Vernacular band Swarathma that plays Hindi and Kannada compositions has a fan following all over the country and even abroad

It will be a record of sorts for the highly popular Bangalore band, Kryptos. The band is scheduled to release its third album, The Coils of Apollyon, soon and it’s pulling out all the stops to reach audiences around the country. Kryptos is hiring a fully customised bus and setting out on a whirlwind tour of India that will take it on a criss-cross journey to 30 cities — including Calcutta, Kharagpur and Bhubaneswar in the east and Vijayawada and Warangal in the south — all in 40 days. The band will be travelling with a 14-member crew and all its sound and lighting equipment.

“It’ll be the longest and largest tour of the country by any band in the history of the Indian metal scene,” says Nolan Lewis, the band’s lead vocalist.

Kryptos isn’t the only Bangalore band that’s belting out its music and reaching out for the big time. Another top band, Thermal And A Quarter, has turned out three bestselling albums and is currently on a marathon tour of eight cities including Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad during which they’ll play at eight gigs in each city.

When it comes to rock groups and clubs, Bangalore has always been a strident trailblazer. Step back more than 40 years and it had clubs that hosted live bands and was the home to stars-in-the-making like Biddu Appaiah. Now it has a clutch of Western music bands that are striking the right chords and aiming for the big times — and youthful audiences that are way out in front when it comes to the latest trends.

So, you can tune in to almost any kind of music in the tech-loving city. Kryptos is a heavy metal band and Thermal And A Quarter plays Indie rock. And if you don’t fancy that, try Swarathma, which is a Hindi and Kannada folk-cum-fusion band — despite the unusual mix it’s popular in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai and was even a huge hit when it performed internationally. “Music transcends language barriers and anyone can connect with it,” says bass player Jishnu Dasgupta, recalling the band’s first international tour of the United Kingdom in 2009.

Then, there are new bands like Agam, a contemporary Carnatic rock band, while bands like Sulk Station and The Bicycle Days call their genres mellowdramatic/pop and psychedelic alternative rock, res-pectively. Or, if your tastes are more exotic, tune in to thrash metal band (an extreme type of heavy metal), Inner Sanctum.

“You’ll find a cross-section of people here who are as interested in a Lalgudi Jayarama Iyer (famous Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer) concert as in a jazz, blues or rock concert,” says Arati Rao, programming director of music lounge BFlat.

And the bands are taking advantage of the city’s eclectic tastes. Take a look, for instance, at the five-member Galeej Gurus who’ve been juggling their day-jobs and their passion for music for the last two years. Recently, the lead vocalist Nathan Harris quit his job to start a restaurant and to devote more time to his band. The other members are self- employed which gives them time to write lyrics, compose music and rehearse together. “As of now we are focusing on recording an eight-song album,” says Harris.

The Galeej Gurus are now working on an eight-song album

One sure sign that the bands have come into their own is that they’ve moved on from doing covers of international rock bands. Today, they are investing time and effort in writing their own songs and composing original music. Says Lewis: “Ten years ago, bands used to only play covers but now almost all bands play originals.”

Harris of Galeej Gurus echoes the thought. He remembers rock shows a decade ago when a band’s song list was highly predictable, comprising the same done-to-death songs by Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Pantera. “Now, bands have gotten bolder and more creative by playing their own compositions and covering more and more unknown underground bands,” says Harris. “It’s all about an independent music effort these days,” he adds.

Interestingly, even vernacular bands like Swarathma have built a fan following all over the country and even abroad. The band has even played its Hindi and Kannada compositions in Brighton, UK, at the The Great Escape Festival, and Dasgupta proudly recalls how they got the largely British crowd to sing along with them.

Perfectionist professionals

Kryptos will soon release its third album and follow it up with a 30-city tour across the country

The bands are displaying newfound professionalism in more ways than one. Many are deeply involved in setting up every live performance. Take a look at thrash metal band Inner Sanctum whose members personally supervise the entire stage setup before performing. “We even pay attention to the smallest details such as displaying our banners just like bands abroad do,” says guitarist Chintan Chinappa of Inner Sanctum. He feels that because the bands take their music and performances seriously, people can see and feel the difference.

But the bands are getting a lot more professional in other ways too. They are hiring qualified professionals and sound technicians to ensure they don’t compromise on the sound quality and packaging of their music. They have band managers or agencies to take care of the nitty-gritty details of marketing and getting the bands shows and invitations to the international festivals. “The idea is that business and marketing shouldn’t come in the way of artists who need to focus on creating quality music,” says bassist Dasgupta.

Lewis gives credit to Kryptos manager, Salman Syed, for getting the group an invitation to tour Europe. “Syed worked for many months contacting festivals and organisers in Europe and sent the promos of their music,” he says. Eventually the band got invited by enough festivals and clubs to do a tour of Europe.

Apart from live performances and gigs, most of the bands are either recording new albums or are in the process of composing new songs and music. Kryptos is now looking at shooting its first video. Swarathma too is busy shuttling between Bangalore and Mumbai to record their second album which they plan to release by year end.

To give their 100 per cent to music, all the members of Swarathma have bid goodbye to their jobs and are now full-time musicians. They meet frequently for rehearsals on a rented rooftop room at Cooke Town in Bangalore. The band’s lead vocalist Vasu Dixit — who happens to be the famous Raghu Dixit’s brother — belts out one song after another while the other group members play their musical instruments in perfect synchrony.

Internet interaction

Some groups are not purely Bangalore-based any longer. Take a look at Bangalore-based bassist Shyam Narayan who meets up on the Internet with his other two band members — guitarist Mithun R. from Kochi and lead vocalist Laji George based out of New Jersey — to compose and record songs for their band, Pseutopia.

Their song Free Lunch, which was recorded over Skype, reached No. 7 in New Jersey’s rock charts recently. The track was an anti-corruption rock anthem inspired by the Anna Hazare campaign.

Narayan feels that the way they work online is no different from being in the same room. “Ideas are shared, e-mailed and worked upon separately and then we show our individual parts when we get together online,” he says. All the tracks they create are sent to the guitarist, Mithun, who produces the records.

All the bands realise that it’s crucial to connect with their fans through networking websites where they post songs and events. Also, most of the albums are bought during the shows or are ordered online.

Some of the bands are looking at encouraging aspiring musicians too. “We are looking at ways to promote more Indian bands by getting amateurs to play with us and also by playing only Indian band music at shows,” says Harris.

Thrash metal band Inner Sanctum personally supervises the stage set up before each performance, right down to their banner displays

On a different note, Thermal And A Quarter has launched a music academy. They not only teach music at their fully-equipped studio but also rent it out to other bands for recordings. Their music academy has a jam room and studio space. Now the band is all set to launch another centre in Koramangala to create a well-equipped space for musicians in the city to hone their skills, jam with their bands, record songs and much more.

Thermal And A Quarter has launched a music academy and has also built a fully-equipped recording studio

The bands are also using the Internet to sell merchandised products — everything from CDs, to T-shirts, mugs and other memorabilia. Harris says it’s an innovative way to raise funds for recording and touring and allows the band to release music for free on their website.

“Our ‘product’, is music, so it makes sense to have it available in some way to fans who are willing to pay for the privilege of listening to it,” says vocalist and guitarist Bruce Lee Mani of Thermal And A Quarter.

Pseutopia’s song Free Lunch, an anti-corruption rock anthem inspired by the Anna Hazare campaign, reached No. 7 on New Jersey’s rock charts recently

According to Swa-rathma’s artist manager, Debayan Deb, it’s a good time to be an independent band in Bangalore.

“There’s a pool of opportunities today because of a number of events and music festivals happening not only in Bangalore but all around the country. Apart from the IT industry, there are so many other corporate offices who invite the live bands to play for the company events and pay them well. Also, the kind of money the bands make has really gone up.”

As the opportunities rise, the bands are belting out the music and hoping they can achieve stardom as Indian rock stars.