbers of pubs and bars have only aided our cause.”says Bharat of Cynaide.
And what does the devoted fan have to say?
The economics of rock too is major cause for people to turn up at events like Campus Rock Idols and Great Indian Rock Show. Better organisers, more money and maybe even a record deal can motivate the new-age rockers to strike the right chord.
“ The success of established bands like Parikrama and Orange Street has encouraged the younger generations to take an active interest in rock music. They now know that recognition isn’t a million light years away.”adds Sunayana. Even though the commercial viability of rock bands is still pretty low in comparison to mainstream pop music, metal bands are cutting deals with record labels and their fan following is growing by the day.
Reverse Rockology
This time around, it isn’t Pink Floyd performing live in Banglore. It’s Parikrama playing at the Download Festival in Donington in 2007. Orange Street were the first ones to pioneer this reverse trend by performing in Sweden, Norway, Estonia and UK. International recognition has only spearheaded the attempt of rock bands to spruce up their act and play more genres to produce a completely different sound.” If you’re true to you art, then the audience will support you throughout. They will come to see you play anywhere, be it a pub, a five-star or even a garage. What matters is that you loyal to your style and sound.”adds Anup.
Rock is turning to slowly turning to religion as bands like Cynaide and The Superfuzz gear up for their album launches. Who’s Jim, AVR and Five Eight have already been featured in the weekly episodes of a yet-to-launched channel, Metro Nation. And the ticket prices for Prestorika are slowly hitting the sky, for the love of rock.
It’s been a hard day’s night. And we’re just getting started.
