The Whitney Houston Tribute

Today, I got to perform at the Blue Frog with a bunch of extremely talented musicians. It was a great experience, although I was playing something that I don’t generally play – Soul/Pop. It was a fantastic experience and I thank each of them (Caralisa Monteiro, Beven Fonsesca, Ravi Iyer, Sishir Malhotra, Mabel Chan, Agnelo Picardo, Samantha Edwards, and Keshia Braganza).

Delhi and Mathura with Overhung

Over the last  year or so, I have had the opportunity of playing with a few bands and artists. I have enjoyed almost every time I have gotten on stage. Off the stage, however, things have not always been that great. Musicians have egos, probably bigger than that of average individuals’, and hence, the off-stage chemistry has been of variable quality.

Overhung has been an exception. Despite the musicians being seasoned pros, there are hardly any ego clashes and the off-stage experience has been thoroughly enjoyable. Fantastic individuals, all of them, and the jokes just keep on flowing.

I visited Delhi and Mathura with Overhung this weekend and experience was thoroughly entertaining. I look forward to playing more gigs with them. Here are some of my status updates from the time I spent in Delhi/Mathura, which truly depict my overall levels of enjoyment.

• So my band was playing 'Sex Machine' and this dilliwallah was jiving with his 8-year-old son! Beat that other cities!
• So this drunk friend of mine comes up me and asks me to dance with him. I refuse. He asks me 'So, what if you are gay?’
• Being sober is the best way to enjoy the hilarity with a bunch of drunk folks!
• Incredible sound check scenes at Mathura, where they insist that it is a 'rehearsal' and not a sound check.
• Ruling the Mathura crowd with popular numbers!
• Crazy post-gig scenes in Mathura! Crowd swarming us! Kids wanting numbers and autographs!

The balance

Another band of mine always seem to go through the problem of striking the balance between performing songs (covers) for the crowd and having fun by playing songs that the band mates enjoy playing. Most of the time, the band tends to choose the set to please the crowd, thereby boring the musicians themselves.

There has to be a solution to this. Otherwise, the frustration will grow to such a level that we don’t enjoy playing with each other anymore.

Another opportunity missed

Communication is the most important skill of all. Unfortunately, some of my band mates seem to not have the necessary skill. When an opportunity comes knocking your doors, you need to grab it with all your limbs. In this case, it was a break that the band would have benefited from immensely. Of course, only if the offer makers stick to their word. But that’s the same for most of our lives, is it not.

In this case, one of the band mates suddenly decides to throw in the towel saying that he has had enough of rehearsing tirelessly without any gigs. Another doesn’t even bother to reply to an e-mail about whether to meet up with this new person who has come up with the offer. The rest of the members of the band (including me) are left in the dark. And of course, we can’t proceed further.

Talk about bad luck!

How did it end up like this?

I can’t explain it. It’s part telephobia. It’s almost like selective telephobia. I didn’t pick up a call from my sister today. I sent her an SMS saying that I didn’t feel like talking. She was apparently just trying to wish me a happy Keralaite New Year, and was extremely disappointed.

The only calls that I pick up without much of a problem are those from my band mates and those from my friends from abroad (older friends). Sometimes, I pick up anonymous calls, and if I find that they are telemarketers, I hang up almost instantly. Not even a courtesy “No thanks!”

The persons who I make calls to are even more restrictive – band mates and and my friends from abroad. The calls to band mates are strictly business-like, whereas to my friends from abroad, I open up and talk a bit. No family. No best friends. No college mates. No colleagues/ex-colleagues.

Yet, I’m much better off talking to people who I’m comfortable with on text/video chat than anything else. I haven’t a fucking clue as to how things ended up like this.

Jar of Flies

Two years back, Jar Of Flies, a tribute band to Alice In Chains (more specifically Layne Staley) was formed. They performed in front of a packed house in Musician's Mall on the anniversary of Layne Staley's death. They were well received!

Last year, they didn't play a gig for the same occasion. However, this year, they are performing at a tribute gig for Layne Staley and Kurt Cobain on the 6th of April at B69 (Bajaao) in Andheri (E). More importantly, I'm joining them on bass and backing vocals.

The line up consists of the following:

• Nicky Chorwadi (ex-Metakix, Bad Influence): vocals
• Sheldon Dixon (ex-Metakix, ex-Dream Out Loud, Overhung): drums
• Michael Lee (ex-Aftertaste, Bad Influence): guitars
• Howard Pereira (Depth, Dischordian, Overhung): guitars, backing vocals
• Kris Bass (Shor Bazaar, Cirkles, Ideat Savant, Bad Influence, Overhung): bass, backing vocals

Another band will be performing a Nirvana tribute set. Don't miss it! It's free entry!

Saturday night with Cirkles

Saturday nights are meant to be for partying. Well, yesterday it was a party of a different flavor. I performed with Cirkles at the KJ Somaiya College of Engineering at Sion, Mumbai. It was for their annual festival Surge ’11. I was skeptical about how the gig might turn out because we didn’t have a proper sound check – I had gotten to the venue much later than my band mates.

We had about an hour on stage and we had a blast. The lights and pyros were excellent and in sync with our music. I must thank our friendly neighborhood sound and light guy who makes it all possible. The crowd was very encouraging and cheered us all along. What was funny is that there were young men in the crowd who were pointing at me and making provocative gestures at me – they seemed to be gay and enjoying themselves. Now, that’s pretty cool!

Here are a couple of pictures from the gig – courtesy our band groupie! As you can see, L'Oreal is not doing much to my hair!

The beauty of people

There are some people who are beautiful, not because they are blessed with attributes of widely-accepted social criteria of beauty, but because they are charming and graceful in their own ways. Many people around us - chaiwallahs, shopkeepers, rickshaw-wallahs etc. - are beautiful. Some narrow-minded people, especially straight men in my experience, find it hard to comprehend such beauty.

Take the case of the chaiwallah across the road from my apartment. Last winter, after a rehearsal, my bandmates and I went down for naastha at the mucchawallah dosawallah who operates across the road from my building, by the side of this chaiwallah. The chaiwallah, a typical Mangalorean man, with classic charms of a man from that region - the smile, the warm expression, the humor, the shyness, and the shine in the eye - was handing us our glasses of cutting chai when I suggested to my bandmates how beautiful/handsome the chaiwallah was and how good looking he must have been when he was younger - not that he is not handsome anymore!

One of my bandmates started laughing - not just laughing, but he was laughing at me and my observation and my judgement - it must be a coincidence that he called me as I was typing this blog post on my phone waiting for my bus. I tried to present my points but I couldn't get it through him. He was obstinant and stubborn, and in my opinion, narrow-minded. I gave up soon and I was left to wondering if and when the beauty of the world will open out to people like him.

The same is true with a lift operator in my new office complex. By his looks and accent, I think he's from Delhi. He has a charming smile, a graceful presence, and exudes warmth. He welcomes me in the morning with a hearfelt 'good morning' and makes polite enquiries about work whenever the occassion suits. Tonight, as I was getting out of the office building with my gorgeous friend AK, I was lucky to catch the same lift that this liftman was operating. There was the usual - a smile, a warm 'good night' and the works.

I thought twice before asking AK if she too thought that he was beautiful. Then I realized that she's a wonderful woman with little pretension. I asked her and she concurred. In the brief conversation that we had, she mentioned another sweet liftman and his 'beauty'. I walked out of the office complex with a smile on my face remembering the conversation with my bandmate. Maybe my friend wil open out to the wonderful world of 'beauty' soon too!