Back in Sync

After shifting to Pune in the hope of finding better avenues for its music,Baroda band Manefus is looking forward to its gig in the city

Six years ago,drummer Dipesh Pandit was watching Hollywood film The Mummy Returns,when the word manefus caught his attention. A little surfing on the Internet gave him the actual meaning of the word a royal Egyptian eagle and Pandit decided to name his four-piece alternative rock band,Manefus. To us,manefus is about bringing a person back to life. You can call it reincarnation through music, says lead vocalist Amit Kalia.

The name they picked also inadvertently became a reflection of the bands story. When they started out in Baroda,they battled with criticism,discouragement,personal issues and financial crunch. The place we belong to does not really appreciate the kind of music we create. However,we did not focus on the hurdles even though the criticism affected us. We chose to stick to what we wanted to do, says Kalia.

The good times rolled when Manefus also featuring guitarist Amit Bhatia and Siddhu on the bass emerged victorious at several national-level music competitions including Antaragini 10 at Indian Institute of TechnologyKanpur,Footprints 07 and 08 at Maharaja Sayajirao University and Yuthopia 10 at Vadodara. Eventually what started as a recreational activity turned into a serious profession, says 27-year old Kalia.

Inspired by Audioslave,Pearl Jam and Led Zeppelin,the songs of Manefus are mostly themed around personal experiences,spiritual awakening,life and love. Some of their compositions Home,Royal Blasphemy,Hollow Man,Street Smart Woman and The Rage Was Real says that if you create something from the soul,it will reach out to others souls.

This philosophy is rooted in the bands collective thought. Kalia says that his favourite track Open Your Third also revolves around the mystical concept of the inner eye that talks about an insight beyond the ordinary vision.

Getting ready to perform in the city today,the vocalist says their first performance in Pune was in 2011 at Hard Rock Cafe. The crowd was very vibrant and energetic,we were impressed, recalls Kalia. So,after mulling over the idea for some time,the band shifted to Pune eight months ago hoping to get bigger platforms. We are hoping that our gig today will be as exciting as the previous one, says Kalia.

Manefus will perform at Rising Stars,Cocoparra,today,5 pm onwards

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