Unplugged melodies

One wouldn’t have thought that there was much lacking in India’s non-mainstream music scene. There are many more concerts and live performances than before and many more new performers in genres as varied as rock,electro-pop and jazz. The audience has grown as have the record companies that are actively pushing non-film music. All would seem well to the casual observer. But then,Uday Benegal is hardly that. When the former frontman of pre-eminent rock outfit Indus Creed,returned to India from New York a year ago,he immediately spotted lacunae—there was hardly any focus on acoustic and semi-acoustic music.

“In the west,there’s a huge following for singer-songwriters like John Mayer and Amos Lee who’ve established themselves in the acoustic music arena,” says Benegal,“When I came back to Mumbai,I saw that while more people are into rock and electronica,very few are into acoustic music. That’s when I thought of holding a series of concerts to address this specific gap.” The concert series—Tuborg Acoustic Adventures—which took off on Wednesday evening at Gadda da Vida at the Novotel,Juhu—is actively being pushed by Benegal and Rolling Stone magazine as a monthly platform for unknown talent as well as established names. “We would love for well-known musicians to come and perform. I’ve spoken to my old friends like Ehsaan Noorani and Sanjay Divecha who’ve expressed an interest to perform with us.” But,he insists,the spotlight will be trained on upcoming singers-songwriters.

To those who think Acoustic Adventures is similar to MTV’s iconic Unplugged series,Benegal clarifies,“On Unplugged,bands used to perform acoustic versions of their electronic music. We’d like that as well—if a Pentagram wants to perform acoustic versions of their songs,we’ll welcome them. But we’re really focussing on encouraging musicians who’re already performing acoustic. The genre really doesn’t matter as long that parameter is met. The vibe should be relaxed.” The inaugural show featured Benegal’s new band Whirling Kalapas,which he’s formed with former Indus Creed colleague Mahesh Tinaikar,and also performances by singer/guitarist Nikhil D’Souza and Pune-based singer Gowri.

The future of the series depends on how well the show goes down with the audience in the coming months. “We’re starting in Mumbai,but we really want to take this to other cities like Pune,Bangalore and Delhi,discover talent there and also introduce them to music from this city. In the course of that,if someone approaches us to produce a TV show based on the concerts,we’ll be happy,but it’s really too early to tell.”