City bands Camouflage and (top) Crystal & The Witches, runner-up and winner of Campus Rock Idols 2006

Here’s a chance for rockers to hit the high notes. DNA Networks, which is bringing Black-Eyed Peas and Beyonce Knowles to India this October, is also creating a platform for professional and semi-professional bands across the country. And the novel part of the contest is that language would not be a barrier as long as the genre of music is rock.

The DSP Black Rockilution will tour seven cities to pick the best acts. “The contest will culminate in presenting original music, both live and on a CD,” Venkat Vardhan, managing director, DNA Networks, tells t2 from Mumbai. The top six acts will be part of a compilation of four discs brought out by Sony-BMG featuring international rock artistes as well. There will also be a cash booty of Rs 75,000 and Rs 35,000 for the winner and the runner-up.

The event management company has been running Campus Rock Idols, a popular national college rock competition, for about four years now. “We felt that with these musicians stepping out of college into the professional arena, we needed to take the event to the next level,” Vardhan says.

There is already a buzz among the local bands. “The Calcutta rock scene is hotting up with performances spreading from Someplace Else to Soho and Princeton Club,” says Soumitra Rakshit, bassist of Camouflage. The band, which has signed up for Rockilution, has prepared two new compositions for the contest. Getting to play original scores is what is giving Arthur Gomes, the keyboardist of Crystal & the Witches, the biggest high. “This way we can reach our music to a wider audience,” feels the member of the band which aced the east leg of Campus Rock Idols 2006.

According to Sibaji of Cactus, this contest will be a boost for bands trying to make a mark in the professional arena. “What I like best is the thought that a band singing in Malayalam can take the stage after one singing in English and be judged on an equal scale,” says the drummer who resents his outfit being labelled a “Bangla band”.

The auditions will kick off on Friday with the Ludhiana round and after hitting Delhi will march into Calcutta on September 28. “We are accepting registrations till September 25,” says Vardhan, adding that singer Gary Lawyer will be choosing the top acts from the east zone at Nicco Park. The criteria for consideration are material, playing, stage presence, timing and entertainment value.

The top two zonal acts will reach Mumbai for the finals on October 14 at the Hard Rock Cafe.