What is A rockER after all? Wild mane with unruly locks? Or braided hair in pony-tails? Or piercings, ear-studs, beads, wristlets, headbands, head-banging, a pair of shredded jeans, bermudas and funky tees, dazzling psychedelic lights, high-energy vocals, ear-splitting peppy music, high-decibel sounds in tandem with stage thumping beats, a guitar in hand and a giant leap in the air... Phew! The list can go on and on. But are the makings of a rock-n-roll star merely limited to these trappings and accessories?
It’s not an easy meat to feast on, you see. Given the credentials of the ongoing Tuborg Unseen Underground Pub Fest-2010 — that endeavours to encourage the upcoming Indian rock and metal bands, thereby providing them with a platform to showcase their talents — one may realise that the route to a rockstar’s hot-seat isn’t a cakewalk. “Originality is the key criterion when it comes to culling rock bands for a scintillating gig like the Unseen Underground (UU) rockfest. Of course, a right judicious mix of one’s attitude, style and a confident body-lingo to boot, also counts at the end of an audition for selecting bands to mark the D-day. Coupled with an arsenal of cutting-edge tracks and their instrument back-ups, the music-makers can vouch for their band’s signature USP. We always look for qualitative pointers while promoting a slew of contemporary upcoming bands,” says Nicky, the driving force behind the pubfest.
Considering their New Age feel and the Gen-Y club-hoppers as their target audience, experimentation with established genres or the novelty factor in creativity are always welcome. “Well, we have no reservations against fusion, but it becomes a strict no-no, if not harmonised properly. For instance, Chutzpah was a superbly talented fusion band from down south Chennai, who had previously participated in the UU and held sway as a crowd favourite,” enlightens Nicky.
Talking of the current scenario, the key organiser sounds optimistic about the thriving rock scene in India. “Today’s New Age bands are highly tuned into world music from the word go. Mumbai’s Demonic Resurrection won the prestigious global metal award last month (June) in London. Other internationally famed Indian bands — Mother Jane, Junkyard Groove, Soulmate, are going great guns too. Having dished out some charttoppers from their playlists, they are already causing a stir and climbing up the popularity ladder. From the response gathered so far, it won’t be pompous to claim that in the next few years, they may take over a host of European and American bands on a performance scale and even emulate their skills as well,” assures Nicky.
This time, the splendid fiesta promises a whole new year of solid rock and mesmeric metal. With an enlivening music milieu at one’s disposal, surely the rockheads of each seven station will have their heart’s fill of content at their tapping feet.
For those not in the loop, good news for them. Out of a total 250 entries, a bulk of 100 bands have been shortlisted to play it to the gallery! “They sent in their entries via Youtube, Myspace, other social networking sites that link up their brand of music and their recorded demo-tapes. The UU fanbase is just spilling with too many regular sign-ups on the blogsite. Already 2,000-3,000 music junkies have registered their names and posts on the web-page of Unseen Underground. One good outcome from this hunt for rockers and metal-maniacs has been ‘a thing for their individuality’. Searching at a spree, we have discovered a sense of pride working at the root of all bands to parade their own fare and flavour of music. Everyone wants to belt out their seminal stuff, which we honestly appreciate. If earlier, there was a propensity to slip into the shoes of Aerosmith, Rolling Stones or the globally acclaimed Australian rock band AC/DC and croon their cover songs, now it’s me, us and our(band)self, calling the shots at the band-stand,” notes Nicky.
Kickstarted in 2008, this three-year-old musical extravaganza with high-voltage metal-n-electronica has already engrossed the music enthusiasts across the length and breadth of the nation. From death metal to metal core, voices of the frontmen range from normal, clean as in daily parlance to deformed and contorted tones where high-pitched voices are thrown in to overstrain their veins beyond the usual capacity of the vocal chords. Art rock, art punk, acid rock, pop rock, jam rock, death rock, dance rock, rap rock, soft rock, et al contribute to the different types of rockmusic.
Elaborately done up to grab all eye-balls, this year’s nocturnal soiree trickles in with a special air of significance. “This is the first stepping stone towards exploring the eastern zone market. It’s true that until and unless we have a break-even point in terms of reaping revenues from such a sparkling huge show in commensurate to the costs of putting up one, it won’t be feasible to continue with the gigs for the ensuing years. But our loyal fanbase and patrons have always ensured that the East India is a boiling pot of potentials, when it comes to music of any kind,” avers the UU think-tank.
For the uninitiated, there is a discreet circle of swinging music junkies who lap up band music anyways in the eastern region and the buzz of excitement surrounding this event was already strong in the electrifying atmosphere over there. With a rich legacy of Bangla band-culture emerging since the 1970s, courtesy the pioneering Mohiner Ghoraguli of Monida (late Goutam Chattopadhyay) and the north-east corridor being the breeding bedrock for a spate of English bands cropping out of its hills, valleys and ravines, East is definitely looking up beaming on the band-o-blast graph. “There were throngs of gleeful rooters and supporters bursting at the seams on July 17 at Hotel Hindustan International’s Virgose to sway, swoon and cheer for the Kolkata chapter of a magnificent ‘Saturday Night Fever’. Already 285 guests had confirmed their eager attendance for the soiree,” reveals Nicky, who also doubles up as a music critic on rock music from Chennai, the Mecca of music down south.
Commencing from August onwards, this absolutely infectious and stimulating ambience will be conjured up in Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, thus catering six to 10 shows at each city’s musical hub.
Out of the 100 participating bands, 75 will be plucked to take part in UUPF 2010-11. And further tapering down from 75 to 25 bands, the chosen ones will get a chance to play in more than at least one city under the banner of UU. Finally, 10 best band labels will be zeroed in on to tour in all the cities that have been planned by UU for the current “musical” year.
The spunky-spirited evenings gearing up to witness a heavy footfall with a much agog audience to sweep off its feet, will be featuring talents like the Lucid Recess (alternative/hard rock band from Guwahati), Chronic Phobia (experimental metal band from Mumbai), Cynical Recess (progressive /melodic hard rock band from Kolkata), Chronic Xorn (metalcore band from Kolkata), Underground Authority (alternative/reggae band from Kolkata), Escher’s Knot band from Chennai, besides Dwar from Shillong, Insane Prophecy from Guwahati, Pip of The Forth Mother and The Verbs from Shillong.
The band Lucid Recess will launch their new album Engraved Invitation at one of the pubfest havens. So, just pump up your fist and soak in the mirth to rock on to your soul’s content!