Indian rock: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 09:40, 20 July 2007
Template:Indianrock Indian rock is a genre of popular music in India that incorporates elements of Indian music and mainstream rock and is often topically India-centric. While India is known for its northern and southern classical music, the Indian rock scene has produced numerous bands and artists. There are various Non Resident Indians and People of Indian Origin who have formed bands rooted in Indian culture.
History
1950s, 1960s and 1970s
There has long been a rock movement in India, especially in cities like Calcutta, Bombay,New Delhi and later, Bangalore and Madras, where during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the emerging genre in the west gained a following.
Indian rock music followed a long tradition of westernized/western music being played at night clubs and dance clubs in India, from the early 20th century onwards, primarily for an Anglo-Indian, and British clientele. Lounge acts, including swing bands, were popular in the 1950s, the decade after the British left, with rock 'n roll being followed from the mid 1950s onward by a very anglicized and westernized urban young audience, comprising both high school and college students, as well as the then very anglicized officer class of the Indian Military.
There were other major outlets for rock 'n roll (and later rock) music in India in the period from the 1950s to the 1970s. Of note were All India Radio or AIR, the state-owned radio monopoly which had a number of weekly pop music programmes. Some were regionally broadcast, such as Friday's a Date with You in Delhi and Northern India, while others such as the 1 hour long monday evening Forces Request show were aired nationwide. All cities also had daily western pop music programmes broadcast by AIR, typically during the lunch hour. Later, in the 1970s, the new youth channel of AIR, Yuva Vani aired western top 20 pop music daily in a morning show.
Radio Ceylon too had a major following in India, as elsewhere globally, and was THE source for hearing new music acts as they broke into the scene.
India, uniquely then amongst developing markets, had a record industry in the Gramophone Company of India (an RCA/HMV/EMI subsidiary), and LPs, EPs, and 45rpm records were freely available, including those of rock and roll acts from the USA and Britain, but also of contemporary pioneering Indian rock bands. The president of the firm, Bhaskar Menon (who later became the President of Capitol Records in the United States) was the leading promoter of western pop music in India.
Later in 1970, Polydor, the German Label, began an India label distributing rock music.
Of these mid-1960s beat groups as they were then termed, the most notable were the Mystiks from Bombay, the Beat-X from Madras and the Flintstone from Calcutta who composed and played both early British Invasion influenced songs, and post Sargeant Pepper hard rock. All had successful EP and LP releases and played regularly on the Indian university and college music circuits. Also notable from this period (1964-1970) was the female R&B singer, Usha Iyer, now Usha Uthup, who had successful covers of Jambalaya and the Kingston Trio song, Greenback Dollar.
The rock 'n roll scene was also closely followed by Junior Statesman (or simply JS), a magazine started in 1965 contemporaneously with Rolling Stone magazine in the USA and NME in the UK.
In terms of reverse influence, renowned acts such as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Doors and the Byrds were notably influenced by Indian Classical Music as a way of reinforcing the psychedelia in their music. While Jazz musicians, notably John Coltrane had ventured into Indian music and spiritualism, the influence of Indian classical music on 1960s rock began in earnest with the Beatles' very public sojourn with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at his ashram in Rishikesh in 1966 followed by their release of the LP and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
1980s and 1990s
Whilst the orientalist trend of the 60s and 70s was by the 80s and 90s largely over, India itself has continued to produce bands in various styles of rock music, from soft rock and roll and rock pop, to hard rock and metal. With the arrival of MTV, tastes rapidly changed, encouraging bands to harden their style and focus more on underground styles such as death metal, alternative metal, prog rock, etc. The 1990s saw the rise of a much larger following of various harder styles for this reason. Bands that had formed in the 80s, such as Rock Machine, (who would later be known as Indus Creed), altered their style with the influx of newer techniques and influences from the west. Others formed in the 90s with harder styles influenced by the growing split between popular rock, (such as Britpop), alternative styles, (such as punk), and metal styles, (such as thrash) - the last of which many considered to be truer to the roots of rock music, and the legacy of hard rock bands from the 70s. The Indian sub-genre of fusion, which encourages a similar blend of ancient Indian musical traditions with rock music to raga rock, was also carried forward, and is perhaps the most unique Indian style of rock. Exodus- A power rock trio ruled the rock scene in India in the 80's-90's. the band featured India's first female rock singer Pearl.
2000s and onwards
The current Indian rock scene has a larger following than ever, (although it is still marginalised compared to film music), and with the advent of globalization, may soon be recognised in the international arena, as various South American and Japanese bands have become. Recent entries into the rock music scene are increasingly becoming comparable in production quality to western bands, have been compared favorably to other internationally recognised acts, as critics wake up to the Indian scene, and digital technology allows new ways of these bands to achieve distribution and sale. Some British bands of South Asian origin, such as Swami have, like their hip-hop counterparts, tried to enter the Indian market in addition to maintaining the traditional fanbase of non-resident Indians in Britain, Canada and the United States, and others such as Rudra have emerged from Indian communities in other Asian countries. Progress is certain for the Indian rock scene with the advent of entities that support this genre. RSJ and Rave are the two major publications that have been supporting, encouraging and promoting Indian Rock bands.
The scene has also been transformed by the online medium, spearheaded by the launch of Gigpad in 2000, and the subsequent rise of a number of online portals promoting Indian rock. Gigpad and RSJOnline in particular succeeded in building a large community of rockers online where fans and bands discuss music, gigs etc.
Rock and Roll
India has produced many rock bands, even some that have made it into mainstream Indian music, and achieved some international recognition.
Indian fusion
An Indian sub-genre of rock that focuses on the blending of Indian styles of music with western music, in this case, rock. As mentioned before, the term of non-Indian bands using Indian instrumentals and vocal in rock is raga rock, however, Indian fusion also encompasses attempts by Indian pop musicians and film composers to incorporate rock music into their work, starting in the 70s with film scores like those of the Amitabh Bachchan classics.
The Brown Indian Band features accomplished Indian classical musicians in concert with jazz virtuosos. Indian classical music can be compared to jazz as both are forms of improvised music. Indian classical music is linear and uses just one scale (raga) to improvise within a composition whereas jazz has a much broader palette for improvisation where multiple scales can be used to improvise through harmonic changes. Indian classical music however, has some of the world's most complex rhythm structures and subtle quarter tones that add an exciting new dimension to jazz. The Brown Indian Band uses the best of both forms of improvisation to create India's contribution to world music.
There are also other new Indian bands coming up with a wonderful blend of Indian & Western music, incorporating different styles like Rock, Jazz, Folk etc. and fusing them with Indian Classical & other forms of Indian music, to create an Experimental style of FUSION Music. Some of these bands are Mrigya (Delhi), Indian Ocean (Delhi), KASP (Mumbai), Advaita (Bangalore) etc.
Indian funk
Indian funk is a loose term describing the style of rock and roll which is sometimes blurred into the realms of pop and other genres. Whereas Indian fusion may only incorporate Indian style into rock, or rock into Indian music, Indian funk can be broadly defined as what rap-metal is to heavy metal - an infusion of elements from rap, reggae, pop, and dance genres that some might consider to not be 'true' rock. Groups originating in South Asian communities in western countries like Britain are noted for this style, with bands such as Swami and Asian Dub Foundation using elements of UK garage, UK bhangra and hip-hop, such as synthesisers, rap vocals and turntables.
Hard Rock and Metal
Several bands from India have focused more on the hard rock or metal styles. Bangalore based Millennium was one of the first and heaviest metal bands. Other bands centred around Bangalore and Bombay such as Xenon and Kinky Ski Munky have a dedicated following in their cities. Death metal bands such as Demonic Resurrection have a following in India, and have achieved some favorable recognition amongst international metal experts, as demonstrated by this review at RockSomething.com: "We’ve been waiting for this one at the RockSomething office – and I do mean wait. You see, Demonic Resurrection laid claim to being India’s best demonic metal act and given the quality of this record (and I’ll admit it that bar Dementra, Threinody and these guys, a limited knowledge of Indian metal), there’s little reason to disbelieve them... ...What makes this record so special however, isn’t the fact that it laboriously crossed the seas for three weeks to get here, isn’t the fact that the main man behind it all is called Demonstealer and isn’t the fact that it’s really, really fucking heavy."[1]
Cochin based band Motherjane is popularly referred to as the first band to put Indian Rock on the world map. Having left their influence amongst the rock lovers in Japan and US, Motherjane continues to scale new heights with each passing season. Motherjane is the first and the only Indian Rock band to have their album aired across a mammoth American, Mexiacan and European radio stations.
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Motherjane, a cochin based Rock/Progressive band
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Motherjane's Debut Album: Insane Biography
Vedic metal
The Indian Singaporean band, Rudra (initially got their worldwide push from major metal label Sonic Wave International), with its style of 'Vedic metal', based around Hindu themes, has gained some fame in South East Asia, and is perhaps the most successful Indian band to fuse metal and traditional music in the vein of Brazil's Sepultura. Many international critics from America, Germany and other countries, have given the band's latest album rave reviews, as HellrideMusic's Chris Barnes said, in this review: "To my ears, Brahmayidya may be the most successful blend of native traditional music with Heaviness since Sepultura’s Roots. It not only works, it is essential. Rudra don’t so much pepper traditional East Indian rhythms, chants and percussive instruments into their music as much as make them the focal point."[2]
Since the genre was pioneered by Rudra in the late 1990s, it has grown in popularity. Bands like Aryadeva (Ukraine), Symmetry (Indonesia), Warriors Of Peace (India), Asura (India), Advaita (New Zealand), The Aryan March (India), Narasimha (Singapore), Kaliyuga (Malaysia), Azrael (Australia) and Blue River (Sri Lanka) have done pioneering work in the genre. Often, along with the Vedic lyrics, the music has shades of Indian Classical music. The definitive album of this genre is the Rudra album The Aryan Crusade released in 2001.
Influences
Indian rock has been influenced by some notable cultural trends, and has in turn produced influences of its own. Indian musicians have also collaborated with other musicians from across the globe from time to time. Jolly and the Oceans is one such example. The band line up included a German drummer, Hungarian bassist, German vocalist and an Indian guitarist/vocalist Hemant Kapoor. Musicians have also travelled to the west to perform and record music. Hemant Kapoor who is now known as Mindsmith lived in caribbean to study raggae and dancehall.
Raga rock
In the west, certain groups, such as The Beatles traveled to India and incorporated some aspects of Indian music, especially classical instruments such as the sitar, into their music, often as a way of conjuring psychedelic 'eastern' feelings. The term for this was raga rock, and examples of it are The Beatles "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Strawberry Fields" and "Within You Without You" - The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" - The Kinks' "Fancy" - and The Byrds' "Eight Miles High". A number of prolific Indian classical musicians such as Ravi Shankar aligned themselves with this trend, making collaboration albums with western artists. Indian bands themselves mainly covered early rock songs by pioneers of rock and roll in Britain and America, and only achieved recognition in popular culture by supporting film scores and Indian pop.
Rock scenes
Many cities and regions have produced collections of bands large enough to be classified as a scene within Indian rock.
The Kolkata scene
One of the most notable rock music scenes in the Indian subcontinent, Kolkata delivers a diverse range folk-, metal-, jazz-oriented music. The scene culture is known to have a significant impact on the youth all over West Bengal, who have been known for their revolutionary thinking and rebellious and questioning attitude dating back to the Bengal Renaissance. A key figure of the raga rock movement, sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar himself is from West Bengal. A major aspect of the Kolkata scene is bringing forth the variety of folk music to younger audiences in new light. However, with the exception of the band Bhoomi, metal and hard rock still dominate the scene with bands like Fossils, Cactus, Lakkhichara and Insomnia. The other significant scene in West Bengal is Darjeeling, best known for its Nepali rock.Bands like Cassini's Division,Mantra, Grungy Morphines, Pralaya and Reincarnation have shown their talent and zest for music by winning numerous beat contests including IIT-Delhi,IIT-Kharagpur fests.Mantra- a nu metal band was selected to perform at the GIR 06.Darjeeling has been a hub of western music and culture, mostly credited to British colonization and western influences. Jazz King of India,Louis Banks hails from the foothills of Darjeeling. A special mention of the renowned pub, Someplace Else has to be made as it is the mecca of rock music in the region. An annual concert at the DI is called the Kolkata Jazz Festival organized by Congo Square and is said to be host to one of the most educated jazz crowds in Asia.
The Delhi scene
Delhi's music circuit has seen its share of ups and downs, but has held on largely due to the local presence of Rock Street Journal (aka RSJ). Delhi being the operational home of the Allahabad-based magazine, local bands have benefitted by the proximity to India's first magazine that (supposedly) was only about rock and metal. The Great Indian Rock festival is mostly held in Delhi, with occasional forays into Bombay, and has exposed the upcoming musicians of Delhi to a wider variety of musicians.
Of late active participation by other organisers such as Prospect A&M, Riff, State of Mind and Onstage, have propelled the scene even further. Multiple gigs happen every week, with strong attendance.
Delhi's most famous products are probably Parikrama, Indian Ocean and Orange Street. Other famous bands to come out of Delhi are menwhopause,Them Clones, Killer Tomatoes, The Superfuzz, Joint Family, Prestorika, Half Step Down, Level 9, Acrid Semblance , Undying Inc.,Septic, Decibel, Overdose, Feedback, Oritus, Levitikus,Frequency, Cyanide, Who's Jim? and HFT. Off late, Delhi has seen a rise in bands incorporating much more contemporary western influences such as the White Stripes, Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. Genres like Jazz, Grunge and Nu Metal have found a strong following, bolstered by the growth of pub gigs around the city.
The past few years have seen Delhi rise as the capital of Rock music in the country. All three Campus Rock Idol tours (the biggest amateur rock competition in the country) have been swept by Delhi bands. Prestorika in 2004, Superfuzz in 2005, and FTN in 2006-07. While Prestorika was a support act for The Rasmus' tour of India, FTN would open for Iron Maiden.
Bangalore scene
The Indian Rock scene in Bangalore brewed in its own quiet corner, coming of age gradually. Largely independent of what was happening around in the rest of the country, Bangalore bands have been quietly innovating and experimenting with various forms of music and, their achievements have been commendable so far. Home to legends like Konarak Reddy,Amit Heri, Roberto Narain & Vasundara Das, Bruce Lee Mani,Sharmon Ibrahim, Trinity D'Souza, Ebenezer M John etc. Bangalore has been a rich breeding ground for many a young gun waiting to make a mark in the Indian music arena.
Bangalore based bands, in brief: Thermal And A Quarter is considered one of India’s most popular, talented and innovative bands. With their own signature band of invention, they create music that challenges any form of classification. Kryptos, the straight-laced, virtuoso thrash /speed metal band, became hugely popular after they came out with their brilliant debut album titled Spiral Ascent – with a music company contract, and an extensive international tour they are all set to take the word about Indian Rock to the world. Bangalore has the distinction of having the most varied genres of Metal, most of whom are pioneers in the Indian Metal Scene. Bands like Gore/Grind Band Gorified, White Metal Band Whitenoiz and Vedic Metal Band Asura.
Other Bangalore bands who are forcing audiences across the country to sit up and take notice are Synaps, Slain, Bleed and Extinct Reflections.
The annual rock festival Strawberry Fields organised by the National Law School is one of the most prominent rock festivals of the country attracting a large number of bands from across the country.
Mumbai scene
The Mumbai scene is sporadic. There are gigs almost every week or two, either at Juhu's Razz or at Velocity. Razz is a great venue for gigs but the sound isn't always so great. Since shows aren't priced over Rs. 200, there always seems to be a smallish crowd of people who never fail to show up.
South Asian scene
In the Indian subcontinent, other countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal have all produced rock bands. Bangladeshi death metal bands like Severe Dementia, Barzak, Voodoo Economix, Annex, Necropolis and Dripping Gore, as well as other Bangla bands like Rockstrata, Warfaze, In Dhaka, Ashes have gained some following. Pakistan also contains many rock bands, some of which have not only gained fame in the sub-continent but globally as well. Some of the internationally acclaimed Pakistani bands are; Entity Paradigm, Noori, Junoon, Call, Mauj, Rung etc. Being the oldest pop-rock scene, Pakistani bands and musicians lead the pop orientated rock of the Indian sub-continent.Dusk & Kainaath were the first metal bands from the country, since then Pakistani underground has seen many metal bands. The Nepali rock scene originated in the influence of westerners visiting the Nepali and Indian hippy trail. Band like Septic is a great example of friendship between Bangladesh and India. The band has members from both the countries and making a new way to think about life.
Indian origin rock musicians
Several Indians living abroad have become famous names in rock music. The first and most famous of PIO rock stars was perhaps the late Freddie Mercury of Queen. Other examples include Kim Thayil of the group Soundgarden, Tony Kanal of No Doubt and Dave Baksh of Brown Brigade (formerly a part of Sum 41). Generally, wherever there is a significant Indian comminity, Indian origin musicians have emerged. This is both a testament to the number and size widespread overseas Indian communities, and India's strong musical traditions. The most notable band composed exclusively of PIOs is Singapore's Rudra.
Other rock musicians of Indian origin, with varying degrees of success, are:
- Tjinder Singh: Cornershop (vocals, dholaki)
- Sushil K. Dade: Soup Dragons (bass)
- Jason Singh: Taxiride (vocals)
- Jas Mann: Babylon Zoo
- Roy Venkataraman: The Wailers (guitar)
- Tanuja Desai Hidier: San Transisto (vocals)
- Kaustubh Pandav: Lucky Boys Confusion (vocals)
- Giti Khalsa: Seven Mary Three (drums)
- Miki Singh: Dragonfly (vocals)
- Ra: QED (vocals, guitars)
- Ian D'Sa: Billy Talent (guitar)
- Sameer Bhattacharya: Flyleaf (guitar)
- Roc
- Sheila Chandra
- Jay Serrao: The Juice (vocals, guitars)
Bands
- Joint family
- Atmosfear
- Avial
- Aurko
- www.Ashram.at
- Bleed
- Bhoomi
- Brute Force
- Bhayanak Maut
- Cassini's Division
- Chandrabindu
- Cyanide
- Colossus
- Demonic Resurrection
- Devoid
- Exodus
- Fossils
- Frequency
- Galeej Gurus
- Half Step Down
- History Makers
- Indian Ocean
- Indus Creed
- Infinite Dreams
- Insomnia
- Junkyard Groove
- Nickel & Iron(13 year old children)
- Kryptos
- Legacy
- Metakix
- Millennium
- Motherjane
- menwhopause
- Moksha
- Neolithic Silence
- Turbulence
- Overdose
- Parikrama
- Pentagram
- Pin Drop Violence
- Prakalp
- Psychomotor
- Rudra
- Sceptre
- Synaps
- The LBG
- Zero
- Vayu
- Top Town Boys
- Tripwire
- Turn
- Ichor
- Dry State
- IIIrd Sovereign
Independent record labels
Mainstream record labels in India often ignore rock, with a few exceptions (Skinny Alley on Virgin Records and Sledge on Times Music, to name a few). The rest are independent labels, often run by a band or a promoter. Album sales range between a few hundred copies to a few thousand. They are rarely, if at all, affiliated to the Indian Music Industry, the apex body for recorded music India, and sales are not usually monitored.
Promoters
In the Indian rock scenario, promoters of rock music often wear many hats: band manager, gig producer, booking agent, publicist and record label. Given below are a few of these all-in-one promotion houses.
References
- ^ HellrideMusic's Rudra review
- ^ RockSomething's Demonic Resurrection review
- ^ ennui.BOMB's Rishu Singh's interview with Wreck The Place Fantastic (earlier Punk International) about the punk scene in India