DIARY OF A JANIAC: 2009

Sep

motherjane @ Hard Rock Cafe - 24.09.09

motherjane had performed at Bangalore 12 days ago as part of Times of India International Arts Festival. That was in between my exams but this time around, it was after those irritating hours in a small room, similar to a prison chamber, with endless droning hours in front of sheets of paper that you barely understand head or tail of. And this time around, i vowed to enjoy this day like I've never enjoyed any day of my life. The day started with me jumping out of bed with butterflies in my stomach. Because today was the day that I was going to give something in return for all those brilliant notes of music that those 5 fine gentlemen have supplied to me. Today was the day when I was going to give them just as great a feeling as they had given me when they all sang happy birthday to me at Opus.

So before I get to the concert. Let me tell you what this kickass surprise was. And trust me, if you were a part of the crew that gave this surprise, you would have woken up with butterflies in your stomach too. Well here goes. Me and three other diehard janiacs that I know decided to paint our faces and make a t-shirt of our own. This idea came up when I logged on to pringoo.com and decided it was time to buy the motherjane t-shirt. The hopeless choice of colour ranging from baby pink to bright orange inspired the idea of coming up with our own t-shirt with our own faces painted on them. We could flaunt them and it would be truly ours. The t-shirt says AMAJANIAC. This is, in physical sense, the title of one of the songs that Suraj Sir has written. However, to us, it goes way beyond just a song. It represents the collective sense of belonging that we feel towards the band. It represents that spirit that dwells in us. It represents our true selves. It represents us!

We took an entire day to paint our faces and pose for our photographs and everything. I even made pizza and went on to be complimented as being a kickass cook which drove me to make dinner that night. We didnt really bother going to photo studio to get our faces done. We had a one lakh camera in our midst and we decided we'll do all the photo shooting at home. We had a black lamb of god t-shirt for a background, and thats quite an insignificant thing compared to the fact that we kept pillows on the chair and sat on the pillows to make sure our height was just right for the photo, which was on auto-shoot mode. LOL!

Our day turned out to be an out-right sucess, as you may see for yourselves.

JABRI - a.k.a. PRAVEEN :P

HARI - a.k.a ME :P

RAJA

NIKHIL

Well, those are our painted faces and that was just one half of our adventure. We then shifted the photos onto t-shirts and the front said AMAJANIAC and had our face. The rear had the chorus of the song written.

I WOULD UNDERSTAND IF YOU SAID THAT POSING IS AN UNDERSATEMENT

THATS US - JABRI, RAJA, NIKI n ME - JANIACS FOREVER

Now, for the big day. THE CONCERT! I was as nervous as I was when I went for my very first concert. We went to the venue with this t-shirt well concealed. An hour or so before the gig was to actually start, we decided it was time. FOR PAYBACK(refer to my last post)! :P - we called all the members of the band and made sure they could see us all and we slowly removed the shirts we wore on top of our t-shirts and we revealed our t-shirts and the moment they saw it, they were stunned. They had emotions running from shocked to happiness to crying out in joy to excitement to any emotion you can name. It was all there. I personally was extremely happy that they loved it. Mission Acomplished! This was one of the dreams that motherjane had envisioned when they started off as a band and I was really quite proud of myself to have been a part of this. I was proud that I had done what I wanted to do and that feeling is simply unmatched. We then took snaps with the band.

US AND THEM!

Infact, a cameraman from Deccan Chronicle came up to us and asked us to pose for him. That was my first taste of the celeb life [:P].

MOTHERJANE @ HRC - I'M SURE BANGALORE FELL IN LOVE :P

AND THATS CLYDE ROZARIO ON THE BASS

The concert began soon later and we were once again doing what we truely loved. We were watching our favourite men doing what they do best. Rocking! And rocking real hard at that. They played all their songs, except Prison Chains, Shh.. Listen and the Odes to Life. A couple of my classmates came for the concert. One of them came for his first ever concert. It was such a pleasant sight to see him thoroughly enjoy himself, but it came as no surprise, everyone thoroughly enjoys themselves at a motherjane concert! And so will you, if you go for one! [:D]. And thats a decision you'll never repent. I'll even buy you a ticket. Hehe! Anway, signing off folks! [:D] Sorry for the long read couldn't help. [:)]

ROCKING BANGALORE

SURAJ MANI - PASSION REDEFINED

THE GOD OF SMALL STRINGS - if you ask me he is the GOD OF ALL STRINGS

ME n MY GURU - JOHN THOMAS

ME WITH THE BUDDHA ON BASS - CLYDE ROZARIO

And before I sign off, here is a small song that I wrote about motherjane. Its my first song about them and hopefully the first of many to come. Read and enjoy. [:)]

Child of motherjane

We've all had our share of dreams
Blinded by faith and tested by time
But I've got a new saviour
That'll carry me through just that

A bond that I shared
Since I heard the first note
A bond that lingers
In every move of my soul

Each beat, each note,
Every melody is now
A part of me and it shall
Always be

Coz

I am a child of motherjane
A man that stands tall among many
And forever flying towards the stars
To reach his one true love "MOTHERJANE"

The lessons I've learnt
through just your songs
And lessons I shall learn
from nothing but your presence

Your faces feature in all my dreams
And your music flows through all my veins
And I am really blessed coz
You not just show me in yourselves, you
Give voice to all of my thoughts

And

I am a child of motherjane
A man that stands tall among many
And forever flying towards the stars
To reach his one true love "MOTHERJANE"

Looking forward to your comments about it.

Cheers
Hari
amajaniac n so r u

Sep

motherjane - sep 12th - @ OPUS

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The Times of India International Arts Festival brought together some of the biggest names in the world arts field together in one city. Spread over about two weeks or so, this was one gala event with over 20 artists performing. Out of that 20, I was stunned to find an artist that I least expected in that list - MOTHERJANE.

CLYDE ROZARIO - BUDDHA ON BASS

motherjane played at Opus, Brookefield on the 12th of September, just a day before my birthday to those unaware. [:P] For a janiac like yours truly, there is no better birthday celebration that this one. It had been quite a while since I last saw them live. That was at Le Rock if I'm not mistaken. And for an impatient man like me thats a loooooooong time.

SURAJ MANI - SINGING SENSEI

Anyway, I got to the venue, which I would say fails to fall in the boundary of Bangalore but well, no complains. The show, started off at about 9 or so and my was it a blast from the beginning. They started of with a kick ass rendition of Disillusion. The song has been made slightly heavier and gives it a perfect feel to either headbang like never before or jump and just have fun throughout. The crowd, most drunk, went berserk from the start to the end. Most carried on being berserk even after the show ended. [:P]

JOHN THOMAS - THE METRONOME

motherjane, I've always said is the perfect example of a vortex of energy combined with 5 musically brilliant men combined with a bunch of great gentlemen. Throw in some passion in there and voila, you've got your men of dreams. They played a really good mix of tracks from both their albums. They've got four more albums coming out in four more years and I am super excited. Their next album, as announced by Suraj at Opus is to be titled "Graffiti Without Walls" because music in its truest meaning is really graffiti without any barriers whatsoever. Its the will and wish of the artist to create music in his/her own manner. And its the will and wish of the listener to interpret in his/her own manner, so music quite aptly fits the definition graffiti without walls.

DEEPU SASIDHARAN - SIX STRINGED SPARTAN

The crowd really had an amazing time and I, personally, had a superb birthday in advance. They were many hilarious incidents during the show some of which require personal sight of the situation to really laugh out loud.

BAIJU DHARMAJAN - GOD OF SMALL STRINGS

The crowd was so enthralled by motherjane that it got motherjane to play an encore of Chasing the Sun and the band gratefully obliged. motherjane kicked ass on 12th and after the concert we settled down for a nice dinner. And I was pleasantly surprised when the whole band sang Happy Birthday at 12 o'clock. If I'm not mistaken, I felt my eyes water right there. My that was a really touching surprise and I vowed to surprise them just as much and read my next blog to find out what I and a bunch of friends of mine did to get even [;)]

cheers

Hari

amajaniac n so r u

Aug

Junkyard Groove at OPUS

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Junkyard Groove last came to the Garden City for a show at the Kyra Theater(just a fancy name to say a pub with sky-high prices) and their set consisted of about four songs and a Folk You encore. They were exceptionally great and it was the first time I heard Feel Like a Knife, Twinkle and Hold. Amazing Songs! But the time slots didn't help one bit.

JUNKYARD GROOVES NEW T-SHIRT DESIGN!

Like a month or so later, news spread that they were coming back again for THREE shows. Two at Opus, priced at 510 bucks each. Bam! Major Setback! But then, I was rather firm that I had to go for it. I knew all of their songs at last and could jump and sing to my hearts content. And Opus is a way better place than Kyra for a JYG Show.

NULL FRICTION

At about Nine, Null Friction from Chennai took the stage and belted about 4 or 5 classics and ended their set with Another Brick on the Wall by Pink Floyd. It was amazing finish to their set and got the whole crowd going. Got me going, at least. Everyone was belting out anti-education lines and that was such a treat for a student like yours truly. :)

Junkyard Groove took the stage by storm soon afterward. With a brilliant set, it completely outclassed their last show at Kyra by a really large margin.

The started of with one of my favourites IMAGINE. Followed by another classic Rock 'n' Roll! Rock 'n' Roll got me high(like literally - cuz i was jumping :P) and JYG was at their bloody best or so I thought. They soon played Let You Go and Been So Long. And then came my favourite JYG Song FOLK YOU!! Amazing Song with Amazing Riff and a super oppurtunity to jump like mad and go crazy.

Precisely what I did! My cousins and me were probably the only ones in the whole Bar who weren't in an intoxicated state. The poor waiter got a heart ache when we said we dont drink and at the end of the night, I'm sure everyone thought I had "Puffed the Magic Dragon"! :P

SLASH REVITALISED

But, I did go high, real high on JYGs music. Who Wouldn't? When the songs that followed an amazing spelled out Folk You were Twinkle and Its OK.

AMEETH! - ROCKER DRINKER n DREAMER

Next up, was an acoustic set of about three songs. This was by only Ameeth. He played Simple Song, Say Goodbye and Please Don't Wake Me Up. The last two being my favourite songs from their EP "Nicer in a Minute".

JYGs EP - Nicer in a Minute

11:11 - Bootleg - JYGs Album

In the midst of Say Goodbye came smthng unexpected where Ameeth decided to improvise thanks to Sids absence and did the solo with his mouth! Hilarious. Please Don't Wake Me Up is a romantic classic that I just love to hear over and over again. If you haven't read the review I wrote about their EP do read it. Its got a review on all of the songs and links to get them.

Then, Ameeth took a break and the rest of the guys came back on. They played a few covers. Imagine by Beatles, sung by Sid and a Micheal Jackson cover sung by Craig. Craig forgetting the lyrics in between was amazing! Honestly, I cannot do any justice to their performance with this post. Their shows are something to behols not read about. The small perks of laughter like Ameeth saying Craig that he almost caught him fart when Craig went real close to his hind and stuff like that is something to watch and enjoy. Anyway I'm still trying my best for those who couldn't get there.

Thats us!

Ameeth came back on after those two songs and they played Feel Like a Knife. Craig, then under humungous peer pressure, raps a couple of lines, which is again absolutely comedy. Maynard then played a solo that took my breath away! Maynard is like a man to worship. The way he moves around on his drum throne is amazing. Supreme Ownage!

After that came a song called Aya Suthila Pee! Amazing song which you may check out by clicking the link below. Hilarious more than amazing really! Had everyone in splits and then came Sid in all his might in Hold. The start and that solo is Hold is a thing to behold. And Sid with his Slash look is ever so cool to watch! We should have an Indian G3 concert with Sid, Baiju and John Antony of Karnatrix. It would be ever so brilliant!

Junkyard Groove unfortunately had to leave and played a supremely distorted Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. Ameeth was bustling with energy and some of us were screaming our lungs out for them to stay. But all good things do come to an end and so did that show. And so does this post! :P

My cousin and me with Sid a.k.a Slash :)

My cousin and I with Maynard - Man to admire

My cousin and me with Maynard

http://junkyardgroove.net/ - Official Site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8apPkj67R8 - Aya Suthula Pee Video

http://www.gimmesound.com/JunkyardGroove/ - Gimmesound Page of Junkyard Groove - Download and they get paid

May

MOTHERJANE - @ Snehadaan & @ Le Rock

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motherjane had last been in town to play at Snehadaan. I went for that show but I honestly have nothing to say about it. Just tears in my eyes every time I think about that place. Visit the place and see the lovely children and you wont take long to understand. The best I can do is post a couple of pictures from the show. The show was a private one organised for the kids in care of Snehadaan.

THE LITTLE ANGELS

Anyway, now that I've started talking about that one-off show. Maybe I'll dwell a little bit more about it. the kids were aged from about 4 to 11. They all rushed right in front of the stage and sat down before the show. Their excitement was very evident on their bright little faces. Then motherjane played Mindstreet and the kids were at shock. The kids could be seen covering their ears because the music was really loud and they had no previous encounters with such music before.

Suraj enthralling the kids and having the time of his life!

Suraj then called these kids up on stage and made them dance. The stage which is usually "out-of-bounds" but not on that day. The kids ruled the stage. It was a treat to watch them dance to the tracks which I'm more used to seeing teens headbang too. Suraj too, danced about with the kids and it was a treat to watch him with the kids. These are the sort of moments in life that one should be really blessed to obtain.

Some boons are bestowed upon very few lucky people. motherjane were one of those few lucky people to have got this chance.

To express my feeling about the show would be a Herculean task and nothing short of impossible. However, being one of the biggest janiacs around. I have to say, though motherjane were on stage and they were playing super quality music. It was the kids who were the real stars that night. The night belonged to the kids! And that would not be classified as an over-statement by any man present there on that night.

MOTHERJANE - Live @ Le Rock on the 22nd

Fireworks and frightened birds.. motherjane!

Now to get to the show at Le Rock. Being present at this show was a big question mark for me thanks to my age of 15. However, I decided to spend the day with them irrespective of whether I can go for the gig or not. And am I thankful that we don't have school now or what! And once I got there, the enormous planning of how to get me in started. The ideas included :-

1) Paint up my face and say I'm a part of their show - By John Thomas - turns out to be motherjanes drummer too

2) Use black paint and draw up a moustache and walk around saying I'm the drum tech - By Abhijit Namboodrip - turns out to be motherjanes tour manager

3) Walk right in and say nothing - By Baiju - turns out to be the guitarist - this also turns out to be the only sane idea.

Idea no.3 worked and its incredible how the simplest of ideas are the ones that work out. In the end, I just walked right in and the guards didn't bother arguing. So, I was in Le Rock and in for a treat too. The stuff on display and the paintings kept me amazed for sometime. I mean an Ibanez signed by Satriani and a Fender signed by Mark Knoppler. Who the heck needs anything else to live on?

motherjane - Epitome of Indian rock

motherjane were setting up and getting ready for their gig. My guru, John, was playing a few rudiments which sounded real fun to hear. Soon, the whole band chimed in and the next thing you know, they were dishing out Karmic Steps, Fields of Sound, Maktub and Blood in the Apple. The sound check was soon done and the band was just lazing about for a couple of hours.

For me to be present at the show, I would have to leave for home by 8:45. And the show was supposed to get under way by 7:30 or 8 o'clock at max. But NO!!! Le Rock gives the go ahead only at 8:30! That restricted to me to hearing only 2 and a half songs. [:(]

But I shall tell you more about the first few that I heard. They played Mindstreet first. A perfect rendition. Baiju couldn't be heard initially but that problem was done away with as the song progressed. They excreted an energy unmatched by most Indian bands I've seen. Suraj was at his comic best with few exerpts being :

SURAJ

"Know what this is? This is kall(local malu alcohol filled drink)" - pointing to what he was drinking

"He works with the press. He really doesn't care" - when a man asked to him jump down into the crowd

In the wilderness of the woods! :P

The next song was Blood in the Apple. A beautiful rendition too. The steady bass lines on that song always appeal to me. And here they were again, putting me in a trance. The say most people go high at the bar. I guess I went high too. Really high. HIGH ON MOTHERJANE & their MUSIC!

A pleasant outing

The 3rd song on the list was Disillusion. The start, sounded a lot heavier. Seems to have been tweaked. But usually Disillusion has a mellow start. Not this time. This time the song started like a blast! A whirlwind of noise that hits you and my the feel of it was great. I had to leave halfway through Disillusion. However, the day was great. I may not have been able to see the whole show. But I saw them live for 2 and a half songs. And technically, I heard them play 5 songs, including the sound check! The day was brilliant fun! & that fact cannot be undermined by any!

Below is a video of motherjane playing Fields of Sound. Recorded by Jabri. It also has Baiju playing Vande Mataram. Very soothing to hear.

motherjane are next playing in Mumbai on the 29th. Those from Mumbai. Don't miss the show! It promises to be a treat.

p.s. motherjane has been intentionally typed in small letters as it is the bands priniciple that the letters should all be in small or in capitals to signify the equal importance of each letter. Awesome theory huh?

Mar

ROCK ETHOS '09

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Rock Ethos '09 promised to be a real headbanging festival. It had a list of few of the best bands in Bangalore and a few from out of Bangalore too. But the name on the list that attracted me was MOTHERJANE. After almost a year, Motherjane were back in Bangalore and they promised to give a killer of a show.

My sole intention at ROCK ETHOS was to catch Motherjane and well, Bhayank Maut was a pleasant surprise.

But the start of the day for me tracks back a few hours to the moment I entered Motherjane's room just after a nice lunch. Spent a few good hours with them and also used the oppurtunity to have a nice chat about drumming with one of my gurus, John Thomas. Also, got a chance to get Suraj Mani, their vocalist, to explain the concept behind the video of the song BROKEN(about which I had written a post). Soon, a couple of guys came from MyBangalore to interview them and well, that wasn't really a very eventful memory for me or the guys who were with me. But soon, the uneventful moments turned to really eventful ones when the band members started to paint their faces and thus "UNLEASH THEIR SPIRIT" and get ready for the gig. The following were the results.

MOTHERJANE : ALL SET TO ROCK!!

After this, we had a few snaps with the band and all of us were soon heading for the venue.

US WITH THEM!

I didn't head right in front of the stage to catch the bands in action. Instead, I rushed backstage to help sort out stuff backstage. Anyway, I was here to see Motherjane and none else, to be honest.

Motherjane's time was fast approaching and as it approached, so did the Rain God. And as soon as Motherjane were up on stage, the rain thrashed down. But, the spirited Bangalore crowd did not forfeit, instead they stood right there without moving and many, went and fetched a few banners for protection from rain and came back to the railings for more music.

ONE HELL OF A SPIRITED CROWD

Quite a few moments passed and soon, the guitars were cleared to play and Baiju ensured that none of the guys in the crowd were kept waiting any longer and he delivered a perfect rendition of a guitar solo and if you ask my comments on that solo I would say, "Now thats how you play a guitar solo". I was at awe of his patriotism when he started to play Vande Mataram and that showed one thing, no matter how western that instrument which he was holding was, it was a true Indian holding it and that is what counts.

BAIJU ON THE GUITARS

make that A TRUE INDIAN ON GUITARS

Shortly after, Motherjane were ready. With a beautiful mocktail of the best from Insane Biography and Maktub, Motherjane were super tight on stage. Suraj, ensured that the crowd was there and there was line that was especially brilliant :

"These speakers might be small but your hearts are BIG"

SURAJ ON THE VOCALS

Thats a line that I will remember for a really long time. Disillusion, Chasing the Sun, Mindstreet, Blood in the Apple, Fields of Sound, Walk On and Karmic Steps. The list was shortened thanks to the rain but for the 40-odd minutes that they played, the stage was theirs. And my, did they kick some ass. Suraj, with a sprained ankle, was jumping around and running around like the world was his garden. Clyde, with his steady bass lines, was having a great time. Deepu, Baiju, and John were having a ball too. And as all good things have to come to an end, so did their gig. But Motherjane can give themselves a pat on the back for the show they produced. Taking in all the insults and converting it into one hell of a gig is greatness.

DEEPU ON THE RHYTHM GUITAR

JOHN ON THE DRUMS

CLYDE ON THE BASS

Next up on stage was Bhayank Maut. They were really good on stage. I liked a few of their songs and their drummer looked really good. However, didn't pay too much attention to them because I was helping Motherjane pack up and thus, missed out a lot of their stage but they sounded great and I would love to see them up on stage again. Their vocalists really impressed me. Apart from that, ain't really eligible for a review because of the lack of attention from my side.