Knicker Bocker Rockers

Raking up the noise levels at Vivek Ganesh’s Chembur residence, the band rehearses for four hours four times a week. Just five months old, it comprises vocalist Prasad Gopalkrishnan, guitarists Shyam Narayan and Sandeep Suvarna, bass guitarist Rohan Poojary and drummer Vivek, the youngest member. Having played at Independence Rock in Mumbai this year, the band has three originals to their name, and hopes to stick together for another five years at least.

Delhi’s Illusion has some parental supervision as well. Comprising guitarist Akhil Anand, lead guitarist and vocalist Tejaswam Singh, rhythm guitarist Shashwat and drummer Abhinav Yogesh, the band turned pro with a show at 32nd Milestone, Gurgaon. However, they have a most peculiar practice routine.

Twice a week, their session starts with an hour of study followed by four hours of music, interrupted only by sandwiches and cold drinks brought in by Yogesh’s mom. Perhaps the fact the band is made up of 12-year-old punks has something to do with it. Their tattoos may be stick-on, but the act is real. The Illusion kids will soon complete their first original. And since they believe in doing things their way, they do an evil version of Bob Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door.

Says Anand, ‘‘We struck a deal with our parents. We have to study hard and score good marks, otherwise there will be no concerts, no music.’’ The Shri Ram School students plan to approach pubs for live acts soon, apart from vying for a place in next year’s Great Indian Rock concert.

Delhi’s Finally Rolling performs a tricky balancing act between music and studies, too. Their practice session starts every night at 10 pm and stretches till 5 am. Lead guitarist Varun Sundaram says: ‘‘We yawn a lot in class (in college), but we can’t do much about it.’’ The band that sings glam rock includes lead guitarist Varun Sundaram, vocalist

Mrityunjay Devarth, rhythm guitarist Peter Malawat, bassist Rajit Mittal and drummer Malay Vashisht. Their first pro show was held at Blues recently and two other clubs in Delhi have also approached them with offers.

Mumbai too is all set to cradle rock bands. Teen band Sledgehammer is ecstatic that at least four new venues in Mumbai are ready to embrace rock. ‘‘Even discotheques like Fire & Ice are interested in rock bands,’’ says Phiroz, the band’s drummer. According to him, ‘‘There’s no frontman in this band, all of us are frontmen.’’ The band was formed a year ago until when it didn’t have a vocalist. Advertising on gigpad.com, the website dedicated to rockers, paid off and Sledgehammer was introduced to Arjun who took on vocals.

The band evolved in bits—guitarist Abhishek was spotted at Independence Rock two years ago, bassist Sam turned out to be a friend’s younger brother and the rest of them (Phiroz and Nariman) comprised the quintessential best friend duo who think of a riff and want to start roaring.

No sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll please. It’s studies, demo tapes and gigs all the way.