Rooting for Rock

8220;For me, it8217;s the true voice of the youth. It8217;s making a statement without giving a damn,8221; rocker and music director Vishal Dadlani calls it the language of the youth. 8220;It8217;s linking the mind with words, songs and music,8221; he connects as we push the rewind button and stop on two words: Jim Morrison. It was the 8216;60s and post-jazz era that The Doors opened and the world got the baap of rock, Jim Morrison who jammed on stage with no strict melody, no right note. But surprisingly, everybody loved it. 8220;Rock developed as a stage, live form of music, and in the 8216;60s, it was all about sex, drugs and rock 8216;n8217; roll,8221; says hard-core rock fan and city-based guitarist Sherry Sekhon. It was never about the words as much as it was about how it was being played. 8220;Janice Joplin, Joe Crocker, Queen, Led Zepplin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jimi Hendrix8230;for rock stars, it were the drums and guitar, it was more about music than singing, and hence the instrumentation,8221; she adds. Song programming came with Deep Purple, Pink Floyd in the 8216;70s, time of classic rock. With 8216;80s and 8216;90s rolled in Bon Jovi, Kiss, Aerosmith with attitude, pumping up the volume with their dirty hard rock while Nirvana, Greenday gave us the punk grunge rock. Cut to present day, and it8217;s all about alternative rock, creating music that8217;s innovative in melody 8211; Cold Play, Dave Matthew, Radio head, Train, Black Eyed Peas8230;

Excellent marketing, websites devoted to downloads, videos and music exchange, soon the rock base grew. We now have platforms like Irock, Launchpad, The Great Indian Rock, East Wind Fest, Campus Rock Idols et al. And a film too! What began as director Abhishek Kapoor8217;s attempt to make a boy-bonding, coming-of-age film turned into a full-fledged movie on rock music. 8220;I was listening to rock on my iPod and thought why not make a film on an Indian music band,8221; says Kapoor, who recalls friends in college who used to jam but left it all to pursue careers. 8220;It has always been my fantasy to be a rock star. It was a surreal experience getting to play the part on screen. What helped was the fact that I have been a fan of rock music for 12 years,8221; chips in Farhan Akhtar, whose favourite band is the Beatles.

For Luke Kenny, whose formed the Jim Morrison Tribute band, the sustainability comes from the non-conformism, no to consumerism and the amazing energy it has. Agreeing with energy and attitude, Nirdosh and Jaspal Singh Saib of De Innovatives call it a cult. 8220;Some time back, being cool was in, today, the world rocks. Also, it8217;s grown because of the exposure, experimentation and acceptance.8221; Jaspal adds that because rock gives a raw kind of feel, it attracts the animal instinct in man. 8220;It thrives on this.8221; But not everything is rocking. 8220;It8217;s more of a fashion statement, shoshabaazi than serious rock music. Most of the bands break up, hardly rehearse and carry half-baked knowledge,8221; Dr Rupak Das feels that everybody wants to be a rock star, no one wants to be a musician. 8220;Noise is what they are making.8221; And noise is the new music. As we root for rock, crowd surf, stage dive and mosh, we can only say; Jai Mata Di, let8217;s rock!