music india

Blues Conscience: All Soul-ed Up!

We’re back!

This time we put our soul on the line in featuring Blues Conscience from Chennai. I have to say they belong to the minority of indie bands, that actually go onstage in suits and yes, hats too. A three member band composed of Anek Ahuja on Vocals and Bass, Aum Janikiraman on Vocals and Guitars and Neil Smith on Drums. They claim it all began at a sister’s wedding. Indian Weddings? Blues? I couldn’t connect but who cares. All it took was a wedding to bring out the blues in these dudes. Voila!

Where they came from, how they ended up doing what they are doing now is better expressed in Anek Ahuja’s own words.

Tell us about Blues Conscience.

We’re a 3 power act, just like “Cream”. Although, we do collaborate with other musicians such as Maarten Visser on saxophone, Siddharth Kumar on keyboards. We also did a stand-up comedy and blues act with Shyam Kumar. As a 3 piece we got our music figured out as base, to let any other musician collaborate easily with us.

How was the band formed?

The band was formed to perform at my sister’s wedding. Although we did not restrict ourselves to blues, soon after the wedding, we thought why not do a blues act. Since all 3 of us really enjoyed, playing and listening to it.

Why Blues Conscience?

‘Cos it didn’t restrict us to authentic blues but rather, we play music which is heavily influenced by the blues.

A Blues Band amongst the rapidly growing punk, hard rock, metal indie scene in India…How does it feel?

It feels great! There aren’t too many blues bands out there. I guess ‘cos all the newer bands are pretty young, and cater to a young audience. The blues has more soul, and appeals to a much more mature audience.

You guys do this full time or have separate jobs apart from this?

We all have separate jobs as you might be aware, of India’s opportunities for musicians. Moreover, we’d like to get richer faster so we can buy ourselves better equipment. I run a graphic design/advertising agency here in Chennai called Whoa Mama Design, Aum runs a similar agency called MMU Communications and Neil works at Amazon.

Major Influences in your music?

Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Joe Cocker, Chris Rea….

Inspirations behind the song writing?

Most of our ‘writing’ is never really written. The words just come, while jamming on a guitar, and then we take it; twist it around and see what comes out of it. Mostly for new songs, the lyrics change a couple of times during a show before it’s properly set. Although Aum our guitarist likes writing his songs with many versus. I like to keep it simple I guess.

How’d you guys managed “blue” and “Barack Obama” to work in the same line for the track Barack Obama.

Barack Obama was not written for him. It was written for an American girlfriend of mine, who at the time, was returning, to the states as he won the elections. I didn’t want her to leave. “So the only way I could make her stay was if Barack Obama comes with me”.

Not forgetting the “interesting” Shaggin’ Ma Dog (????) – How did that came about?

Shaggin ma dog, a pretty popular hit on the Chennai circuit, was originally written to cheer up a close friend of mine, when his dash hound died. I know, it’s dark humor, but it did cheer him up. And then, the song was used once anyone else’s dog died.

Which is harder?  Writing a song, creating the music for it or performing live?

I wouldn’t say either of them are hard. Although performing it live really determines how well you’re able to shape the soul in to the song.

 

How important is clinching a record deal?

I have no clue. Right now to us not too important I guess.

If you could tour with another band, say from the local arena, who would that be? And why?

Well I think “Soulmate” from Shillong, is an awesome band. They got their feet, into the authentic blues with great riffs and amazing vocals, I’d love to tour with them. I guess also cause they have a great fan following, and would help us reach out a bit as well.

Future Albums?

Well we have a demo of 8 songs, out of which 2 are really covers. But we have written about 10 songs now, probably write another 2-4 more, and call it an album sometime soon. We also will re-record all the songs from the demo, as that was a rushed job.

Upcoming Gig?

We’ll be playing at Counter Culture Bangalore as an ode to Robert Johnson – Ode to the Blues on May 7th. There are other bands playing as well.

Which song from your originals would you recommend for someone who hasn’t heard of Blues Conscience?

Kamasutra, Tipalo, & Shaggin ma dog.

People who love (____) will love our music.

SCOTCH

Music…

They have yet to release a solid album. But, demo songs and a few cover songs are already up for audience listening. And if you have been around Chennai long enough, you would have heard them perform at a myriad of locations around the Southern Coast.

Kamasutra and Morning After were my favorite tracks amongst their many compositions. Be it any track, the vocalist had the x-factor in his voice to pull you into the track and perhaps get you to groove a step or two. The saxophone accompaniment is an another reason why one should really listen to this track .  Blues Santa was another track I sort of liked. But I can’t say it was a favorite. It was not bad in its own way.

That was Kamasutra for you. Fancy their music now? It doesn’t quite stop there. Although my selections here differ from what Anek suggested, you need to get the best of both worlds so I’m still gonna go ahead with my choices.

Morning After was a tad less upbeat but similar to the previous track the vocals were amazing and let’s not forget the instruments behind this particular track. They were the unsung heroes.

 

Most of their tracks reminded me of John Mayer (but that could just be me) and perhaps Jimi Hendrix for you. Either way, the tracks were definitely worth listening too. Since many of the tracks were demos they were fairly short. No worries, we have been assured that the band will be re-doing some of their demos and we might just be treated to a full fledged album soon.

Red Jam and Memphis Blues are stand alone non-lyrical tracks. They bring with them the beauty of the music these guys are capable of coming up with. It’s a great start for one who has never been exposed to the genre before. I particularly loved the way Red Jam started playing.

One need not be into the entire “blues thingy” to get the feel of it. That’s the thing. You can be a newbie to the entire genre but still groove to it. Unlike metal whereby if you’re not into head banging, you’re just torturing your ears. For starters, because hardly we feature blues here, I’d recommend you guys to go treat yourselves to Blue Conscience.

To keep track of Blues Conscience

Besides the featured tracks you can also check out their other tracks and learn a bit more about them.

If you think you have known all about them and are already a fan, time do what I do and obviously preach: stalk! Simply stalk them on their fan page, (don’t we just love social networking sites) keep track of their upcoming gigs and go attend! And of course return to that same fan page and leave them an encouraging compliment on how much you enjoyed the show. And if the comment boxes on these sites aren’t enough for you, write to us (or mail to: sip[at]gingerchai[dot]com) about your experience and we will feature it.

Ode To The Blues – 100 Years of Robert Johnson

Before you start reading about it, I have to tell you that the event sounds uber exciting. There is a whole range of items arranged for the audience. I’d be more than glad to attend. So here’s the thing, if you are in Bangalore, I suggest you go have some blues fun on my behalf. Now onto the real stuff…

Celebrating the 100 years since the birth of world renowned blues guitarist Robert Johnson, a week of movies, music and maybe popcorn has been organized. And it starts today!

If you’re around the region, you ought to go catch up on the movie screenings that begins on the 1st till the 6th. Movies that will be screened include Feel Like Going Home by Martin Scorsese, The Road to Memphis by Richard Pearce, Piano Blues by Clint Eastwood to name a few.

And that’s not all!

As previously mentioned by Anek, Blues Conscience is also part of the big performance!

On the 7th of May, Blues Conscience together with HFT, Ministry of Blues, Gowri Jayakumar and a whole lot of other artistes will be performing at Counter Culture, Bangalore as a tribute to Robert Johnson. For more details check out Ode To The Blues.

You will be attending yea? Come on…get off that couch will you!

Advaita – The Mystic 8

Advaita, the first of an eight member band I was lucky enough to come across. Based in New Delhi (one more reason to visit Delhi), this fusion band is made up of not 3, or 4 but 8 individuals who have come together to create magic that lives up to its Sanskrit definition of Advaita – Non-duality.

Advaita encompasses the talents of Abhishek Mathur (Guitars, Electronics), Anindo Bose (Keyboards, Electronics), Chayan Adhikari (Lead Vocals – Western), Aman Singh Rathore (Drums, Percussion), Suhail Yusuf Khan (Vocals – Sarangi, Hindustani), Ujwal Nagar (Vocals – Hindustani), Mohit Lal (Tabla, Percussions) and Gaurav Chintamani (Bass).

Back in 2004, eight dudes who had the common interest of making music got together. Their sole aim was to create music that was uniquely theirs. Eight people collaborating together to create pieces that they all believed in sounds dramatic already. Crazy even. But guess what, Advaita succeeded and went on to give their debut album Grounded in Space early last year.

Abhishek, the lead guitarist shares with Gingerchai the secret behind the oneness that eight musicians share…

How was Advaita formed?

In 2004 a bunch of us from different bands and ensembles got together to try and form a different kind of ‘fusion’ band – although we don’t really care too much for the word fusion. The idea was to make soulful songs incorporating elements of the kind of textures we had imbibed from western rock and pop and merge those with Indian classical melodies and moods, but try and do it in a way that the elements blended seamlessly.

Major Influences in Advaita’s music?

There are too many and they keep on increasing. First of all, Indian Classical music and its inert spirituality and depth. From western music there’s a lot of the classic rock stuff old and new – Pink Floyd, Coldplay. Electronic stuff like Massive Attack, Zero 7, Air and of course other styles of merging East and West from Talvin Singh and Nitin Swahney and projects like ‘One Giant leap’ to the great ‘Shakti’ and stalwarts like the late Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

How different is Advaita from the rest of the Indie Bands in India?

Like many others we are unique in the kind of sound and style we are exploring. Although there are a few other indie bands doing things with folk and classical elements with rock or pop, I think Advaita has a distinct mystical sound. We want to sound psychedelic, but not in the traditional sense. We’re also unique due to the size of our line up!!  (Agreed on that note!)

Tell us about Grounded in Space?

Well, it is our first album and the entire process took almost three years to finally take it out, thats a story too large for this interview. (Sobs)

But we’re very proud of the album. Special mention must be made for the support of Mr Shantanu Hudlikar at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai. The two weeks we spent there recording the album were really memorable.

Inspiration for the lyrics behind the album?

We get inspired by life in general but sometimes the lyrics can be quite abstract like on Suspended or Gates of Dawn. Then there’s some personal stuff like Miliha or Hamsadhwani, and especially So Lost.

Am I right to assume Advaita wants to keep its music at an alternative cum carnatic approach? Is keeping the compositions mellow the motive? Well I personally loved the album.

Not really, we don’t use much carnatic music in our compositions as our classical members are trained in the north Indian Hindustani style.  (It was mistake on my part to have confused both Hindustani & Carnatic.)

Frankly we don’t want to be pigeon holed into any specific sound – some of the new material is very different from what one might expect of us – a lot of it is not mellow at all.

How important is clinching a record deal?

Well, one does want to get their music out there and clinching a record deal was a big leap in that direction. But having said that; people are finding many other ways of getting their stuff out to people through other innovative means, especially using the internet. So they might argue a record deal isn’t important. The music business is changing as we speak so one has to keep their eyes and ears open.

Biggest challenge as an Indie band in India?

In this scene to survive is hard enough and then to earn and get your music heard and get shows, etc. The list is huge! In India one big problem is that our market is so much in the grip of Bollywood that there is little room for other things. This is really sad. Because India has a rich tradition in the arts and it seems these days people just want the same nonsensical emotionally plastic stuff over and over again.

The other side of it is that promoters, event companies, radio, TV channels etc just don’t want to give a chance to anything else. Our record company tells us whenever they do sample testing for their releases, Advaita’s album gets a very good response which makes me feel like – people will like us if they get the chance to find out we exist! (You bet! You have a crazy fan right here!)

That’s a very frustrating feeling for us and other indie bands like us who don’t have the resources to market extensively!

If you can tour with another band, say from the local arena, who would that be?

I don’t know – the truth is we like to make our shows the kind where the audience really gets into our vibe so we actually prefer playing alone. But one band we admire a lot on the scene is Avial.

What keeps the spirit high amongst Advaita? I mean there are 8 of you! How do you manage to create music?

We all are good friends and hang out even when we’re not practicing. For any team to function efficiently the members need to have a good personal equation and in a band like ours where there is so much going on in terms of parts and arrangements – it’s a challenge to keep it together and make music that really reflects our collective personality. Motivation is not really a problem because we really believe in what we’re trying to do.

Where does Advaita sees itself in 5 years?

This is hardly the kind of scene where one can plan so far ahead; we’re just taking it one season at a time.

People who love (____) will love our music.

a) People who love staring at the sea will love our music.

b) People who love chocolate will love our music.

Future Albums? Upcoming gigs?

Ya the next album should be out next year – we’ve got the material but we like to take time to let the arrangements and stuff mature.

More about Grounded In Space…

Abhishek shared the making of their debut whereas as an avid Indie music seeker or new music if you will, I have to say I loved this album.  It has been on replay mode for some time now. No, there was no exaggeration there. The general feel one gets to this album would be along the lines of drinking hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night. I’m serious dude! So wipe that expression off your face.

Considering how those who love a good chocolate bar and enjoy zoning out into the sea would love their music, I wasn’t surprised that I came out loving the tracks of this album.

It was comforting, soulful, and hardly do you hear a song where the lyrics go “Trying to find, find a way to go..” accompanied with an Indian stringed instrument in the background.  Which I have now come to know is a Sarangi. The vocals were so unassuming and soothing it comes as no surprise that So Lost is one of my favorite numbers. Although I am going to repeat, the whole album rocked.

Mere Yaar, starts slow and ends up growing onto you. It continues on with English lines in between. Recall, J-pop with its English one liners thrown in just for the benefit of having a non-japanese lyric. Well, this number is NOT one of them! It was a stark difference. The lines blended in so well with its backing Hindi lyrics. That is one classic fusion piece, right there.  Highly Recommended!

Several other numbers to look out for would be Raasiya, Hamsadhwani ,Ghir Ghir, Durga for a tad faster bit and I will go on, but instead I’m telling you listen to the entire album. You should catch them live if possible and fill us in here at Indie Rhythms.

To listen to Advaita…

Log onto their Myspace, last.fm or reverbnation sites to give your ears a pleasant preview before they start begging you to go grab the album.

And to keep up with their performances in Delhi and around the nation or perhaps in your non-Indian continent, social networking is a gift.

Author’s Note: Apologies for uber long breaks between articles. Attempts will be made to fill the void.

Author’s Note Continued: If you have been diagnosed with the following, it’s recommended you contact me and I will get back to you with the remedy!

• You have a favorite musician that you want featured in Indie Rhythms
• You know a budding artist and he needs a platform to spread the word
• You came across an album that swept you off your feet or made you crash into a wall even
• You witnessed this amazing live performance of an Indie band and you wanna share the experience with us (OK for this one you cannot directly contact me.)
• You think I need to do a better job
• You simply wanna say “Hi Usha, the series rocks”. (Although this can very well be done at the comment’s section)

Now all of the above would gladly put a smile on my face and perhaps a gift in your mailbox.

Thank You for Tuning in!

Note: Images courtesy of Shiv Ahuja & Abhijeet Singh Chauhan (www.advaitaonline.net)

MOTHERJANE – Ethnic Spirits, Global Rock

So where were we the previous time? Chennai was it? What am I to say, except that we’re gonna hang around the South for a bit. This time it is Kochi, Kerala to meet the winners of 2009 Asian Voice Independent Music Awards (AVIMA) for Best Indie Rock Band in Asia and 2010 AVIMA for Best Vocalist and Most Popular Act in Asia. .

Becoming MOTHERJANE

MOTHERJANE they call themselves. And the CAPS are accompanied with reasoning by the way. They have been around for more than a decade playing host to some varied audience around India. Sometime in 1996 was when the band took form and 14 years later, they have a massive fan following who call themselves the Janiacs

MOTHERJANE is currently made up of Suraj Mani (Vocals & Lyricist), Baijju Dharmajan (Lead Guitar), Deepu Sasidharan (Rhythm Guitar), Clyde Rozario (Bass) and John Thomas (Drums). MOTHERJANE encompasses a bit of multiple worlds: They have regional influence in their compositions . They use western instruments to create traditional pieces. They sing in English. What keeps the pieces together is the balance of not getting too carried away with the Indian beats nor making it entirely Rock with regards to the western perception.

Amidst getting their “baby”, the new Studio that is currently being constructed, all for the sole purpose of providing MOTHERJANE to conjure up awesome music for our hearing, Suraj, the voice behind the songs sat down to share some MOTHERJANE tidbits.

What is it that we don’t know about MotherJane but we should?

Well that it is spelt MOTHERJANE as a single word. Many people think it is two words Little piece of trivia for you, we used to use all small letters and now we prefer to use all caps. Does seem a lot bolder.

What has changed since MOTHERJANE was born back in 1996?

The entire industry has become better organized and there is a growing sense of confidence in many of the professionals and semipro’s, that this is a viable career. Greatest thing in a single statement would be, the number of young bands who think it is natural that they should make originals. It wasn’t like that once upon a time.

Biggest challenge as an Indie band in India?

Collating resources. Mainly in terms of creative, technical and other support teams. You see, a successful band has a lot of behind-the-scenes work happening and to inspire other people to commit their time and efforts to a shared dream is pretty much the single most critical point in going to the next level.

Which is harder?  Writing a song, creating the music for it or performing live? Why?

I find writing the songs to be real easy and that’s a personal thing. Maybe because I’m so opinionated It does vary from artist to artist. Creating the music has been a logistical problem for us as I have been in Bangalore since 2001 and the rest of the guys in Kochi. Having said that, we almost come up with a song pretty effortlessly when we are in the same room together. Performing is the part that is seriously effortless.

How different is MOTHERJANE from the rest of the Indie bands in India?

Well we have been very professional in our approach. We have a reputation as a band that will be there on time, do sound-checks etc properly and deliver a killer performance no matter where or who the audience is.

Describe a regular creative session?

No real rules actually. If you are feeling good and have something to express, a song is already on its way. In that state of mind; creativity chooses you, not the other way around.

Which song from your released albums would you recommend for someone who hasn’t heard of the band? Why?

Well… All of them! We have two studio albums Insane Biography and Maktub and two singles called the Tribes of Babel and Jihad. Everything rocks

Complete the following statement: People who love (______________) will love our music.

People who love “To honor their roots and question the rules” will identify with MOTHERJANE. Our war cry of “Ethnic Spirits, Global Rock” springs from this philosophy.

I play a couple of instruments at varying levels of hopelessness and I could be tone deaf.  Do you think you could use somebody like me in the band?

Is that a serious question? To be honest, we get a lot of similar requests.   It’s almost like, “I am a great person, can I have an affair with your spouse?” (And I lost my chance of quitting school to become a rock star.)

Future Albums? Upcoming gigs?

Our label Aum-I Artistes is opening a new studio on the 15th of September and we are the reason they built such a studio. Hell yes! Songs are written, studio time is a given, new albums are coming. Season has also commenced in India, so the gigs are also kicking off. It’s a good time for us and we have worked for it.

Albums…

A couple of studio albums under the titles of Insane Biography(2002) and Maktub (2009) are one of the many reasons for the growing numbers of Janiacs. A quick note about Maktub: Ya’ll aware of Rolling Stones Magazine yea? MOTHERJANE was featured in 2009 for coming up with The Best Rock Album for that year. That’s Right, Maktub was its name.

Apart from studio albums, they recently ventured into the South Indian Cine Arena as a music director composing the original soundtrack, Jihad, for Anwar, a Malayalam movie. It has been receiving rave reviews and many have cited it to be one of their favorite since its release in August.

I haven’t listened to their debut album entirely, but, I can vouch for Maktub and why it makes sense that Rolling Stones India named it the best album of the previous year. Almost all the tracks are of a favorite of mine, however, I am obliged to mention a few tracks one might wanna look out for. Such as Fields of Sound, Chasing the Sun, Mindstreet, and Broken. Guitar accompaniments are a major highlight for each of these tracks.

Potential Janiacs…

We would suggest you go grab their records from the first record store you come across. Then again, if you are reading this series for the first time and really doubt our music taste or perhaps are already expressing distinct music preferences than the ones we have to share here; you can always head over to www.reverbnation.com/motherjane or http://www.last.fm/music/motherjane or http://www.motherjane.in to get a taste of what MOTHERJANE has to offer.

Assuming you were impressed with their compositions and is now a true blue Janiac, welcome to the club! You may now stalk them at www.facebook.com/motherjane or http://twitter.com/motherjaneindia to keep yourself updated on the latest happenings of MOTHERJANE.

You guys also owe the PR Angel of MOTHERJANE, Eva Dowd, a Thank You for ensuring these sites are duly updated for us Janiacs.

To the readers: Guess it’s time we heard from you since Indie Rhythms began. All you have to do is let us know the Indie Musicians around India that you want featured in this series. They can already be making waves or they need a platform just so they can start creating some ripples or if you, yourself is a budding talent and need an audience; we’re all ears for ya. Mail me: Usha and I will get back to you.

Thank You for tuning in!

Note: Images courtesy of MOTHERJANE.

Junkyard Groove – Love Playing Live More Than Life

That was one long break that should have been much shorter, my apologies. Good stuff not only arrives in smaller packages but also takes time with the delivery.

Just to refresh that rusty memory; the last band that was featured in the series (before the disappearing act) was Indian Ocean from New Delhi.

This time we are heading down south to Chennai to meet the alternative rock band known as, Junkyard Groove. The groovy members of this live performance band include Ameeth Thomas (vocals), Craig Maxworth(bass) and Siddharth Srinivasan (guitars). They have been around and performing for close to five years now.

We got around to Ameeth Thomas to share a little about the groove that goes with the band.

Describe a regular music making process.

There is really no fixed way in which we do things especially with the writing of our new album. With 11:11 and Nicer In A Minute some of the songs were written before the band was started. Most of the songs where written with one acoustic guitar and parts built around it. The new album is turning out to be very different.

Major Influences in your music?

Pearl jam, Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, Artic monkeys, John Butler Trio, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Mute Math, Dub FX and the list goes on

Biggest challenge as an Indie band in India?

It’s like anywhere building a strong fan base. There are no short cuts to this.

How important is clinching a record deal?

If you ask me, not at all. With the advent of social networking and direct to fan base marketing there is really no need for a record deal. Another reason is studio and production costs have come down drastically, all you need is a good laptop a sound card, some recording software and it’s like you’re playing in the best studios in the world.

What was the band working towards to in the beginning and how has that changed thus far?

Not much has changed. We formed this band for the love of making and performing music. Only thing that has changed in the last 5 years is the scale at which we are doing it.

How does it feel to be onstage performing?

We are basically a live band that is how we built a fan base. We live to play live and love it more than life.

How different is JYG from the rest of the Indie Bands in India.

I do not know how different we are from the others. I guess that is not for me to decide. What I can tell you is that we not only concentrate on our music but all aspects of it. For example things like PR, marketing, composing, live performance, recording etc. Everything matters I guess. That is what bands here need to learn: Do not wait for someone to save you, save yourself.

Advice for people who might wanna form their own bands?

a. Have a f**k load of fun doing it

b. There are no short cuts to success.

c. Nothing good in life comes easy.

Future Albums? Upcoming gigs?

Right now the band is working on the next album and me (Ameeth) on my solo EP. As for gigs catch us on facebook and our website for updates.

Complete the statement: People who love ____ will love our music.

Pearl Jam, Incubus, Dave Matthews Band and John Butler Trio, you

Previous albums…

Include 11:11 [bootleg] and Nicer In A Minute E.P. Both albums are readily available for download at www.junkyardgroove.net. All one has to do is sign up and you can download all their albums. It’s perfectly legal, if you are wondering that is.

11:11 [bootleg] was released early 2009. It features 11 tracks some of them having been featured in the Nicer In A Minute compilation as well. Some of the tracks starts with an Indian feel and later continues as a rock number.  Folk You was one such track which also carried a couple of Tamil lines.

Interlude was a slow number accompanied with both rock music and Indian instruments. For one who is doubtful of JYG might wanna start with this track and move onto the rest.

It’s Ok starts with a quirky, lively feel to it and the energy is carried throughout the number.

Twinkle Twinkle starts as a laid back track and later takes upon layers. A tad faster than lounge music is what I would say.

Time you got your earphones and start groovin’

To be on track with their music, upcoming gigs and tour dates; one can stalk them, LIKE their status updates (and stalk ‘em more) or intrude their space.

Thank you for tuning in!

Note: Image courtesy of www.junkyardgroove.net

Camouflage – Get Camouflaged n Get going

From New Delhi, we decided to head to West Bengal, Kolkata to have a chat over a cup of Gingerchai with the upcoming band, Camouflage. Formed in 2005, the ultimate standing Camouflage is made up of Neel (Vocals), Roy (Guitars), Rana (Bass) and Jeet (Drums). They have participated in several leading Music Competitions and are a well known name in the Kolkata Music Scene. We managed to catch up with them while they were working on their debut album.

Camouflage shares with us about Camouflage…

Usha: Are all of you guys from Kolkata? How was Camouflage formed?

Camouflage: Yes, all of us are from Cal born and brought up except our drummer who grew up in Bhutan and then shifted to Cal during his teens. Camouflage was initially formed by 3 school friends (some of whom are former members now) namely Roy, Avy & Sou in early 2005. These guys were also playing for another band at that time. So, once Jeet came on board as a drummer; introduced to the trio by a mutual friend, then everything fell into place and thus Camouflage was formed.

Usha: Why the name ‘CAMOUFLAGE’? Ever went under a different name?

Camouflage: To be honest when we were starting up this set up we used to have regular debates on a series of issues. ‘CAMOUFLAGE’ was a winner of one such debate competition -hence, the naming of the band. On the hindsight, it basically follows that same psychology of parents contemplating upon what name they would give to their new born child. Back then we were the parents who had a new born child to be given a name.

As it often happens in this scenario you look over here and there for ideas, go through the net search book to you make sure that if a certain name that has cropped up in your mind that you don’t have that same name for any other band at least in India to avoid confusion. So, accordingly a lot of names and themes were doing the rounds but the instant one of us suggested “CAMOUFLAGE” we all knew that has to be it, because it was thematically felt very appropriate. It very much reflected our attitude towards the band also. Back then most of us were students or part time job doers, some engineering students or BPO workers, some seeking management studies yet all were eager to form this set up. We were CAMOUFLAGED to be musicians.

But five years down the line we are CAMOUFLAGE, with the only difference being in the fact that some how now we have to disguise ourselves when we try our hands on something else. So, if we look back in a way we didn’t name our band rather, CAMOUFLAGE earned it.

To answer the second part of your question all we have to say is that we never felt the need to play with any other name as mentioned earlier also as it represented a part of us. It’s about being who you are, and if you try and change that you lose your identity that’s what we feel. And also name change doesn’t change the fortune it’s your honesty towards the craft that will suffice at the end of the day. So, if you believe in something then stick with it that’s our philosophy.

Usha: Is there a lead vocalist? Or vocals take turns?

Camouflage: Neel is our lead vocalist but at times very rarely Roy also takes turns. But Neel takes most of the responsibility. While others in the group do follow it up with strong chorus/harmony lines.

Usha: Describe a regular creative/music -making process?

Camouflage: To describe that in keypad and mouse its little difficult but still we are trying.

We generally sit down together and jam, more often on a hook or a theme and take turns to describe and underline it on our respective instruments. For an example-if Roy comes up with a hook on the guitar then we all try and compliment the hook, taking the mood and theme of the hook into consideration we jam on that for sometime and  then stop to question each other on why’s and how’s of it. We try and look at it from every possible direction where this hook can lead us to. Once we all are convinced for the session that we have worked out the best possible option presently available, we call it a day. The next rehearsal we again try to spontaneously react to the hook without trying to imitate what we had earlier decided upon to be the best option. In this way we take all the positives from all the sessions and then try to weave them together around the basic hook from which we started out. We take the call only when we are saturated for options for a particular song. Saturation can set in -in a week, a month or even sometimes 2 yrs. But we make sure that we are well convinced and saturated collectively. But there have been exceptions also where we have changed arrangements even after performing as well. So for such tracks we have two parallel arrangements that we do in live gigs depending on our n audience’s mood.

So, you see it is easier for us to describe with drums n guitar rather than keypad and mouse.

Usha: Has a random jam session made way for a new song?

Camouflage: Generally speaking we would say, most of our jam sessions are random but we mostly have a pre-planned hook, to which we randomly react. But there have been instances also when we randomly jammed together and came up with a hook-line or a riff which after further dissection ended up into a main hook or riff of a song. But most of our songs are born from a random jam session rather than a random reaction to a planned hook or a theme.

Usha: How has your compositions evolved since 2005?

Camouflage: Our music is an expression of what we are and it talks about our life and the experiences that we have shared all this while. So, as we have grown 5 years older our thought process and the general perception of looking at things has also evolved which definitely contributed to the ideas in song writing along with its dynamic nature of the evolving style in general. You only get better as you write more but sometimes stagnation of thought process also creep in. Initially when you start you have certain ideas on which you would want to write but after a certain point you find that although a certain music demands a certain style of song writing but you just cannot get it right & avoiding to be repetitive so the challenge of song writing becomes more and one has to evolve as a writer to write on a different aspect of the same subject to get out of the writer’s bout mode. Today, if we have say anything about our songs we would say that let the audience decide on what perception that he/she would want to have for a certain song. As we believe that once we have played a certain song to an audience it transcends and lingers different kind nuances of emotion to each individual on the same subject. But theoretically if you ask then we would say that the compositions have become more abstract (having mixture of ideas and thoughts, sometimes social and emotion based). There’s no winning formula to this on why a particular song catches the imagination of the audience as sometimes you feel that the other would work and it doesn’t. So in a nut shell it can be said that the right emotion has to be reciprocated through the right words balancing it out with the mood and the ambience of the music or vice versa.

Over the years we have also changed and altered some of our old compositions as we felt with time and experience that we could give it a better texture to the whole thing.

Musically we have tried to be more aware and learn all these years which also reflect in our newer OC’S. But above all it is our approach towards life and our experiences together and individually which has evolved and matured leading to different type’s compositions on varied subjects. This is bound to happen to any creative group who are around for a while.

Usha: To quote from your MYSPACE site, it reads “most of their songs are inspired by their own wrong doings. Camouflage is a mix of the good, bad and the ugly emotions that’s imbibed in their music as well.” So your compositions are hardly imaginary but a reflection of our respective lives, in what way?

Camouflage: Yes, you are absolutely correct. Our compositions are hardly imaginary as you have rightly pointed out. With the hardest part being able to perceive and keep alive an optimistic imagination of our respective CAMOUFLAGED lives that we live in a way. We believe that our imaginations are the reflections of our good, bad and the ugly emotions of our respective lives and hence it’s mostly inspired by our wrong doings. You can only imagine something good when you face the crisis in reality.

“Imagine all the people, living life in peace”-John Lennon

So, you see that you can only be an optimist and imagine when you know that all the people are not leaving their lives in peace. That’s why our compositions are so realistic in a way with an optimistic end. Our imagination starts from the morning cup of tea and runs throughout the day till the last insomniac try to sleep over an ugly emotion of a broken relationship.

Usha: Where have you guys performed so far?

Camouflage: Actually apart from the local circuit with usual pub and college fest gigs, we have traveled across India and have performed in places like Pune, Benaras, Bhubaneswar etc. and also had our fair share participating in All India rock competitions like IRock, CRI etc. during our college days where we managed to reach the finals and won at the IIT-KGP and the IIMC fest rock competitions as well.

Usha: How does it feel to be onstage performing?

Camouflage: NOT CAMOUFLAGED!! The best feeling while performing as a group on stage is that is where we are 100% true to our character. And the best part is that we get to know instantly if people do like our music or not. And those live spontaneous reactions don’t lie. Every performance is very important for us and it’s like a dream trip or a joy ride always memorable and to be cherished forever. It is a fun ride where your best pals are also taking part playing some gorgeous licks and you nod in appreciation or otherwise make a face at him for goofing up and he immediately tries to cover that up.

Usha: Major Influences in your music?

Camouflage: Our major influences are quite diverse due to our early education and backgrounds in music as individuals. But having said we do have common likings from a lot of artists from whom we derive inspiration from. This is so because like for example our drummer has an extensive background in Latin music and percussions and similarly other members have lineage with other basic forms of music as well.  We generally like artistes who are innovative in their thinking in terms of songwriting and consider music in totality (including the total ambience relating to the content) rather than individuality; as we believe that you can make good music with minimalistic playing too and the rest of the onus can be carried out by the power of song writing ideas, which should have a thought provoking or emotional subtext to it.

However this is a never ending process which might lead to another debate within the band arising out of the exhaustive collection of the individual preferences of artist catalogue.

However, some of them are-Coldplay,U2,Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Maroon 5,Radiohead,Oasis,John Mayer etc…

Usha: Name a current song that is on replay mode in each of your ipods?

Camouflage: Nil – Breakeven (The Script), Roy – Low Rising (The Swell Season), Rana – Videotape (Radiohead), Jeet – 42 (Coldplay), Sam (production and sound engineer) – Starlight (Muse)

Usha: If you can tour with another band, say from the local arena, who would that be and why?

Camouflage: Hmm…a hard question to answer. Honestly, can’t pick a band from the local domain but nationally if you ask then Pentagram or Zero (if they re-unite) or Junkyard Groove any of them if they agree then definitely we would like to tour with them at some point in future. We like them very much due to their innovation & musical prowess over a particular genre. It’s not easy in India to make a mark as a western band so for them making it big with their original music is no mean feat and we respect that very much.

Usha: Biggest challenge as an Indie band in India?

Camouflage: We would say that the biggest challenge is to get the mass audience to listen to Indie bands like us. As often mainstream Bollywood music orthodoxy creeps in, trying to dilute our efforts in most of the markets, always ruling with the majority. Hence to conquer the vicious circle monetarily and logistically becomes a daunting task as well as a tough hurdle to cross.

But having said that we realize that slowly but steadily times are changing with the people’s mindset, perception and likings are also changing too in a positive direction promising an optimistic future for the indie bands. Other than that staying together through thick and thin with patience and believing in the honesty of music also forms an integral part of being in an Indie band. Because, more often than not rough patches will be there this needs to be overpowered to see the light on the other side someday.

Usha: How important is clinching a record deal in India?

Camouflage: Very important as it helps in ground PR, in order to reach to a wider audience. But equally important is the publicity and marketing strategy of the deal as otherwise it will be just on the racks of record stores as just another record.

Usha: Future albums? Upcoming gigs?

Camouflage: Yes, we are currently recording in the studio and hopefully we will be able to get it out by the end of this year or early next year. As for the gigs right now we are playing frequently at the local Kolkata pub and college circuits as usual. However, in future, we are planning to play gigs outside Kolkata in other metro circuits to promote our music once we are done with the recording.

Usha: How can we gain access to Camouflage’s music?

Camouflage: We have our communities in Orkut, Facebook, MYspace and Twitter. We are now on the process of revamping all of our band pages and would be uploading our new stuff like songs, pictures and latest live videos for our fans. Fans can also interact here with the band and voice their opinions about the music. Down the line we are looking at promoting ourselves by putting up a dedicated Youtube channel or via a personal website as we approach our album launch sometime at the end of this year or early next year. So, by then fans can also get a copy of their own on album release which will contain some additional stuff like band documentary or a band video of the first single which we are planning at this point. Apart from that we are also looking at setting up a kiosk counter and distribute CD’S and merchandise at the venues where ever we play. There also the fans can get their access to our musical world.

Usha: For those who might not have heard of you, get them to attend your gig in less than 2 lines

Camouflage: “Get Camouflaged n Get going”

About the untitled album in the making…

Camouflage was kind enough to allow me to listen to a couple of their yet to be released tracks and I have to say they do have some potential that will soon be unleashed for your listening. ‘You know how I feel’ would be a track to look forward to when the album debuts late this year or early next year. The other track was ‘Claustrophic’. It takes a while to develop a liking for this particular track. Not everyone might enjoy what the tracks hopes to deliver.

We’ll wait and see when Camouflage releases its album.

For an introduction you can check http://www.myspace.com/camouflageindia to listen to a couple of their previous compositions.

Thank You for tuning in!

Note: Images courtesy of Camouflage – The Band

Indie Rhythms by Ginger Chai hopes to explore the Indie music scene across India by bringing you information on existing as well as upcoming Indie bands across the nation. Their music, previous albums, upcoming albums, events, and if we are super lucky; we hope to bring you interviews with the respective bands.  Hopefully, after this, you start rendering your ears to their compositions. Only then will Ginger Chai be able to consider this attempt a success.