Journalism of Courage
Music would have been so different if it werent for the city of Seattle. Culturally isolated from the rest of the world,this American city developed its own sound,and demanded that the world pay attention to it,producing some of the most important bands of the 90s,including Alice in Chains,Nirvana,Pearl Jam and Soundgarden,among others.
Many bands across the world cite the Seattle sound,as it is called,as their influence,this sound eventually becoming a whole genre,called grunge. Mumbai-based band Split may not have been subject to cultural isolation,but then,this is a band that subscribes to the Seattle sound. Boasting of two performances at Indias elite rock stage,the Great Indian Rock (GIR),the band is currently looking forward to releasing its EP. Titled P is for Pig,the EP has five tracks. When we were growing up,we had no exposure to stuff like the internet or mp3 players. All we could do was to listen to our parents old tapes. That’s how we connected immediately with bands like Alice in Chains, says Melroy,the guitarist for the band. Though separated by a few years and thousands of miles,we realised that we subscribed to the same genre as the Seattle bands, he adds.
With Garreth on vocals,Nigel on drums,Melroy and Aviv on guitars and Shekhar on bass,the band has made a conscious effort to stop playing covers. Covers are fine if you are playing at parties in Goa or at corporate gigs. Since we do neither,we should play our own stuff. Earlier,we used to play covers,but even those would be completely reworked. Anyway,today,audiences have also grown to like original stuff,so the bands that play covers tend to lose respect,rather than make an impression, Melroy feels.
And what of the future? Well,our dream is to play in a stadium,where a large audience will watch us instead of a game of cricket! When thousands of people sing along a song that I have written,it makes my hair stand on its end, grins Melroy.
