House concerts bring music into living room

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Music lovers groove to the beats of their favourite songs. The band is pumping up the volume and everyone is hooked to the music. However, it is no bar, restaurant or outdoor concert. The venue is — home. People are now enjoying the music within the comforts of their own house. The culture of in-house performances is gaining popularity in the capital. Living rooms, balconies and terraces are fast converting into stages for musicians to play gigs.

During the last two years there has about 50 percent increase in number of people opting for in-house performances, says Subir Malik, who has 54 music bands under him. “We often get requests for in-house performances. One of our bands even went to London and performed at Lakshmi Mittal’s house. Even I had a retro band live performance at my parents’ anniversary celebrations,” says Subir, who adds that there are many city-based bands with small set-ups that are ideal for house parties.
Apart from finding a new platform to play music, in-house parties also turn out to be a better source of making money for musicians. Nikhil Malik, who plays for Fuzz Culture music band, says, “A gig in a club can get you about `50,000 while in-house parties can pay from `1 lakh to 5 lakh. This is a huge jump for any musician. Also, a club or concert performance is usually through an agent which makes pay cheques more complicated than in-house parties,” says Nikhil.
Though playing in someone’s house also means that you might end up playing only Bollywood music or famous English classic songs, says Arsh Sharma from The Circus and Studio Fuzz music bands. “This could be a drawback of performing in these parties. Mostly people throw up requests, however, if you manage to mould the crowd then these could be an ideal place to experiment with music. Whichever new song you play you can immediately gauge the response since audience here are very much tuned in,” says Arsh.
Musicians also love these in-house performances as this gives them an audience hooked till the very last song. Jasmine Saxena, a musician, says that in-house parties are the ideal loyal audience any musician can dream of. “Playing in a club need not always give you an audience. Mostly people come to catch up with friends, talk and enjoy the place. Music is not the highlight in a club and most people do not pay attention to who is playing. In an in-house party, music is the highlight and it is the right place to make contact. It is an ideal place to perform,” says Jasmine.