Updated on: 26 July, 2021 11:32 AM IST |
The Chronicles of Indie Music Scene in India
With the indie music landscape booming in the present times, the forthcoming years too promise some fresh talent and great music. With not just musicians, songwriters/poets, visualizers working on album art, B-boyers et al are also coming up in a big way. Shubhangi Joshi, Ashwyn Warrier, Rohit Gaekwad aka Lil Rohn and Sunny Thapa aka Fonkey Monkey are a few names living up to the sensation. Bands like The F 16s, Spud in the Box, Parvaaz, Koniac Net, Daira, Skyharbor et al are also making their presence felt and attracting some major fan base.So, as Indie artistes continue to steal several hearts even post 3 decades of awesomeness, the scope only gets better and better.
With the advent of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and others, the world has indeed become a smaller place; and what better than this for the indie artists to showcase their work. The social media in the recent years has become a major platform for bands and artistes to interact with their fanbase on a regular basis and post everything from gig details to pictures to bios to music online. Junkyard Groove was the first Indian band to extensively avail of social media and viral marketing services in an attempt to reach out to their fans. Apart from this, all major bands these days are seen doing rounds on these sites.
By this time, all indie artists had found firm ground and the new trend of digital download picked pace. In the year 2008, Mumbai based band Scribe released its foremost album Confect distributing it through free web download. Chennai based Junkyard Groove also supported the trend giving their E.P. for free download.
Not just as bands, but indie artistes went solo too, grooving fans in full form. Vasuda Sharma, famed for her stint with popular band Aasma went solo a few years ago and launched her album Attuned Spirits through a successful crowdfunding experiment. Winit Tikoo a singer-songwriter from Kashmir, with his distinctive blend of the Sufi tradition of Kashmir and Urdu poetry, has carved a strong following. Indias fastest rapper Brodha V too set out with his independent album Deathpunch that became hugely popular. Electronic dance music too entered the spotlight when DJ Jayant, a popular indie EDM act came to the fore, thereby giving rise to a host of artistes in the genre. Other soloists that continue to create a mark are the likes of Dhruv Visvanath, Shubhangi Joshi, Prateek Kuhad, Mohini Dey, Siddharth Basrur and Nucleya amongst others.
Zygnema a thrash metal band founded in 2005 digged into the social and political riffs through their music coupled with some aggressive live performances. Bands like Agnee, Null Friction, Coshish, Limit Zero too hit the music scene in a big way.
The millennium marked the revival of Indie artists that stormed the music landscape in full form. A range of new bands and independent artists surfaced playing at various live gigs and launching their music through new media. Them Clones, an alternative rock band from Delhi, gave away a free empty cd with every album with an idea to burn and share with friends. Other bands like Thermal and a Quarter, Avial, Bhayanak Maut, Junkyard Groove etc. too came in and swayed all music fans with their fresh musicscape.
Promising a whole new world for indie artists, the millennium was a bag full of new media for aspiring musicians to showcase their talent. As new bands cropped up, their fan base too multiplied all courtesy the rapidity of the Internet. Several rock music portals went online and were soon the most extensively used music hubs then. Bedroom recordings made way to music lovers through several other websites; and the induction of a multitude of radio stations only made it better. Pentagram was the first band to release Indias exclusive-to-internet song, The Price of Bullets, featuring celebrated poet Javed Akhtar and popular Indian classical artist Shankar Mahadevan.
While a host of bands cropped up in the 90s, the growing Bollywood influence too became evident. Considered as the golden era of Bollywood music, the decade saw indie artists going the snails pace. With little or no artistes releasing their albums, the pop scene too picked up during this time, ruling the music channels and leaving indie artists far behind.
Trailing the Rock Machine route, several other bands rose to the Indie fever. Indian Ocean, a contemporary rock outfit from Delhi set to the fore in 1990 and played with jazz and fusion elements. One of the most popular rock bands even today, Parikrama came in 1991 adeptly fusing Indian classical instruments like tabla and mridangam with western instruments like guitar, keyboard and drums. They were followed up by Pentagram fronted by ace musician Vishal Dadlani. Bands like Motherjane, Cactus, Holocaust, Grassroots Revival, Dorian Platonic, The Cannibals et al. too made their presence felt in the times.
In the year 1984 rock music created a major impact when the band Rock Machine came to the fore. A gang of rock lovers got together and rolled out their first original album RocknRoll Renegade in 1988. Initiating a brand new era- The Rock Fever in the nation, Rock Machine came to life when the country boasted of just one radio station and TV channel. The bands high-on-life gigs and electrifying music was a major hit. The dawn of MTV on the Indian airwaves brought the band to further limelight with their first music video creating waves. Closely following the international trends, the band changed its name to Indus Creed in the early 90s and dissolved in 1997 only to come back in action after an 11 year hiatus in 2008. Inspiring a whole new generation to rise to Indie music, Indus Creed continues to rule the roost.
The saga of independent music commenced in the early 60s with bands like Spartans from Bangalore, rock band 13AD from Kochi, Silencers, Axis, Human Bondage and Great Bear to name a few. Anupa Nathaniel and Shalini Gupta from Delhi, formed the foremost popular girl rock band of India in 1962. Their band was called The Mad Hatter. Lou Majaw from Shillong who is famed for his Bob Dylan tributes, also stands as one of the most eminent figures of Indian indie music then.
While the British Raaj left a host of landmarks for the Indian colonies to reminisce, there was also one peculiar rage they left the Indians to ponder over. And this was none other than the Indie music trend. The classic rock acts like Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Iron Maiden awed all music aficionados for good. Peace and Love soon became the quintessential mantra for all youngsters donned in bell bottoms and hippie gowns. While playing music was only seen as a mere pastime, the music fans would exhibit their love for Indie sporting long hair, black t-shirts and more so with substance abuse. While they all thrived on cover songs for a long time, original Indie music was literally non-existent until the 80s.
Indie music has swayed global music fans for eons now. With the rage growing by leaps and bounds each year, this music trend cut across all borders and hailed the Indian continent for as long as we all know. With the Indian music landscape predominantly parading its love for Bollywood tunes, the indie music gradually made its way and has seen all highs and lows. Experiencing an all-time high in the present times, Indie artists from the nation have garnered immense acclaim through their impressive work. So heres taking you through the life and times of Indie Music Scene in India.
