Born to be wild!

Fresh from a concert at Hanoi,Delhi-based Parikrama,one of the oldest rock bands of India,has many laurels to their credit. Consisting of Nitin Malik on vocals,Sonam Sherpa and Saurabh Choudhary on guitars,Subir Malik on keyboards and synthesizers,Chintan Kalra on bass and Srijan Mahajan drums,the band has opened gigs for British heavyweights Iron Maiden time and again. Talking about his experiences,Subir Malik says,“These are guys that we grew up listening to. More than anything,I think it was an honour to just play alongside them,and very humbling to do it time and again.

Parikrama is also scheduled to perform at some very prestigious venues and events,which include the Kennedy Centre and the Canadian Rock Fest. “Playing at such gigs is always a challenge. Nobody knows you there,after all,few people have heard of Indian rock. We go to such places to have a good time,more than anything,and we have been overwhelmed,more than anything,from the response we have had so far,” says Malik.

Scribe

This Mumbai band is back from Norway and all set to blow the city with their performance. “This is the first legitimate and one-of-its-kind festival involving so many bands in the city. It is a privilege to play in this concert,” opines the vocalist,Vishwesh. Scribe,a hardcore metal band is well known for their eerie tracks- I love you Pav Bhaji,Dum hai to aage aa. They recently released their album Mark of Teja. And when asked they chose this name for the album,Vishwesh laughs,saying “Andaz Apna Apna is one of the best cult movie that the Bollywood has produced in the 90’s. There is a great influence of Bollywood which made us come up with the album name.” Their second album,Mark of Teja has won the ‘Best Metal Album’ at the first ever ‘Rolling Stone Metal Awards’.

Swarathma

They find their purpose in the sort of music which finds its way to the soul. Swarathma,a folk band from Bangalore,composes songs born of pain and pleasure,joys and sorrows,rain and shine,of hope that lifts hearts out of despair. Excited about performing in Pune,Montry Manuel,the drummer says,“People in Pune value their culture and understand music. The city is slowly becoming a music hub. We have heard many bands from the city and they are really talented.” The band recently played in Australia and Singapore. “We played at a music festival there. It was a great experience. The response in Singapore was overwhelming where we played for two days back to back,” says Vasu Dixit,the vocalist and rhythm guitarist.

Zero

Mumbai-based Zero was very active in their initial years of formation,the late nineties and the early part of this decade,but lately,this band has played less and less gigs. Today,the performs only once in a while,but the members are getting back together for this festival. Bobby Talwar,bassist for the band,says,“It’s been a year since we played a gig. But then,Zero was something we did as an outlet of our passion – music. It is a hobby,which briefly became a full-time hobby,but no more. We never really considered it a career. However,the PSP12 artiste says that one can never get over the euphoria one gets while playing on stage. “The vibe,the energy that one feels while playing in the open air,on a stage is amazing. The atmosphere is much,much more electrifying than when one performs in a closed area,” says Talwar.

Infernal Wrath

Euphoria blended with profound madness – this is what Infernal Wrath describes itself as. And the extreme metal band from Mumbai is all ready to give Puneites a chance to mosh and headbang on some of their most brutal tracks. Talking about the metal scene in Pune,Afaque Azad,the vocalist says,“The metal scene in Pune is very good. I have been attended gigs in Pune since 2000 and from then I have been following the local bands.” They make use of the instruments like didgeridoo (a wind instrument from Australia),keyboards and traditional chimes,to create a perfect atmosphere for the metalheads to headbang.