Victim of Changes

There is a lot in common between the bustling neighbourhood of PR Hills in Kohima (Nagaland) and Park Street. Like Park Street is to Kolkata,PR Hills too is the social hub of the hill town.

There is a lot in common between the bustling neighbourhood of PR Hills in Kohima (Nagaland) and Park Street. Like Park Street is to Kolkata,PR Hills too is the social hub of the hill town. It has all the fashionable boutiques and restaurants,its a part of the town which stays awake much after the other parts is asleep. And like Park Sreet,it boasts of joints where local music acts are nurtured,like the heavy metal band Draughty Growthy. Yet Bendang,the lead vocalist of the group,dreams of Park Street. If we manage to get a gig in a place like Someplace Else it will be a big thing for us. So far we have only managed to perform in a few local concerts,performing in Kolkata will mean a lot of exposure and the opportunity to reach out to mainstream India, says Bendang.

However,Bendang,more than anyone else,knows that there are many stumbling blocks in the road leading to Park Street. Getting a gig in Kolkata is not that easy. We need an agent first,moreover we dont even know if there is a listening base for our kind of music, he says. Their kind of music means heavy metal which is listened to with great adulation by a cross section of people there.

Bruno Sangma,the lead vocalist of Meghalaya-based metal band Eye2eye agrees. We have tried to get gigs in Kolkata but to no avail. Though we know that there is greater interest in a our kind of music in cities like Bangalore and Bombay,but we want to perform in Kolkata because its closer home and is after-all is the gateway to the East, says Sangma. Eye2eye has been a professional outfit for a few years now and is eager to perform in Kolkata. But we dont know many people in the city and it becomes very difficult for outsiders like us to get a break, he adds. Tura,the village where the band hails from in Meghalaya is about 220 kilometres from the nearest city,Guwahati and a trip to Kolkata means a lot of investment for Sangma and his band members. We are not exactly a hop and a skip away,yet Kolkata is the nearest metropolis and it makes more sense to use the city as our launching pad, he adds.

What Sangma and Bendang need is probably an agent like Mohanish Lama,who helped the Gangtok-based band Flashflood make it big in Kolkata. The whole of North-East is bustling with talented Rock and metal bands just waiting for an opportunity. They see Kolkata as a dream destination,land up here and are disappointed when they dont get opportunities. But the problem is that many nightclubs here arent willing to give opportunities to metal and serious rock bands because they feel only soft rock works for Kolkata, says Lama. Moushumi Banerjee of The Park,which houses the mecca of live music in East India,Someplace Else,agrees. The common perception is that heavy metal is meant for a niche crowd in Kolkata, she says.

Even though there are two metal communities in the city (namely Naktala and Rashbehari Metal communities),nightclub owners arent confident. Since most metal enthusiasts are teenagers and students they dont translate to lucrative customers for them, says Lama.

However,there are always college fests,insists Siddhartha of Flashflood. We have performed in quite a few college festivals and have started building reputation in these circles. Its important to be visible, says Siddhartha.

Bendang,Sangma and their fellow band members have their task cut out it seems.

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