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Photo: Murali Kumar K.

Instant crowd pleaser Swaratma enthralled with a very Euphoria kind of sound and a flair for theatrics

But the radio giant, Radio City, has been working hard these past couple of months trying to discover India’s next big rock act. Unlike the Campus Rock Idols, RC Live, searched for bands that worked on originals compositions in Hindi with an overdose of rock flavour.

From 125 entries that were mailed in from all over the country, judges, Palash Sen, front man of Euphoria, Subir Malik, keyboardist of Parikrama and Vibhav Rao, Head of Management in charge of Artiste and Repertoire from EMI Records, narrowed it down to a handful of bands in the three major regions they established to localise the search.

The much-awaited regional finals of the RC Live South talent hunt took place at the St. John’s Auditorium in Koramangala. The South region saw only four bands make it to the finals, Ek, Swaratma, Udaan and Anhad.

It was a fierce battle of the bands with each of them belting out their compositions in Hindi. It was unlike the kind of sound one would expect from a talent competition or search as each of these bands came off sounding as professional as bands with multi-platinum records.

Ek, had a very ambient and well-rounded sound to them, with a lot of blues and rock ’n’ roll influences thrown in for good measure. The first song they came out to play was a song called “Jitenge” which can easily be their number one song on the charts if this band does get signed. It is a catchy and uplifting number, with a very interesting guitar solo in the end.

Another song they played was their version of the grand raga Darbari. The song felt like a perfect blend of Jean Luc Ponty’s Ethereal Moods with a riff similar to that of Pink Floyd’s Pigs, yet set to the base of the raga.

The next band Udaan was a young bunch, with a very Shaan like sound to them. Their self-titled track “Udaan” is an interesting uplifting number with good progression. The third band to come up on stage was a band of exceptional quality. Anhad, having travelled all the way from Mumbai, played to an absolutely spellbound audience. Exuberating professionalism and musical prowess, they came up with a track called “Tamasha” that very beautifully played out the hustle-bustle of city life and the usual gripes we Indians have with the situation around us.

A track called “Ajnabi” by Anhad is easily their magnum opus. A track about alienation is littered with profound lyrics and is reminiscent again of Pink Floyd’s songs from “The Wall”. It has an amazing riff and a very melodic, yet concrete build up and would feel right at home as the soundtrack of a Rajat Kapoor movie.

The last band to come on seemed like an instant, crowd pleaser. Swaratma seemed to be a favourite among the audience from the moment they stepped on stage, which also directly meant they would emerge aswinners.

They enthralled audiences with a very Euphoria kind of sound, with a flair for theatrics and got the audiences involved in their act as they performed. They had a very interesting approach with a line-up that consisted of a percussionist playing a variety of Indian percussion instruments and surprisingly a violinist who added to the overall Indian sound to their music.

In a surprise move, the rule of only one winner emerging was broken and two bands from Bangalore made it to the finals that will take place in Delhi on Febraury 29. The bands Swaratma and Ek were the lucky two as they were clearly the audience favourites.

All in all it was an interesting evening that somehow managed to blur the lines between the language of Hindi and the power of rock ’n’ roll.

The final winners will go on to win a record deal with EMI and a year’s backing and support from both EMI and Radio City.

All the bands were phenomenal and one hopes Radio City will compile all the tracks of the bands who did not make the final cut, as the music these bands had to offer would definitely be a treat to any audiophile or someone who is just in search of a new, fresh sound.

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