SEHER presents SOUTH-ASIAN BANDS FESTIVAL from Feb 20-22, 2009 at Purana Qila
a three-day musical extravaganza featuring fourteen popular rock bands from across seven nations at Purana Qila, New Delhi from February 20, 2009 till February 22, 2009 from 5 p.m. onwards daily.
Tweet-- SEHER presents South Asian Bands Festival '09: a three-day musical extravaganza featuring fourteen popular rock bands from across seven nations at Purana Qila, New Delhi from February 20, 2009 till February 22, 2009 from 5 p.m. onwards daily. The musical fest is being held in association with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Ministry of External Affairs. For further information log on to www.sehernow.in
Presenting various genres of music ranging from the ethnic to the fusion, the participating bands performing from India are Vishal-Shekhar (Mumbai), Jasbir Jassi (Delhi), Parikrama (Delhi), Them Clones (Delhi), Agnee Band (Pune), Shaair + Func (Mumbai), Swarathma (Bangalore) and Skinny Alley (Kolkata). The other performing bands are Aryan Band (Afghanistan), Miles (Bangladesh), Soul Sounds (Sri Lanka), Robin & The Revolution (Nepal), Trio (Maldives) and Who’s Your Daddy (Bhutan).
Says Sanjeev Bhargava, Founder, SEHER & Festival Director, South Asian Bands Festival ’09: “Aimed at the youth of the country, this musical fest brings together some of the best fusion music bands from the sub-continent. This is the festival’s second year with a top-class line-up with a rare appearance of Vishal-Shekhar from Mumbai - and it promises to be a real treat for the music lovers of the capital. While the festival showcases some of the biggest names in the Indian subcontinent, it also gives a great opportunity and exposure to some of the upcoming young bands.”
Says Pavan. K. Varma, Director General, ICCR: “It is with great pleasure that the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) announces the Second South Asian Bands Festival ’09. This festival which had its first edition in Nov-Dec 2007 saw an immensely successful response from people across Delhi, especially the youth, and represented a new area of creative interaction. In 2009, the festival will feature young talent from across seven countries of South Asia, highlighting the fact that music knows no boundaries and can play a significant role in strengthening people to people contact. We are sure that the festival this year will be as much a success as it was last year.”
ABOUT THE BANDS
(A) INDIA
- VISHAL-SHEKHAR are a music directing duo who have made an indelible impact on the Bollywood musical landscape. The duo rose in prominence when they composed the score for the film Jhankaar Beats. Combining techno music with Indian sounds, the two artists each bring out their forte - Vishal as a rock artist in the Indian rock band Pentagram and Shekhar as a trained classical singer with a sound base of Indian music. The duo admits that, “Our music is a combination of Indian classical with western rock influence and it is fun that brings us together to create the well-loved music of the energetic hybrid genre that is Bollywood music.” Their success in Bollywood includes Jhankaar Beats, Om Shanti Om, Bluffmaster, Tashan, Bachna Ae Haseeno and Dostana. The duo exploded into the mainstream when they composed the score for the film Jhankaar Beats and won the Filmfare RD Burman Award for New Music Talent for the same.
- JASBIR JASSI, the renowned Punjabi singer is a first generation musician. As a kid, young Jassi played the harmonium and was a trained classical musician under the auspices of gurus VS Jolly and Puran Shah Koti of the Sufiana fame. Jassi is most influenced by classical guru Ustad Shaukat Ali Khan and Baba Kashmira Singh. A deadly contrast of hi-energy stage performance and heart-throb musical extravaganza, he says, “Music is a religion of togetherness! This is the time to overcome our religious differences and save humanity.” Adding further he says, “Music is like a pearl buried deep inside my heart and soul, just waiting to be brought out!” Having done more than 500 shows over 70 countries across the world and record breaking performances for corporate giants, concerts, public and private performances, Jasbir Jassi is still waiting to give his best performance though he goes on and on with oodles of energy and make everyone dance to his beats and steals the show one after one.
- PARIKRAMA denotes ‘the circle of life’. This Delhi-based rock band that specializes in Blues-based rock consists of Nitin Malik (vocals), Subir Malik (keyboards), Srijan Mahajan (drums), Chintan Kalra (bass guitar), Sonam Sherpa and Saurabh Choudhary (guitar). The band often fuses Indian classical music instruments like mridangam, tabla and flute with conventional instruments like guitar, drums and keyboards, while singing in Hindi. Ranging from their first concert at New Delhi’s concert on AIDS awareness to concerts on college campuses to opening for Iron Maiden, the band has performed traveled extensively and left sensational waves in its wake with over a 1000 shows. Unbridled by the pressures of commercialism, music remains their first love as they continue to sing and play with zest and passion. A wholly accessible band, they do not have any policies against their music being copied and distributed.
- THEM CLONES, a New Delhi-based pop-rock band. According to the band members, Prithwish Dev (vocals), Surojit Dev (drums), Clarence Gonsalves (bass guitar), Joseph L and Gucci Singh (guitars) “the name is a humorous and ironic interpretation of themselves.” Successfully played over 200 shows across India, they have also performed across many cities in pubs, colleges and events. They cite their influences ranging from grunge to metal, electronic, techno, international pop and to Punjabi pop icons.
- AGNEE, the reincarnated version of the old band 'Agni' are a contemporary rock band of India based in Pune and unlike its old counterpart sings in Hindi. A collective of three individual styles of composing and performing, the trio (Arijit, Koko and Mohan) are full of energy and life. Arijit (bass and lead vocals) with his jazz-rock influences, Koko (lead guitarist and backing vocalist) with his classic rock, pop and Indian influences and Mohan (lead vocals, percussion and guitar) with his carnatic and Hindustani classical influences, ensure that the audience always has something to hum when they go back home. As the songs move in genre from folk rock and pop-rock to straight up pop, elements of funk, jazz and carnatic music can also be heard, thus, giving a very wide palette to experiment with. Well known for their virtuoso performances, they are the first Indian rock band to have seen a huge celebrated main stream release.
- SHAAIR + FUNC where ‘shaair’ means ‘poet’ in Urdu and ‘func’ comes from the word ‘function’ is another Mumbai-based rock band. The three year old duo with two album releases - New Day – The Love Album 2007 and Light Tribe 2008 are India’s answer to the world elctronica-dance scene. Their performances are high on energy and costuming and their sound is distinctive: bass – heavy rhythms, poetic lyrics and haunting sync melodies. Combining an electrifying stage presence with a profound, phenomenal sound, Shaa’ir from the New York City Broadway Stage background combines her vocals with great synergy with the rock guitarist Func of Indian rock band Pentagram. Rated as one of Vh1’s top ten emerging artists out of India, their music speaks of peace and love, the breaking down of religious and cultural divisions, a conviction laced with bass-heavy rhythms, haunting synth melodies, a music built across genres charged with vigour and hailed as the music of the ‘New India’.
- SWARATHMA, a Bangalore-based Indian folk/fusion band started in Mysore in 2002. The current band members include Vasu Dixit (vocals and rhythm guitar), Pavan Kumar KJ (percussion and backing vocals), Montry Manuel (drums), Varun (lead guitar), Sanjeev Nayak (violin) and Jishnu Dasgupta (bass guitar and backing vocals). The recipe of the band’s music is, “We blend the tastes of each band member to produce a comprehensive mix of traditional as well as contemporary music.” Bringing together the spirit of Indian rock, western and Carnatic music, the band has had opportunities to play with Parikrama, Usha Uthup and Sunidhi Chauhan. Singing songs born of pain and pleasure, joys and sorrows, rain and shine, of hope that lifts hearts out of despair and of life as we know it today, they chorus, “Our songs sing of subjects ranging from the power of youth, the local river Kaveri, and the frenetic pace of urban development.” A talented band of young musicians who share a love for fusion and Indian music, they have won the Radio City Live 2008 contest and also signed up with Virgin Records.
- SKINNY ALLEY is a Kolkata-based band comprising of Jayashree Singh (vocals), Amyt Datta (guitars), Gyan Singh (bass and vocals), Jeffrey Menezes (keyboards and vocals) and Jeffrey Rikh (drums and vocals). Some of India's most experienced and versatile musicians, each of the members has performed in several bands all over the country and outside, thus, bringing a nuanced variety and wealth of experience that contributes richly to the sound of the band. Playing music that spans many decades and even more styles, ranging from rock and roll to reggae, from funk to fusion, and from jazz-inflected pop to the blues, this is the only Indian band operating with a lead female vocalist-lyricist and have played to diverse crowds, from college campuses to plush clubs and from coffee-houses to football stadiums. “We like to think of ourselves not just as a band, but as a sound”. With their lyrics being an outpouring from the experiences of everyday life in the city, as performers, they are accessible as much to the teenager as the sixty year old.
(B) ARYAN BAND from AFGHANISTAN: ARYAN BAND is the first musical ensemble to venture out of post-Taliban Afghanistan to audiences thirsty for just any kind of music after an era where they could be punished if they were caught listening to a tape in their cars! These ten youngsters – Abdul Ghafar Mehdyar (band leader, keyboardist and lead vocalist), Abdul Salam Jawid (electric guitarist and lead vocalist number 2), Mujtaba (drummer), Mohammad Mohsen (percussionist), Ahmad Nasir (pianist and back up vocalist), M. Aslam (clarinet player), Mohammad Kazim (saxophone player), Abdul Basir (bass guitarist), Mustafa (rhythm guitarist and back up vocalist) and Siddique Ahmed (violinist and manager) got together in the face of severe constraints — lack of funds, of a place to practice, and time for rehearsals. Drawing inspiration from Sufi singers and their country’s folklore, the group specializes in Persian and Pashto numbers. Their music possesses an unmistakable folk air combined with an engagement with world music, using the clarinet, guitars drums, Latino percussions, bass, congo, guitars and keyboards.
(C) MILES from BANGLADESH: One of the oldest bands of Bangladesh, MILES started their music career by releasing their first self titled album in 1982. Describing themselves as a pop/rock act, the band members - Hamin Ahmed(lead & vocal), Shafin Ahmed(bass & vocal), Manam Ahmed(key-board & back vocal), Iqbal Asif Jewel (vocal & guitarist) and Turjo(drums) are influenced by Blues, Latin, jazz, rock and techno music. Performing only English numbers of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Jimi Hendrix in the initial years, what brought them popularity and reputation was their first Bangla album titled Protisruty in 1991. Says Hamin Ahmed, the lead vocalist, “At the end of the day, the album proved that rock can go with any language, provided you know what you are doing. The language we speak is that of love and believe that we have miles to go before we sleep.”
(D) SOUL SOUNDS from SRI LANKA: SOUL SOUNDS first came into prominence as the Holy Family Convent Senior choir, when under the guidance of Soundarie David, its music director; it won a carol competition in 1996.The premier, award-winning, all-female choir group sings for various functions and in its repertoire are classical and religious songs, ethnic music, semi-classical and pop. Their music is beautiful and well thought out, in embracing an audience of wide ranging tastes. While some members of the old group were unable to continue, new members have since joined the group. The current group consists of Andrea Melder, Roshni Gunaratne, Angela Rayer, Lilanka Botejue, Michelle Joseph Ruwangie Cooray, Saumya Fernando Nilanga Jayawickreme, Dinushka Jayawickreme, Cindy Perera, Wendy Perera, Melody Perera, Shaza Wickramaratn, Sajeevani Soundareswaran, Shehara Liyanage, Michelle Vanvelzon, Mangala Abeysekara, Amila Abeysekara, Marisa De Silva, Shyana Perera, Shenali Perera, Manisha Hannan, Rashmi Fernando, Shanti Faiia, Dakshitha Rathnayaka Rozali Fernando Ornella Croos Natasha De Silva, Roshani de Silva, Raaya Gomez and Tanisha Wijesinghe along with Shyana Perera and Dinushka Jayawickreme (choir leaders). Soul Sounds have performed in Colombo, UK, Asia as well as China. Some of the other milestones include being chosen to sing for the 1997 Hollywood movie ‘Mother Theresa- In the name of God's Poor’ starring Geraldine Chaplin. Each experience has been a unique experience to them and the choir has grown from strength to strength over the years. As Neranjan de Silva, the choir's keyboardist and audio engineer probably sums it up best, “The secret of the choir's success seems to be the fact that the girls love what they are doing. They enjoy singing and are willing to toil hard to achieve greater heights. They exhibit enormous enthusiasm, motivation, and self confidence. The girls are all characters in themselves with a lot of variety and individuality.”
(E) ROBIN AND THE NEW REVOLUTION from NEPAL: One of the most popular rock band in Nepal, ROBIN AND THE NEW REVOLUTION was a project begun by Robin Tamang of ‘Robin N Looza’ fame. With a desire of playing different styles of music, and with a couple of songs already under his belt, Robin recruited several experienced members for his group. The new members that he recruited were definitely not new to the music scene, and the debut album Kta/Kt proved to be an enormous hit, blending down to earth words of elevating patriotism with a steady groove of funk, blues, slow rock and folk tunes. Their live shows are energetic thanks to an exceptionally tight rhythm section, a charismatic front man and their anthemic songs that take them from strength to strength. Following up Kta/Kt, the band produced another acclaimed album – 13000, which was dedicated to the people who lost their lives during the political insurgency in the country. With two new changes in their line ups, their current team includes Sonam Lama (bass guitar), Sanam Shrestha (drums), Dipesh Singh (lead guitar) and Robin Tamang (vocals and rhythm guitar), they continue to enthrall and amaze its crowd with the music of their own.
(F) TRIO from MALDIVES: TRIO believes in evolution from a stagnant style of music to a more culturally inclusive fusion of true Maldivian music. They have taken on the task of defining Maldivian music with what can best be called a unique young Maldivian voice filled with island passion, vehement desire and resilient creativity. They delve into the vernacular to find unique styles to identify Maldivian music with. For them, “music isn’t just a journey, it’s an ongoing adventure where learning new things is the order of the day and where providing for the industry is our calling.”
(G) WHO’S YOUR DADDY from BHUTAN: Formed by an accidental crossing of paths between an odd mix of characters in October, 2008, WHO'S YOUR DADDY? is a rock/metal outfit that plays both original and cover songs. Strung together by a common love for music, mutual respect for each other and a collective desire to entertain and gladden anyone we can, the members of this Thimphu-based band are in the age group of 17 and 35. As one of the first proper rock bands to be established in Bhutan, they say, “We take our rocking seriously... whenever we take a break from playing the fool.”
PROGRAMME
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009: 5 P.M. ONWARDS
v Them Clones (Delhi)
v Agnee (Pune)
v Miles (Bangladesh)
v Aryan Band (Afghanistan)
v Jasbir Jassi (Delhi)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2009: 5 P.M. ONWARDS
v Soul Sounds (Sri Lanka)
v Skinny Alley (Kolkata)
v Who’s your daddy (Bhutan)
v Shaair + Func (Mumbai)
v Parikrama (Delhi)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2009: 5 P.M. ONWARDS
v Trio (Maldives)
v Swarathma (Bangalore)
v Robin & The New Revolution (Nepal)
v Vishal Shekhar (Mumbai)