Parikrama is a legendary rock band,playing basically Classic Rock based music,fused with Indian Instruments like the Tabla and the Violin, and has been around for 22 years .
Parikrama has had a very successful tour of the UK earlier,where they were promoted by none other than IRON MAIDEN and their legendary manager Mr. ROD SMALLWOOD. Iron maiden saw Parikrama , at bangalore, and you could hear what they thought of the band , in the documentary shot on Parikrama by BBC, and shown on their show ” DESI DNA”,in UK.
IRON MAIDEN invited Parikrama to 07 shows in the UK, including the mighty DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL and venues like Rio ( Leeds ) , The Underground ( Camden ) , The Peel ( kingston ) Etc.
Agam is a multiple award winning contemporary carnatic rock act from bangalore, india. The name of the band is derived from the ancient tamil word which translates to ‘the inner self’. Their music encapsulates the boundless, vibrant emotions of the human psyche combining the myriad hues of melodic scales and intricate rhythm structures offered by carnatic music with the aesthetic principles and tonal elegance from western world. They were chosen the MTV Push Artist of the Year at MTV VMAI 2012 and were also featured in Coke Studio @ MTV, Season 2.
A band based out of Auroville and a project, formed by some of the well renowned musicians from all over the world. The band was formed by Krishna McKenzie – a Native English musician settled in India, who is also well known for his initiative with his solitude farm in Auroville, a place which encourages an alternative life style, living very close to the nature. The band’s core member consist of the legendary bass player Mishko M’Ba from France who has settled in India and who has played with some of the greats like – Ray Charles and some of the big names in the industry .
Karthik Iyer – A well renowned Violin artist who has played with some of the big names in the Indian movie industry and one of the very few contemporary violin artist to hail out of India. The band has Soundar Rajan on drums, Drummer of E flat eclectic band (winner of saarang decibels IIT Chennai), Synergy, and Sri Manta fusion band. He is also Drum instructor at unwind school of music since 2008 and Abacus Montessori school in Chennai. The above mentioned musicians came together to form the project – Emergence, playing Fusion music with Indian classical music blending with Pop Blues music influences.
The band has seen some of the biggest stages such as Glastonburry and was also invited to play at the prestigious JKF space centre in the USA.
Jeramiah Ferrari are a 4 piece Reggae band based in Leigh (near Manchester UK).
Their music is Roots Reggae with influence Rock, Punk, Ska and Calypso. They have been gigging heavily across the Uk to promote the release of their new CD “The Dubby Rock EP” (which went to number 4 in the ITUNES Reggae chart) and recently won The 2012 Key 103 City Soundwave competition appearing at The Manchester Evening News Arena with Will Young,Labrinth,Tulisa,Taio Cruz,Professor Green,Rizzle Kicks & One Direction
In 2011 entered and won the IAStival Battle of the Bands hosted at the Night and Day Cafe in Manchester. They have also supported The Skints, Turin Breaks, The English Beat, Cali Reggae Band & The Aggrolites ,Neville Staple Band & The Blockheads and are also in a new documentary – “Manchester: Beyond Oasis”and recently won a slot at the One Love festival the UK’s biggest Reggae festival.
Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Prem Joshua and his international band are pioneers in the field of World Fusion Music. Drawing inspiration from the deep well of the ancient music traditions of the Indian sub-continent, while remaining constantly in touch with the pulse of contemporary Western music scene, over the years Prem Joshua & Band have continued to refine their awesome talent for fusion, creating a distinctive and unique sound beyond the borders of both East and West. With confidence, originality and virtuosity, but also with a deep reverence towards their musical roots, the band weave together threads so seemingly disparate into an exquisite organic musical whole. Indian classical, jazz, funk and ethno are so masterly, yet playfully blended, that it has indeed a completely global appeal.
For their timely interpretation of the music traditions of the East, Prem Joshua & Band have been honored worldwide. Today Prem Joshua is the number one best-selling World Music artist in India. Some of their landmark performances are as follows:
2005 Played live on ‘MTV Asia’. Also, ‘Times of India’ lauded Prem Joshua as the ‘New Guru of World Fusion Music’.
2006 Performed for the President of Malaysia and the ‘BBC’ nominated Prem Joshua for their ‘World Music Listener’s Award. Siddhi Vinayak Festival Bombay
2007 Performed for UK’s Prince Edward at the Royal Palace in London. Prem Joshua also received the award “Best Film Music on Indian TV” in Mumbai.
2008 Performed for the President of India & Prime Minister of India, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Also present at the occasion were the legendary Indian singers, Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar.
Private performance for Prince Edward at the Royal Palace, London
Shantipi Festival, Israel
2009 Performed for the Prime Minister of India
Big Chill Festival, UK
Private performance for the Royal Family of Kuwait
2010 Performed for the Maharaja of Jodhpur in Geneva
Private performance for the Maharaja of Udaipur
2011 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai
Glastonbury Festival, UK
2012 Indigo Festival at Lake Galilee, Israel
MUSICIANS
Prem Joshua: sitar, bamboo flutes, soprano saxophone, vocals
Robin Mattuck: keyboards, laptops, percussion, vocals
Raul Sengupta: tabla, darbouka, cajon, congas, percussion, vocals
Satgyan Fukuda: electric bass, percussion, vocals
Runa Rizvi: vocals
Led by charismatic brothers Ali Noor and Ali Hamza, noori delivers a great rock and roll show with a distinctive subcontinent kick.
Noori’s debut single Manwa Re (2002) and debut album Suno Ke Main Hun Jawan (2003) created whirlwinds across Urdu/Hindi music listeners all over the world and introduced the pop/rock music to the Pakistani mainstream. Its content was a departure from the usual pop diet of chummy love songs and focused on inspiring the youth to take up the responsibility of doing something worthwhile for themselves and others.
In 2010, noori re-emerged into the mainstream with super-hit singles coming out one after another through Coke Studio (Aik Alif, Saari Raat Jaga) and a number of commercial music videos. This re-emergence also added a new dimension to noori’s sound – fusion.
But that was only the beginning of a new musical journey. The duo continues to explore a variety of soundscapes from classical and folk to electronica to even full scale orchestra. Yet they believe that Rock n Roll is there to rule!
noori is coming to India to finalize on a collaborative song with Hari and Sukhmani; and this is right after they spend a week in Kabul to collaborate with a diversity of Afghan musicians.
The band is pursuing one of their most sought after dreams – to use music as the bridge between boundaries.Nowhere better to start than one’s own neighborhood!
In their own words: “First we wanted to break the typecast that we are only here to play one style of music… In doing so we discovered that the real fun lies in collaboration… And that eventually led us to realize that true pleasure is when music becomes a tool for bringing people together. It is now that we truly understand and appreciate the universality of music – it’s true power!”
Born out of a need to showcase high standards of performances both in the traditional and the contemporary Indian dance idiom, the Natya STEM Dance Kampni is a collaboration between two highly acclaimed institutions namely the NATYAINSTITUTE OF KATHAK & CHOREOGRAPHY and the STEM Dance Kampni. This year at goMAD festival, they will be presenting ‘Perc me up’ – an Indian Contemporary dance showcase comprising excerpts from the Kampni’s vibrant and popular choreographic works.
Headed by internationally acclaimed choreographer Smt Maya Rao(renowned Dancer/ Choreographer and Guru, Recipient of the prestigious President of India Award.) and her daughter Madhu Nataraj, the performing unit has toured 30 countries world-wide winning appreciation from the audience and media alike and marking the Kampni’s presence in the global performing arts scenario.
The Kampni’s founder Madhu Nataraj is a Performer, choreographer, educator and arts entrepreneur The Kampni believes dance is a potent medium for change in the public domain. Ranging from education, social issues, documentation to healing, all its projects aim to materialise this philosophy.
A technically awe inspiring act, Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate is one of country’s leading Carnatic Rock acts fronted by none other than the God of Small Strings – Baiju Dharmajan.
Twice winner of the Best Indian Guitarist award, Baiju Dharmajan is the axeman who lend the iconic rock act Motherjane, their carnatic inspired guitar sound. The ‘Indian’ among the Great Indian Guitarists, Baiju has created masterful renditions of patriotic songs like Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, Jana Gana Mana, Vande Mataram and Vaishnava Janato. For those who wish to savor the magic this man can create on six strings, this is one act not to be missed.
A contemporary, cutting-edge jazz / world music band from Bangalore consisting of experienced musicians from India, the USA, England and France who have performed all over the world. It is India’s first such format, led by a vocalist and UNK is now one of India’s most sought-after live music bands in the genre. UNK is based out of Bangalore.
Their first album ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ was released in September 2012 and is being played in radio stations all over the world including over 100 stations in the USA, to great acclaim from both critics and the public alike. The band has performed at all of India’s leading music festivals such as The ICCR Delhi International Jazz Festival, The Isai Music Festival in Chennai, the Bengaluru Habba, The Bangalore International Arts Festival, the Indigo and Blues Festival, the Jazz Yatra and many others. They have also performed repeatedly in India’s finest clubs such as Shisha, BFlat, Take Five, Zorba, The Sol, Out of The Box, Blue Frog, Paparazzi, Opus and others. The experience of the various band members is evident in the sleek arrangements and intelligent solos once can hear. 2013 – 2014 promises to be very busy for the band with a second album in the works and much more touring lined up.
” Shobana ” is a leading exponent of Bharatanatyam dance and a renowned South Indian film actress. She was born in a Malayalam speaking family from Kerala, India, and received dance lessons from legendary Bharatanatyam dancers Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subramaniam. Shobana is an innovative choreographer and has crafted a wide range of traditional and contemporary compositions. She is a devoted teacher and established Kalarpana, a dance school in Chennai in 1994. From modest beginnings, Kalarpana is now an established institution and has benefited many students, many of whom are girls from less-privileged back-grounds.
Shobana, the actress, has starred in over 225 films across all four major South Indian languages including performances under the distinguished direction of renowned filmmakers like ManiRatnam & K. Balachandar.
Girish And The Chronicles was formed in October 2009 in Gangtok, Sikkim. They have been performing around India and the world since then, at concerts and festivals. They also successfully released a Rock/ Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal album in 2012.
Girish Pradhan Bio- One of the best rock and roll voices, influenced by vocalists like Steve Tyler, Sebastian Bach, Bruce Dickinson, Axl Rose, Girish Pradhan’s voice defines the band’s sound, which falls in the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal category more than any other genres. Travelling since 2005, he has performed in various parts of Kathmandu (Nepal), Europe, South Asia and almost the entire subcontinent and has won thousands of hearts of music lovers, everywhere he has been.
Band Members:
>>Girish Pradhan – Lead vocalist/Guitars
>>Nagen Mongranti – Drums
>>Suraz Karki -Lead Guitar
>>Yogesh Pradhan – Guitar/ Bass/ Sound Engineer
A native of Rio de Janeiro, singer Veronica Nunes, daughter of a classical pianist, grew up in a musical environment listening to traditional Brazilian styles such as samba, choro and classical music. Since the age of fifteen Veronica sings and performs professionally.
Ricardo Vogt, guitarist and composer, born in Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2007 and has since then has been a member of Esperanza Spalding’s band, touring and recording on her 2 latest Grammy® winning albums. Ricardo also tours and records with Eliane Elias and Milton Nascimento.
The CD, ‘Pra Fugir da Saudade’ is a collaboration bewteen the duo and a journey through generations of great composers of Samba giving a real tribute to the most traditional and timeless rhythm of Brazil. The album features fresh and original interpretations of classical compositions by masters such as Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Paulinho da Viola, Nelson Sargento, Baden Powell, Vinicius de Morais, among others. ‘Pra Fugir da Saudade’ was released in May 2013 and features Rafael Barata on drums and Alan Ferber on trombone. Arthur Maia appears as a special guest on the opening track ‘Barulho de Trem’ playing ukulele bass.
The guitar used by Ricardo was developed by Godin Guitars exclusively for the project. The guitar, which bears the name of the guitarist, has a different tuning from the classical guitar and contains a string that sounds like a bass, resulting in a very characteristic and original sound.
Peter Cat Recording Co. comes from New Delhi, currently consisting of four members. The sound is heavily inspired by classic Bollywood motifs, American big band, and ballroom waltz. Their fi rst album Sinema was released in early2010 to wide acclaim. Amid the wave of critical praise, Radiohead and Nirvana producer Miti Adhikari highlighted them as an act he would love to produce.
Their live show straddles the line between performance art and musical salvation, encompassing backdrops of iconic Bollywood lm sequences andmusical samples, bullhorns, deftly controlled vocal histrionics, and long instrumentalpassages; building and collapsing around what are often two hour sets.
The Chronic Blues Circus; Bangalore’s oldest Blues Band’s comprises of: Miriam John – vocals, harp, guitar | Owen – bass, guitar | Sudhakar – drums | Aditya Jairam – drums/ percussion | Ian – Guitar | Mukut – vocals, Keys | Peter Isaac on vocals, guitar, harps and saxophone. The band is best known for their original music; a natural, clean sound and their unique arrangements. They are probably the only Blues band with four powerful lead vocalists with completely different styles.
The Band usually plays its own compositions with a few tributes to some of the Blues masters who have influenced them – mostly white blues musicians and bands – like John Mayall, Paul Butter field, The Climax Blues Band, Canned Heat, Cream, Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers band, JJ Kale, The Band, Guess Who, Big Brother and The Holding Company and a few black greats like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howling’ Wolf and Robert Johnson. Woman, Sweet Nicotine, Prime time News 95 and Restless Woman are some of their early compositions.
The original line up of the band when first formed in 1991,was Steve (unknowns),Ramesh,Joe and Peter Isaac. Since then;musicians like Vinoo Mathews,Jeffrey Pope,Jagadeesh,late Sunny Nambiar,Niranjan Burke,Raveen Pandey, Ananth Menon,Jeeth (plum bum), Marcus Rodriguez, Niranjana, Ashley Williams, Jeet Thayil, Leo Gerard, Srinidhi Ananthraman,the late Noel Welcome,late Immanuel (Mannie),late Prem Naidu and late Prashant Davidson,late Deepak,Phillip, Dev,late Ronnie Johnson,Lester Bob, Prakash,Elvis,Kiran,Hemanth,Venkat Subramanian,Arjun, Abilash,Miriam John,Adrian Andrade,Glen Demonte,Raman,Vagn Olsen, Ashley Williams, Abe Thomas,Victor Francis,Steve Randall,Dev, Anand, Mike,Owen Bosen,Bharath,Mukut,Sudhakar,Victor Francis, Sachin,Sylvester, Satvik,Nastya Sarasvaty,Aditya Jairam,Rahul.T,Ian,Paul Swing,Aayushi and others have kept the band alive.
Balabhaskar: a synonym for Fusion Music in South India. He pioneered the revolution of instrumental fusion music in Kerala, paving the path that many artistes follow today. Thanks to his orthodox Carnatic background and keen sense of rhythm – fellow musicians often call him the wizard of ‘Complex Calculations’- for creating unusual time scales and patterns that gets hard-core music lovers to sit-up and listen. Balabhaskar has paired up with some of the country’s finest artistes, including, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ranjit Barot, Louiz Banks, Vikku Vinayakram, Sivamani and many more for live shows. The first artiste from Kerala, who, was featured on MTV Unplugged and MTV Coke Studio the same year. His participation in other major music festival includes; The Montreal Jazz Festival, New Universe Music Festival, USA and Jazz Utsav India Tour. Bala was referred to as “the most important Indian Violinist since L. Shankar” by All About Jazz magazine – USA. His 1800 and still counting stage shows are testimonials, for his flare to connect with the audience. Bala is a hot favorite for major stage shows and classical concerts, his trend setting style and originality of presentation and music is one which many artistes follow suit.
If a perfect cocktail is the best thing that can happen to you, be sure not to miss this one. Rock, Jazz and Funk all blend into Bala’s Carnatic Violin.
Artists
>>Abhijith – Lead Guitar
>>Anoop Nair – Keyboards
>>Arunroop – Drums
>>Prasanth – Tabla/ other percussions
>>Chippu – Bass Guitar
BLOT! are India’s best-known home-grown audiovisual act.
Comprised of Gaurav Malaker and Avinash Kumar, this duo’s club act is a vibey affair, where four-to-the-floor techno and live video sampling create a synchronized AV performance. Forward-thinking self-produced tracks and dark, funk-influenced techno predominate in their sets, but there’s also room forstrident tech-house and chunky deep disco.
In 2013 BLOT! released their debut album, “Snafu”, on Universal / Contrabass Records as well as a new 3D live show. With both the album and the accompanying live act, the duo has their tongues firmly in cheek: 3D video and audio-visual experimentation meets sounds that traverse multiple genres, tempos and styles. Performances with guest musicians touch on glitch-techno,
A busy 2013 will include more from New Culture Mash-up, a live AV mash-up project with Nucleya, with a reputation for keeping clubs moving. Big mutating basslines, jacking percussive kicks and saturated bass sounds from moombahton to dubstep drive these shows, and a steady stream of audiovisual interaction, strobing lights and video sampling are all cut up and mixed live, into a full-blown sound-and-screen sensory overload.
BLOT! also co-own Qilla Records, one of India’s leading underground dance labels and curate India’s biggest design Festival, UnBox. Avi and Gaurav have performed at legendary venues like Tresor and Bar25 (Berlin), as well as at festivals like Austin’s SXSW (Texas), C/O Pop (Cologne), Reeperbahn (Germany), Electron Festival (Geneva), Berlin Music Week, London’s South Bank Centre and Nuits Sonores in Lyon. They’ve shared the stage with Richie Hawtin, Matador, Kaiserdisco, Oliver Huntemann, Apparat among others.
BLOT have collaborated with and been endorsed by international brands like Cobra Beer, Nokia, Allen & Heath and Puma, and been featured in international press (such as the UK’s The Guardian, German publication De:bug, Rolling Stone and Time Out, among others).
Groove/Thrash metal band from Madras, formed in the year 2007. The band has released 2 albums since its inception (The second album more than human was nominated for rolling stones metal awards). Blind Image is one of the few bands from India which consistently tours international circuit. so far they have done tour of Australia, Tour of South east asia part 1 ( Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Middle east. The band has also announced, second part of their SE asia tour which is scheduled to happen in the month of Sept 2013 ( Covering singapore, malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines). The band is also currently working on their Third full length album which is expected to release Mid 2013. Blind Image also endorses some of the big brands such as – Gibson Schecter, Spector, Vater, Orange amplification, Meinl,Mapex and Aguilar Amplification. Blind Image also has shared the stage with some of the metal giants such as – Cradle of filth, Suidakra and Vildjharta during their tour of India.
A HEAVY METAL/ Progressive metal Band, formed in 1992 as Avalanche the band was re-christened as Lucidreams in 1994. By 1996 Lucidreams had participated and won major competition such as the All India Semi pro competition at Madras Medical College and “Strawberry Fields” in 1996. Lucidreams then moved on from the Semi Pro Competition circuit, to a Pro Outfit.
Lucidreams, over the years has seen many a lineup changes and the band now features a blend of experience and talent. Lineup changes, setbacks and what not, and as cliché as this might sound,’ the show must go on’. And it has. Lucidreams has been busy headlining college festivals and playing in-door venues like Hard Rock Café, Kyra, Purple Haze, etc. With the positive response the band has received about their original material, the band is currently recording an EP. Like any band worth its salt, Lucidreams thrives on performing live, and is constantly looking at new venues to perform at; and audiences to win over. Ups and downs, lows and highs, lineup changes all notwithstanding, armed with a great blend of experience, talent and youth, Lucidreams remains a force to be reckoned with.
nner Sanctum is a Death/Thrash metal band from Bangalore, India. They were formed in 2006. Inner Sanctum has received awards including the Band of the Year 2007 (Levis), Indian Band of the year 2009 and Best Emerging Band of the year (2010 Jack Daniels Rock Awards (India)). Inner Sanctum have independently released an EP Provenance in 2009. Recorded at Resonance Studios, Bangalore and mixed and mastered at LSD Studios, Germany. Provenance was hailed as one of the top 10 EP’s of the decade by Rock Street Journal (RSJ) in 2010.
Inner Sanctum have gigged extensively all across the country and supported some of the biggest metal bands in India, including Metallica for 2011 Vladivar Rock ‘N India in Bangalore. They opened the 2011 Rock ‘N India show along with Guillotine and Scottish Band Biffy Clyro for Metallica on October 30, 2011. Inner Sanctum have also supported bands like Amon Amarth, Cradle of Filth, Enslaved and Textures on their Indian tours, and completed a European tour in June 2013 ending it with an appearance in Metalfest Open Air Poland, alongside Down, Red Fang, Destruction, Entombed, Karma to Burn and many more. Inner sanctum had also opened for the American thrash metal band Slayer in 2012 Vladivar Rock ‘N India, Bangalore on October 2012. They are likely to be the greatest Indian heavy metal band. Inner Sanctum are one of the first Indian bands to have personalised gig flyers for each of their gigs. Vocalist, Gaurav Basu does all the bands artwork and posters. The bands’ love for the poster culture of the west has pushed them to introduce it amongst the independent music scene in India.
Parvaaz was formed in march 2010 by Kashif Iqbal, Khalid Ahmed and Neil Simon. Kashif and Khalid, two childhood friends met after a gap of three years while studying in Bangalore. Both had been involved with music individually, Kashif had been singing for the Delhi based ‘Blank Noize’ since 2006 but because of the distance between two cities, that project had gone on the backburner after the launch of their second album ‘Pukar’. Khalid on the other hand, had been working on a solo project.
After meeting Khalid, the two had their first jam session at a friends place and at 3am one morning and came up with their first song together. Although it was a rough structure, the two found a common wavelength musically. Neil had been playing guitar along with Kashif for a couple of bands in bangalore, and the two had a few compositions of their own. Parvaaz’s first official gig came at a college festival where they had Khalid on Vocals, Kashif on Lead Guitar, Neil on bass and Adarsh Deokota on Rhythm. It was an acoustic show where the band just played two songs .Surprisingly for them, the crowd response was overwhelming and this gave birth to the notion of starting a band. Somarshi Bhattacharya (Shomu), drummer for the band Dead Incarnation was chosen after a few auditions and Parvaaz was ready in total.
Parvaaz now started work on new material and by January 2012 had a fresh set, quite different from their earlier work. They went on to perform at ‘Storm Festival’ held in Coorg. This show put them in the limelight and the band was finally performing along big names like Swarathma, Indian Ocean and Raghu Dixit. Mtv covered the festival and the band got decent airtime adding to the buzz.During this festival, the band also made a tour documentary shot by Marika Simon, a friend of the band from Norway. More new songs followed and by March 2012 the band chose five tracks to go into their debut EP ‘Behosh’. It was produced by the band themselves,recorded mixed and mastered by Jason Zachariah. The band is now working on a full length album which they say will define their musical ambitions and shape their sound better. The band continues to discover themselves each day and are finding new direction through every performance. As Kashif puts it “We are just getting there as performers. In today’s industry the walk to the top is long and hard, but when you have passion by your side the journey is beautiful”
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