Journalism of Courage
By winning the Rockathon and with that,earning the right to open the gig for Bryan Adams in February,city-based band Highway 61 spells a new high for Hindi rock T
hey came,they saw,they conquered. They did it on their own turf,in front of their home crowd,and they did it their own way,by not allowing themselves to adhere to conformity. They stood out from the rest,a shining beacon,a light for many others,waiting in the wings to follow. When city band Highway 61 won the Amanora Rockathon,and with that the chance to open the gig for Bryan Adams in February this year,they showed the world that Indian Hindi rock is here to stay. All the other bands who performed in the contest,a total of 12,sang in English,but that did not deter this motley bunch of working professionals. They came,and they performed their hearts out. We are making a conscious political statement with our music every song has a message, says Hardik Vaghela,keyboardist for the band. It’s not aggressive activism,nobody likes to be told what to do or what not to do. So,we just spread the message,and let the audience decide for themselves. Among such songs is Mazhab ,which talks about religion,a topic often avoided by other artistes.
Consisting of Mohammad Muneem on vocals,Jatin Kale and Rohit Vasudevan on guitars,Rahul Majumdar on bass,Anant Joshi on drums and of course Vaghela on keyboards,this six-piece band has its fair share of IT professionals. Four of our members work in the IT industry. I too was there,but I’ve recently quit and have joined a music academy as a guitar instructor. Only Rohit [Vasudevan is a full-time musician, says Vaghela.
And what of the future? Well,so far,we have released only one single,Jaago Zara . However,we are planning to come out with our EP soon. The best part is,thanks to the Bryan Adams concert,we shall be able to reach out to many more people,and hopefully make a lot of fans in the process, laughs Vaghela.
