VIBES March 2011- Music & Entertainment by Eclectic Publications

ARUNACHAL PRADESH • ASSAM • MANIPUR • MEGHALAYA • MIZORAM • NAGALAND • SIKKIM • TRIPURA

AST NORTHE BY HEART

FOR MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT MARCH 2011

R 30

SUMANTA BARUAH

UN DY

N C.

GI SIMPLY “HIEN AVY METAL”

AFFLATUS GIRLS, UNINTERRUPTED!

HIS CARTOONS CAN MAKE SCIENCE FUN

FORMULA 1

AS RACE DAY NEARS

TOP 10 WOMEN-POWER SONGS

TRACKLISTING cover photograph: Dipayan Bhattacharjee

Volume- I Issue-8

20 36 Abhaya and the Steam Injuns

38 32

19 ON DEMAND 27 FYI 31 WOC

41 feat. 43 TRACK RECORD

TRACKLISTING Volume- I Issue-8

10 46

45 JOCK TALKING 07 EVENTS 44 Campus Call

48 VIBES CORNER 49 BHEJA FRY

Wanna know what Rajinikanth would do if he was Superman… read on!

EDiTORIAL

TEAM VIBES managing editor - Tanushree Hazarika

tanu@eclectic.co.in

executive editor - Koushik Hazarika consulting editor - Bidisha Singha content supervisor - Himakshi Goswami content co-ordinator - Pooja Barkataky regular contributor - Kaushik Barua layout artist - Himangshu Lahkar

ost of us often get lost trying to strike a balance between our professional and personal lives. Life starts to become a routine and we desperately find ways to change that. The best ways are obviously the weekend breaks that we take or the occasional holidays which help us relax and de-stress, only to come back to the same routine... Now I know this can sound a tad dim, but trust me when I say that we can add a little more meaning to our everyday lives by doing more. Let’s say, some of us have it in us to paint, dance, sing, play musical instruments or even play squash ( yes, I always felt that this game is quite tough)! How about we explore these abilities and put them to work. All it needs is time and dedication, and you can create wonders. Hard to believe? But maybe that will change once you get to know Sumanta Baruah, “The Cartoon Creator” from Bangalore. Read about him as he talks about why cartooning is his passion even though he is actually a full-time engineer by profession. We do feel a little inspired now, right? Then I am sure reading our cover story on the all-girl band from Shillong, Afflatus, as well as the hell raising rock-band from Delhi, Undying Inc., will surely instill in you an electrifying encouragement and enthusiasm to know how they successfully take time out of their regular working lives to pursue their passion and even make a mark for themselves. It is surely remarkable and makes me wonder, what is that one thing I could do or would love to do at the end of a long day at work? So, are you thinking now? You should, I would say, as each one of us has the capacity to add something more to our everyday life. And you never know, when that becomes more than just leisure or pleasure... So, here’s hoping that each one of you will make time for yourself to do that one thing at the end of the day, that you know you are good at and have always wanted to do. Add more to your day! Happy reading...

(Managing Editor)

director – Bibha Hazarika admin officer - Prasanta Talukdar deputy admin officer - Monjari Mahanta

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Besides the Northeast, Eclectic Vibes is now, available in Bangalore Distributed by: IBM Books & Magazines Distributors Pvt. Ltd. 5th Main Road, Gandhinagar, Bangalore-560009

Edited, printed and published by Tanushree Hazarika on behalf of Eclectic Media Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, Eclectic House, 34, PB Road, Rehabari, Guwahati - 781 008, Assam Printed at Swapna Printing Works Private Limited Doltala, Doharia, P.O.- Ganga Nagar, Dist- North 24 Paraganas, Kolkata- 700 132 Design ©Tattva Creations Pvt. Ltd. Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. The publishers apologize for any omissions, which they will be pleased to rectify at the earliest opportunity. The views expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor.

Febuary, 2010

Hello guys! I’m a new reader of your magazine and I’m totally impressed. I loved the Textures article. I was wondering if you guys could provide posters of metal bands and include more metal stuff, gear reviews, guitar tabs, etc. Keep up the good work!

Hello guys, wassup? I am a new reader of your magazine and I’m very happy with your work. I will appreciate it if you guys give more about metal music because it’s kinda underground and hasn’t got much mainstream popularity.

Preetam, Tinsukia

Ananga, Digboi

Thanks Preetam, and welcome to the club. Your suggestions will be definitely taken up — Team Vibes

Yo Ananga, Wassup with you, dude! Your metal thirst will surely be quenched. Stick around — Team Vibes

LETTER OF THE MONTH

We are getting to see a whole new edition of Vibes. It was a wonderful surprise. I read every word, from the first to the last. I liked the January cover with Textures the most! Those guys are amazing and I appreciate your team for bringing out this magazine. Saurav Kathar, Nagaon Hey, Sourav, Thanks! And we truly appreciate you writing in to us. Keep in touch — Team Vibes Being an ardent fan, I cannot stop praising Eclectic Vibes, which deserves it because of its coverage and information of worldwide happenings. It’s the only magazine in the country that offers its readers this privilege. I also love the fact that the magazine covers a wide variety of topics encompassing music and entertainment. It is great that Vibes manages to keep up with the latest trends across all these subjects. MGou Singson, Haflong That was such a delight to read, MGou. We promise to get you the best every time — Team Vibes

I am from South Africa and I stumbled upon your magazine when DJ Suketu shared the electronic version on Facebook. I loved reading the magazine online and it was so interesting. My favourite article was the interview with DJ MOIT as I have known him for some time now and it was really good to read about him. The most favourite of all was obviously the interview on the best DJ I know – DJ Suketu! It was such a good read and so well composed. He is a true master and a real gentleman. I was wondering how one can get this magazine more often. I have shared the link with all the DJs and other music lovers in South Africa that I know. A quality magazine indeed! Fathima Mahomed, South Africa Dear Fathima, Fantabulous to get your mail, all the way from South Africa! Of course, we are all huge fans of DJ Suketu and so glad to know you liked the DJ Moit feature as well. All of us here are pretty kicked to know that you want to read more of Vibes and we will make sure it reaches you. Keep reading and writing to us — Team Vibes

Hey pals, the Eclectic Vibes team is doing an awesome job by putting a spotlight on the Northeast and showing the entire world our potential. It’s really appreciable. It’s very interesting to see you guys featuring bands like Eluvietie and Textures. How about a little more mental stuff in your issues? Thanks for entertaining us and keeping the spirits high in the Northeast. Hats off to you guys. I’m damn anxious for the upcoming issues. Nizom Boruah, Nagaon Wow Nizom, we are so glad to have readers like you. As for the mental stuff, watch out, we will soon blow your minds away — Team Vibes

Many thanks to Eclectic Vibes! I liked this month’s articles and got much more than I had expected. A simple line, ‘Lack of music is a pain of heart’. Sanjay Paul, Dudhnoi Thanks Sanjay. And yes, even we can’t get enough of music — Team Vibes

write to us at: VIBES INBOX, ECLECTIC VIBES SARASWATI MARKET, 2ND FLOOR, ABOVE SBI, SIX MILE BRANCH, G.S. ROAD, GUWAHATI - 781022 MAIL US AT: editorial@eclectic.co.in or SMS US AT: + 91 96780 85012

VIBES EVENTS

What: Pentagram Live at Sanskriti 2011, the AIMT College Festival Where: Shilpgram, Guwahati When: February 11, 2011

VIBES EVENTS

or all you lovers of music, there’s some very good news. Casio India has launched the Casio Piano Avenue in Guwahati recently, the very first in the entire region. Casio India Company Private Limited, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the consumer electronics giant Casio Computer Co., Japan, opened the exclusive store in Dona Planet, G.S Road, Guwahati amidst a lot of fanfare. The over 300 sq ft store, inaugurated by Assamese film actress Nishita Goswami on January 21, will be a one-of-its-kind showroom showcasing the best of Casio products from digital pianos, keyboards, digital drums, cameras, calculators et al. The occasion also had the biggies of the company in attendance with M Naka, MD, Casio India and Kulbhushan Seth, Head-Sales & Marketing Casio India, being the two most prominent guests. Vibes caught up with the two men to find out more about Casio’s plans for the future. Excerpts: For a brand like Casio, how big is the Northeastern market? Kulbhushan Seth: As far as our keyboards are concerned, Northeast is a very important market for us. Here you

find more serious music lovers unlike many parts of India where students just learn for a few months just as a hobby. But here people take Kulbhushan Seth, Head-Sales & Marketing music more Casio India seriously, so our mid-range and higher-end keyboards sell more in the Northeast. And what are your plans for the region? Kulbhushan Seth: We’re continuously doing something or the other. In the Hornbill Festival, for the first time in India, we launched our new high-grade keyboard. This is just an example of how important the Northeastern market is for us. How would you compare the Indian market vis-à-vis the rest of the world? M Naka: India is a growing market and I am very happy to be working in this country. Can you throw some more light on that? Kulbhushan Seth: We’re focussing a

lot on Indian market and developing unique products for the Indian market. Most of our keyboards have Indian tones and MASAO Naka, MD, Casio India rhythms. We also recently launched a calculator which can show lacs and crores marker. That’s a patented product, very unique because lacs and crore formats are used nowhere else in the world. So we’re taking care of Indian sensibilities, what customers like and making unique products for them. In the market, who are your prime competitors and what’s your market share? Kulbhushan Seth: With calculators, we enjoy more than 70% of the market share compared to all other brands put together. And in categories like scientific calculators, we enjoy more than 95% market share. Keyboard, yes to some extent there’s no competition in the lower end. Middle segment, yes, Yamaha is our competitor. What about the higher-end? Kulbhushan Seth: We’re not really there in the very top-end professional keyboard segment. Our products are of course targeted towards professionals, but not very top-end. We sell mainly midrange and high-range. So Mr Naka, would you like to say anything to our readers? M Naka: I believe Indian people love Casio products, be it a musical keyboard or a calculator or now the G-Shock watches. With the variety of attractive products that Casio offers under the philosophy of ‘Creativity and Contribution’, I believe Indian people will continue loving Casio products.

VIBES EVENTS

What: A party hosted by Prateek Hajela Where: Kiranshree Portico When: February 14, 2011

VIBES FAD

arch is here and now’s the time to set the track on fire as the all new Formula One Season sets off. After the surprise domination of Red Bull last season and the relatively insignificant return to F1 by Michael Schumacher, this sport promises to keep popping up surprises this season as well. To be the longest in the history of Formula One, Season 2011 has 20 races starting with the Bahrain GP on March 13. However the biggest news for us Indians is the first ever Indian Grand Prix scheduled for October 30, this year.

Changes galore

The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) hasn’t accepted any new

Paul D Resta

team entries for this season. The BMW Sauber team reverts back to the name ‘Sauber’ for this season. Virgin Racing becomes ‘Marussia Virgin Racing’ after the Russian car manufacturer Marussia acquired

significant stakes in the team. As for the driver changes, promising GP2 driver Jerome d’Ambrosio replaces Lucas di Grassi at Virgin Racing while reigning DTM champion Paul di Resta replaces Vitantonio Luizzi at Force India. Nico Hülkenberg parted ways with Williams. After turning down offers from several teams, including HRT and Virgin, Hülkenberg joined Force India as test and reserve driver. And to the delight of many of us, Narain Karthikeyan will return to Formula One with Hispania after unsuccessful attempts at the 2009 24 hour Le Mans and 2010 Champing World Truck series. With the 1st Indian F1 driver racing at the 1st Indian Grand Prix this year, October 30 is going to be history in the making. Hispania is still uncertain about Narain’s teammate though, with Bruno Senna leaving for the reserve driver spot at ‘Lotus Renault GP’ after a strained relationship with the team. Then we have

competing in the Ronde di Andora rally on 6th February, leaving him with multiple fractures to his arm, hand and leg. His surgeon said he could miss the start or in a worst-case-scenario the whole of the season. The team’s replacement options include Nick Heifeld and reserve driver Bruno Senna to partner Vitaly Petrov.

Rule playing

This F1 season will also see quite a few new things happening on the track. The most important being the following:

Pastor Maldonado

2010 GP2 Series Champion Pastor Maldonado signed by Williams after testing for the team in the young driver tests in Abu Dhabi, whereas the Series runner-up Sergio Pérez was hired by Sauber to partner Kamui Kobayashi. Renault 1st driver Robert Kubica receives a huge setback after he got severely injured while

2011 will see the return of the 107 per cent rule in qualifying. Under this arrangement, any driver who fails to set a time within 107 per cent of the fastest lap in Q1 (the rule won’t apply in Q2 and Q3) will not be permitted to take part in the race; for instance, if the fastest lap is 1 minute 40 seconds, a driver must set a time faster than 1 minute 47 seconds in order to make it to the grid. Sole tyre supplier Bridgestone

Over announced that it the last would not renew four years we its contract with have seen four Formula One at first-time drivers’ the end of the champions and 2010 season. As four different a result Pirelli constructors has been approved winning the to supply tyres honours to all teams. The performance of those tyres in pre-season has raised some concerns, though. The tyre-wear has been seen to be far greater and the requirement of more than one tyre-stop is very likely. An adjustable rear wing system was confirmed as an addition to the 2011 rules, designed to aid overtaking as a substitute for the F-duct system. It would only be available under certain conditions; namely, drivers will only be able to use

VIBES FAD

it when they are within one second of the car in front, but it would not be usable within the first two laps of a race except in the case of an early safety car. Furthermore, the drivers will only be able to use the adjustable wing on a designated area of the circuit, to be decided by race director Charlie Whiting. The system is expected to offer drivers an additional 15 km/h when passing, and will deactivate when the driver first touches the brakes after using the rear wing. The concept, which has been negatively received by drivers and fans alike, could be dropped if it proves impractical or unmanageable. “Shark fins”, an additional fin attached to the engine cowling, that connect to the rear wing, the “bladed” rollbar structure used in the 2010 season has also been banned. KERS units will be optional for all teams. Gearboxes must now last for five races instead of four. Drivers will have one additional gearbox that may be changed without penalty for the purposes of completing an event.

The biggest news for us Indians is the first ever Indian Grand Prix scheduled for October 30, this year…with the 1st Indian F1 driver racing at the 1st Indian Grand Prix it is going to be history in the making A curfew has been implemented, barring team personnel from accessing the circuit between the hours of midnight and six o’clock in the morning following concerns over mechanics spending all night performing repairs in the pit garage and the following day in the busy pit lane. With new teams showing strong

performances and the traditional top teams fighting to stay in contention, nothing can be foretold. The sport has of late turned more unpredictable than ever! Gone are the days when one Michael Schumacher used to win 13 races out of 18 and the scarlet Ferrari was the one that took away all the glory. Over the last four years we have seen four first-time drivers’ champions and four different constructors winning the honours. There are new teams and drivers coming and giving the veterans a run for their money. Young Force India rookie Paul di Resta seems a promising driver capable of throwing up a challenge if the team gives him a decent car. While at the top there’s going to be a six-way bit for the title between the Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren cars. Schumacher on the other hand has refused to give up after a not so flashy comeback season last year. Mercedes GP has informed the media that they’ve made the new season’s car ‘completely unrecognisable’ from last year’s car. Looking at the possibilities this season, not even a formula one version of octopus Paul could guess what’s coming. We’ll just have to sit back, belt up and watch the drivers burn some rubber. See you guys on the racetrack!

VIBES PASSION

He makes inanimate objects look life-like, he makes scientific topics sound interesting and he sketches cartoons with a message. That’s Sumanta Baruah, the full-time engineer, part-time cartoonist from Bangalore ow can science be funny? Are you kidding me?” That’s exactly what I said when I first heard about Sumanta Baruah, the homegrown techie living in the Silicon city of India, Bangalore. This acclaimed cartoonist, though, ‘optimistic’ about human progress and scientific development doesn’t mind enjoying a good laugh at the expense of

technological advancements. And he does that through his ‘science-inspired’ cartoons. His childhood passion for doodling has now turned into a full grown love for sketching cartoons. And despite his engineering degree and his high profile techie job, Sumanta is more inclined to the drawing board. And it’s not just a random hobby, for Sumanta’s cartoons have been

a part of many a magazine and journal and some have also been exhibited at international cartoon festivals like the 3rd Rhodes International Cartoon Exhibition in Greece (2006) and the International Cartoon Festival in Iran (2006). Sumanta’s childhood was no different than that of a normal kid from an innocuous little town like Biswanath Chariali in the Sonitpur district of Assam. But he did add a lot of colour to his otherwise simple life through his drawings and by becoming a member of Moina Parijat, a premier children’s organisation of Assam. He considers that to be his lucky break. Recently, during one of his home visits, Sumanta conducted a workshop for the present members of this organisation. Kind of like ‘payback time’! “I started doodling like any other child would normally do” A young Sumanta was bowled over by the drawings of Tinkle and Amar Chitra

VIBES PASSION Katha and he wanted to be as good as those comic book artists. In fact, he imitated them and used to create comics and flipbooks with stories that only a young imaginative brain could conjure, winning many a prize in the bargain. “I used to bag first prizes in all the drawing competitions,” he says. But it was not until his father introduced him to the cartoons of R. K. Laxman that Sumanta understood what cartooning was. “One day I did a drawing where I lampooned an astrologer and showed it to my father. He told me that I had created a cartoon! That was my first cartoon and I was ten years old,” Sumanta says. His first published cartoon, though, was for Drishti, an Assamese popular science periodical. It accompanied an article by his father who was a writer of popular science. After that Sumanta regularly contributed to Bigyan Jeuti, a popular science magazine published by the Assam Science Society. Sumanta is highly indebted to this magazine which has carried his sketches from 1993 to 2002. “Drawing cartoons started as a hobby. Soon it developed into a passion and now it is a part-time freelance profession” He is by profession a lead engineer at Samsung India Software Operations but Sumanta also freelances as a cartoonist for magazines like Bigyan Jeuti, Science Reporter and Resonance. The Indian Cartoon Gallery keeps a collection of his cartoons and his work can be seen quite often in Current Science, a fortnightly journal published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, IISc (Indian Institute of Science), Bangalore and Satsori, an Assamese monthly. “For a living, engineering comes first while cartooning comes first as an interest,” he explains. Although around four hundred of his artworks have been published till date, Sumanta considers his 17-day exhibition in Bangalore in May, last year to be his greatest accomplishment so far. “I put it as an exhibition of only science and environment cartoons. It was a new kind of exhibition for the people and they loved it,” he exclaims. Moreover, there were dignitaries like former ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) chief, Prof U R Rao and IISc Director, Prof P Balaram as the chief guests of the exhibition organised by the Indian Institute of Cartoonists.

With british cartoonist michal boncza at an group exhibition organised

“Cartoon is different from comics in purpose and style. And I am more interested in cartoons.” Although he never took a formal training in art, Sumanta read many comics during his childhood and he now follows newspaper comics regularly. He feels that drawing skills are necessary for a cartoonist, and in his case it came through interest, observation and practice. “It is interesting to note that most of the cartoonists are selftrained,” he justifies. Simply having a good hand at drawing will not ensure a skilful mastery of cartoons. “Cartooning is more than just drawing. Drawing cartoons cannot be taught in any institution. It is a self-learning process. Of course, you can learn to draw by joining some art school. But cartooning involves meticulous observation, an insight and a sense of humour,” he suggests. Starting off as a cartoonist, the biggest challenge that he faced was to draw human figures and expressions in a correct, yet humorous way. Sometimes ideas come to him spontaneously while sometimes he needs to brainstorm around a particular topic. Earlier his cartoons were completely hand-drawn using felt pen and brush. But with the advent of technology, he now uses Photoshop to colour his cartoons. “Of late, I am trying my hand in a graphic tablet,” Sumanta reveals. “Being a science student, I have faith in science and I never felt lack of inspiration for drawing science cartoons” Inspired by cartoonists like R. K. Laxman and Sidney Harris, Sumanta’s cartoons have indeed given a new meaning to the otherwise dull and dreary topic of

political.”

science. He understood that cartoons can be used as a tool for science communication and he, therefore, chooses topics related to science, technology and environment as the subject matter for his sketches. “You will see one cartoon where I have shown how the ubiquitous internet can turn a person into a modern day Selkirk. On the other hand, I did a cartoon on how e-books are helping to save trees,” he informs. “I draw what I believe” Sumanta considers himself to be an observer and a commentator. “I am the happiest if I can express my concerns about the society, my hope, anguish etc. through my cartoons. I don’t draw cartoons only for the sake of humour,” he reasons. Less bothered about the commercial aspect of his trait, he says, “I don’t want to draw a huge number of cartoons for commercial purpose, instead I am more interested in drawing meaningful cartoons through which I can express myself and create some awareness, be it scientific, environmental, social or

“It is seen that a cartoonist’s work earns due acclamation as well as criticism in Bangalore” Sumanta feels that Bangalore is a cartoonist’s delight as Karnataka or rather the whole of South India has produced many of India’s finest cartoonists. Moreover, Bangalore has the only Cartoon Gallery of India where many exhibitions and workshops are held regularly for cartoonists and cartoon lovers. Despite that, Sumanta has hardly been able to promote his work. Owing to his busy schedule as a software professional, there’s hardly any time for creating his cartoons let alone promotions. “I feel I am not very good at promoting my work but I have created a website (www. cartooncosmos.com) to make my cartoons more accessible,” he informs. Now he also uses Facebook as a medium to share his work. “If one can take advantage of the internet and can reach a wider audience it can be a viable career option” But hasn’t the internet also become a bane for cartoonists since most newspapers and magazines have had to shut down owing to worldwide decline of print media. He agrees but Sumanta also believes that the advent of the internet has opened up new vistas for budding cartoonists. A wider audience and a bigger market is now easily accessible. “If one can create good quality cartoons, there are plenty of opportunities!” he insists. Words: himakshi Goswami

VIBES MUSIC sound of the soil

he music scene in Assam seems free now, literally. And Swatantra might very well be the harbinger of this new found freedom. A “new age music ensemble” (as their Facebook page says) initiated by Chiranjeev Kolita, Swatantra is the story of a few Assamese lads trying to break the shackles of musical stereotypes in the Oxomiya music industry. Their dream is to bring forth a new age with songs that are a fry cry from the current trends. While Chiranjeev is the soul, Manoj Borah is the brain behind the project. “Manoj was the one who initially suggested the name for our band. Incidentally, Manoj has also co-produced and written all the lyrics for the album. So I guess you can call it his brainchild,” insists Chiranjeev. There’s also Pallab Phukan, the voice of Swatantra and Prasanta Das, the bassist to complete the quartet. But it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Chiranjeev is the man behind this mission. A sound engineer by profession and a musician by choice, Chiranjeev had played in bands like Sticky Fingers, Third Eye and Question of Fate during his college days in Guwahati. He had also honed his skills in the recording studios of Mumbai and Dubai and had been a part of two other projects (Sweet Ashley and Sickman Inc), before setting sights on Swatantra. Right now, as the album awaits the verdict from the inscrutable listeners, Chiranjeev gives us an insight into Swatantra, the project and Swatantra, the philosophy.

Swatantra…the premise It means free and independent, thus a very apt name for the album mainly because the men have largely worked on it all by themselves, from the production stage right through distribution and marketing! “That whole sense of unrestrained freedom can be heard through each and every track on it. When people come up to me and say about the album sounding so refreshingly different from anything they have heard, I know it is that same sense of unbounded freedom they feel when they hear it, that we had felt while creating it,” he says The musical genre “Stylistically, I have thrown the rulebook out of the window while crafting the songs. It is a juicy mix of electronica, hip-hop, rock ‘n’ roll, psychedelia and world music, encompassing a variety of styles in between,” Chiranjeev says. They also used folk strains and other oriental modes to keep the melodies simple and local. The long-drawn process The album took 11 months to complete since conception as both Chiranjeev and Manoj would spend a lot of time mulling over the lyrics. “Manoj and I would be sitting online all night long to discuss how it would go. We would write 2 or 3 lines over 5-6 hours, then come back next day, maybe omit the whole thing to write all over again,” he grins. Even the recording process took a long time and the boys ran up huge bills at all the studios. “Without any major label support and sponsors, we have wiped our bank balances dry in producing the album,” Chiranjeev laments. The Sweet Ashley and Sickman Inc. days “Sweet Ashley was very short-lived but I guess a very influential band in the local rock scene in Guwahati. We played only three shows together but that was

Fact file Band members: Pallab Phukan (singer/guitarist), Chiranjeev Kolita (music producer), Manoj Borah (lyricist) and Prasanta Das (bassist). Debut album: Swatantra, released on January 14, 2011 Songs: Mukoli mon mukto akax, Swatantra Links: http://www.swatantramusic.com/ http://www.myspace.com/swatantramusic enough to usher in a host of new age metal bands in the scene. A longer lasting band was Phase Damage in Delhi where we performed at several college festivals and other prestigious events playing mostly original compositions. Sickman Inc. is the moniker attached to some of my pet projects when I was working in Mumbai. I would be making late night demos after winding up work when I had the studio to myself and there was no boss around!! Those demos ended up as Sickman Inc.”

The Mumbai-Dubai experience “I went to Mumbai for my sound engineering and during the five years that I spent there, I worked at quite a number of studios. My first break was with ad guru Ram Sampath as an intern. But the biggest learning experience was the two years I spent at Insync Studios, Juhu. It was the first time I got to work handson with artistes like Kailash Kher, Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Javed Ali, Shreya Ghosal and Vasundhara Das. After that, I worked at Media Factory India Pvt. Ltd. as Sound Designer for what

VIBES MUSIC sound of the soil

is going to be India’s first 3D character generated animation flick, Magik. That project is still under production. By 2009, I left for Dubai where I am working as a freelancer doing mostly promo music and background scoring.” Tips to ensure high-production quality “Well, let’s face it! First of all, you need loads of money to ensure quality — a good studio with near perfect acoustics is a must. A good microphone is more expensive than some cars in the market nowadays. Fortunately digital recording coming around in the last 15 years has significantly cut down production costs. Now you can buy software plug-ins and virtual instruments at almost a fraction of the price you would pay for their hardware counterparts two decades back. Then again the need for quality instruments cannot be overlooked, no matter how good a player one is.” Equipment, software and gears in Swatantra “Swatantra was mixed on Protools in Chennai and mastered using huge rackmount gears and hardware compressors in the United States. The initial tracks were mostly done at my home studio in Dubai. I used my Edirol UA25 audio interface for all the tracking. My old Samick guitar and Casio CTK3000 keyboard served me well. Softwares used while tracking

da, gave us his invaluable inputs and time during the recording phase. Rishi, whose studio we worked at in Guwahati, helped us a lot with his melodic ideas and vocal harmonies. My little bro Subhrojyoti was another invaluable asset in the making of the album.”

were Cakewalk Sonar, Steinberg’s Nuendo and Propellerhead’s Reason. Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig for guitar effects and amp simulation.” Team Swatantra “Apart from Manoj and me, Pallab is obviously the first name on the list being our frontman. He is a jaw-dropping guitar player as well and he never ceases to amaze me. We have been fortunate to have such a seasoned and highly skilled musician like Prasanta da. A gem of a musician and a gem of a person. My friend Kashyap, who is the assistant director to none other than Anurag Kashyap, took time out from his busy schedule to do our video. Pallab’s older brother Bob who has been working in some of the top studios of the country for over 10 years now, was at the mixing desk. Another seasoned musician, Dibya

Electronic instruments Vis-à-vis acoustic ones “It is not so different because it is after all only music. It is the soul that really counts. I know many people here who are prejudiced against electronic music. But I find it very funny and so ironic to see a guitar player lambasting electronic music while he is himself fiddling away on his digital multi-effects guitar processor. Going electric or acoustic is rather a means to an end. The end ideally should be music.” Transition from headbanging to mellow music “I guess its both. But seriously I’ll get a neckache now if I headbang. Its not that I don’t enjoy metal anymore but just that I enjoy other forms of music as well.” The present and the future “So far so good. It’s still early days and we are expecting it to peak gradually in popularity scales. We are gearing up for our live act. Expect Swatantra to hit the stage in April.” PHOTO COURTESY: SWATANTRA

VIBES MUSIC ON DEMAND

HOT ARTISTES TO WATCH OUT FOR Genre: Progressive Gospel Rock izoram based Drop Doubt comprise of Malsawmtluanga Sailo’s wailing vocals, Zothanpuia’s pummeling guitar attack, the outrageously complex basslines of Michael Lalneihtluanga, the sharp synth craft of Lalremruata Sailo and the vigorous drumming of John Lalrosanga. The band who started out in the wake of the progressive scene in Mizoram finds a mushy ripe slice of Gospel Rock tarnished with the sensibilities of ’90s tinged rock ‘n’ roll and new-age alternative rock. “A man must drop all his doubt for Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save us from our sins, and thus, your doubt should be dropped”, claims the five-piece from Aizawl. Drop Doubt’s existing repertoire, stands strong in its objective and relevance. Here’s wishing them the best in their endeavour.

Link: http://www.freewebs.com/dropdoubt/

Genre: Metal uwahati based sextet Dark Carnage repeatedly peaked with mind-blowing performances last year in live shows, and having combined that with some sharp online publicity (Courtesy Keyboardist Saurav Lakhmani), they’ve risen to become a band to watch out for in 2011. Flawless songwriting, mind-warping compositions and infectious grooves — this band has it all. The only place where one might find room for complaint would be in the vocal delivery, which sometimes tends to get a little tedious and vague. With every performance and studio output the band seems to be evolving towards a more steady sound having picked deathcore, melodic death and math metal and mashed them into a single platter. While for many bands emphasis on too many genres might lead to imprecision and derivativeness, Dark Carnage seems to work its way well past this barricade and come out with a catchy definitive sound. Let’s hope a full-length isn’t too far away!

Link: http://www.reverbnation.com/darkcarnageofficial

Genre: Rock nother addition to the coterie of one man projects that have been popping up all over the place, singer-songwriter Senehasish Koch, unlike a lot of the others, seems to have found synchronicity in his experimentation with classic and altrock elements deeply rooted into the straightforward framework of his very thoughtfully written and arranged compositions. His latest single How about tomorrow featuring Rainjong Lepcha (Of Dark Horizon fame) meshes understated guitar lines and slow breaks with meaty lyricism flowing through Lepcha’s emaciated vocal cords. There’s a little bit of acoustic rock thrown in for good measure which fashions the song further with a ballady feel. The naive track echoes the bittersweet nostalgia of a life with a touch of hackneyed lyricism. Senehasish is in simple words, a rock musician on a feral artistic binge; sometimes arcane, perpetually bravura.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/senehasishkoch

Words: jai

VIBES MUSIC ON THE RECORD

photograph: Dipayan Bhattacharjee

n all-girl band, that’s what hits you when you hear the name, Afflatus. But mind you, this Shillong band is much more. A coterie of four young women trying to make music in this typically male dominated scene is a rare occurrence but they never intended to be the Spice Girls of Shillong. They are just like all those 20-somethings who love to hang around each other and give voice to their common talent and passion, which in their case is music. Formed in 2004, Afflatus comprises of Grace Miller, Karen Donoghue, Sharon Zadeng and Mercy Miller, the young and vibrant foursome who have taken the rock scene by storm with their zany looks, unique sound and dynamic stage presence. After numerous shows and gigs all over India, the band is now on the way to releasing their debut album. And this month as we celebrate Women’s Day, who better than these inspirational figures to tell us how to make it big in this unfair world of inequalities and gender-based deprivations. An all-girl band, huh! How did that come about? Was it intentional? Nope. One thing that people probably don’t know is that we never formed the band keeping gender in mind. It was never like “Oh! I have an idea, let’s form an allgirl band!” It was more like “Hey, we really enjoy playing music together so let’s give it a go!” We just happened to be four friends who really enjoy each others company and really love playing music together so we formed the band. So, how is it going now? It’s going really great actually. Just came back from an awesome tour of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which actually felt more like a paid holiday (laughs). We did nine gigs in 10 days then got three days off to relax and chill, what better way to start the year! So, yup, it’s going great! Must be more fun being just girls in the group. Yeah. Doing girly things like shopping together and being able to share bathrooms and change without having to worry too much about who’s looking (winks).

VIBES MUSIC ON THE RECORD

But girls are known to be real bitchy…doesn’t it get difficult to keep the camaraderie going? Nope. Not when you’ve known each other as long as we have. Plus, we talk to each other a lot since we’re all girls and we understand each other really well so that’s probably what makes the difference. We really are a family!

photograph: Baia marbaniang

Okay. So, tell me, this tag of an “all-girl band”. Is that your USP? A lot of people may say that, which we suppose is true and there’s no denying it, because after all we are GIRLS. But the USP of any artiste is and should always be their creative work. And we believe that our USP is our songs which are simple, melodious and which tell stories of everyday experiences that everybody can connect with and relate to. So far, people have been supportive wherever we’ve played. Thing is, seeing girls play on stage is a novelty but that’s only for the first five minutes! Beyond that, our music and our playing have to be good to keep the audiences around and for them to come back. But being a girl band must have also brought quite a few roadblocks in your way? It definitely raises eyebrows and people are generally sceptical when it comes to women playing instruments and performing on stage. But for the most part people are appreciative. Of course, like any other band from India, we do face problems. We actually have had our share of surprised cynics because we want to take up music as a fulltime profession and it’s hard for some people to accept that we’re veering away from the stereotypical image of Indian women. But we also believe that problems, if we handle them well, will only become opportunities. Don’t you think ‘bandmanship’ is still restricted to guys? How do you think we could get more girls into the groove? We wouldn’t be doing what we do if we had such thoughts. Undeniably bands have been mostly composed of guys and this was probably accepted as a norm. Much like how women were expected to stay home while the man goes out to be the breadwinner. Besides this, not many parents would be very comfortable with the thought of their daughters playing in a band comprising of all males plus the late night practices

and travelling. And just like all norms are gradually changing now, we believe that the music arena too is seeing much change and becoming far more welcoming to girls on stage. Mindsets are changing, the sky is the limit and we believe that girls aren’t shying away any longer.

grace

Okay, now let’s go back in time and tell us how it all started. We grew up together, attended the same school and were close friends always. In fact, even though its Mercy and Grace who are sisters we all feel like family. Growing up in Shillong we were constantly surrounded by music and this rubbed off on us. Eventually, we kinda branched out playing in different bands that were around. Afflatus was formed only in 2004 just before the first MTV Campus Rock Idols competition. We joined just for fun and went on to win a prize at the national finals in Mumbai.

photograph: Baia marbaniang

BAND BASICS

Genre: Rock Location: Shillong, Meghalaya Band Members: Mercy (drums / vocals), Karen (guitar / vocals), Sharon (bass), Grace (vocals) Popular Songs: Butterflies, Morse code woman, Just being me Links: www.springboardsurprises.com, http://www.facebook.com/afflatusgroup myspace.com/afflatusrocks

And the name, Afflatus — it sounds Latin. What’s the connection? Yes, it does have Latin roots. It means “a sudden rush of creative impulse or inspiration, often attributed to divine influence”. We like to simplify it to mean divine inspiration or an inspirational journey. A friend of ours came up with it when we first started the band. We each get inspired by different things and music is the medium that we use to express ourselves. So it has been an inspirational journey for us, in that sense and the name stuck. It feels like the longer we’re around, the more the name makes sense for us personally and as a band. Plus, all said and done, it’s a really pretty name How did your families react to your musical dreams back then? We are all really fortunate in this aspect. We started playing together when we were still in school. Even then our parents were really supportive. And that support hasn’t dwindled one bit. Thinking about this now and the fact that we know of others who don’t get this kind of support, we feel our parents also understood that we needed a healthy release and they knew music was actually good for our creativity so they let us be and because of this I think unknowingly even we took our education seriously.

VIBES MUSIC

photograph: Baia marbaniang

ON THE RECORD

photograph: Baia marbaniang

“Our music is an eclectic mix — all of our individual tastes and personalities, a pot-pourri of creative expression. Our songs are about a whole range of things from love to, of course, heartbreaks”

parents to have a good night’s sleep! On the musical front, if you were to explain to a layman about your music — what would you say? Be open to it, listen, and hopefully, you’ll connect with what we are trying to say or our melodies or riffs. It’s not about genres! Our music is an eclectic mix — all of our individual tastes and personalities, a pot-pourri of creative expression. Our songs are about a whole range of things from love and of course heartbreaks and a lot of fun stuff in between and beyond. We mainly try and capture moments as we go through them...whether good or bad. You’re almost ready with your

photograph: Baia marbaniang

How do they see you now after almost six years in the field? Well in reality it’s been more like two years since we’ve actually been doing music seriously. After the Campus rock success we all took a long break and got on with our education. When we started out, our families thought of it as our hobby. Now, since we are exploring the possibility of taking it up professionally, their perspective has also changed. They are beginning to see what we do as a possible means for us to earn our livelihood. Furthermore, we have been streamlined in our growth with the constant support of our manager Keith Wallang of Springboard Surprises. We believe that this professional management has helped us to be able to concentrate fully on our music without outside concerns distracting us and certainly allows our

photograph: Baia marbaniang

debut album. How’s it shaping up? Last year we had recorded 11 songs for our debut album but after listening to them over and over we felt we could do better. So we decided to use that recording as a demo while we’ve kept tweaking away at the songs when we rehearse or perform them live. In the process we have got a better understanding of how the songs should feel and sound and are now at a point where we all are pretty much comfortable with how they are. While all this was happening we also wrote many new songs that have now become part of our repertoire. So now we do have a lot more songs to choose from for the album and this we feel is a good space to be in. And any music videos planned? Music videos we know are certainly very important. So what we did is we invited a host of people over to our rehearsal room, played a pre-planned selection of our songs to them and asked them to vote for the songs they thought should be made into

videos and now we have a list of 5 songs out of which we intend making 2 or 3 into videos for the time being, depending on the costs involved. The recording of our album will begin with these songs. By the way if there’s anyone out there that wants to help sponsor us for this process do get in touch okay, it would be highly appreciated. If you look back how has the journey been up until now? Our journey cannot be described as uneventful in the least and through every milestone crossed we have thoroughly enjoyed the view this uphill journey has given us! We do believe it could’ve been much tougher a climb without professional guidance and management that understands, appreciates and is able to identify with the music we create. The chemistry has to be right and we have been very fortunate in this aspect. Where do you guys see yourself in five years time? Five years from now we’ll be doing the

same thing we are doing right now, though we see ourselves performing to audiences across the globe and still loving it. Apart from professional goals, what do each of you wish to achieve in your personal space? Afflatus comprises of four girls who love music. These are four girls who are also a trained chef, a badminton champion, a professor and an ex air-hostess. This is besides the fact that two members were still pursuing their education while the other two were already teaching. However, our deepest satisfaction lies in the music we create. So, what would be your message to all those women out there who wish to go beyond the ordinary just like you guys? Well to start with women will never be ‘guys’ (laughs)! But on a more serious note, it will not be an easy road but with passion and conviction, dreams really do come true! So, we’d say, go for it!

VIBES MUSIC FYI

Elements of Brutality (EP) Blood Meridian Genre: Tech-Death Metal Rating: 4/5 Words like Boundaries aren’t meant for bands like Blood Meridian. Unlike most, I shy away from labelling them with just the Technical-Death Metal tag as there is some very extreme Gore-based riffage present in the entire album. That, in many ways, pushes the intensity of this 20-minute independent release a step ahead of the present-day ennui of extreme metal, in terms of both instrumentation and songwriting. Mind-bogglers like Under the butcher’s blade and Shadows manage to cut through traditional death metal elements with a sharp sense of technicality. Coma is a personal favourite one which will work well with fans of Decapitated and Spawn of Possession. Speaking of Decapitated, the Spheres of Madness cover displays vocalist Bhaskar’s ability to sharply ‘growl’ and ‘squeal’ with equal prowess and dexterity but the instrumentation does nothing amazing, in general, unlike all of the other numbers in the CD, leaving the track to somewhat drown by the time it ends. All in all — a sharp debut, one that doesn’t take too many listens to sink in.

Faridkot Genre: Pop Rating: 3.5/5 ‘A New Confusion in Pop’ reads their Facebook page. Honestly though, I see no confusion here. Faridkot’s debut album in its entirety is a true to the roots pop album teeming with fundamentals of blues, funk and electronic. For a debut album, the Delhi-based five-piece sound tremendously at ease and somewhat experienced within the basic framework of this fifty-minute release. Faridkot displays some thoughtful songwriting, rock-solid production and quirky lyricism that at times belies the band’s youth. The only legitimate criticism that can be made of Ek is the propensity of the band to somewhat overdo things once in a while. In my personal viewpoint, vocalist Inderpreet Singh and drummer Sahil Mendiratta stand as the strong-points of the album while the rest of the band struggle to make the few details of their respective instruments heard. Overall, not spectacular but very promising.

Ok Bye (EP) Fire Exit Genre: Progressive/Alternative Rock Rating: 3/5 For a change, Delhi based alt-rock outfit Fire Exit’s debut EP Ok Bye doesn’t obsess with being different. And quite frankly, that is what makes them sound sparkling and energetic in a way. This six-song wonder is an effective manifestation of feel-good progressive/ alternative rock that is well produced and overflowing with solid grooves and chirpy vocal lines. This does lack coherence, though, but that is made up for by the deeply magnified songwriting. The tabla, however, doesn’t really fit in well for the most part and in many ways makes numbers like Heroes falter in fits and starts. What the album could’ve also done better with is a little more crunch on the bass and a little more thought on the rhythm sections. On the whole, however, Ok Bye twinkles of promise and a few moments of brilliance. Most importantly though, it’s got something too many recent alt-rock albums have lacked: excitement. words: KAUSHIK BARUA

VIBES MUSIC BAND OF THE MONTH

band that has invented a musical instrument of their own, an instrument acknowledged as the youngest in the world. A band which has been listed for Grammy nominations, not once but twice. A band which has its own brand of music. Yes, that’s Abiogenesis for you. This rock fusion band from Nagaland has not only made a distinct mark in the music scenario of Northeast India but has also won several accolades around the world. Their brand of music also known as “Howey” music is a result of their constant search for a new sound, which they developed by intermixing Naga folk with modern music forms. So, all those who thought folk music was out of the window, eat your words. And it is not just their wondrously unique music that has put them on the music map but also their invention of the ‘Bamhum’. Made by band member Moa Subong, Bamhum is a wind instrument made out of bamboo and any Abiogenesis performance is incomplete without the unique strains of the Bamhum. In this recent interview with Vibes, the band lets us in on all that you want to know about Abiogenesis:

word ‘Howey’ is used as a chant by the Nagas ever since time immemorial while dancing or doing work thus creating an energetic feel as well as distress at the same time. In short, we incorporate a part of the past and take it to the future through our music. Our music is avant garde.

What was the intention behind forming a rock-fusion band? Why not anything else? Abiogenesis started off as a rock band playing both covers and originals. But as we matured, we realised that we needed to take our music to a higher level. So we decided to leave out covers and mainstream music for good and evolved our own sound and identity. We started to explore and experiment resulting in evolving the Howey music, which is now the Abiogenesis brand of music.

And when and how did the band start? Moa and Arenla are the backbone and the founding members of Abiogenesis, Imli joined the band in 1997 to play the drums, Larry the bassist from Meghalaya and Daniel the lead guitarist from Assam have been playing with Abiogenesis since 2009.

Yes, coming to that. How would you describe Howey to the uninitiated? Howey is a fusion of Naga folk tunes and various forms of modern music. The

When it comes to Abiogenesis, the Bamhum is as popular as you guys. Tell us about it. Moa (Subong) invented the instrument in 2005. The Bamhum draws its name

from the basic roots, the bamboo and the effect of humming into this instrument. It’s basically a medium sized bamboo instrument that one hums into to produce tones that are sourced from the user’s vocal chords. A rattle is assembled on the opposite end of the knot that works as a resonance chamber which converts the tune of the hum into the unique sound of the Bamhum. It can be played in any kind of music — classical, folk, rock, jazz, blues, gospel, pop etc. can other rock bands also use Howey music? Yes! In fact there are quite a few bands in Nagaland now playing Howey music and I’m sure more bands will follow suit. What about the Bamhum? Is it exclusive to Abiogenesis or is it available for others as well?

We would be happy if other musicians or bands want to play it. As of now, Moa makes the Bamhum in small quantities but in the near future he has plans to mass produce the instrument in various models and styles and market them internationally. Recently even a documentary was shot on the Bamhum. Do you think that kind of popularity works for your band? Creovaent Productions made the documentary entitled The Mystical Grass. And of course, it will be a great help. Through this documentary not only the Bamhum but also Abiogenesis will get promoted globally. The makers of the documentary will be showcasing it in various international film festivals. Abiogenesis had also been listed twice for the Grammy nominations.

How does it feel? Has life changed after that? We were absolutely thrilled to be listed for nominations alongside top international artistes like U2, Eagles, Maroon 5, Enigma etc. And, yes, we did get more recognition and mileage after that. Even MTV got their eyes on Abiogenesis after the Grammys. You guys have made a name for yourself. But don’t you think it’s much harder for bands from the Northeast to make it big in the national circuit? It could be true. Northeast bands are second to none and in fact even better than most of the bands from mainland India but unfortunately they don’t get much media attention or exposure. I am sure that if the bands here get the same exposure and platform, the story would be truly different.

VIBES MUSIC BAND OF THE MONTH

Band Basics Genre: Fusion rock Brand of music: Howey Band members: Arenla (Vocals / Lead Bamhum) Moa (Guitar/Bamhum/ Harmonica), Daniel Engty (Lead guitar / jews harp-Krongchui) Larry (Bass), Imli (Drums/ Percussions)

You guys have performed at international venues as well. What difference do you see in the music scenario in India and the West? The facilities and equipment for recording studios and performing venues are inferior in India but then these are improving by leaps and bounds these days. Music channels like MTV and Channel V are broadcasting only filmy music otherwise they could have helped create rock superstars in India. Hope they come to their senses one day. The record labels in India should accept and promote rock bands. It’s the labels abroad that are making the Indian bands big in the West.

Albums: Aeon Spell released in June 2007 was listed for Nominations in the 50th Grammy Awards in 2 categories. Rustic Relish was listed for Nominations in the 51st Grammy Awards in 4 categories. Popular Songs: Mesmerised, Tell me Mother Nature, Community at work Links: http://www.abiogenesis. altpro.net/ www.myspace.com/ abiogenesis8

A lot of youngsters are now taking up music as a career in the Northeast. Is it worth it? Definitely. Things are happening. With the advent of the internet, it’s possible to connect with the entire world and a band can get exposure through their websites and other music and social sites like MySpace, Facebook, Youtube etc. One can now submit music to international labels, A&R Scouts, publishing companies and radio. If you’re lucky you can strike gold and make it big. Has the rock scene in this region got any better now? Yes. Talent was there right from the beginning but it sounds better now as we are getting all the latest branded musical instruments and gears. Many good recording studios have sprung up so one can now cut a good album in most of the NE states. And there are quite a few event management groups and venues for bands to perform so things are surely improving. But don’t you think there’s lack of exposure for the bands here? You should not wait for others or for opportunities to come looking for you but should move out, compete and find openings. Talent and creativity is the ultimate requisite for an artiste to be recognised.

You’ve been in the scene for a decade now, what is the one thing that Abiogenesis has learnt in this long journey? Our experiences have made us develop our own sound thereby creating our identity for we know that only originality and creativity can get us places. And which one would be your most memorable and happiest moment? Aha, there have been so many beautiful moments. But then it could be when we first evolved Howey music and invented and incorporated Bamhum and we were to perform our brand of music for the first time in New Delhi in November 2005. We were not sure how people would respond and many people including leaders discouraged us telling us to only play popular cover songs. But to our delight, the response was overwhelming and appreciated

album is marketed by UM Pro Records. Even this one’s been listed for Grammy nominations this year.

and we were the main focus for the press and media and we were even featured on the cover of NE Sun magazine. What about the future…what’s in store now? We would want to play as many gigs as we can around the globe. We have released our third album titled Slice of Heaven with 10 original songs. The album is being promoted by the band’s representatives like Big Noise in USA and Night Owl Management in Sweden. In India, the

Fair enough. Any other advice for the new kids in the block? There’s no substitute for hard work. Look up to someone when you start to learn and play but as you mature, create your own sound and identity and make sure you don’t sound like anybody else. Finally, what’s next — another instrument invention or a Grammy win? You can’t invent a musical instrument at the snap of a finger and we’re glad that we could invent Bamhum. So another invention would be near to impossible. Getting a Grammy, though, would be a ‘dream come true’. PHOTO COURTESY: Abiogenesis

VIBES MUSIC woc

Keyboards are the backbone of any new-age musical project. And Casio understands that need perfectly. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lowdown on the four mean machines that the brand recently launched CTK 6000 and CTK 7000

WK 6500 and WK 7500

The CTK 6000 and CTK 7000 are two of Casioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newest additions to their CTK 6000 already versatile keyboard range. Their sequencer and mixer functions with the multi track recorder capabilities will get you the music that you wish to create. Both the machines provide 16 tracks plus one system track that will support the recording of upto five songs. But the CTK 6000 will record approximately 12000 notes while the CTK 7000 will record upto 30,000 notes. The editing tools for both include event insert, event delete, event copy, quantize and a locator feature for selecting the range of notes to be edited, plus more. Once the recordings are done CTK 7000 they can be converted into Standard Midi Files (SMF) and stored to an SD memory card. Also both machines have a 32 channel mixer, tone editor and multiple digital effects that include reverb (10 types), chorus (five types), and DSP (100 types using 46 effect types including delay, phaser, flanger, wah, rotary, and more). What more they are really cool for your live performances.

Two more wonder keyboards from the Casio stable that were launched recently are WK 6500 the WK 6500 and the WK 7500. With almost similar features and attributes these two gizmos can be a perfect partner to your musical dreams. They each have a 32 Channel Mixer which can be used for individual simultaneous adjustment of volume, pan, reverb send and other parameters. While WK 6500 has button operations for the purpose the WK 7500 has nine sliders with one for each channel. The WK 7500 also has a Pattern Sequencer to create rich, realistic rhythm sections of your very own with up to eight tracks (drum, percussion, bass, chord 1 through chord 5) can be edited to create original accompaniment patterns. The WK 6500, meanwhile, has the Rhythm editor which lets you combine instrument parts from multiple built-in rhythms, turn individual instrument parts on WK 7500 or off, and adjust volume, pan, reverb, and other parameters to create your own original rhythms. You can even store up to 10 original rhythms in memory for instant recall whenever you need them.

In stores now

asio, the consumer electronics giant, have recently launched its GenNext series of keyboards. The launch was held at New Delhi last month and was f lagged off by none other than Parikrama, who showcased the keyboards in their own special way. The series comprises of the CTK 6000, 7000 and the WK 7500, 6500 and they support all sort of music playability including band performance, solo and music creation. The keyboards will be available at leading music outlets and the prices start from Rs 16,995 to up to Rs 33,995.

VIBES MUSIC VARIOUS ARTISTES

PHOTOgraph: Laxman Anand

ndurance is a much desired but rarely found attribute in today’s bands. Most of those who do stick out for longer than a few years end up reworking their material and either sound decayed or insipid. That is however, not the case with metal biggies Undying Inc. Having been around for almost a decade now, Undying Inc. have come a long way since their inception. Ever perseverant

with a firm focus on their lyrical course and sonic temperament, Undying Inc. is without the shadow of a doubt, one of the most sought after bands in the Indian metal fraternity today. Formed in 2004, the band has gone through its fair share of line-up changes. In 2007, their original line-up took to pieces when vocalist Amitabh and drummer Sangeet left due to personal commitments. With that, Undying Inc.

version 2 saw a completely changed band, with drummer Yuvraj and Vocalist Shashank — a brutal, precise and angry slab of technical perfection. The entire sound of the band underwent drastic changes and with the unveiling of the new line-up the band managed to rework itself into a grotesque new form. Before this change the band had already released an album (Preface to Erase in 2006) and an EP (Existence Failed in 2005) — one

KNOW MORE Genre: Death Metal / Metal / Progressive Band members: Shashank Bhatnagar (Vocals), Biswarup Gupta (Guitar), Reuben Bhattacharyya (Bass) and Yuvraj Sen (Drums) Location: New Delhi Popular songs: Existence Failed, Membraneous, Breeding Gods, Manimal Links: www.undyinginc.com http://www.myspace.com/undyinginc4

which saw the boys decimate the notso-existent scene back then, with their livid and extreme sound. “During that time there weren’t many avenues open for independent releases so we released the album via our (now defunct) home label Undead Noise. The album did fairly well for us and was primarily in the vein of old school thrash / death. With seven tracks, it is an honest representation of where the band was at that point of time,” says bassist Reuben. An eclectic bunch of musicians with assorted tastes in music, coming together and creating some of the most mind-boggling tunes this side of the

planet. As last December saw the metal heads release their new album, Aggressive World Dynasty, Kaushik Barua caught up with guitarist Biswarup Gupta (popular as ‘Biz’) about this and much more. Starting with the inevitable cliché, how did Undying Inc. happen? Well, back in 2003-2004 I decided to play music in a band. I could play few chords...oh yeah some power chords too. Then I asked my childhood friend Reuben to play the bass guitar. We started

VIBES MUSIC VARIOUS ARTISTES

learning some Pantera and Sepultura tunes without using tabs or whatever. We have great ears you know. Then our next step was to get a vocalist so we asked Reuben’s cousin, Amitabh, to sing. We had so much trouble looking for a drummer. Then after months of searching we met Sangeet through a common friend. I took the name Undying from a computer horror game by Clive Barker called “Undying”. We added INC after a couple of months when we found out about a hardcore band from the US also called Undying. That’s it! What about your sound? How do you guys classify it in terms of a genre? Our sound has changed from Preface To Erase to Aggressive World Dynasty. Well I guess the addition of Shashank and Yuvraj made a difference. It became easier for me to compose stuff with Yuvraj on board, because he understood where I came from. I like to compose with no boundaries man. I like the idea of going crazy on the fretboard. And not worry about what’s theoretically right or about the time signatures. There has to be a groove in the music. With this lineup we are able to do that exactly. At the end of the day our music is simply “heavy metal”. All the genres of “this core” and “that core” don’t make any sense to me. Call us a heavy metal band

and that will put a smile on my face. Okay. What has been the overall response to your new album? Do you think the band achieved what it wanted to with this one? So far the album has done pretty good. We are trying to send it across to as many places as we can in India and abroad. And we are pretty glad that people are actually listening to our stuff and appreciating it. We didn’t get any bad reviews so far, so I guess that’s a positive thing. Since day one we knew what we wanted to sound like on the album and we are super glad that we achieved that with whatever we had at Grey Studio and making the music that we could as musicians at that point of time. Thanks to Keshav Dhar and Anupam Roy for their efforts in the studio. Any particular reason why the band doesn’t have a pact with G&S anymore? Do you think being self-managed as a band is a better option in general? There’s no particular reason why we are not with G&S. Sometimes things don’t work out. I don’t know about other bands but at the moment being selfmanaged is working best for us. DIY, man!

You guys have reaped a reputation for being tremendously tight and heavy on-stage. Can you tell us how you manage to nail every show you play? How often do you guys practice? Ah I am glad we are able to do that. Luckily we get about 5-6 practice sessions a month since all of us in the band have a day job. But obviously we do our homework before going to the jam-pad. Sometimes we go for months without any practice, but that doesn’t mean we are not playing individually at home. So far we have managed to do what we do with that much practice. We will increase the frequency of practice if need be. Cool! Okay, finally a random question — your bassist Reuben just got married, does that in any way change things for the band? Crazy question! Would it make a difference to his work, his food habits, his passion, things that he wanted to do when he was in school. Hell No! Nothing changes for the band. The four of us will still raise hell with our live gigs and future albums, as Stone Cold says, “Come Hell, High Water or Cold Fucking Beer”. Cheers to that! Words: Kaushik Barua

to e b i r c Subs

Any tours in the Northeast?

There are two shows for October – one in Guwahati and another in Shillong. But nothing is confirmed yet.

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VIBES MUSIC OBITUARY

ith his trademark curls, that sling bag, the gravelly voice and that gift for stripping a song down to its soul, Dhruva Sarma was one of Northeast India’s musical heroes. The founder member of the “Friends” group, his charismatic stage presence and penchant for raw, well-timed songs helped the band achieve unprecedented success over three decades. Born on October 3, 1962, Dhruva was the group’s incorrigible front man and he came to define the archetypal image of the raffish, musician of popular myth. “Illness can make you happy in a strange way,” he said when I spoke to him last over the telephone from Kathmandu, “because it makes you realise people are there for you.” I only regret that I wasn’t near him when it was needed the most. Despite his tough guy image which was a legacy of his hey days, Dhruva da was a soft spoken character, who generally shied away from publicity living quietly in his Rajgarh residence. He passed away on the fateful morning of February 10, 2011 at Dispur Hospital in Guwahati. Back in those formidable years of Friends’ dominance, the comrades who sailed along with Dhruva were Chandan Chakraborty (Chokoo), Kalyan Barua (Kelly), Rakesh Barua (Shakti), his brother Noboni, Dadul and Kanti. I also remember Munlee Sinha and Christine Ranee singing with the band in those nascent years and that was quite a rare feat for girls in the ’80s. However, Dhruva had the penchant for talent spotting and he loved promoting them. Not surprising then, that Friends promoted many a young musician in

those days and those raw talents are now names to reckon with. It was in 1982, June 10, when Friends played for the first time in the Hotel circuit and it was Guwahati’s Nandan Hotel which hosted the show on the request of Arun Sharma, the hotel proprietor and Dhruva’s classmate. Dhruva da, helped shape the region’s musical tastes in the 1980s and early ’90s with his travelling band. And he shot to national fame when he released his crescendo album Friends In Touch in Mumbai. We were a young lot then,

water boys to be precise, when those gigs would burn the city stages alive. The District Library auditorium, the Rabindra Bhavan, the Mezz floor at Hotel Bellevue and the open air acts in Judges Field were the common playing field for Dhruva da and his buddies. Even Shillong was one of his favoured musical hot spots and I still can’t forget the sudden rides we had together, “Shillongor pora aahu bola (Let’s go to Shillong)”, he would say softly. Shillong trips will never be the same again. Dhruva da was loved by one and

RIP Dhruva da The transformation for me landing up on stage to perform from the bathroom was because of Dhruva, a great soul is no more. May you have a new set of Friends up there too. R.I.P! Suman Dutta, frontman of Moonwind No one can fill the space which Dhruva created for himself, a great loss to humanity in general and music in particular. Arun Sharma, proprietor of Hotel Nandan and Dhruva Sharma’s classmate The best way to commemorate his wonderful talent and luminous music is to remember the times when “Friends” kept us on the dance floor, feet tapping to his songs and enjoying every minute of his music...may he find his music, even after his body has left this earth. Mitra Phukan, author The Friends will surely miss you Dhruva, and as I celebrate your life, you bring countless wonderful memories over the years. You belong to a group of “very few” who changed the way music has been appreciated and created in Assam and the entire Northeast. You showed us many how to create the confluence of western music to the local soul and you have been instrumental in creating many other talents that we hear of today. We owe it to you for sharing your wonderful world with us. Dr. Eamon Dutta, an old associate of Dhruva Sharma from Atlanta, Georgia “What a loss and it is because of that track I picked up drumming! I am truly sad!” Pranjal Bora, founder of Chaos Engine the Instrumental Band, from Perth, Australia. Dhruba was a gentle and peace loving man who was passionate about music. His legacy will live on in the music school that he started just recently. Rest in Peace my friend! Rudy Wallang Soulmate

all, be it an eight-year-old or an eightyyear-old and the sheer magnitude could only be seen when he took to the stage. His affinity towards the guitar and his empathy towards music has been a long lasting affair. Trained in Hindustani Classical Music, Dhruva da later shifted to the other side — maybe that was where he found his niche. His home was the so called incubator for rock and pop music with Friends shaping up on the first floor of his two-storied apartment.

And his studio helped many a young musician record their creative stints. Not only that, he also brought about a shift to modern Assamese numbers and that taste still lingers on in the vast ocean of present day albums. Dhruva da was also instrumental in organising the John Lennon Tribute concert in Guwahati and last year the artiste in Dhruva came alive on that evening of phenomenal energy, great guitar licks and surprises. He mostly stuck to familiar material, from Lennon’s Imagine to Saw Her Standing There, and the fans were happy to sing along. From what I have seen of the man, I could sense the sensibility of a child’s generous heart in him. His sympathy was prompt and keen which invariably made him over-sensitive to the small annoyances that humans usually learn to take for granted. He was sensitive to his sensitiveness, and through his music and creations touched thousands of lives. Rest in Peace Dhruva da. We shall remember you forever, for you have been a brother to many. Do meet up with “Friends” up there. In Prayers!

VIBES MUSIC VARIOUS ARTISTES

ock and roll knows no boundaries. And who better than Abhaya and the Steam Injuns to prove that for us. This Nepal band has been making music for the last seven years and there seems to be no stopping them. With two hit albums to their credit and one in the pipeline, this band, headed by

the charismatic Abhaya Subba, one among the very few women to be leading a band in India, has already carved a niche for themselves in their region with their catchy numbers in Nepali. It only remains to be seen how it all pans out once the band goes national or maybe even international. We do know that the potential is definitely there. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why Vibes caught up with the woman

behind it all, Abhaya Subba. Hey Abhaya, we do get why your name is linked to the band name. But what does steam engines have to do with your band? (Laughs) When we started out most of the members in the band had some kind of connection with Darjeeling. And one of

Abhayalogy Genre: Classic Rock / Jazz / Pop Location: Kathmandu, NEPAL Band members: Abhaya Subba (vocals and keyboard), Rajeev Paljor (guitar), Sanjeet Tuladhar (drums) and Sunny Mahat (bass guitar). Albums: The Steam Injuns, Nayan Popular songs: Sakdina, Sapana Ra Kartavya Links: thesteaminjuns.com http://www.myspace.com/abhayaandthesteaminjunsnepal the most significant sounds and sights of Darjeeling is the little toy train. The Steam engine — a machine that belongs to the industrial age and not to this digital and virtual age of today. It is one of the most innovative machines ever made and we like to think that we are innovative musicians. And we spell engine as Injuns as it is a very loaded word. Okay, now that we have solved the mystery behind your name, let’s hear about your music. Well, there’s a youthful vibe in our music and we have something fresh to offer with each new album. We like to evolve our sound with each new album as music is such a vast canvas and it would be a pity to be repetitive. Earlier on our music used to be very vocally based but now our guitarist Rajiv is looping in some fresh new riffs. He insists that we should not step back into the ’80s glam rock sound with those guitar solos. So yeah, we are limiting guitar solos as that sounds so 1988. A band with a woman as the ‘front person’ is quite a rarity in the Indian scene. How does it feel? My ass feels sore ’coz I worked my ass off to get here. (Smiles) No, but seriously, this has never been a

the legacy that we will be leaving behind. So grabbing a pinch of immortality beats the odd moments of being flat broke! Quite right! And these last seven years have brought out the best in you with your two major albums — The Steam Injuns and Nayan. Yeah, our first album was a shot in the dark. My father presented me with a fat envelope of money and told me — “Go on and make that album”. Just like that. So we just wrote songs and laid it in. Made a couple of videos and boom! We started off slowly but on hindsight I never expected such an amazing response from the listeners.

gender thing for me. I just feel blessed to be in a position to make more music because our well wishers want more and more. Yeah, and you’ve been around for like seven years now. That’s amazing! Yep, it’s been seven years and I can almost say that I am getting the 7-year itch (smiles). Honestly though, it has been a roller coaster ride — the ups and downs, plenty of changes, friends lost and gained, sometimes violent dismemberments and most of the time a lot of love and music shared together as a band. It is not easy to keep a band together, given the dodgy paymaster that music can be, especially here, in Nepal. But there have been exquisite moments of making amazing songs together which has definitely made it worth the while. We can faithfully say that some of the songs that we have made together will be

As for Nayan, it is dedicated to my father who is a living legend for us. He taught me everything that I know about music. I had been saving up this sound for our English album but as we brainstormed we realised that we ought to get some songs similar to the ones I had composed translated into Nepali. We used a lot of Nepali percussive instruments to work on our sound…we let the guitars follow the rhythm pattern, we sometimes used strings to create a wall of sound and we used the voice to define the

VIBES MUSIC VARIOUS ARTISTES

melody and soul of the songs. We took three years to complete this album. So, what really inspires Abhaya & the Steam Injuns to create such good music? I always say that we are just mediums... and we just have to be receptive to the beautiful melodies floating in the universe – all around us. What about the musical influences? My personal influences are so vast, it could be Tchaikovsky or the colour of the sky that played me a tune in the middle of a lazy afternoon. As for Rajiv, he likes John Mayer and leans heavily towards Buddy Guy and Albert King…old school blues basically. The other guys Sarik, Tsewang and Shailendra listen to mostly blues but I would have to say that we listen to any and everything…coz we just love music from Jazz, R & B to Death Metal. Does the band write its own music? Our first album had a couple of songs written by one of my mentors — Glade Fohning. He is a terrific song writer. I must say that his are the only songs that I have sung without any apprehension. I have this terrible eccentricity of not singing a song

composed by somebody else besides the band. So yeah, things may change in the future but I must say that we have had very little material in terms of collaboration. We love writing our own stuff. We come out with albums every two years so, yeah…I think it’s fair to write your stuff. And when is the new album due? What would that be about? Our third album is kinda at a place where we are thinking, “Is this where we want to go?” My pre-occupation with the English album may have something to do with this. Our main criterion for each new album is to make sure that we have something really fresh and new to offer. We may have a couple of innovative songs but I’m somehow angst ridden with the quality of the recording. So you’ll have to wait and watch for this one. Besides the music, what else do you guys love to do? Our band members keep on changing except for me and Rajiv, so its tough to say who is doing what. But, ummmmm… let me see; Shailendra (Keyboards) is studying and also moonlights as a rap artist, Sarik (drummer) is a multi tasking dude as he has a day job and he is also a student in the evening and he somehow rations out a

little time for practice in between. Tsewang (bass) is a Management student. Rajiv loves cooking when he is not busy with the band and he is the one who keeps everything together. As for me, I love reading and getting on my Facebook account. Okay. Anything special planned for 2011? We are pretty unplanned, actually. The album has to happen and the English album that I am angling for is very much on everyone’s mind. I hope to record it in Mumbai if time and money allows. Otherwise, we hope this year will give us plenty of tours and new breaks and bring us into the international scenario. (Smiles) Have u ever thought of a Northeast India tour? When are we going to get lucky? I could rephrase this question…When are we going to get lucky enough to tour the NE…do they even know we exist? Oh yeah, we sure do! So, for everyone out there, we wish year 2011 rocks your soul. And hopefully we’ll be there to rock your world…very, very soon! PHOTO COURTESY: Abhaya and the Steam Injuns

VIBES MUSIC FEAT.

o you think you can play? Just because you can strike a few chords on your six-string and the girl next door smiles at you every time you do that, you think you know a hell lot about music. Now eat this: Your favourite metal band is ‘so yesterday’. So while you were busy sticking Metallica posters onto your wall, a lesser-known and under-rated genre–trance–has taken over the underground consciousness (never mind the cheese!) It won’t hurt your street-cred to broaden your musical horizons, atleast not with this one. So, here’s an attempt to spread the word about that realm of the parallel universe that makes up the trance sound. Trance is a synthetic sound with anthemic and epic rifting and psychedelic qualities, aimed at inducing an individual at a transformed state of consciousness. It is built around the 4/4 beat with a tempo of 120-145 bpm (beats per minute), usually with uplifting and often euphoric energetic synthesised sounds pumped by a unique beat and massive hooks like melodies and vocals, often with long breakdowns building

slowly to create a tension and expectancy. Trance as a genre came into consciousness in the ’80s, piggy-riding on Europe’s popular ‘Dance Revolution’ and the ensuing interest in everything electronic. Some see trance as a marriage between techno and house: like techno, it has repetition, tempo and rhythm, with heady doses of drum beats thrown in. With house, it shares its ambience and the use of emotive sound. Trance can easily be traced back to the age-old indigenous healing Shamanic rituals that involved music with drum-beats to induce spirits. More recently, it was German composer Klause Schulz’s experimental ‘space music’ in the ’80s that gave ‘trance’ not only its name but its initial following. Trance thrived in the German and Belgian clubs in the ’90s. In a very short span of time, we had a wide array of definitive sounds that made the collective trance sound — classic, acid, progressive, Goa, epic, anthem, psychedelic, ambient and many more. In the next few years, it evolved structurally and commercially:

melodies, anthem pads, crescendos increasingly characterised the genre. Artistes like Paul Van Dyke, Robert Miles, Sasha, Darude, and Paul Oakenfield were shaping up different sub-genres with distinct sounds. Around the late ’90s, trance became distinctly popular in Israel and mostly shaped up what we now know as ‘full-on’ trance. Characterised by rolling bass-lines, ‘full-on’ gained massive popularity with artistes like 1200 Micrograms, Gataka, Vibe Tribe, Yahel and Astrix. The decade also saw trance mushroom in the UK where DJs like Oakenfold, Sasha, John Digweed took pre-recorded mixes to the clubs. Around the same time, trance spread to Sweden, to Canada and to America while remaining strong in Europe. The trailblazing Goa trance sub genre became popular hippie music in the ’90s here. A porous border with Israel saw many Israeli artistes coming here for the music, the entheogens and the untold pleasures of spirituality. Art of Trance, Goa Gill, KLF and Frontline Assembly pioneered Goa trance. Breaking from the bright club

VIBES MUSIC FEAT.

One too many Classic Trance: Refers mostly to original ’80s trance with much emphasis on repetition which slowly changes over the course of the song. Composers such as Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass are classic examples.

Acid Trance: Acid Trance is

more hypnotic and ‘trippy’ than classic. The sound is created by playing with filters, pans, and oscillators to create a ‘science fiction-esque’ sound.

Progressive Trance: floors, trance now has become a form of music aggressively pursued with commercial success worldwide. Around the globe, it had long arrived. In the Indian sub-consciousness trance still remains an underground phenomenon slowly edging its way out of the closet and musicians are churning out compositions that are essentially underground. The Indian trance scene does not have an artiste of mass repute giving it the impetus to push for something better. Abhishek Psymind, a popular artiste on the trance circuit from Bangalore, enlightens: “Since the past few years, Goa Trance has taken hold of Psy and Nighttime Psy Trance among young Indians and many aspiring Indian psychedelic artistes are now in the scene. I have been into the mainstream psychedelic trance industry since I started and since then have been performing at Bangalore, Goa, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Manali, Delhi and many other locations. The Indian crowd, too, has grown more conscious.” Some artistes that are defining the scene are Aghori Tantrik from Mumbai, ParaForce from Dehradun etc. On his tryst with the Goa Trance experience, Goa Gill, one of the pioneers of Goa Trance, subtly puts it across, “To become one in the divine ecstasy of union with the cosmic spirit by going beyond thought, beyond mind and beyond spirit is the essence of the trance dance experience. That for me is active meditation.” Northeast seems to have a long way to go in realising the potentiality of the trance sound. Many young artistes are still experimenting

This popularised the ‘buildup and breakdown’ themes often associated with trance — an outburst of emotional bliss ‘releasing’ a progression of melodies. Common techniques include pausing, using rests, rapidly speeding up the BPM, and using progressing kicks from quarter-to eighth-to sixteenth, note kicks, and so on.

Goa Trance: Apart from

many of the characteristics of Acid Trance, Goa Ttrance also has a unique ‘organic’ sound to it. Goa Trance is such a complex and structured subgenre of trance that many other subgenres originated from it.

Psychedelic Trance: This subgenre (also known as psytrance), is very similar to Goa but replaces the ‘organic feel’ with an electronic, futuristic feel. It tends to use more sci-fi ambient sounds together with the techniques used in Acid Trance.

Ambient Trance: Ambient

Trance generally uses softer sounds with an ‘easy listening’ feel, while retaining the repetitive and emotional trance characteristics.

with their wares to enthusiastic fans all around. Deejay Dee, an established DJ from Guwahati gives us an idea of the madness, “The scene here is pretty much in overdrive and the fans are on the steering wheel. Yes, it’s in a nascent stage but the hope lies in the large turnouts and the support that each party gets. This is without a doubt ‘the future’. I’m glad I’m lucky enough to be part of it.” We have organisers like Electrovibe which conducts shows with help from sponsors like Spirit, Tuborg etc. Felix’s From Anjuna to Assam has recently been quite popular by synthesising traditional Bihu with trance elements. Anish, a die-hard trance enthusiast, shares his passion for it, “These parties are my way to salvation. The music, the feel, and the ambience, everything about it is so different. And then again, the feeling of being connected to a gargantuan army of people who listen and connect to the same form of music that I love. That’s just a feeling that I can’t possibly explain in words.” Trance has a subterranean feel to it, one that can make you feel ecstatic or downright depressed, a parallel universe waiting to be explored. For now, tuck a daisy behind your ears and ride the vibe. A revolution’s staring at your face. words: Kaushik Barua and Amrita MaDhukalya

VIBES MUSIC TRACK record

Survivor by Destiny’s Child

The song Survivor was inspired by a joke that a radio station had made about the fact that three members had already left the group. Beyonce Knowles was inspired to take the negative comment and turn it into something positive.

Listen by Beyonce Knowles

Listen is one of the four compositions written specifically for the Dreamgirls film. In the film, Knowles’ character Deena Jones sings the song to assert her independence from her controlling husband.

Fighter by Christina Aguilera

It’s probably her first single to bear elements of rock, a seemingly dissatisfied Aguilera seems to bemoan and scream of a man who apparently did her wrong. However, in a surprising twist, she does not want to complain or insult him; in fact, she wants to thank him.

EMP

ONT ADULT C

Top 10

ORARY

Just the way you are - Bruno Mars Breakeven - The Script September - Daughtry Hey, soul sister - Train Mine - Taylor Swift King of anything - Sara Bareille Hollywood - Michael Buble Teenage dream - Katy Perry Marry me - Train Misery - Maroon 5

Songs

Stand in the Rain by Superchick Stand in the Rain is from Superchick’s 2006 album Beauty From Pain 1.1. It was released as a radio single that year, and stayed at number 1 on R&R’s Christian CHR chart for nine consecutive weeks in 2006.

Too Little Too Late by Jojo

The song is basically about disappointment and getting over one’s first love. It broke the record for the biggest jump into the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, moving from number sixty-six to number three in one week.

Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson

This rhythmic pop number describes a woman who lets down her emotional barriers to fall in love. The single was certified gold by RIAA and has received a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

Bitch by Meredith Brooks

Bitch is also known by its censored title Nothing In Between. The song’s drum loop rhythm and guitar accompaniment and riffs emphasise the word “bitch” throughout the chorus. Initially, radio stations wouldn’t mention the name of the song. However, with time, its name became more popular to announce on air.

TOP 10

ROCK SONGS

Tighten up - The Black Keys

Shake me down - Cage The Elephant Waiting For The End - Linkin Park Animal - Neon Trees Isolation - Alter Bridge Sing - My Chemical Romance The animal - Disturbed World so cold - Three Days Grace Dog days are over - Florence + The Machine Little lion man - Mumford & Sons

Single by Natasha Bedingfield

It was released as the first single in Europe in the second quarter of 2004 and reached the top five in the United Kingdom. On the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song reached number fifty-seven.

I Don’t Need A Man by The Pussycat Dolls

It became a moderate hit worldwide reaching the top ten in several countries whilst making the top five in others. This is a fairly inoffensive pop song, with an infectious rhythm. But just don’t expect too much.

Watch Me Shine by Joanna Pacitti

This upbeat, lifeaffirming song describes the feelings of a woman who feels as though she is on top of the world and can do anything. It was the soundtrack for the Reese Witherspoon superhit Legally Blonde.

VIBES MIX

Sanghamitra – Bitching should be totally restricted to girls and guys should stay away from it. A girl bitching about guys is obviously ‘cool’ but a guy bitching about girls is very uncool.

Elizabeth – Bitching is interesting! Every girl has it in her blood. I mostly bitch about other girls’ dresses, make-up and hairstyles. I also enjoy bitching about the boys who are chipku types.

Noorjahan – Bitching is cool! It’s a good time-pass and girls love to bitch. I love to bitch about my husband’s female friends. I really feel jealous when he talks to them. And so I bitch about them to my husband. I hate the way some of them dress and I keep telling him that he’s lucky to have me as I am far better than them.

Pallabi – We bitch about our teachers if they scold us unnecessarily. We also bitch about that one over-confident girl in class.

Tulumoni – Girls really love to bitch! It can be out of jealousy but at times it can be very useful. Say a girl’s boyfriend is weird and her classmates bitch about that. Someday she might overhear them and do something about it. Isn’t that useful? By the way, bitching is also seen in the Parliament!

Raman Kumari – Bitching is obviously fun! I sometimes bitch about my parents. When I sit or hang out with my cousins, we bitch about the restrictions that our parents put on us. And trust me we can go on and on. It ends up into a competition where we try to prove whose parents are worse. So that way, it’s fun.

Sukanya – Yeah, it relaxes you a lot! When two girls sit together, they’ll obviously find a common topic to bitch about, be it about their exes, boyfriends, friends, everything. I love to bitch about how one stupid friend of mine used to treat her ex-boyfriend, how she dumped him. I love to bitch about those girls who treat their boyfriends like dogs.

VIBES MIX

A WORLD SANS WOMEN… What if there were no women in the world? RJ Hansie mulls over this slightly worrisome idea

wouldn’t have been writing this had she not been around. After being safe and warm for nine months she brought me into this world so that I could enjoy the company of other women as well. Now this statement shouldn’t be taken otherwise. A world without women has never been heard of and we can never ever scud into a momentary lapse of reason to expect a world without women. Honestly speaking the world as it is today is beautiful and worth living because of the female species; though we might consider at times that the female species is deadlier than the male. I have had the pleasure of knowing many women. Right from my kindergarten teacher who pampered me, to that ‘Miss’ in school who was my first crush, to that college professor who delivered lectures on Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress. And not to mention all my female friends who have outgrown into fully matured women. Aah, women! I just love all of them. A world without women would be a homosexual paradise and gay marriages would be a norm. The Playboy publisher would have had to make do with nude men on his cover, which wouldn’t have many takers (or maybe it would have). A world without women would have definitely made the James Bond flicks a dull and boring affair as it wouldn’t be too exciting to watch two men kissing and making love. The word ‘lingerie’ wouldn’t have excited us as much and there would have been hardly any viewership for Baywatch. Had there been no women in this world we

wouldn’t have the likes of Ekta Kapoor and her saas bahu melodramas corrupting our idiot boxes. Neither would there be fairness creams, body lotions, hair oil, hair removers or any such cosmetic conundrums. Well! That’s all on the lighter side. On the flip side lies the pain of not having the fairer sex around you. It would mean the exclusion of the word ‘love’ from the dictionary. No women, no love and had their been no women in this world there wouldn’t have been such great love stories

like Romeo & Juliet, Eric Segal’s Love Story or Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, to name a few. All in all a world without women is practically impossible. Why? Because I am still to meet a man who is capable of procreation. Had there been no woman I wouldn’t have existed. A world without women would have denied me the pleasure of having girl friends in the past, a lovely wife at present and a beautiful mother for whom I’ll always be a kid.

VIBES MIX

“D

Illustration: kamal

ude, I’m telling you most of these jokes are ripped from Chuck Norris jokes!” “Who is Chuck Norris?” “He is like the Rajnikanth of USA.” “So the standard is set by our own icon, right? If Rajnikanth lies at the heart of the inspiration, ripping a few jokes is not a creative crisis! You don’t have a problem replacing protagonists with a sardar in your jokes!” A face was made, a chair was swiveled and a finger was flashed. If you can guess which finger, good for you. If you can’t, don’t worry. You are not culturally backward. Rajni jokes have been doing rounds in e-mails and SMSes. So much that I feel like “doing rounds” is a huge understatement. Rajni losing in poker, Google search for “Rajnikanth”, Rajni’s email id etc. — all jokes have been exhausted. Endhiran’s release brought down a monsoon of these jokes and I feel like I’m stuck in a flood while the rescue team is busy watching Iss Des na Aana Laado. May be I need to develop a sense of humour. I really want to! So I will start with Rajni himself and take him to an international level. Buckle up your belts and put all sharp objects aside, for funny I shall be! I wonder what would have happened if Rajnikanth played the three most famous superheroes — Batman, Superman and Spiderman. One at a time, of course! Not that he can’t play the three at once! I have limited creative capacities, you see. So if Rajnikanth plays Batman, the story changes significantly. Bruce Wayne becomes Bruce Wadiyar Swamy. So Bruce goes to the cave and is attacked by bats. But nothing scares Rajnikanth, right? So this time the bats are scared and they agree to do whatever Saar commands! But that leaves no room for romance and the mysterious identity. And what city will prefer to be saved by bats? It is so unhygienic. So anyways, let us assume Saar decides to be the Batman. But Saar is not afraid of anyone and wants to play with different styles of facial hair. So, mask Joker, Riddler and all other antagonists undergo an existential crisis and commit suicide. Gotham sings a song with cheap graphics in the background and Saar playing numerous instruments unimaginably well! The best part, Saar gets the chick! Saar always gets the chick! 10 bucks for those who remember her name! No it is not “the hot one”! So Rajnikanth gets the chick and there are no villains. It gets kind of boring and Saar realises, he needs more colour in life. He likes red and blue. Also he discovers his birth certificate which says he comes from planet Krypton. Amidst drumrolls and a Rammstein “inspired” background score, he orders a red cape

too, along with a blue vest which has “R” written in a triangle in bright yellow fonts. He changes his name to Clark Kumaraswamy. Why? Just like that. He takes flying lessons too at the Featherlite School of Flying and completes the three year course in one. In the remaining two years, he does a diploma in eradication of social evil and body-building. It is then that he discovers that his childhood friend Lux Lutherapalli has turned evil. Now Rajniman does not want to risk Kryptonite exposure, fearing his anger might just make it extinct before mankind finds a use for it. Not because

who gets mutated. He can find himself on Google, he can’t stick to one style of beard for more than 3 hours, girls are running behind him and he can’t wear sunglasses without extravaganza of pneumatic tricks and sounds. The spider gets new powers, new sense of responsibility and is the new hero who

he is afraid of Kryptonite. If he wants to, he can cut a soap cake of Kryptonite and take bath two and a half times daily. So he logs into his Orkut account and sends Lux a scrap with lots of raining stars and a very emotional background music. Since then Clark Kumaraswamy and Lux Lutherapalli have been partners in KumLut Dosa Import Export limited. Doing business is Rajni Saar’s left foot’s play. He gets bored again and goes on a jungle safari. On the trip, a spider bites Rajni. But this time it is the spider

would be known as Rajnider. Again Mary Jane is head over heels for him and does not undergo any crisis of romantic nature. Afterall, Rajnider looks like Rajni and has eight legs! Can you even imagine the moves? The dance moves, I mean. Green Goblin tries to rip Rajnider apart, but Rajnider knows the villain just needs some peace of mind and leaves Goblin with free lessons of Pranayam and Vakrasana. The villain washes Rajnider’s feet with tears and promises never to return.

It has been a week since I made these creative outbursts public. I have been eating alone ever since. Not being funny is a crime these days. I have been trying to woo some of them. I tried to appease some of the Rajni fans by giving them a DVD of Endhiran. I have company for tea breaks now. I wonder what’ll happen when they find out that the DVD has Tom and Jerry instead. Yes, I am undergoing a sense-of-humour crisis.

VIBES CORNER

ho doesn’t love beaches? And if you have awesome live music and some delectable fare along with it…that’s heaven! Yeah, Banana beach Bar is one such haven. An alfresco boat deck, fancy jhulas (swings), machaans or even the cozy indoor seating…you can plonk yourself anywhere. The feeling’s all the same — heady and light. The live performances add to this whole mood and takes you back into time, away from the reality that you are right there in the middle of a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore. But who wants to remember that! For once you’re there you’ll be swept into the fun and frolic that is Banana Bar. With drinks that could take you on a tizzy and live grill on the sands, this place is a must visit! Now if you’re thinking what’s the Northeast connection to BBB, you’d be surprised to know that this place is owned by KP Groups where KP stands for Kay and Pankaj. And DJ Kay is an Assam lad. There you go! So, all you NE guys in Bangalore, go hit the beach.

Drop in at Banana Beach Bar 54, Canara Bank Road, 6th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore Landmark: Near Vijaya Bank Phone: 41303452, 9900088511

an’t even pronounce the word, not that I want to, but I have to! I mean when you clench your teeth and wanna scream your lungs out to curse, you at least need to know and pronounce the ‘cursed’ one’s name properly, right? It’s Ophiuchus! Yeah, that’s it...tongue twisting zodiac sign that has hassled us all, at least me...I am supposed to give up my star sign and make way for a new one, No thanks! I am upset not only because I have to give it up (which I won’t) but I have to take up something new. Like I will no longer be the same person anymore, as some star gazer tells us, “People you have been moved to a new star!” I cursed, and whined and cursed some more, with my colleagues, my hubby and to all my social networking friends. I panicked and made all my friends fret over it too! Not that anyone liked it...all chose to vehemently oppose this crazy change and for what? Well... for close to three decades I have been a proud Virgo and one fine day suddenly some looney astro-smart-loger decides, Oh! Star positions have changed... Please, give me a break...I choose to disagree and protest loud and clear and am almost on the verge of starting a mini war. I still celebrate my birthday on the same date, I am born with traits that I have identified with as a Virgo. No way, not even if my life depended on it or a gun was pointed at my head, would I change to become a Leo.

pOOJA

here are times in life when you just don’t feel like living anymore. You feel nothing can make you happy. The depression and inferiority takes over. And the only thing in your mind is death and you forget that there is no life after that. I am sure every person goes through this phase. Some people share and some don’t. What I find intriguing is what really triggers this feeling of self annihilation. What kind of situation can actually make people think of it. I was planning to put this weird thought on paper, when my colleague Pooja (probably seeing the confused expression on my face) asked me, “What happened? Broke up with your girlfriend?” I said “No. Just like that!” Then I thought maybe even Pooja might have gone through this when she broke up (if she ever did). I guess it’s a situation that arises when too many things trouble our mind and we are at a stage when we can’t sort it out and prioritise them. A typical ‘bheja fried’ situation. Isn’t it? But it’s not rocket science. We just have to understand that life is all about humps and pot holes and about how calm we can be while passing through them. So, just remember, whenever you feel like this is probably the lowest of lows, the highest of highs is just around the corner.

Illustration: kamal

Illustration: HIMANGSHU

Samrat

Issues, opinions, questions, conundrums...feel free to raise them all. For whatever boggles you irks us as well. So, e-mail us at bhejafry.vibes@eclectic.co.in and start ranting.

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