DIARY OF A JANIAC

As far as the past few days go, there's probably been only one major thing on my mind. Leaving a job that I held for the past two years. Now, I don't say job in the conventional sense. Since October 2012, I've been the tour manager for the Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate. And two years since, in October 2014, I've now decided to bid adieu to this role.

Now the reasons are many fold, and I'm not even going into them. After all, though it may be a real rarity in today's world, privacy is still something that everyone deserves. But as a passionate motherjane fan, I do remember that two years ago when I was asked to be the tour manager of the band, that it was easily one of the best days of my life. Granted, it's not the most glamorous job. But I got to help a man that I adored and really looked up and got to watch every single one of his shows from the best seat in the house, right next to him.

Now whether I was good at the job or bad at it, I'm not quite sure and it isn't for me to answer either. But I do know that I had a fantastic time all along.

That first gig at Bflat, the first workshop at Furtados, mixing for Baiju at Opus, the Mindstreet Tour, headlining college festivals, the catastrophic days that we turned into our own little victories, like Pilani and MEC, the Weekender, the GoMAD festival, the college competitions that I was asked to judge, solely because I was the manager, the workshops that he let me mix, letting me plan live collaborations like the ones with The Down Troddence, Bryden, Harish, and Warren. And a hell of a lot more.

There are a lot of memories that I take back from this journey. And I'm incredibly thankful for all the good times and I'm thankful for the bad ones too because they've helped me learn and helped me grow.

To all the organizers and sound vendors that I've worked with, I'm sorry if I was harsh, but I only did it to get the job done and bear no ill will whatsoever. Each and every one of you have been exceptionally supportive. It isn't said enough, but you guys are the real champions. Putting in the hard work every day and not even being seen by most crowds.

To my co-workers at HIJK, the passion you show towards helping our artists is incredible. The goal has always been clear, to help the artists that we've come to adore in whatever small way we can. No matter what our skill set was, HIJK always found a way to make us seem a little valuable.

To the members of the band(present and past), I do hope that I've served you well. I will definitely continue to help in whatever little way that I can. I can't wait to see you at the next show, it'll be a different view from the other side of the barricade, but it'll still be a good one I'm sure.

To Baiju Chetta, thank you ever so much for all the opportunities you've given me. I am humbled by the amount of confidence you had in me, both as a manager and a sound engineer. These days have been some of the best days of my life and hopefully one day we'll be able to work together again. In whatever capacity. But I really do hope that you once again reach the heights that you so richly deserve. And I can't wait to see you blaze up that stage again ..

Cheers!

It's been forever since I took to this page. Quite frankly, I don't even remember the last post I wrote. But a recent realization that I need to be slightly more productive with my life has led me back here. Whether blogging does add any amount of productivity to said life, I have no idea but it's a thought I'd like to pursue and see where it leads me. And as far as whether I'm going to go through with this or drop it half way like most of the other things, I'm not quite sure of that either. But hey it's a start. Let's see where that goes.

17 Years ago, a cultural head came up with a band just to fill in for a professional act that had backed out of his college fest. The band went on to cover a few songs and played their first live gig in a few days.

In a span of 17 years since then, they have seen the absolute peaks of the Indian Rock Scene to the gory depths. MOTHERJANE. One of India's premier rock acts turned 17 today and it was incredible to talk to John today. For two reasons, though he was extremely proud of the achievement of having survived in an industry as shaky as this one for such a long time, there was a tinge of nervousness. 17 years later, and John, a legend in his own right, at least in my eyes, still has doubts about where it will all go from here. Still challenging themselves to push the boundaries that may exist. It is easy for one to just settle or even call it quits. One might say that Maktub was their best period, and they've struggled post the departure of two of their lead members and that they should have called it quits before facing the crap that they've had to go through. But John and the other members, decided to move on, head held high. Come sunshine or rain.

It was a bold step indeed. Yes, they've had a few setbacks but to think that these guys have got the courage to move completely away from all previously existent frameworks to create something entirely new is a refreshing thought.

An entirely beginning after 17 long years. As was indicated by John tonight, there's a tinge of familiarity and a lot of uncertainty. But I know for sure, that irrespective of what happens, what has happened and what is happening right now, they will have my unanimous support forever, in any quest they wish to take up. Cuz these 5 men, and the people who were a part of them in any capacity, have created such a huge impact on me, I can honestly say they have largely shaped the person I am currently. Absolute role models each and every one of them.

Amajaniac! Will always be one. Cuz there aren't too many who deserve as much respect as this band does. I hope to see them back on the pedestal they once were on. It would be quite incredible.

Also, one day, Creative differences, personal issues, etc all aside, I would love to see all of these people come together one last time for a jam, orchestrated in heaven. 

Swarathma is a band that has been around for a while now and I've always heard great reviews of their show, yet have never seen them live. I had heard their albums and liked their songs but only in a grab-a-beer-and-chill manner, not in a go-crazy-and-jump way. But little did I know that that was all about to change.

Pyaasi was the first song of Swarathma that I had heard and having heard that Swarathma was playing at a MALL I just assumed that they would play slower tracks just like that. But once again, I was in for a real treat.

Alright two paragraphs of explaining how I was in a real treat probably might not seal it for you guys. Here's a better explanation of the gig :-

Raja, his sister and me reached the venue at about 7 PM. There were only about twenty people or so. The crowd was kept about 15-20 feet away from the stage and ahead of us were a bunch of cameras from what I'm guessing is every TV station in Bangalore.

Soon, five extremely colorful men took to the stage. It took me about ten minutes to get over everything that the vocalist had on. He had really colorful clothes on just like everyone else BUT he also had these light blue socks with all these weird cartoon creatures or something on them that reminded me of well Christmas and a pair of red converse with a different colored shoe lace on each shoe. Extremely wacky I must say!

The first song, I didn't quite catch the name, just remember the words "Chaddi Buddy", was a really fun one and got the crowd jumping and well in the right mood. The crowd soon started building and I think there were around 50 people around now and many standing on the pavement trying to watch the band.

Swarathma, then introduced Mr. Seth Malloy from Boston on the saxophone and they played a track called Kyun Bala, which was the track that introduced the band on the episode of The Dewarists that featured them. Seth brought out an entire jazzy feel to the track and the vocals on this track was simply killer. Vasu may seem weird and crazy but he's got a mind blowing voice. The end was specially brilliant. The way they kept increasing the tempo made an already groovy track even more fun. By the end of this track the crowd had absolutely lost themselves.

The end of this track saw the band then give way to the staff at Garuda to go on with some promotional crap. There was this one MC that was extremely amusing. But anyway, some female won a gold coin and we booed the guys out of there and finally Swarathma were back on, minus the saxophone.

They then played a track called Aaj Ki Taaza Fikar, which is the first song to be released from their latest album Topiwalleh. They have promised that the entire album shall be up for free download, one track after the other. Aaj Ki Taaza Fikar is about the sensationalism by the media and how we are all just too scared to open the papers these days in fear of what awaits us in there. And it takes some guts to explain all that in front of about half a dozen news channel reporters and cameramen. The track itself had a heavier riff at the beginning but then went back to the usual Swarathma-ish sound. I simply loved the verse riff on this one. Hats Off Varun.

Vasu then pulled out an instrument, which I think is known as a Bapan, according to the Dewarist episode 'Changing World'. It's got that really funky yet folk sound to it. You gotta hear it to really know what I'm talking about. And out came the song that really changed my view of Swarathma that night, Khul Jaare Sim Sim. The track was such a groovy one and one that you could just sing along too. It showed the immense depth in their music and the versatility of these musicians. Half way through the song, there was an interesting duel. It was a Bapan and Khanjira vs Drum and Bass battle and my goodness me was it exciting. The energy that the band, especially Vasu, has is just infectious. No matter how uptight you are, I assure catch this band live and you will for sure let your hair and you will just groove with them.

Next up was a track called Khurani, a track about how we are the prey of various corporations that just need us to buy their products. Once again, takes a lot of guts to say anything along those lines in a place like Garuda Mall and in front of a bunch of sponsors that need us to do just that, buy their products!

The start was extremely well heavy and I expected the song to be somewhat along those lines. The track was kind of an anti-climax though, because the song turned to be a rather soft but nonetheless a neatly structured one. There was some nice guitar work and once again Hats Off Mr. Varun. They had this tribal Lo-Lo-Lo thingy that you see in those ancient Tamil movies depicting those scary goddesses and yes it was fun to do that along with the band. :p

A song or two later, they donned their Topis and played my favorite track of the night, Topiwalleh. It had this swing jazzy feel to it that just made you want to well dance and shake your hips et al. The vocalist showed some killer stage presence during the song and the song had a fricking BRILLIANT END!

Following this was Ee Bhoomi Ee Swarga. Followed by a drum solo by Mr. Montry Manuel, a personal favorite. In all the songs, he didn't play anything that was technically mind-blowing or anything but somehow all the beats that he has played just fit each song ever so perfectly. During the solo, each band member chipped in with a few percussion items themselves, including a unique new instrument, which is just a bunch of old used ball bearings in a bottle, an idea conceived in the brilliant mind of none other than Mr. Montry.

This was followed by a track called Ghunghunaiye(I think that's the name :s), dedicated to their Goddess KATRINA KAIF.

Following this was their last track of the night, Pyaasi. They played the song due to popular demand. Everyone brought their cell phones out and brought a lovely mood to proceedings. Though not prominent, there was once again some excellent guitar work. Usually all gigs have a thumping end with a lot of drum and bass and the guitarist going crazy. But this gig was very different, it ended on a really soft and sober note. And in a way, it was personally a very fitting way to end the gig, with the song that actually got them into public view and with what is my personal favorite track by the band, well until Topiwalleh came along of course.

I'm glad I was finally able to catch Swarathma live on stage and I would definitely love to see them live once more.

Anyway, after this it was time to grab dinner and rush home so that I could get some sleep before my flight to Delhi, to catch Suraj Mani live in action with motherjane for one last time. I'm sorry but I will not be blogging about that gig cuz beyond it was more a personal moment than a musical one.

Also, I hope you caught the episode of The Dewarists that featured Swarathma, in colloboration with Shubha Mudgal. They came up with a pretty decent track known as Duur Kinara, which is also up for free download.

Cheers

Hari

p.s. Photo Credits : George Bernard