Updated on: 26 July, 2021 11:32 AM IST |
How has the Indie Music Scene Evolved Over the Years in India
An Indian alternative rock band formed in Thiruvananthapuram in 2003, Avial had their first breakthrough with the 2003 single "Nada Nada". A pioneer at "Alternative Malayali rock", their eponymous album, Avial, got them six out of seven Jack Daniels Rock Awards and Footprints Young Achievers Award in 2008. The band was praised for achieving mainstream success despite singing in their native language. Their debut album covers social issues, consisting of folk songs and poems. In 2009, they collaborated with the Italian band A67 for the song "Chi Me Sape" -"Who Knows Me Knows It". From singing at a charity concert organized by Farhan Akhtar to signing a deal with the shoe brand, Converse, Avial has proved time and again that language isnt really a barrier for good music.
Demonic Resurrection exploded into the indie space at a time when blackened metal was an untouched genre. Starting out as a bunch of seventeen-year-olds in March 2000, the band thought of giving India, a taste of extreme metal with their debut album, Demonstealer which was compiled within nine months of their formation. Following a couple of fall-outs and initial setbacks, Demonic Resurrection was officially formed in 2003. After two years of writing as per each members distinctive taste, the band released their second album, A Darkness Descends in 2005, setting new benchmarks in the history of Indian metal. Being the only Indian band to make it to the soundtrack of Global Metal along with the likes of Lamb of God, Sepultura and In Flames, the band also picked up the Metal Hammer Golden God Award for Global Metal in June 2010.
Formed in 1996, Motherjane hails from Kochi in Kerala. Since their formation, genres like progressive rock and Carnatic music have influenced their music. From jamming sessions at Kochi restaurants till they debuted with Insane Biography in 2002, the band had its fair share of entries and exits. But Maktub, their second album in 2008 marked a revolution in the indie music scene. The bands style has evolved since then with Carnatic music prominently used in the guitar, vocals and percussion renditions. In 2009, Rolling Stone India named Maktub as the album of the year followed by Motherjane being ranked No. 1 in Rock Street Journals Bands of the Decade in 2010. This year, Motherjane will mark two successful decades in the indie music space. Guess the party has just started.
Formed in 2007, Papon and The East India Company is an electric folk-fusion band from New Delhi. The band has performed at major festivals like Oktoberfest in Bangalore, NH7 Weekender, SAARC Music Festival in New Delhi, Eastwind Festival, MAD Fest Ooty, Windsong, Goa Storm Fest etc. Theyve also performed with Sutasi in Singapore. Owing to its immense popularity, Papon, lead vocalist of the band ended up rendering playback singing for leading Hindi films like Barfi!, Soundtrack, Dum Maro Dum and Madras Caf. Papon, both as a solo artist and with his band, is fast scaling the ranks within the Indian music community.
Soulmate is a blues band from Shillong. Formed in February 2003, guitarist Rudy Wallang and vocalist Tipriti Kharbangar are joined by various session musicians while playing live. They released their first record, Shillong in 2005 and their second album Moving On was released in 2009 with Blue Frog Records. Having gigged extensively in India and around the world, the band has also played at the Mahindra Blues Festival and at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender. The band is currently working on the release of their third record.
Indus Creed is Indias frontrunner in the indie music scene as one of the most successful rock band ever. Originally formed in 1985 by Uday Benegal, Mahesh Tinaikar, Zubin Balaporia, Mark Selwyn, Jayesh Gandhi and Mark Menezes, the band disbanded in 1997. Unexpectedly Uday, Mahesh and Zubin reunited in 2010 and are now joined by Jai Row Kavi, Krishna Jhaveri and Gaurav Gupta. A recipient of the Jack Daniels Rock Awards in 2012 and Vh1 Indias Hall of Fame award in 2014, the band had collaborated with the Grammy-nominated engineer Tim Palmer in their last album, Evolve. 2016 awaits a brand new offering from Indus Creed.
TAAQ is a path-breaking band from Bangalore that was started in 1996. Through their journey of fifteen years, the band has been credited with having played all over India. They have also successfully toured United Kingdom, West Asia and South-East Asia. A recipient of prestigious music awards, TAAQ delivers an unforgettable, immersive musical experience with influences of Rock, Blues, Jazz, Funk, Progressive, and Indian Classical
Starting out as Superfuzz in 2004, Indigo Children has been making music and entertaining audiences since the members stepped out of school. Winners of the Campus Rock Idols in 2005, The Great India Rock Festival in 2006 and the Channel [V] Launchpad in 2007, the band opened for Bryan Adams and Backstreet Boys in 2008 and won the Hornbill Rock Contest in 2011. Influenced by Wolf-mother and Oasis initially, the band tunes into more experimental rock like The Babs Johnson Gang and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Having started as Medusa, a progressive metal outfit in 2005, Sky Rabbit evolved as an electro-rock act. Based in Mumbai, the band was selected as one of the four Indian acts to record with British producer John Leckie as part of the British Councils Soundpad project. The debut album also known as Sky Rabbit was released in 2012 and since then there has been no looking back for the band that has been the recipient of the prestigious Jack Daniel Rock Awards and VH1 Sound Nation Awards.
Agnee was formed in May 2007 led by Mohan Kannan and Kaustubh Dhavale, better known as Mohan and Koko. The songs are inclusive of Folk Rock, Pop, with elements of Funk, Jazz and Carnatic music incorporated as well. While Mohan has found his Bollywood calling having lent vocals in Cocktail, Lootera, Queen and 2 States, the band is likely to debut in Deepak Tijoris film, Rockin Love.
The journey of Indian Ocean can be divided in pre and post Asheem Chakravarthy eras. Indian Ocean was a dream conceived and nurtured by Asheem, the star percussionist of the band, in the late 80s when he was playing for his own band Niharika. Susmit Sen, the co-founder and guitarist of the band was a fan of Niharika and approached Asheem who was taken to his fine tunes. Rahul Ram, bassist and vocalist was a schoolmate of Sen and came together to form Indian Ocean in 1993. Since then the rise of Indian Ocean has been meteoric. From composing their first studio album, 16/330 Khajoor Road following the death of Asheem in 2009 to a cardiac arrest, to enthralling audiences with their music in 2015s highly-acclaimed film, Masaan, Indian Ocean has stood the test of time in the indie music scene.
Before the inception of the Raghu Dixit Project, frontman Raghu Dixit had founded Antaragni with his bassist, Gaurav Vaz in 1998. After the band had disbanded in 2004, did Dixit and Vaz continue their musical journey with the Raghu Dixit Project, joined by Nitesh Nataraj, Bryden Lewis, Parth Chandiramani and Achyuth Jaigopal. The band has come a long way from Bangalore to Bollywood.
Indie music has evolved tremendously over the last two decades. Earlier it was a genre that only catered to the elites, but the musical journeys of these bands from being nothing to something is nothing short of phenomenal. The success stories of these bands who were discovered from obscurity are now forces to reckon with in the Indian music scene. So without much ado, lets get looking at the best of the Indie Music evolution.
