The Score Magazine December 2013

ISSN 0974 – 9128

Vol 06 Issue 12 - December 2013

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India's National Pan-Genre Music MagazinE

Tune in with

Humble the poet For Hip Hop like never before

Yamaha Powers BAND OF THE MONTH

Monica cover story

Lagori Soul meets Modern And how

Dogra

In the veins of the real world star With Steve Aoki, Monty Sharma & Violinist Ganesh Kumaresh. Ditty in. Space out.

“Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy�

the edit PAD W Strategy and Planning Ajay Prabhakar Director, Business Development Pragash VM Editor-in-Chief Nikila Srinivasan Associate Editor Supriya Talupuru Head, Marketing & Operations Sneha Ramesh Regional Marketing Manager, BLR Sandhya Kamath Creative Director George Vedamanickam Lead Designer Nipun Garodia Social Media Coordinator Vishakh Iyer Content Support Sai Adithya Cover Image Neville Sukhia

OurWWW

elcome (almost) to 2014!

The year of the elections, manifestos and sting operations. What’s most interesting to me is the run-up to the elections. It’s that time of the decade when everyone is very vocal about their beliefs: Some of them are informed, some misinformed and some downright shrill.

What’s more inspirational to see, is that, unlike in the 70s, when celebrities were not very vocal about their political stance (for the fear of being put in jail of course), or the 90s where celebrities were just politicians in waiting, today, we have plenty of activism and ideology based support from artists and musicians.

Who could forget the inaccurately funny but politically loaded Vir Das on stage, or Mallika Sharawat singing birthday tunes to Modi. Who would forget the “kaminey” comment by Vishal Dadalni in an AAP rally, or “Modi is my Bhai” by Lata Mangeshkhar. These are all indicators of a changing time.

Maybe the time has cometh for a more active role. Music and musicians can push the envelope by bringing real changes to the socio-politico landscape by writing great songs. Not the “I dedicate this song” generic feel good lyrics types, but gripping songs that capture facts and context. One band I like, which is already heading in this direction is Swarathma. Hopefully more will follow suit!

Jai Hind!

ajay prabhakar Strategy and Planning

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i nside

cover story: Monica Dogra

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The current queen bee of all things musical, whimsical and majestic shares with utter honesty. The nation needs to know.

Band of the Month POWERED BY YAMAHA

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Take a tour with Lagori, a band that nails spunk, rad and culture all in the way of music.

Quirks & Queries

STAR OF THE MONTH: Humble the poet

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Her voice could break a thousand hearts and it did. Get to know how Mamta Sharma got her Munni Badnaam.

Music and the Psyche

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This time, we take a closer look at trauma in a hope to help.

The Tech Segment

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Make nice with the incredibly talented Mr. M J Thankachan of Torvin.

Monty Sharma

Humble the Poet illustrates by being one of the most genuine, hard-working and adored artists on the hip hop scene.

IN INDIA Steve Aoki 38

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The Bollywood giant talks about his upcoming movies and the trick that the music industry is.

Carnatic Segment

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Get up close and personal with well known violinst duo Ganesh Kumersh and prepare for the glorious Margazhi Masam.

Get to know the man behind his crowd surfing, cake hitting, music charming face.

Photo credit: Anushka Menon 8

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MONICA She sings. She hosts.

She listens. She connects.

The beauty is no longer in the eye of the beholder but in the grace of every note sung. This December, get to know Monica Dogra as she brings magic to music.

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I don’t have anything against the “mainstream scene”. I just feel the mainstream scene has not really liked me. Maybe, I’ve always been different and maybe I’m doing that a little less now. At the end of the day it is not up to me. It has to be a synergy, a symbiotic relationship because I will not alter who I am. I like that I live different.

On Gaurav Raina of Midival Punditz: He’s one of my best friends. Before that, I went to NYU and I danced with his university troupe. We choreographed Chandni Chowk (which is a Midival Punditz song). I choreographed his music before I met him, before he became my friend and before I started touring with him. I know him, I’ve seen him at his best and worst and that’s a perfect relation for a collaboration because you have no ego. It’s hard for an established producer to quit his own view points and let my voice to be the strongest. It takes a real man to do that.

On Grime Riot Disco

Photo credit: Shiv Ahuja

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The problem is that access to independent culture is really costly.

What about people who can’t afford 500 rupee beer or a 500 rupee entry? They love the music, they love the artist and they want to get involved. That’s why me and Kunal, my partner, created Grime Riot Disco. It’s low budget, wear chappals, wear torn jeans. That’s the next step, figuring out a way to make independent culture accessible to all

On Prashant Mistry of Engine Earz I met him when I performed at the Royal Festival Hall. The day I met him, we sat together and sang for an hour just improvising. Since that day we knew we needed to work together.

But our relationship was on facetime, whatsapp, skype. Then I got a job touring in America and they were flying me to UK for a week and that helped.

We’ll begin with your solo album in December – tell us more about it.

I’ve wanted to write and record a solo album for maybe 4 years, maybe more than that. It’s been one of those things that’s really painful and really beautiful at the same time. I feel a lot of pressure now, you know, because I’ve written and released 4 albums already and I’m onto my 4th record with my band.

I’ve now sung for film, collaborated with some of my biggest heroes. I’ve kind of reached this point in my life where it was really pivotal, because in the last 4 years I’ve released a film with Aamir Khan. I’ve released 2 records, I sang for movies, I travelled all over the world and I’ve spent my whole life dreaming I would do this. I’d never had to think about what next.

You know, that feeling when you feel like you’re established?

But I kind of felt like an umbilical cord was cut off to my dream and I was just flailing around in outer space. I was just like what do I dream of now, what do I focus on now and saw I’ve always been an artist that’s collaborated. When you’re in films, you do what the director tells you. I’ve hosted The Dewarists and in many ways the show was not my concept but my solo album from start to finish is of my own accord. No one else’s influences, no one else calls the shots except me. But that’s also scary because I’ve always had somebody to tell me ‘Monica, that’s good’. So I’ve had to decide what’s good or bad, it’s freaky and awesome.

Did you miss Randolph while working on your solo album?

I did, but at the same time I haven’t stopped recording fullfledged with Shaair + Func so I don’t get too much time to miss him. But I had a great experience on one my songs on my solo, a song called ‘pockets’. I had written it many years ago by myself on a beach when I got him to track the guitars and I heard him play like he never did before. He did what I asked him to. See that’s what happens when you collaborate with people. You discover things inside of you that would never have come out if someone didn’t pull it out of you.

So, for people like him who have pulled so much out of me, this is my opportunity to pull something out of him.

Especially since it’s so unlike something he’s ever done.

How would you say the sound of your solo album is different from the music of Shaair + Func?

My solo album is much more languid. It’s stripped down. It’s a bit more intimate. I initially set out to write a record which has nothing to do with dance music, because Shaair + Func is all dance music.

But then, I noticed that the dancer in me would never keep quiet. There’s something to be said, you know, when you go to a house party and somebody plays the guitar and somebody else starts playing tabla on a table. There’s something to be said about dance music that’s really organic, really acoustic and not heavy at all. It still makes you move. Whether I wanted it or not my solo record still has acoustic, organic elements of dance music or movement music rather. But it’s definitely quiet.

More like downtempo dance music than upbeat dance music?

It’s not even down tempo. It’s more like folk acoustic. There’s also this song which is swing on the album.

You’re also going to appear in a yet untitled movie with Naseeruddin Shah. After seeing you in 4 movies, is yours to be as a regular face in the movies?

I really hope so. Initially, my goal was to do 2 films a year and I did that. I got David and Fireflies in the same year. Now, I’ve upped my goal because I’ve realized the thing about films is that while you’re filming you have no guarantee your film will release especially for somebody in the art film bracket or independent film bracket. I’m not going out there and do just about anything. I’m okay with that. But at the same time, I want my work to be seen. So, it’s a double edged sword. It’s like you have to balance being a celeb actor with also wanting as an artist for your work to reach minds, hearts, eyes and that’s not in my control. I just have to have foresight.

Also, the last few years shooting for The Dewarists took up 4 months of my year and it was every single day. That also made it difficult. I got more films my way but I had to say no. The Dewarists was a passion project but now it’s more than that.

It’s in music festivals, it’s in movies, it’s a pregnant belly of independent culture in India. TV is one of the most powerful mediums in this nation and it’s a one of a kind. The Dewarists was trailblazing and we all did it for very little return with only a vision and a belief. I feel that’s my role

Speaking of The Dewarists, this is your 3rd year of hosting it. Have you ever gotten tired of so much travelling, that too to distant random places?

OMG Yes! When I talk to people with real jobs and I’m like “I’m so jealous of you, man”. Although I would never trade it, it’s not easy on the body, on your inner organs, on your relationships.

I can’t plan anything because you’re never sure where you’d be next.

I’m never sure… I’ve just stopped asking. So many times, in the city, I have no idea where I’m going to, who booked my flight, whether it’s happening, am I going or not. The last year the longest stretched I worked was 7 months without missing a single day off. That being said I throw parties so I don’t compromise anywhere. I might shoot for 18 hours and I’ll still go party because it’s my party, wake up at 5 am and I also have training. It’s great, it’s all my choice. That’s my new goal actually. Last year I was not good, but this year I’ve decided everything that I’m doing is 100% my decision. However busy I am, it’s 100% my choice. It’s my choice, I know I’m going to be tired, whatever, sleeping is for wussies. It’s fine.

Would you ever want to change anything in your journey from Maryland to Mumbai to forming Shaair + Func and now?

Maybe. This is the first year I feel really comfortable and confident of who I am. I think I regret a little bit even though I think regrets are really bad. If I wish something could be a tiny bit different, I wish I could be a tiny bit more confident earlier on, that I took more chances. In my effort to stand for something, I would be really intense – I don’t believe I should lend any of my energy into anything I don’t believe in. When I first got here so many people were pushing me to do so many things that I was like ‘are you crazy?’ I won’t do an item song, I won’t VJ your show, I won’t do reality television shows where I’m made to be an idiot along with other idiots. There were many things I said no to. I think I got a little too intense, I think I could’ve had more fun. I believe if you want to change the system, you have to change it from within. I think I was always on the outside judging and I’m starting to do that less, I’m starting to have more fun.

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Is there a conscious shift to the mainstream scene rather than the alternative counterpart?

I don’t have anything against the “mainstream scene”. I just feel the mainstream scene has not really liked me. Maybe, I’ve always been different and maybe I’m doing that a little less now.

At the end of the day it is not up to me. It has to be a synergy, a symbiotic relationship because I will not alter who I am. I like that I live different. I like that I speak different. I like my fashion. If other people don’t that’s ok and I won’t change that.

I’d like to be better, I’d like to be more attractive, I’d like to be a better actor, I’d like to be more fit. I’m on that road every day. I won’t undergo plastic surgery, act in a film that for me will completely erase the intelligent work I’ve done so far, just because I’m desperate. What’s great is that I can write music. I can write a script if I want to. I’m smart enough to create a road if it doesn’t exist, so if no one like me has walked on the highway that is mainstream then I’ll create a parallel road that’s just as smooth for people like me. I get it. It’s cool.

What were your biggest takeaways from this season of the Dewarists?

I think I was most excited when I was approached to do Season 3. Sameera, a friend and one of the creators of the show, said the show has been reformed to now incorporate dancers, artists, videographers and so on. She said it so shyly but I was ecstatic.

That’s exactly who I am. When I started in India, I started acting in movies but I also sang in a band and I also studied Mohininattayam.

But everybody was like “what’s your first love”. You can’t be an actor and a singer and a dancer. Since the beginning of time the Bharatnatyam shashtra said that you have to learn how to play with dancers, you have to learn dance, you have to learn the natya, you have to learn the stories. You have to learn the song, you have to learn the taals. The better you get at one, the better you get at the other, it’s all related. That’s a way of thinking that’s existed long before Bollywood. Then Bollywood came and somebody can’t dance and somebody can’t sing and sometimes somebody can’t act. But they’re all still working and that’s wrong in my opinion.Look at Madhuri Dixit. What a dancer, what an actress! Especially if our films have song and dance, then you oughta know it.

So that’s the biggest straw of Season 3. Finally, a show that is acknowledging the inter-relationships of all art forms and the way they must exist together. For when they do, it’s an extraordinary kind of image.

It’s something new to India. Definitely so…

Now every show is making music. You have Coke studio and you have travelling channels like Fox Travel but no other show is combining music and dance. It also gives the independent artists in this country, say street performers, puppeteers a platform.

How was your experience interacting with so many passionate musicians?

Amazing. Incredible. I’ve met people who, met and collaborated with people who don’t speak English, grew up in a house where they have generations of musicians. People, who’ve

Monica

over the years

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2004

Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Music from NYU

literally come from nothing, people who’ve built ashrams for untouchables.

You know, every time, I want to talk about my journey ‘people don’t get me’. I’ve met people who’ve had it so much harder, who’ve come so far with nothing and that’s just the greatest gift.

It makes you more humble?

It also makes you more ambitious. If they can do it so can I. I also feel like it gets tricky because the more known you become, more fame you acquire, whether you want to not, there’s a part of you that’s gets really guarded. Almost like everybody wants something from you, everybody’s looking at you. Then you meet these people who are so much better than anybody and they’ve done so much more with the world and for themselves; it gives you the respect that you need. That thought that I don’t really matter that much and no one really cares. That’s great because when you begin, is when you’re the most innovative, you take most risks. Then you acquire recognition, you start to do things because you think it’s expected out of you. That’s not really true and most artists get stuck there. The manicuring gets better but the spirit just dissolves.

One day I’m at an ashram in Kerala for untouchables and the next day I’m wearing a gown at an awards show. These awards, I respect what it means and it’s a lovely experience, but one is not greater than the other. If we all approached it that way, then we’d do a lot more for the other side. The amount of attention and money gets pumped into this should also go to that. You know what I mean? It’s also the disparity we see in India as a nation. Everybody will clean the inside of their house but not the outside.

Music royalties and piracy is a big thing these days. Many indie artists have taken the Parikrama route (that’s releasing their songs digitally) and uploaded their songs for free. What are your thoughts on this?

For our 3rd album, we released our music for free. I think I’ve even seeded my own music on pirate websites. Especially in India, when you’re growing in a scene that didn’t exist 7-8 years ago. We’ve had a really intense metal scene. It was either Bollywood or metal. Then, it became trance and techno. Then other genres like drum and bass, the first ever reggae party, dub, house. All these other genres pretty much had little to no platform and yet the internet kids grow up liking what they like. What they listen to at the touch of a button influences them to listen to the music they end up listening. You knows, bars restaurants, there’s no knowledge what the hell is that. Because of that artists at the forefront of change like Parikrama, Shaair + Func, Pentagram or Midival Punditz, Karsh Kale all of us had probably encouraged people to download our music and we’ve relied heavily on our tours. That’s great because we get paid for shows. When we show up to a festival playing, 10000 people are singing every word because they downloaded our music. Abroad people who go to concerts are waiters, taxi drivers. But here you never see a rickshaw wala go to concerts.

When I see a rickshaw wala go to my show that’s when I’ll know I’ve made it.

2005

Formed the electro-rock group Shaa’ir+Func with guitarist Randolph Correia.

2007

Released New Day: The Love Album.

Shrishti Ambani

“

You know, every time, I want to talk about my journey ‘people don’t get me’. I’ve met people who’ve had it so much harder, who’ve come so far with nothing and that’s just the greatest gift.

Photo credit: Anushka Menon

2010

2008 Guest appearance in movie Rock On and released Light Tribe

2011

Dooriyan Bhi Hai Zaroori with Vishal Dadlani for the film Break Ke Baad, released Mantis.

Debuted as an actor in Dobhi Ghat. Also The Dewarists started off with her as host.

2012

Worked in the film David and Fireflies. Meanwhile, The Dewarists season 2 is bustling with songs from various genres.

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Staying true to his name, Kanwer Singh aka Humble the Poet illustrates to us by being one of the most genuine, hard-working and adored artists on the hip hop scene.

All of this while managing to keep a firm footing on the ground. Sadly, there’s no way to capture that enchanting accent in text, but here’s to a really fun interview.

It’s not just music with you. It’s the Sikh culture, the love for poetry and gaping the bridge between “old and new” ideas. Music is but a tool, yes?

Um…yeah. Well, actually, I’m just finishing up a book…I’ve written a script as well. I’ve also just finished acting in a short film. In terms of the music, I edit some of my own music videos and produce them for other people as well. I’m just enjoying creating in every way I can and using every medium to get the idea out there.

Desi Hip Hop is still a rising cultural movement, rising all the way from the late 80’s in the U of the K. Where do you see it going?

I think it is a very young genre, given its inception was probably in the ‘70s. In terms of where it’s going, I think it’s really a universal sport in the artistic world. It reminds me very much of soccer in that sense, because anyone around the world can play it…so I feel that as we get more and more international, people will turn to music to speak their language and get their message out.

You are credited of hastening the “return to the Boom Bap Era of Hip Hop”. What do you have to say to that?

Oh, I didn’t know I was getting any credit there!

The Boom Bap Era of Hip Hop was a heavier time of hip hop that was a lot less commercialized. The music industry hadn’t embraced it yet, and people weren’t making too much money, so it didn’t have such a short-term lifespan to it.

With recording and distribution of music becoming so easy, it seems like the quality of music has been compromised upon. Comment?

The quality of music hasn’t been compromised. I just think it’s the sheer quantity of music now that’s grown exponentially. Everybody has the same platform now; everybody has Youtube; everybody has internet distribution models where they can put their music out regardless of quality. Because of that, I think, a lot of people feel that the quality of music has gone down but it’s really just a heavy saturation of art coming out. Anybody who wants to take it seriously has to work very hard for their stuff to rise above all of that.

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In an interview you said that “The problem with hip hop in many cities is the lack of cohesion and support artists show each other”. This shouldn’t be a problem in this day and age, should it?

I think it’ll always be a problem. There’s always going to be egos and immaturity involved, and it’s a difficult issue to resolve. I get requests every day from people: to check their music out, to promote their event, to further their cause. It’s impossible to accommodate all of them even if I want to. I’ve realized it doesn’t work that way, so for the last couple of years I’ve been extremely self-reliant. They are just looking for someone to exhibition them in front of people, but what people lose sight of that whether it’s Puff Daddy or Shah Rukh Khan, what really matters is their connection with the people and how the people react to their art.

It’s a myth, that good artists with good music will be found through hook or crook and will get their deserved success. True or False?

I think there’s a little bit of romance to the idea that, “Oh,well…I can make some wonderful art so I should be celebrated…or I should be able to do this full-time...or I should be able to pay my bills doing this.” I think that’s where a lot of artists go wrong. They want to make it to the top, but they don’t want to put in the work necessary. I feel that if you’re not willing to take the stairs, regardless of how talented you are, you don’t deserve the success. I’m more impressed by work ethic than talent.

How’s it working with Sikh Knowledge, your partner in “rhyme”?

Things are wonderful. He released a six-track album and another part to it: I’m on both. He moved to Toronto from Montreal last year so his move’s invigorated the artistry but slowed down his life since he has to adjust to a new city and a new work, so our friendship’s now stronger than ever. It’s great; it’s a really healthy relationship. I’m fortunate enough to have great working relationships with quite a few producers.

Kanika Mishra

f the mon o r th Sta

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People lose sight that whether it’s Puff Daddy or Shah Rukh Khan, what really matters is their connection with the people and how the people react to their art.

On Believe Me Music Squad After the release of my last project in 2010, things got extremely hectic on my end. Baagi put me on the international stage and there was a lot of traveling.

We didn’t have managers or agents or anything. The guys worked on another project called Zoo Babies, they’re doing really well. It’s more of a friendship than a musical relationship. The friendship’s still there, it’s just that things got really overwhelming.

Currently working on I recently finished an album with producer KinG! from L.A. The album’s likely to be out end of November, followed by the online album which will be produced predominantly by Sikh Knowledge.

Remixed or originals?

Currently listening to I’m a die-hard fan of the MIDIval Punditz, as people and as artists.

They’re working on brand new music and I think they’re awesome.

Nucleya’s been doing really well, his stuff is really getting attention lately.

I try to listen to a little bit of everything these days, primarily hip hop, so any new music that comes out, I try to check it out.

Drake’s presence has also been really phenomenal this past month. I think it’s a really good time for hip hop in general; it’s a lot less flash and a lot more substance.

I think there is a charm to remixing something, kind of making it your own and bringing it to a new light, you know.

Ideas recycle all the time, so that’s cool too. But I think for me, personally, working on creative originals works best.

People believe that downloading illegally is here to stay and that a working model be made on this assumption. What do you think about all of this?

When the wave of piracy first came, we had Metallica standing up and trying to fight it. It was change, and people don’t appreciate change. It’s not just the music industry, piracy happens everywhere – in films, in fashion, in coding. I believe we should adapt to and not fight change.

What’s the first word that pops when we say Score: Goal Bold: Powerful Wild Angel: Different girls’ names come to mind, I’d rather not say.

Beer Pong: Oh, I don’t even drink and I suck at that game.

Hip: Cool Hop: Jump Ham: Oh, like, hard as a mofo?

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with

Mamta Sharma Mamta Sharma has come a long way. From being an outand-out stage performer to giving us one hit item song number after another and now all the way to the title track in Krrish 3. We take this roller coaster ride with her this month in our Q and Q segment.

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I enjoy all sorts of music. I favor Folk music though. I feel very close to it and it connects very well with the audience.

Where ever I go, I try to take some of folk songs from that place. The audience loves when I incorporate bits of their language into my show!

I’m just singing anything that’s given to me. I have been singing different types of songs. Like the Krrish 3 title song I’ve sung has been getting good responses.

Rakesh Roshan ji called me up and told me he has a song for me which is not an item number. It was like being rediscovered again.

VishakH Iyer In 2000, I came from Gwalior to Mumbai and I didn’t know anybody here. I don’t have any relatives as such and almost no Godfather in the industry. I just ended up doing stages shows.

Then I got it; this is the best thing to be doing in Mumbai. Keep on doing stage shows - it’s the best way because through stage shows only you get to meet artists, directors, producers.

when I tried that and it came out so well. After six or seven months, he said to me “You know, kis movie me apke gaana ja reha hai?” I was so surprised that it was even going into a movie!

This itself was such a big news for me that one the songs I’ve sung will finally go into a movie after so many years of struggle in Mumbai.

I thought I’d get a break by doing these live shows. You hear stories about how suddenly you get a break in Mumbai, that somewhere people will see you. But nothing like that happened with me. Sadly! I was going on singing for stage shows. 7 years, 8 years and I thought “Oi, yaar. This is better for me. Don’t think I am going to get a break like this”.

When I got to know that Salman Khan and Malika Arora are in Munni and it’s being produced for the first time by Arbaaz sir, I was so excited. It’s such a great pleasure. Being a new comer, such a cool song in such a big movie: seriously it was a big thing for me. This is how I got my Munni badnaam and I very happy for that. Arbaaz sir said that this voice is the one that’s making the song so unique – a special thanks to him. I was so happy to get such a compliment.

In 2008, I got to meet Jatin-Lalit ji at a show where Lalit ji spotted me. He told me “Why don’t you come meet up with me at my office. I have a love songs that I would love to listen in your voice”. I thought he was just telling me out of courtesy. Like, “Oh, please come to my office”. They have to say this from time to time.

But then, I didn’t call him up. I thought I’d be disturbing him if I called him.

Two years after that, I saw his name flashing for an upcoming movie of his. That’s when I called him. People are dying to meet him. I couldn’t believe that life could be so simple. That someone would tell me to call and things would happen. When I did call, he sounded so excited. The reply was so warm. He said “Where are you? I had asked you to come. Your voice is so different - I want to try some songs out. Do come right now”. That moment itself, I went over.

When they (Jatin-Lalit) told me the song I was supposed to sing, I was laughing over it. It was sounding so weird! “Le zandu balm hui, darling tere liye”. At that point in time, it wasn’t even for Salman sir. It was just a rough scratch that Lalit ji told me.

I sang it and the tone I’ve used for this song is discovered by Lalit ji because I was singing very normally sing on stage. But he was the one who told me to use that quality that olden On the song songs had for this one. He Anarkali Disco Chali: insisted that I have that Wajid bhai told me to kind of voice. Which is

sing in my original voice and let the real Mamata Sharma come out through the song. I didn’t have to add my Munni texture to it much.

When preparing for songs in different languages, I just write it down in my own language – this is the easiest way of getting the diction right.

On Asha Bhosle ji: When I sing these item songs, I only think about Asha ji. What would she do?

On Himesh Reshammiya: I worked with him for Son of Sardar. It was a very different number and I really liked it.

It’s really tough to deliver an item number. You have to portray the song. When you’re singing such a song, you have to feel it.

You are pretending to be someone you’re not. In an item number, you have to show your wild side. While shooting, it’s easy because the atmosphere required is made. But while singing it, I have to recreate what the song could be like and invoke those emotions. At times, the music director will tell you that the “feel” was missing. If I nail the feel part, the “throw” was less and the music director would tell me to control my voice. So, everything has to be controlled at the same time everything has to be full of expression.

I love Asha Bhosle ji’s voice very much. Even Reshma ji and Alka Yagnik too. I used to sing Alka ji’s songs. Especially, Pardesi Pardesi jaana nahi from Amir Khan’s movie, Raja Hindustani. I really like Alka ji’s voice but I look up to Asha ji. Her expressions are really good and her singing is so versatile. It’s not easy to sing her songs. It’s actually quite tough. As I said, the expressions and the scales in which she sings in. I love the way she sings.

Sajid Wajid gave me some great advice.

They often say be yourself.

Wajid sir says many people try to copy me. If nothing else, this tells me that I should be original. You are known for what you are. Don’t try to mimic anything you’re not.

Mika Singh and I, for Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, dubbed a part together. First I dubbed and then Mika dubbed.

But then, it’s always good to hear my voice along with his.

Because I feel, after Wajid bhai from the Sajid-Wajid duo, I sound really good along with Mika. I like it. Also, we both are MS. Mika Singh, Mamta Sharma. MS MS. MS mania. This is my first song (‘Tooh’) for Vishal Shekar. It’s doing so well. I’m so happy for the song and the appreciation it’s generating.

I would love to work with Pritam dada and Shakar Mahadevan ji.

They are such experimental music directors. I am really keen to work with them.

Actually, whoever is left. All the music directors!

I love singing Telugu and Kannada numbers; they’re really tricky. I like the run in the languages.

You literally have to run to keep up with the pronunciation!

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Indie Reviews

Sibarshis Dutta

Music. The art in aural motion. The sounds to feelings unexpressed. The relief to the drought. We could go on and what better way to capture our love for music than reviewing the latest in the indie music scene.

Sonaljit - Dreaming the afterlife (Instrumental)

Top Picks: Can’t choose favorite picks as all of the tracks are so good for me.

Over the years while exploring many genres of music, I have learnt one thing that music is not an element that you can get away with it! The boundaries are never ending and the more you explore, you just realize that you have not explored at all! Thanks to modern mediums like soundcloud which gives you enough of options to explore various genres and artists!

Which is how I found Sonaljit’s profile. Very frankly, I clicked in the listening link because I liked the cover art a lot! Somehow I kind of guessed it to be an indie progressive release.

This Massachusetts native Indian has actually lot more to offer than a regular experimental progressive musician. Sonaljit is a multi instrumentalist and has absolute perfection in every instrument. This nine track debut is an impressive effort from him in senses of musical accuracy. The album is very much Piano heavy accompanied by guitar, drums, percussion, bass, electronic and flute. Sit quietly and listen to it, from the first track itself you will get an utter relaxing vibe from it. It will take a your mind to a beautiful journey through endless cloud, eternal landscapes and will let you feel the true meaning of joy! Worked for me like a refreshing cup of tea in a rainy day! Well done mate, one of the best new artists I have ever heard! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dreaming-the-afterlife

Accidental Hero - Junkyard Groove (Alternative Rock)

Top Picks: Release me, speed of love

Junkyard Groove has survived the Indian Indie Rock n Roll scene for a quite a long time now.

I remember seeing them live in Freedom Jam some 6-7 years back. While at that time I did not enjoy their music at that time, I liked their power packed performance a lot! Musically the band is very much rich with 90’s post grunge Rock sound in the vein of bands like Collective Soul and Soul Asylum.

Accidental Hero is their second full length and a completely indie effort. This is their second reincarnation too since they were disbanded in 2011. In this vast Indie background, some bands comes and goes but hardly leaves any trace to our memories! Ameeth proved it wrong and he never let it die. This definitely has a slightly different sound than their earlier efforts. They have added more melodies and modern elements like samples. Lyrically, the album has loads of positive vibes in it! It reflects the vibes of someone emerging from a darkened past and shaping into something very much livelier. The 8 tracked full length is pretty much worth listening to. I can hear that Hootie and the blowfish effect too; specially in the song titled as Simple song. http://www.oklisten.com/album/accidental_hero

From Clear Spaces Within - Avilente (Downtempo/Ambient)

Top Picks: All of the tracks are great indeed, I feel hard to become choosy!

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Avilente is a one man solo project by Bangalore based musician Faheemul Hassan. This young and vibra ting effort is combatively new in the circuit and thus goes little unnoticed. I have been exploring downtempo music from quite a while now. I can tell you the fact that it’s pretty unexplored in India till now. Psy Trance and House Music takes the first place if you talk about Electronic Music in India. Hence, other beautiful sub genres takes a back seat. This budding musician had started exploring the realms of electronic music since from 2011 and gave birth to a guitar based electro ambient effort known as Avilente (aav-lant) in his home. His experimentation of music came from different experiences in daily life. His music is dreamy, a pure tranquil of peace and imagination. The 12-tracked album would take you to an aesthetic journey of peaceful void and would turn you into a wandering soul.

Downtempo is a genre- you need to explore by yourself, none can define you the actual meaning of it. If you are a person who is good in imagination then you would get the meaning behind the tunes. I would suggest you to take a break from your daily hurdle, relax, get this album and spend a moment of silence with yourself. http://shop.microcosmosrecords.com/album/avilente-from-clear-spaces-within

PTSD &

Music Therapy The mind’s fragility is astounding. One would joke about being the illusion of strength and complexity that the human race has seemingly bestowed upon itself. This time in Music and Psyche, we take a close look at trauma in a very specific segment.

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christina Stephenson

Any sort of trauma certainly has its mental repercussions, notwithstanding physical ones. We individuals are sometimes so overwhelmed with the daily allotment of stress in our lives that we buckle. Our minds either have the reserves to steel themselves from further harm or they may delve into more intense states of anxiety and depression. On the other end of the continuum of cause for mental harm is that of severe, unfathomable trauma. This, the indigestible, the spine chilling, the heart wrenching, consists of events such as sexual assault, threat of death, injury, post combat etc. Such leave the mind un-anchored and at a loss leading some to a terrorizing condition called Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

DSM-IV-TR criteria for PTSD include: Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive memories, traumatic nightmares Dissociative reactions (e.g., flashbacks) which may occur on a continuum from brief episodes to complete loss of consciousness Intense or prolonged distress after exposure to traumatic reminders Marked physiologic reactivity after exposure to trauma-related stimuli Trauma-related external reminders Negative alterations in cognitions and mood that began or worsened after the traumatic event Inability to recall key features of the traumatic event Persistent (and often distorted) negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world Persistent distorted blame of self or others for causing the traumatic event or for resulting consequences This isn’t an exhaustive description, of course. But you get the picture. Biochemical changes in the brain take place as well. A person is absolutely unable to function normally without proper treatment. For years, researchers have tried to find an apt relief of this monstrosity for individuals. Music therapy has proved a blessed and fruitful medicinal aid in this area as well. (Big surprise there).

Music therapy plays a protective role as well as PTSD alters the way we react to stress. Dr. David Akombo employs drumming to alleviate symptoms, especially with the veterans of Vietnam. Recent biofeedback studies (for example, Spintge 1992; Harner 1990; McIntosh 1996) show that drumming along with our own heartbeats alters brainwave patterns (increasing alpha) and dramatically reduces stress.

Dr. Mary Rorro, the endearingly dubbed “The Violin Doc”, is a psychiatrist from New Jersey who works with Veterans Affairs (VA) and administers music therapy to a group of veterans of Vietnam. An article done on her work states that:

Studies prove that music can trigger the brain to release chemicals that distract the body from pain.

When music reaches the brain’s auditory cortex, there’s communication between the cortex and the brain’s areas that control emotion, memory, and motor control. According to Dr. Rorro, “At times, music can serve as a springboard during discussion, you can feel the weight of some of the emotional state of the group”.

November 3-5th saw Chennai holding the ‘Musical Brain: From Science to Therapy’ Conference at Raintree. Among the delegates and speakers was the renowned Professor Nigel Osborne, a human rights activist, an accomplished composer and pioneer in the area of music therapy for children traumatized by war. His repertoire included working with children in conflict zones such as Sarajevo, Chechnya and Georgia. What started as a bit of fun for children evolved into a beautiful therapy for their war ravaged souls. He described in an earlier interview, after his introducing of clinical music therapy sessions, that there was a “palpable wave of energy” emanating from the Sarajevo children, “music assists these [traumatised] children, helping communication between individuals and within groups, creating trust joy, safety, cognitive repair and the incomparable self-esteem brought by creativity.” Of his work in Bosnia, he says: “It was not unusual for generally melancholic and reticent groups to leave a session laughing or dancing, or groups ... of hyperactive children to leave calm and focused.” He says of these traumatized children “They feel they have to grow up very fast,” he said. “We want to give them the feeling that it’s all right to be a child, to enjoy the things that are for children.” His research includes that of the effects of music on the brain in relieving PTSD. The Kashmir conflict had many succumb to Post traumatic Stress. In 2006, Mushtaq Margoob’s research paper in the JK Practitioner expounded upon the nature of the Kashmir conflict - a sustained, unpredictable violence over a long period - has had a terribly detrimental effect on mental health in the region. One of the proposed therapies is music therapy.

Much research into the aftermath of our very own natural disasters and rampant sexual assault cases have shed light on numerous inevitable cases of PTSD. Music therapy has proved its worth across the globe and it’s time we start incorporating it in tandem with our other medical procedures. The result is certain.

T he traumatized mind will only respond a serenity that proves itself. And that serenity is music.

References: https://normt.uib.no/index.php/voices/article/viewArticle/641/517 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/musictherapy-the-pied-piper-of-balata-422211.html http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/14685-music-treat-veterans-ptsd/

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Band of the Month

lagori

This band is fast becoming the lean, mean gigging machine. We dive in to the deep with this band as they open up about their music, shows and upcoming videos.

Tell us the story of Lagori’s inception. How did the band members all come together?

Tejas: Geeth Vaz and Edward Raquinha, both the guitarists already had a rock band called Fahrenheit. But one fine day, over good spirits & biryani, they decided to take the rock influences within them to make music with a predominant Indian touch to it. A few tunes were composed, and then with the arrival of Vinyl kumar on Drums, Shalini Mohan on Bass and me on Vocals, Lagori was up and performing. Lagori was complete.

For a band based in Karnataka, the vocals feature impeccable Hindi pronunciations. How much of a challenge was it: picking up the nuances of the language, and making it flow so naturally?

T: Whenever we get this question, we have a standard dialogue, *All of us are proud Indians first and every language is our own language out there *. But in all seriousness, we have never had any trouble composing and writing in Hindi because it comes naturally at that spur of the moment, even though we are all thorough Bred South Indians. So, it’s something that is tough to explain about how it comes to us naturally but it just does!

While ‘Boom Shankar’ is clearly the crowd favourite, which one of your songs is closest to your hearts and why?

Geeth: Each band member has one particular song that is extremely close them, however if we take a common consensus we’d all agree that the River song is our favourite simply because of the way the song is structured, it’s flow and all the elements that we’ve added in the album.

The one thing about Lagori that stands out is your connect with the audience. We see you guys have not shied from going smack in the midst of the masses. What is it like , in that moment, knowing you’re putting together an impromptu gig for people who may or may not receive it well?

yourself on stage and we generally come across as a fun loving band, which I think works in our favour.

The Sun and Moon cover was an absolute delight.

Does that mean we can greedily look forward to more such awe-inspiring cross-genre covers?

G: Thanks for the compliment. Collaborations have always been on our minds, speaking of which we recently collaborated with a theatre group for Season 3 of The Dewarists. This episode was shot in Manali and will be aired on MTV on Dec 1st 8pm.

This is something we are really looking forward to show the whole of India.

Lagori’s been on the scene since the mid of 2011 and the band has been shooting quite steadily to the top. What factors do you attribute your success to?

G: We’ve been very lucky to have good mentors right from the start; we really owe them a lot. Each band member has made a lot of sacrifices personally, professionally, financially and in other forms. The little bit of success that we’ve achieved over these two years is primarily because of that.

Shalini, the internet is a dark, dark place for bassists. Do the rules apply to female bassists, too?

S: I have had a complete love-love relationship with the Internet. I get to put my demos out, let people know I exist and meet some of the most amazing musicians online. Of course, you get to block the occasional pervs and creeps now and then!

There have been dime to a dozen articles that say there’s a dearth of bassists. What’s your take?

S: There is definitely a dearth of good bass players. The bass is a wonderful harmonically fascinating instrument. It can occupy the lower register, lock with the

T: Our songs are simple and easy to sing along. We generally force our audience to sing along to most of our songs because we want them to be an integral part of it. We don’t really go into any gig wondering if the audience would reciprocate. I guess it’s all about how you portray

Shalini Mohan on bass induces a lot of funk, even without the guitar otherwise.

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Tejas Shankar on Vocals brings a lot of Indian classical elements and Indian lyrical influences to the music. We call him the aalap man and we jokingly say ‘motor on’ every time he starts off with his alaaps.

Kanika Mishra rhythm and tie everything in the band together. On the other hand, one can totally step up and ride the song with equally graceful or aggressive solos. Unfortunately, people pick up the bass because they think its the easiest thing ever. Or because they failed with the six stringers (my favourite one yet). But the genuine bass players I know are some of the most mind blowing musicians I have met!

You recently intimated your fans that you have something big planned in the near future – of Lagori taking on the TV world by storm yet again.

Enlighten us mere mortals.

S: Our video Boom Shankar is out on quite a few national channels. Our collaboration with a theatre group called “Actors’ cult” is going to be aired on MTV on Dec 1st. This is part of season 3 of The Dewarist. It’s quite an honour to be part of a music show that has featured and will feature the who’s who of Indian music. So all in all it’s a busy TV month for the band.

The debate on piracy is rife on the internet, lately.

Sites such as Spotify believe that the working model should be based around the fact that people are going to download illegally, regardless. What is your take on the subject?

S: Whether we like it or not piracy is going to find its way in the market. Downloads is only one part of the digital market, you have CRBT (ring tones), monetization on YouTube and other mediums which are generally more scalable than downloads.

For any band, the main source of income is live shows, however one should not ignore other mediums of monetization. We’ve been managing to sell quite a few copies of our CDs at every gig of ours and hence we believe that if a fan really wants to support the band he/she will manage to get hold of authentic copies of the album, although we do wish this would become a widespread practice throughout the country.

What comes to your mind, when we say:

Favourite Indian Rock band:

Stone and Echo: an imperfect circle is more interesting, isn’t it?

We really like a lot of Indian bands in the present music scene. But one band that stands out for us in terms of sheer energy, musicality and madness has to be Pentagram.

Bruce Lee: Mani (Taaq) EDM: Above and Beyond Live Sets: Lagori rules!

The next few months for Lagori Our band member Edward Rasquinha is getting hitched: lot of planning is going in for the wedding.

The band also plans to take a small holiday during that period.

Musically, we do want to sit down and come up with a lot more material which may include a few of those crossgenre collaborations that you’ll were talking about.

Upcoming ones that you’d recommend to your fans: Parvaaz, Clown with a frown, Skrat and Allegro Fudge.

The to-do tips for up-andcoming bands As long as you believe in your music and market it the right way, it’ll work. Ultimately making good music without reaching it to your audience also doesn’t make sense. View the band as a business, if you have to spend more than you earn in reaching your music to the masses, so be it. It’ll definitely help you in the long run.

GIGS One of our first shows at Kashmir in the snow was at Acharya College. We played to more than 15,000 people who sang along to our songs.

Our favourite one would be the Brigade road show because it was something that wasn’t done before ever by any band.

We played on the roof top of the Lee showroom on the most popular street in Bangalore on a Sunday at 5 pm, we couldn’t have asked for a better time and place for this show. A lot of planning and effort went into doing that show and we cherish that moment to bits.

We’ve also had bad days just like every normal band does, however we wouldn’t choose to call any gig a let-down. Each gig is a learning experience for us and we’re a band that loves the stage.

Edward Rasquinha on the acoustic guitars brings in the smooth country music influences into the band. He is the typical rock star looking fellow in the band, who also looks like a famous swamiji otherwise.

Geeth Vaz on guitars is our band’s BB King. His expressions and emotions say it all when he picks the guitar up. He brings the eclectic sound of Rock into the band.

Vinyl Kumar on drums brings in his metal influences on the percussion and he is our sole biryani provider too.

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Phonic Nation Humble, straight forward and dynamic: these are just some terms we can use for this man. Cue Mr. Thankachan of Torvin.

Mr. Thankachan, you’re one of the few (if not only) Indians to make indigenous high end audio equipment. What was the motivation behind this?

It was two decades ago, I evidenced the situation that many of our Indian people find it difficult to buy those highly-priced foreign audio products. I realized the need of hifi system at an affordable price for the fervent music lovers. This induced me to design and manufacture high-end audio products for our Indian market.

Basically I am a music lover and I committed myself for the interest of music lovers and our nation.

You have done a lot of innovation when it comes to Audio equipment. What is your favorite amongst the ones you’ve done?

My favorite product is my Celesta Speakers and my masterpiece is the 5 feet tall Millennium tower speakers and Elder-1 Amplifier.

It started off as an idea to offer servicing solutions to Audio equipment and later turned into an equipment maker itself. Where does the idea behind the innovation come from?

As a music lover, as an audio engineer and as a service engineer, I realized the need of an audio brand to represent our country. It is my life-time ambition to dedicate myself for the Indian audio industry. Proud to own an Indian audio brand.

Being a service engineer, I gained experience and acquired in-depth knowledge of most of the foreign brand audio

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Anand Jayaram equipments. Well aware of the complications in its serviceability and affordability, I started designing audio systems at international standard of quality at one-third of its price.

Not many people know about the amount of advancement in the Sound System industry.

Why do you think that is?

The reason for that is very few people listen to “pure music”. Many people love to hear the sounds that go “dum dum jill jill”. That’s the problem. If things need to change, they need to change from the primary level itself. Composers and Mixing Engineers have to give more good music to the people, without compromising on the quality of sound and its reproduction. Concentrating more on perfect placement of instruments and vocal is significant.

We have noticed that, when it comes to sound systems, South India is more open to trying new products out as compared to B’wood. Have you had a similar experience?

Yes, and I think that’s because the music down South has more to offer. South Indian music has a history across millennia and developed over several eras.

What is the biggest challenge for an audio company? Apart from the obvious i.e Making great equipment.

Product Review : APT SPEAKERS Torvin has introduced various speakers and amplifiers.

Here, we are going to look at the Apt series speaker which according to them has skills to set off a new trend in audio world.

The Apt series speakers are designed keeping in mind four major aspects of loudspeaker performance: wide dispersion, low distortion, flat frequency response and aesthetic appeal. With this in place, and in addition to quality components, these speakers do have the capability to spar with the so-called world’s finest available.

The Features The 1-inch hyperbolic aluminum dome tweeter and specially designed 3.5-inch woofers give you massive movie, music and gaming sound.

The unique design and construction of the drivers are in such a way that it is made for each other. The extremely rigid Solid-die cast Aluminum cabinet with beautiful black finish enhances the beauty of your room décor.

Precisely tuned cabinet and crossover network ensures every note reproduction as natural as it is.

Torvin is an Indian product. That is the only challenge. There are few people who count the brandvalue and go with the foreign branded products.

Satisfying those people by giving them equal or better quality audio products is the challenge that we fulfilled during the two decades of our business in audio.

But is that sustainable?

Well, More than business, music and audio electronics is my passion. I don’t think sustainability would be a problem as far as people who love music is in the vicinity. My service to music lovers will be continued...

M. John Thankachan’s message to the music industry: The efforts of musicians, artists, lyricists and instrumentalist are priceless. Due recognition should be given to their efforts. It should reflect in the music. It is the responsibility of the mixing and sound engineers to give life to each artist’s effort.

The audience should feel the emotions and efforts of the artist. The music should influence the listener.

This tendency will help for the improvement and growth of Indian music industry.

The Word These speakers are made to be very compact and yet deliver the powerful sound with excellent sound clarity.

Apt series speakers will perfectly match with any thin TV panels – LED or LCD. Apt series speakers are exceptional for home-theater and personal music listening. It delivers mind-blogging sound for amplified computer, laptop and ipod sound. Also, it is an ideal speaker for various high-end applications like seminar halls, institutions, conference halls, corporate, etc.

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Aural Merchandise 101 In this festive season, brace yourself to a bounty of new products. Here are some of the best releases cropping up in the market.

Roland Introduces F-20 Digital Piano

Roland’s F-120 Digital Piano

Best-in-Class Performance for a Child’s First Piano

SuperNATURAL Piano in a Contemporary Cabinet.

If you’re looking for the first piano for your child, the F-20 is the ideal choice. Delivering Roland’s acclaimed piano technologies at a breakthrough price, this compact and attractive instrument offers best-in-class performance that provides a solid foundation for learning the instrument the right way. Its rich, authentic tone inspires young players to explore and develop their musical expression, while the fine weighted keyboard action—derived from Roland’s flagship models—provides a true acoustic grand touch that’s essential for proper piano education. As a digital instrument, the F-20 presents many advantages over traditional acoustic pianos to encourage learning and make playing fun, including recording and metronome functions, onboard rhythm accompaniment, and a wide selection of sounds beyond the piano. In addition, free Roland piano apps allow you to use your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the F-20, providing a great way to motivate kids with play-along songs and enjoyable interactive features.

The F-120’s ultimate piano sound and response is combined with a supreme touch that looks and feels like a true grand.

This one is a perfect for budget conscious players looking for an authentic yet space-saving, contemporary package.

Variable Instrument Performance amplifier, the VYPYR® V.I.P. Series

SRH940 Reference Studio Headphone

Once again Peavey Electronics revolutionizes the modeling amp industry. This happens to be the world’s first amp and contains Bass guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar amplifier models.

Not only does the amplifier morph from a bass amp, to an acoustic amp, to an electric amp, it also allows the electric guitar player access to instrument models as well -- another Peavey first! The Vypyr VIP’s astonishingly realistic instrument simulations allow users to manipulate the sound of their electric guitar to mimic an acoustic guitar, a bass, a 12-string guitar, and more.

The F-120 provides expression and performance that rivals high-end pianos, thanks to the combination of the SuperNATURAL Piano engine and an Ivory Feel-G keyboard with the latest sensor technologies. The F-120’s compact, lightweight cabinet boasts a minimalist aesthetic design that easily blends into any home or dorm interior – in two classy finishes: Satin Black or White. Environmental friendliness is also taken into consideration with low power consumption and an Auto Off function.

The SRH940 are an ideal choice for professional audio engineers and musicians in applications such as studio recording and critical listening.

Features Accurate frequency response delivers smooth high-end extension with tight bass, and superior transient response for minimal distortion Lightweight, ergonomic fit with premium padded headband provides superior comfort over extended periods Closed-back, circumaural design rests comfortably over the ears and reduces background noise Collapsible design with 90-degree swivel ear cups for easy storage and portability Replaceable velour ear pads ensure long product life Two included detachable cables provides plenty of length and flexible wearing options

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MONTY SHARMA

Monty Sharma started learning music at the age of five and now after so many years and movies later, he has to carry the mantel of scoring background music for Ram Leela and Singh Sahab The Great.

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Manisha Bhat You started your career as a professional keyboard player with Laxmikant-Pyarelal for the film Mr. India at the age of sixteen. After so many years, what are the memories you carry most with you?

The memories that I carry is the first time I went to play for Mr. India and I played a solo there so, that was the start of my career. Another memory I carry Monty is is, during Hum Dil De Chuke nephew of Pyarelal Sanam while ringing the song Ramprasad Sharma of for Hum Dil, Devdas and Black.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame These are the memorable and started his career as moments that I will absolutely a professional keyboard cherish all my life. player with them. This was

Who are your top influencers when it comes to music?

I have learnt a lot from Pyaarelalji. I’ve learnt all my practical knowledge from him. Classical music. But all the practical knowledge that I got, working with the orchestra, creating symphonic sound and all this I’ve learnt from Pyarelalji. I really respect him a lot. He is the person I follow.

If there was a golden era for the Bollywood music community, what would it be?

Golden era of Bollywood music would be when there will be no plagiarism, there would be no piracy and when people will create original music, original songs and that would be appreciated. So, that is something that I’m looking for and I really wish that it happens soon.

for Mr. India and he You’re a member of the was sixteen years. judges’ panel of the popular reality show STAR Voice of India 2. What was it like to be a part of a reality show? Do you think the pressure put on the contestants is undue?

What are your upcoming projects?

It’s actually fun, it’s wild because you get to see so many new talents. Now these kids are stunning and the way they’re groomed. It’s kind of stressful and painful because of the kind of things we have to go through and it’s very hectic. But in a way it’s very good because at a very young and tender age they get to learn so much and they are groomed so well. The reality shows are basically lots of fun and we get to connect with the masses and with new talent.

I’d definitely love to work. I’d love to work down south. I really enjoy their trend. South is the place where I think the good stuff is happening, there are good technicians, good music, good sound and I want to do some music in Hollywood films which I’m going to very soon.

What I feel is that life is nothing without pressure. If life is easy then you will never know the value of it. But since there is so much competition and there’s so much pressure, the kind of singers that come out from reality shows are really stunning and are very good. Because at a very young and tender age they realize what competition is all about that they will have to face in their lives. I think it’s very good to bring out the best out of a person.

You’ve recently worked on Ram Leela. How was that for you? Also, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was a part of the music making process : does it help to have a director who knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it?

Working with Sanjay Bhansaliji has always been an opportunity and it has its mark, it has its place. I was not able to do Guzaarish because of some reasons but when I came back in Ram Leela I really enjoyed and I had to do my best again.

Which do you prefer: being a music composer or a music director?

I am more of a music composer because if you see films like Matrix or Lord Of The Rings, it’s all about soundtrack.

Somewhere down the line, everything’s going to come back to that. Doing the background music is really interesting and is actually fun. So I really enjoy that.

What do you think of the growing piracy of music in the Indian framework ?

See, piracy is something that’s not very good and people should understand that in making a film there’s a lot cost and lots of hardwork goes into it. And because of piracy people don’t get paid what they deserve. I think, piracy is something that has to be taken seriously and if everybody joins hands then I’m sure we can get rid of it.

Are you likely to do an independent music album?

Yes, very soon.

There’s a film called Peter Goes Down. I was talking to Subhashji the other day about a movie and then there’s another movie under Sanjayji’s banner. Lot of films are there.

Any chance of working with other languages for film music?

What’s the one thing you believe in with respect to music?

I believe that music comes from the heart. If it genuine and good, it will always touch people in the heart. So the more genuine and honest the music is, it’ll always work.

Did you always want to become a music director?

I always wanted to compose. From Our man has the age of five I’ve leant violin worked with R.D. and then I learnt the piano I Burman, Rajesh Roshan, leant Indian classical and all Nadeem Shravan, Jatin the time I always wanted to be Lalit, Ismail Darbar, Sanjeev a composer.

Darshan for many bollywood films like: Khalnayak, Saudagar, What is your take on the Tezab, Khudagawah, Phool aur ban put on Ram Leela? kante, Ashiqui, Baazigar, Ram Ram Leela is one of those Lakhan, Saajan, etc. films that I will always cherish working on. It’s a cinematic scene actually, the kind of visuals that you create and really stunning.

From working with Sanjayji : he doesn’t force anything, he doesn’t implement anything. He says, be sure about what you give than what you want. It’s just great working with Sanjayji. Ram Leela is a film to be watched and I’m sure people are going to love it.

What’s the best advice given to you by another famous musician?

Actually once when I started working for films Pyare baba (as I call him) asked me what I was planning to do now. I said I want to be a composer. He said okay, there are two paths from here. One is, to start picking up right now and to keep doing it all your life. Second is, that is if you work hard today tomorrow people will want to copy you, you will start inspiring other people. I felt that the second path was better. I worked very hard to reach where I am in the industry now. So, I’ve been very happy with what I’ve been able to do, by Gods grace. And, this is something that I will always cherish in my life. And this made me what I am today The

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Bring out the Entertainer in you

An aggregation of cutting edge technology, this is the digital piano to refurbish your music life.

Perfect Debut as a Pianist

You’ll find many masterpieces.

You can identify where in the score you play.

Red ball jumps along with your play.

You don’t need to care about score.

Guide lamp tells you the next key.

CVP-601

You can practice till you satisfy by playing back right hand part and left hand part separately.

CVP-605

The Yamaha Digital Piano – New Clavinova 600 Series has a rich, subtle sound and exceptional dynamics from the gentle pianissimo to the powerful fortissimo. Models range from 10 voices (including harpsichord and organ) to hundreds of MIDI instruments, Many include effects, large full-color display screen, and even built-in karaoke. Internet Direct Connection (IDC) functions expands music enjoyment.

The built-in Styles give you access to hundreds of bands and musical ensembles.

Rich accompaniment brings out your solo performance.

Have a rhythm in your head? Let get the Style Recommender to suggest the closest match! If it is too difficult for you to find one for the song you want to perform from a large amount of styles, Style Recommender function helps you.

This makes style selection easy for everyone, no matter what song you are playing.

CVP-609

GH3

Touch Panel : New UI

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TFT Color Wide VGA LCD (7inch)

SA2 Voice & Style

128Poly

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SA/Mega Voice & Style

MP3 Recording & Playback

GP Response Damper Pedal

Cabinet w/front leg

Audio Time Stretch/Pitch Shift/Vocal Cancel

USB Audio Recorder (.wav)

Video Out

TFT Color Wide VGA LCD (8.5inch)

iPhone/iPad connectivity (*i-MX1 is required)

USB Wi-Fi Adapter for connecting w/iPhone iPad (*be only included EU/NA/JP)

Sub Woofer(20cm×1), Tweeter x 2

RGB Out

Speaker Box and Monitor/45W x 2

For more information log on to : in.yamaha.com

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in india live Steve Aoki’s influence is unconditional.

This American electro house musician, Grammy nominated record producer and the founder of Dim Mak Records spoke with our magazine during the Sound Awake show, Bangalore. Dive in!

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Aoki’s album Wonderland was nominated for the best Dance/ Electronic album Grammy alongside ones from Skrillex, Chemical Brothers, Kaskade and Deadmau5.

Though Aoki (on his own admission) is awful at basketball, you’ll find him featured in the 2K8 and 2K9 NBA video games.

Vijith Quadros How do you feel coming back to India with this tour?

As you know, this is my second visit to India. I was here last year and I played in Bombay and Delhi. I can’t wait to come back to India. It is such a great country and there’s so much to take in. I keep telling my friends and people I meet, how beautiful India is. I love the food in India, especially Biryani. I want to try everything. I was amazed at how much energy the Indian audience has. I was also happy to see how much they know, care about and love dance music. There were no pretences; everyone was there to just have a great time. I would like to play bigger shows in India to see how wild it can get.

You are known for crazy stage dives, crowd surfing stunts and more. Where is all this energy coming from?

Life keeps me going, I’m passionate about so many things. I always want to explore and create and learn new things, that is where I find my energy. But to keep myself going, I lead a very disciplined life and follow a strict regime to keep fit and healthy; cutting out all impurities from my life.

You are always on tour. How do you catch up with your music in terms of compositions and making time for more?

There are always so many things I want to do – to be able to collaborate with different musicians, to be a part of culture. That’s what I want. I want to develop culture…

I try to translate my music into something that makes people happy and leaves them feeling great, when I see the crowd going crazy and enjoying themselves, whether they’re listening to my music from their bedrooms or watching me play live, I want them to feel something special. That is my main reward.

You have collaborated with so many artists like Tiesto, Knife Party, Diplo, Linking Park, Iggy Azalea. Many of them are considerably big. Tell us about your most memorable collaboration.

I love doing collaborations with different artists. Out of all the collaborations I’ve done, the one with Linkin Park has to be my favourite. A lot of music sharing and communication went into it! Mike Shinoda and I were in touch through Twitter. We talked a lot over a span of six months, sent tracks back and forth. That’s how it worked out. This was one of my favourite collaborations.

What influences your music and style?

I’ve been influenced and inspired by so many artists throughout my life, most of them being bands rather than DJ’s. Bands like Nirvana, The Beatles, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, Imagine Dragons and many others have had an impact on my music and being.

What has being in the EDM atmosphere since 1999 actively, taught you?

Music is evolving at a rapid pace, it is important for artists to be in tune with what the people want and mature themselves and their sound according to the changing tastes of the audiences. Having studied sociology, I’ve learnt how to be patient and adapt myself and my sounds in accordance to who I’m playing for so that everyone goes back feeling something special and feeling happy.

What’s coming up in the next few years for you?

After my India tour, I’m going to be releasing my new album, ‘Neon Future’ next year. I’m really looking forward to this album and can’t wait for people to hear it. I’ve collaborated with so many great artists like Snoop Dogg, Machine Gun Kelly, Will.i.am and many more. This album is going to be very special.

As an entrepreneur, a lot of time goes into creating and maintaining a balance between my music and the businesses I handle.

How is it to collaborate with artistes from various genres ?

I played with punk rock bands when I younger and I a lot of the artists that have influenced me are from various different genres, so it’s always exciting to be able to collaborate with musicians from different musical backgrounds.

Tell us a few things you love about the Indian tour.

India is such an incredible country, the culture is just so rich. Each time you step out on the street, there are so many different things you see and experience. As I said, what I’m really looking forward to this time is definitely the food; I love Indian food.

Steve’s gueststarred in the show Arrow as a DJ. Ahem.

When he started, he had a love for hip-hop and rock and only owned one turntable. It was DJ AM who showed Aoki how to scratch and beat-match.

He grew up listening to punk rock and was a vocalist for This Machine Kills (1997 to 2000) after which he started getting into making originals.

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One on One with

Ganesh Kumaresh The dynamic violin duo Ganesh Kumaresh are very well known Carnatic violinists. We got talking to them about their upcoming album The Seasons, collaborating on music and most importantly, the ideals that make them.

Tell us about the songs and the ideology behind your latest album The Seasons.

K: What’s so special about The Seasons is the undercurrent thought process behind it. Seasons generally signify change.

Nothing is permanent. Like the changing of seasons, our thoughts to change from morning to evening. Change is permanent. Only in India, do we have 6 ritus (seasons) constant. Everywhere else, there are four. We have Vasanta (spring), Grishma (summer), Varsha (monsoon), Sharad (autumn), Hemant (pre-winter) and Shishir (winter).

Though we embrace all form of genres, we are hard core classical musicians. We wanted to bring our own idea about these seasons and bring out an album which celebrates change.

G: We have tried to make a free spirited kind of music. There are 6 ritus and one composition. In this album, we have a song on Global Warming. We have lyrics in this. I’ve sung the song. Chinmayee has sung with me. There is also some Mandolin that Rajesh has played for this. So, we have something new there also. It is also based on a raga but we’ve tried to create the feel of a green zone. We’ve tried to get the message across that we should take care of nature.

Because, we’re not the one sustaining nature. Nature is what is sustaining us. There is another one that is based on Rag Kalyani but we’ve done a tonic shift to each note. From each note, we’ve got different ragas and we’ve had different instruments play each of these notes separately. There is a veena playing Kamaz, from ga there is Sarumati, from ma there is Hindolam, from pa we have a very folkish/ Irish twist, from tha we have the Nadaswaram. We have used that part to give a kaleidoscopic view of what India is like. For hemanta, what we’ve done is also created a raga.

Actually, Kumaresh has created the raga.

When you’re composing in a certain raga, what inspires you?

K: We go by intuition. We go by instincts. I feel that instincts can never be wrong. We are very strong on the ideal that artists should test boundaries. Then only can you identify yourself with the art. This is how we created the raga Hemanta. There wasn’t a pressure behind getting it done. It just came naturally.

G: The raga itself is the inspiration. The notes are such a great inspiration by themselves. We’ve done a lot of these things that we call Ragapravaham. These are compositions without lyrics. It is all Kalpita Sangeetam (something you’ve already learned) and Kalpana Sangeetam (something that you improvise on).

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You both speak about how the highest tribute to this art form is “Manodharma”. Can you elaborate on that?

K: Poets have words to express. We musicians have only these notes to express. These seven notes are our alphabets. As a musician, we need to push the boundary. Every artist of every generation does that. The next generation should take that and build on it. For me, any raga can depict any mood. It is up to the composer and the person who’s playing it. The way there has been an adaptation of traditions to the contemporary scenario itself is so beautiful. It is up to us to keep pushing and keep evolving. As I said, change is the only permanent thing.

G: The entire musical system is based on improvisation: “Manodharma”. Or creativity. In this, creativity itself has gone into a boundary. Where you say the aalaap has to be like this, where the swara has to be like that. So, there are a lot of boundaries that have been made. I feel that it’s kind of throttling.

It is good, in a way, to learn it. To learn it in a very disciplined way. It’s good for anybody. As such, there are only seven notes. Unless you discipline yourself, there’s no going anywhere. But after a point, we have to come out of that. For this, compositions play a very huge role.

What I very strongly feel is that – we don’t have compositions for instruments.

The instrumentalists adapt compositions to their instruments. But we feel that, it becomes dominated by lyrics.

There must be compositions without lyrics. It should just be music. Ragas, by themselves, are secular melodies.

Why not use those melodious to make a bank of compositions. Just like we have for vocal music now. I think every instrument can do the same. That will carve a unique identity for each of these instruments.

Manisha Bhat

Margazhi Masam The month in which angelic voices sing. Brace yourselves. Winter’s coming!

Margazhi Masam or the Dahnur Masam, is considered to be a very auspicious month for the Hindus. During this month the sun transits through Sagittarius sign, giving the name, “Dhanu”.

The Margazhi month starts from the 16th of December to the 13th of January this year. To better understand this, let’s take a look at some quintessential Margazhi traditions. Andal was a lady who dedicated her life to Lord Vishnu. Her first work is the Thiruppavai, a collection of thirty verses in which Andal imagines herself to be a Gopi (cowherd girl) during the incarnation of Lord Krishna. In this, she shows her love towards the Lord, and that she’ll serve him not only in this birth but for all eternity. Chanting of the Tiruppavai of Andal is the most important event in the month. In honor of the goodness open to the people this month, lots of kutcheris (concerts) are held by various Sabha and organizers. Let us enjoy this holy month of Margazhi with prayers and songs.

Margazhi Masam event calendar

Saturday 7th December : 5:00 PM Hindustani special with Dr. Dhruba Ghosh (Sarangi) at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai.

Sunday 8th December : 6:45 PM Akkarai Sisters (Violin), R. Sankaranarayanan (Mrdangam) and V. Anirudh Athreya (Kanjira) at the Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society, Kasturi Srinivasan Hall (Chennai).

Saturday 14th December : 9:30 AM K. Gayatri (Vocal), Anuradha Sridhar (Violin), B. Ganapathiraman (Mrdangam) and G. Chandrasekara Sharma (Ghatam) at The Mylapore Fine Arts Club (Chennai)

Sunday 15th December : 9:30 AM T.V. Ramprasad (Vocal), Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli (Violin), Melakaveri K. Balaji (Mrdangam), Alathur T. Rajaganesh (Kanjira) at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Kamakoti Gana Mandir Hall (Chennai).

Saturday 21st December : 2:00 PM Sai Vignesh (Vocal), K. Ganesh (Violin) and S. Karthick Narayanan (Mrdangam) at The Indian Fine Arts Society, Balamandir German Hall (Chennai)

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fest ival

FOCUS

The GoMAD was 3 days of nonstop music, arts and dance with the incredible politeness of the Nilgiris in the background.

Don’t believe us? Let the photos and the conversations here prove otherwise.

Apart from the listening to the massive line up, we had incredibly meaningful conversations with Noori, Prem Joshua, Emergence and Amayama. Among many others, needless to say. Also, a big up to Thaalavattam for an amazing drum workshop. No one engages the crowd like you guys.

There was so much said and so much more done. So, us being your dearly beloved, gathered snippets of our conversation with two of the bands from the lineup. If you want to listen to the whole recordings, drop in at www.skore.in. Over to you.

Photo credits: Nikhil Kataria, George VA

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Supriya Talupuru

Emergence

NOORI

How was your experience in Ooty with the GoMad festival?

You both have been here for the past three days.

Which are the acts you like?

Mishko M’ba: (in a think French accent, if we could add) It has been a superb experience. It’s wonderful to be here. We arrived here at Ooty yesterday. We came last here with Emergence. It was cold, it was raining. But this time, with the sun out, it’s much more beautiful. It’s much nicer, this year

Ali Hamza: I really liked Live Banned (Bangalore based – Indo International Mass Music). Hats off to Live Banned. I liked quite a few other bands though now I can’t remember the names.

Krishna Mckenzie: Yeah, the same. There’s a lot more sunshine this time and many more people compared to the last time.

Lots of them have been kind to us.

AH: You want the truth? No, not their performance. Their music was brilliant but…

Who are you guys looking loving from this line-up?

M: There are so many bands here and I don’t remember the names.

K: This is a personal matter for Mishko. He’s got a little trouble memorizing the names. So, don’t push him too hard.

I mean, I don’t know the names but I did discover quite some bands here. I really enjoyed Solder (Bangalore based - “Feel Good” Rock). I really liked Sky Rabbit (Mumbai based - Indie/Electronic/Post-Punk). I liked the texture of their harmonies and how the voice was sitting on top of the sound. It gave me some ideas and some inspirations. Then, Lagori (Bangalore based - Indian Folk/Classical/Fusion Rock)too was very nice.

What are you guys currently doing?

M: We are working on the next album. We have some songs ready and waiting to record it. So, this will be the next big project for us.

K: Yeah, we’ve had a few TV shows done recently. Like Fox Traveller - Sound Trek, Kappa T V. We did a French documentary that just came out on a TV channel in France. And yes, as Mishko said, the new album is the next big thing for us. Some developments need to be done on a few tracks but yea, it’s exciting to do an album. If we can manifest our third album, it will be a very big step for us as a band. Do one album, oh okay. Do two, very good. But three, it’s like somehow we are done something very concrete with the band, you know?

Us: We saw you at the Agam gig. We also know that you particularly like South Indian music. Did they impress you?

Ali Noor: You know, everything has changed for us. We’ve been stuck here for three days. What’s happening is, on the first two days, we listened to all these bands and we were like “Wow. How tight are they?”. It’s a big deal for us.

To see bands perform at such a level is rare. In Pakistan, we have a lot of soul but no discipline. It’s a very erratic performance. Including ours. So, to see consistency from almost every act we’ve heard; that was very impressive for us. But eventually, what we started feeling was that everybody is trying to prove a point of how good they are at what they do. You know, how “impressive” they can be with their technique. At the end of the day, I don’t think I can remember a single song of what I heard. There’s nothing that’s stuck in my head be it musically or lyrically. I never got a chance to do that. And that is like the new thing that dawned upon me. We were just discussing about this today. We never sat through any concert. Like the whole of it. Except for Live Banned. Even them, we saw their performance right at the end.

So, this is the feeling I’m left with. I remember this time that Class 3 kids told us that they didn’t want to listen to our music. That our music was terrible.

AH: We ended up playing Chaiya Chaiya!

AN: Yes, we did! That and some good old Metallica. After that, promised myself that we’re never going to do a cover. So four years later when playing at a concert, I knew I wanted to play in front of an audience that didn’t know my songs and yet be able to make a mark on them.

All our lives have all about this: writing songs and being able to connect with people, good lyrics. It’s always been about lyrics for us. That was something we did not get in this whole festival.

AH: No, I think … when you’re listening to a live performance, you don’t focus like that on lyrics. A lot of bands play in languages you don’t know, but you can still understand.

AN: No, no, no. No, it’s not just about lyrics. It’s about something you remember. This is the paramount thing that I generally felt. Also, I asked people around. I discussed it with them about what they felt. Am I right in thinking this way? They said, yes. The competition to create a very impressive musical piece is the main priority for every artist over here. You can sense it. The way they sing. The way they play. It’s like really out there. But when you see twenty odd bands doing the same thing, with different – whether it’s Malayalam, whether it’s Hindi, whether it’s English – it just becomes a little overbearing. You’re left wondering “Where is the Soul?”. We’re desperately looking for the soul. I felt like I missed that.

Look out for great interviews of bands and artists in upcoming fest only here. That’s all folks.

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#ScoreNight

EVENTS Galore

For more bleh, blah, boo on gigs and all things sound bound: knock on skore.in.

We’re watching you.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the events The Score Magazine has been organizing and attending.

EVERY FRIDAY!

only at BAK BAK BAR (Bangalore) HAVAVA, the club (Chennai)

F16’s This #ScoreNight, we got The F16’s to keep everyone on their toes. Their music meanders into various sorts of Electro Indie. A kickass setlist and a musical tendency to explode into differentiation; We got everything we wanted.

Aurko Aurko came together for their dedication towards regenerating the ‘obsession to Indian Rock’.

What does one expect from such a band? A dash of rock, a pinch of folk, lots of passion on stage.

Girish And The Chronicles

Tupakeys Tupakeys, the Tamil Hip-Hop. With their Tamil & English rapping and beatboxing, these guys left no stone unturned.

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With great talent come great times. Cue in Girish And The Chronicles who played their first ScoreNight on the 15th of November.

They are credited with bringing out a new voice to the quintessential Rock n Roll genre and that they did.

Photo credits: Nikhil Kataria, Krishna,

Uday Shanker

Hitting the Rewind : Waves 2013 Ever since it’s humble inception in 2007, Waves has quickly grown to become a national level festival with participation from colleges all over the country and footfalls reaching over 60,000. Being the fastest growing cultural festival with euphoric entertainment, captivating events, vibrant crowd and the appeal of a festive atmosphere unique only to Goa, Waves, the cultural festival of BITS Pilani Goa Campus prides at being a social and cultural phenomenon, setting it apart from every other festival in the country.

Waves 2013 - Hit The Rewind had its grand inauguration on the 7th of November which saw the breathtaking performance by the Mime Club among several other engaging performances such as that by Monsieur Gusto.

A myriad of events were lined up for Day 1 such as - The Nukkad Natak (Street play) competition and Rang Manch (Stage play). Eliminations of the Indian Rock competition and the solo dance competition known as Sizzle were also held. The literary events comprised of Press Corps, Word Games and Contention - the Waves Debate. Moot Courts was organised for the first time and witnessed a respectable participation. One of the Big Three events - Natyanjali was held in the evening with a jam packed auditorium. The day ended with the crowd swaying to the tunes of the famous Indian Disc Jockey- DJ NYK. Day 2 kick started with an even greater fervor. Events such as Dhinchak (Bollywood Dance Competition) kept the audience engaged. The much-awaited event, Mr and Miss Waves was organized later in the day which drew in a lot of cheering from the enthusiastic audience. The competition was covered by the MTV crew with VJ Jose and stand-up

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comedian Sourabh Pant judging the event.

One of India’s largest semi-professional Rock Band Competition, Searock had its finals held late in the evening.

The winners were Paradox from VIT, Red Shorts from Delhi, and Dark Light from Bangalore. The crowd was blown away by the sheer brilliance of the performances by the prominent jazz and blues act Blackstratblues, Mumbai based vocalist and playback singer Nikhil D’Souza and world renowed Indian - American percussionist Karsh Kale. Actress, Kalki Koechlin made a surprise visit to the campus and attended the concert.

Not a hint of exhaustion could be seen among the audience and participants as Waves moved to its final day, Day 3. It started off with the final round of several music, dance and art events. The crowd occupied the auditorium in droves for the much anticipated Big 3 event, FashP. The competition was judged by none other than the Winner of Femina Miss India 2012, Rochelle Maria Rao. This was followed by the eliminations for Femina Miss India 2014 which saw four girls getting the opportunity for a direct entry into the regional finals. Waves 2013 concluded with an enthralling performance by the highly acclaimed duo- Vishal and Shekhar. Priyanka Chopra’s surprise guest appearance had the audience left the audience begging for more. Vishal and Shekhar sang their popular songs, Balam Pichkari, Jee Le Zaara and Om shanti Om to mention a few.

Waves 2013 ended with the promise of coming back next year with the same fervour and organisation if not better. It has left memories that will last a lifetime for all those who were fortunate to have experienced what has now become one of India’s biggest fest.