Their New Stage

Music fests,international artistes,and top DJs have made the city their destination.

Music fests,international artistes,and top DJs have made the city their destination. The music culture has only grown and local bands are rejoicing. From performing at numerous gigs at city hotspots to winning national level competitions,the popularity of city rock bands is at an all-time high.

Dark Helm,a local band playing metal,deathcore and experimental,was declared as the west zone winner of the Red Bull Bed Room Jam held in December 2011. Their winning title got them the opportunity to produce their first music video. It will take a few more days for us to release our first music video in the country, says Ninad Ingulkar,the drummer of Dark Helm. The video is being produced by Jack in the Box,a Mumbai-based production house. Ninad and his band mates battled it out against 50 bands from the western region to win the title. It was a tough competition but we lived up to our name, says Mohanish Deshmukh,the guitarist who also writes the lyrics. We draw strong influences from India and the Middle East to give a bend to metal numbers with sitar patches, adds Mohanish. They have 11 original compositions. The video is a story of a Persian warrior during the Middle Ages. It has already been released in Europe. We are not sure of the response as statistics will be out only after two months, says Ingulkar.

Formed in 2006 and surviving many fall outs,Point Blanc,another rock band from Pune,has struck it big. The band won the World of Rock Metal and Electronica (WORME) competition held in Delhi on December 17. Their music is best described as classic,hard rock and inter cult. “We play covers as well as our own compositions, says Arjun Shrivatsan,who won the best keyboardist title at WORME Fest.

Winning titles like the Titans of Rock at IISER and the Rock Fest at Madhyaam,SIMC (UG) annual fest,has only made their musical journey smoother. Organisers take us seriously now. Local level competitions help build a strong base in the world of music, adds Akash Keluskar,the vocalist.

Though the pay is meagre,frequent gigs have given these bands the much-needed recognition. It is difficult to survive on such little amount of money, admits Prakhar Soni,vocalist and bassist of Halahkuh,which plays contemporary rock. Soni and his musician friends formed Halahkuh in February this year. They were the regional finalists at WORME along with Point Blanc. The city is eager to listen to more of rock and metal. And,Pune’s student crowd gives us the perfect platform to showcase our talent, he adds. With a four member line-up,Halahkuh boasts of three self compositions,and titles of the Best Bassist and Best Guitarist at a music fest held at BITS,Goa. The city’s music is definitely finding a national stage.

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