FIRST TIME ROCKING AT JIPMER – A Learning Curve

It was just the end of August in 2006 and it was my first ever tryst with the rock and roll scene in India. I was for the first time playing Bass (please pronounce it as base) guitar for a band in college, and my first ever gig was supposed to be at JIPMER, Pondicherry. One of the most revered Battle of Bands contest in southern India. The show was called Tinnitus (Western Music Competition). It was a gleaming night, with some of the best rock crowd I had come across. People seemed to understand here that rock was no screaming stuff but just another form of music they were so addicted to.

BATTLE OF BANDS STARTS:

The battle for the supreme bands started around 8 p.m. after much delay due to rain which had added another dimension to the already energetic and rocking crowd. The bands came, they played and they conquered. Though we did not give a perfect show but we were surely on the learning curve seeing all these wonderful bands around! We played a mix of modern rock, some punk and a hard rock number. The songs we played were: Show me how to live (Audioslave), Virus (Iron Maiden), Flavor of the weak (American Hi-Fi) and Rocking in a free world (Neil Young, Pearl Jam cover). We got a mixed response; to be frank I was so involved in playing (I was a bit nervy as well) that I totally missed out on the crowd thing. Though we screwed up the third song (Flavor of the weak) the response from people after our show was that the second and the last song were pretty good. And for the last song we even got some head-banging, applauses and rock on screams! So that went down pretty well. Though after our performance we went back stage and we were trying to find out culprits as to who screwed up the third song! To be frank I did not say anything that time but it was our rhythm guitarist but no issues cause one can always goof up while playing. It’s only about realizing ones mistake and giving a good show the next time. Another thing with JIPMER’s battle of bands is that the sound system over here is awesome. Apart from that the lighting is so perfect that it adds to the joy of playing. The Light men flicker the lights depending upon the rhythm and the mood of the music being played by the bands. So it is worth appreciation.

Moreover it was my first experience of the rocker lifestyle. People around some engineers, some doctors (JIPMER is a medical college) and rest all jerks (engineers at the most respect doctors rest all guys are unknown clans) from colleges all around Chennai, Bangalore (India’s rock capital), Calicut, Trivandrum etc had gathered for the JIPMER event(it’s basically the cultural and sports meet organized on an yearly basis). There were many other things I got to see. There were smokers and dopers all around. Some frustrated doctors were high on alcohol (one even got on to the stage and did a ramp walk when the bands were playing), some were busy rolling Marijuana joints and the extreme jerks were even snorting cocaine. Well it’s such a shame that such guys bring to the Rocker community, because they set a bad example and the youngsters just blindly emulate them. Actually Pondicherry is the dopers’ paradise. Anyways it was a fun experiencing different cultures, morons and the lovely Pondicherry. It was fun rocking!

A Bass guitarist speaks on why BASS? And why play?

In the world people play the guitar for two reasons: Let us analyze (being an engineer a thorough analysis to a logical conclusion is expected of me!)

1.  Well most of them do it because of all the fame you get, the rocker feeling, the admiration as you walk down and all the dumb but really hot chicks who will fall for you when you are playing on the stage even though you are doing nothing but playing power chords (if you doing that then you can even call yourself Iron Maiden! Because that’s what they do play power chords and pretend they are not yet another Punk band, but honestly I like them too because of their unique style.) So leaving the hot chicks alone we’ll come back to them later. It is the sheer popularity that attracts people to turning into rock musicians. Most of the people I know around me fall into this category. (so does Parikrama)

2.  Then comes the second kind, people who come with a sheer passion to play music and learn and explore different genres, to them rock is just another part of music. They will master the techniques and moods and then they will move onto the mother of rock music The Blues and then their ultimate aim is to play Jazz. Mind It! These people are the dedicated chaps who will never try to compromise on their Music stuff and techniques and will stick to the rules of the game. 

MY IDEA:

Actually, before I could turn into a guitarist I turned into a bassist. (To call a bassist a guitarist is objectionable in Bassists lexicon and outright insulting) Well I discovered the true power of Bass when I started jamming with the band for the first time as a Bassist. Bassie is generally a guy who brings the low frequency tones in the band’s music. He sets the rhythm and the harmony. Along with the drummer he decides the framework of the music that is going to come out of the band. Bass fills the whole thing and provides a sense of completeness to the song. And to be honest guitars are just fill-ins which accentuate the feeling of music. Bass is part of all the genres of music, take it from Jazz to Blues to Rock to Death Metal, all want it. Even the days of Beethoven they used the Upright Double. So my playing Bass was just a coincidence (that is another story) but I was in love with the instrument the moment I handled it. Each time while we played the moment Bass went off for a while, it took the life out of the song. So I was in love with this instrument and I knew this is what I wanted to play.

My Music Idea:

Now when it was clear on what I want to play, why I wanted to play anything in first place? so I go back to the above reasons. Ok now Bass man is the guy who in a rock band would quietly stand in the corner giving out low frequency sounds. The real musicians will understand this and the importance of bassist in the band and the music on the whole, but not my mom and sister (why the hell were you standing in the corner! Why is the camera guy not even focusing you?) OK now come in the chicks we left out, for them they don’t know a shit about music or rock, they are just dumb. For them Bassist and guitarists are the same courtesy both the Bass and Guitar look similar. Oh that guy (bassist) playing the guitar so well (calling the bass a guitar may not be technically wrong but it is another racial slur on the bassist community). The dumb girls, who gives a damn though. So what’s my idea of music? Now I always wanted to become a rock star but for me music meant a way to channelize my energy into something creative. I always wanted to improve my techniques and play the songs I really loved. I was also interested in jamming, though our college schedule did not allow it! So what category I come into? Hard to draw a line. First it’s about being creative, innovative, expanding your skill sets, channelizing your energy in free time (empty mind’s devilz workshop) and exploring new genres, learning from the artists and adapting. So if you do all this and turn to the stage and perform impressing the judges with your awesome basslines while still managing to woo some chicks who mistake you for those dimwitched Guitarists and while your folks are complaining for you standing in a corner while you still enjoying the Bass kinda sums it up! 

the Ibanez GSR100 four string monster Bass. the cheap and best any one can afford.

An Apple a generation steps up the innovation – latest developments around 3G model and the iPhone sales issue

In 1984, there were personal computers but then Macintosh was launched and it gave us the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and revolutionized the concept of PC’s through iconic innovation! This was Generation 1; I’ll call it Epoch I.

Epoch II: Before 2004 people knew and heard digital music but then iPod came into existence and the rules of the game were changed. iPod provided us with ubiquity and the way we live the music. 

Epoch III: Before 2007 people used smart cell phones, heard music on the move, even surfed the net through these gizmos, but iPhone changed the rules of the game again. It integrated everything into one device, not only made it attractive, user friendly, easy to navigate but more importantly started the beginning of a new era of innovation.

Exactly Apple has been changing the way the game is being played. By introducing innovative products in the market through focused and dedicated approach, Apple has been bringing cool products to the consumer market. And these products are not only smart but also simple for the common man to use. This mix of simplicity and smartness defines the way Apple plays the game, and with each new product marking the start of a new generation and fuelling fresh innovations in the market.

iPhone and its business: with the launch of the iPhone Apple has created a buzz in not only the music and computing industry but it marks the entry of the innovation giant in the field of telecommunications. At the launch iPhone was available in select markets of the world with full available facilities to be used. Moreover the company released the iPhones with only the AT&T network to be used for the next one year. Second, the company did not allow third party to develop software to be running on the trendy iPhone. These factors led to a lot of negative criticism and to some extent affected the sales of the new gadget.

Surprisingly before the launch of the new 3G model, a few months back Apple came out with the SDK (Software Development Kit) for the iPhone enabling many third party companies to develop and market software for the iPhone. This gave iPhone a much needed breakthrough and helped improve sales, which had slowed down after the initial craze subsided which had sent the sales sky high. Till now Apple has managed to sell about 6 million iPhones and has targets of selling 10 million by this year end. So how is Apple going to manage it? Let us check out.

Cool features of the iPhone 3G: the 3G model boasts of a GPS (Global Positioning system) which enables the phone to track its exact location. Apart from the user friendly nature of navigating through the touch screen iPhone, it also supports 3G, i.e. the third generation of mobile systems. 3G brings along with it high speed data transfer ability, thus enabling live streaming video, faster internet access etc. Moreover another striking feature is that in case of theft iPhone completely erases all the data (which could be sensitive) present in the memory.  

Apple’s business model for iPhone 2G: Initially, the iPhones were being licensed through AT&T in a deal which entitled AT&T to share with Apple some of the monthly usage fees of the iPhone users. This helped make Apple profits through not only sales of the phone but also its usage. AT&T benefitted from the increased customer base, and with the number of value added services iPhone supported, it would help AT&T in a greater way.

 Apple’s business model for iPhone 3G: with the release of the 3G model Apple has come out with a new set of business model, it has effectively reduced the price to around 199 USD to boost the sales in mass market by making it affordable. Industry experts feel reducing the price below this would have consequences not good for Apple in a mass market model. However the deal is still not pinching Apple that much! Why? In the new deal the iPhone is going to be released worldwide in around 70 countries with the local mobile service providers promoting it. So how is Apple gaining despite cutting down the cost of the iPhone considerably?  Unlike the 2G the service providers are going to subsidize for the cost of the phone and in return they are not going to share the monthly usage fees with Apple. In this way Apple is going to lose out on some profit it could have made but it wasn’t boosting the sales so much. With the reduced cost of the iPhone and mass marketing by not only Apple but also the MSP’s the iPhone sales are going to improve and Apple is going to profit from the subsidy provided by the MSP’s. Whether it is a win-win situation for both Apple and Msp’s has to be seen. But surely Apple has adopted a strategy the major handset players like Nokia and Samsung have adopted and hopes to boost its sales.  

Apple has always been the harbinger of innovation, while we wait here in India for the release of the 3G iPhone, somewhere in the silicon valley, Apple is already gearing up for Epoch IV.

 

DUS KA DUMB Questions

• 1. Kitne Pratishat log raat ko jungle mein jaa ke kale hiran ko marte hain?
• 2. Kitne pratishat log apne ex-girlfriend ko zor se thappar marte hain?
• 3. Kitne pratishat log reporter’s ke saath do-do haath karte hain?
• 4. Kitne pratishat log apni ex-girlfriend ke boyfriend ko raat mein missed calls marte hain?

And finally for 10 crores

• 5. Kitne pratishat log raat ko footpath pe soye logon ko permanently sula dete hain?

ROCK ON

 

Farhan Akhtar’s latest flick Rock On is all set to write a new chapter in Indian film-making. After totally fresh and rocking ideas of DCH (Dil Chahta Hai) and Lakshya, Rock on is supposedly going to set the ball rolling on august 29^th. Yes that’s when the movie is going to hit screens worldwide.

In fact it will not be fair to call it Farhan’s movie. The movie is being directed by some Abhishek Kapoor. But the duo of Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan is still there producing the movie. In fact Farhan is the centre of attraction of the movie playing a sort of lead role. So what is rock on all about.?

Rock On is about a group of four guys who set to pull the best Rock Band in the country but somehow don’t manage to meet with success and then part ways. Ten years down the line they cross each other once again and then anyone’s guess what’s gonna happen. So they set out again on one sole mission. Rocking!!!

In fact Farhan himself has been playing the guitar in real life (not reel) and always visualized himself as a rock star. So it’s kinda dream he’s living upto in the movie where he plays the role of the band’s vocalist. Besides there is Arjun Rampal, Luke Kenny (People watching Channel V must be knowing him), and Purab Kohli. Going by the Promos and the poster’s it looks like a pretty good makeover by especially Rampal to get the Rock star look.

The mystery still holds: who’s who in the band!! Last heard that Farhan Akhtar has actually sung five songs, composed by the gr8’s SEL ( Shankar Mahadevan- Ehsaan Noorani – Loy Mendosa) .

 

Ehsaan Noorani getting to rock:

Well very few people would actually know that the reason for success of the band SEL is the diversity the three bring to the music direction. While Shankar belongs to the Indian Classical music, Ehsaan brings in his Western rock finesse and Loy Mendoza is Electronica king.

Not many people know that Ehsaan started as a guitarist. Now we know where those lovely guitar licks in DCH and Lakshya came from! Moving on since this movie is Rock oriented, Ehassan will get to experiment a lot and probably give us some sweet guitar solos in the movie like the ones in DCH. So looking forward for some hard rocking and head banging stuff.

The theatrical trailer is already out and the posters have been put up in 3000 theatres across the world. The trailer has already started the buzz. I’m just waiting for the music release as of now.