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Dogmatone Records hopes to make Indian rock into a saleable and marketable proposition
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PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.
READY TO GO Dogmatone is dedicated to promoting rock and is keen on spotting talent
A lot has been done to promote Indian rock over the years and now there is yet another attempt from the city. Bands are often faced with the prospect of having no outlet to release their music but now four IT professionals have gotten together to do their bit for Indian rock.
Sunil Anand, Varun Rajagopalan, Ramprakash and Shyam Prasad have gotten together to form Dogmatone Records, which exclusively promotes and sells Indian rock. For starters, they have released the label's first CD, The First Mutiny - Dogmas of Indian Rock, which features numbers from bands around the country.
The idea to form the label began because the quartet were quite avid followers of the local rock scene and decided to do something to promote Indian talent.
"In the beginning we used to wonder how there isso much talent and nobody to promote it. A band like Parikrama gives its music away free over the Internet. We thought why not make this music into a mainstream saleable proposition. It led to a decision. Every other genre of music in the country has a support set except Indian rock. We wanted to create that foundation," recalls Anand.
"If you try to sell music it loses creativity. Worldwide rock bands are very marketable, but in India that situation is not there. It is more likely people have heard of Himesh Reshammiya rather than rock," adds Varun.
Priced at Rs. 100, none of the music in the CD is copyrighted as of now. Bands such as Vertigo, Moonstruck, Exodus, Pralay, Grungy Morphins, Demonic Resurrection, Kastadyne, Scream of Silence, Night Train, Hunger, Indian Breves, Cassini's Division, Enthrall and Kradle O' Beats were asked to contribute. The label, however, plans a major thrust in promoting Indian rock in a big way. "The CD is just a sample of the talent that is out there. We don't want to promote just the CD but also gigs to promote the music and we might even have events at pubs around Bangalore. To create awareness, bands must know that we exist," says Ramprakash.
Dogmatone is a fully registered record company and pays its taxes. A distribution network for the CD has been set up and Purplebeast Studios is being used for recording and remastering to give a professional touch to the CD.
"There is not much professionalism in Indian bands. Nobody has a manager. There should be a guy responsible for the affairs of the band," points out Anand.
There was no problem it seems with music stores offering to display the CD. They were happy if the record company was registered and all the taxes were paid. Space has also been offered within the premises of some stores for bands to perform and promote their music. The label is dedicated to promoting rock in local languages and is keen to spot talent early so that it can be signed up.
"We are attending a lot of the Indian rock gigs that are happening such as URock and Freedom Jam. We receive many demo tapes. But college bands are a problem because they lose that passion after college. We need bands that are serious about their work."
The First Mutiny - Dogmas of Indian Rock is available at all Music World outlets.
ANAND SANKAR
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