While the Harvard Krokodiloes rock their way around the world, Indian college bands have failed to make melody with the masses – not in India, not anywhere else. KT gets down to the nitty gritties of why campus music is yet to reach its crescendo

Now, whoever said music was a universal language surely had the Harvard Krokodiloes in mind. For the uninitiated, the Harvard Krokodiloes of Harvard University, one of the oldest student bands in the USA, recently held a concert in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The band, which has an international presence with a yearly 11-week, six-nation tour, also boasts of 32 albums to its credit.

An impressive performance by a bunch of students hoping to take the corporate world by storm, one would say.

Unfortunately, a similar story of dhun and taal transcending borders, even those within the country, is hard to come by in India.
When was the last time you waited eagerly for a performance by the Crescent Sun (the IIT-K band)? And would you really be ready to give up your favourite soap to witness a performance by Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ)?

Incidentally, the band in question that started out as a college band from Bangalore almost a decade ago, recently gained international recognition when it toured Glasgow, London and the Middle East.

KT explores why student bands in India can’t boast of even a pan-India presence, leave alone an international one...

On their own..from the start

“Where’s the support?” rues Bruce Lee Mani, singer with TAAQ. “We are fighting an uphill battle, constantly accused of copying the West because most of us prefer to sing in English! Also, where are the music labels that can help start-ups like us?

Not just labels, even music aficionados pay scant attention to student bands, points out Matthew Harris, basist with Galeej Gurus, another student band, that started out from Christ College, Bangalore and has survived the test of time. “People are not open-minded and would prefer brands names instead of asking bands like ours to play.”

An emotion strongly reciprocated by Vishnu S, vocalist for Crescent Sun. Vishnu asserts, “we aren’t popular because we are not good enough. And we are not good because in India, most people pick up the guitar only after they get into college, for lack of parental support who want a ‘secure future’ for their children.”

No wonder then, according to Harris, most bands disintegrate by the time their college terms ends. “Music is something that happens along the way. An individual’s career becomes more important,” he shrugs.
Something that T Venkat Vardhan, MD, DNA event organisers, who have been dealing with student bands through DNA’s annual show featuring campus bands, has witnessed once too often.

“The popularity of student bands is limited to rock-centric cities like Mumbai and Pune and is not growing as much as we expect it to,” avers Vardhan, adding, “Disappointed band members often come to me halfway through their stint wondering how will they sustain themselves.”

Indian connection kidhar hai?

“An Indian rock band just does not exist,” asserts singer Rabbi Shergill, himself a member of the Khalsa college band during his student days. “I think the nearest anybody could lay claim to the title were the Indus creed.

One has to understand the reality of India, the fact that it is a very disparate nation. So there really can never be a pan-India entity.

Also, one must needs to ask them their references. They speak in English, reel off names nobody has ever heard of, how can they hope to connect with their own country? Compare that to the US where they have very local music happening, hence the popularity.”

Complaints about lack of originality are repeated from other quarters as well. “Band and music work is considered ‘side business’ in India,” argues Vishnu, before wondering “Who spends time writing and composing music? Do the college bands make good original music?”

Even Harris agrees that bands like theirs are often requested for something in Hindi by the music labels.

Things..are they a-changing?

Despite the dismal outlook the scene for these young bands seems to be changing, if one were to go by Shatadru Sarkar, manager, new media for the music label Saregama Ltd. “So far all the promotional vehicles, viz channels, radio were Bollywood centric.

But now what we see is a Bollywood burnout, and consequently there is a surge in non-film music, he counters.

The label recently launched an album featuring some such young artistes apart from the established ones on Delhi’s music circuit.

Also positive about the appeal of student bands is Amar K Deb , head, Channel V who has been working with young bands for the last two years. He says, “It’s not true that student bands do not have an audience.

We have seen the mass turnout at the concerts organised for our shows featuring these bands. So the reality is that the efforts only lack support from established labels, and not the other way round. How will they be heard if no channel plays their music?”  

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kanpur_Times/A_rocking_Indian_student_band/articleshow/2239111.cms

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