Rock bands generally originate during college days, where platforms like culturals give youngsters an early exposure to the music scene. Students from various streams are now seen forming their own bands. And freshers’ culturals are a great launching pad for these young bands.
Priyanka, for instance, is busy practicing for the freshers’ culturals at M.O.P. Vaishnav College. “We have an eight-member band called CocoBongo and we will be performing a series of pop songs. It’s our first band and we are very excited!” she says.
Harini Raj is another fresher, who’s new to the music scene. She is auditioning for a slot as a vocalist in Poriyal, the official band of Madras Christian College.
“What appeals to me is that Poriyal as a band is not confined to one particular genre of music. The band experiments with different streams like punk rock and folk. Being a part of a band is a tradition at MCC,” she explains.
Some bands that usually start off as part of college competitions gradually make it big. But it’s not all fun, as pointed out by Eddie Prithviraj who guides young talent. He says, “During my early days we were inspired by the musicians at the top, but most youngsters today take off from what they see on TV and very few adopt music as a full-time career.”
It is very important for the band leader to have a strong vision to make the band successful and find the right talent, feels Eddie. “He needs to be constantly on the lookout for replacements to keep the band at the top,” he adds.
Many bands that began at the school and college level have worked hard to enhance their skills. Take, for instance, Null Friction, whose base is Chennai but whose members live around the globe. “We formed the band in school, but most of our current shows happens abroad as we have shifted base. It has been six years since we started the band and we are still going strong,” says Shreyans Jha, who is a student at New York University.
Rex David is part of Shrutilaya, Anna University’s band. “I am the bass guitarist and we are a six-member band. We believe in versatility and change our theme song every year. We have also composed instrumental tracks,” he says.
Practice is what makes a band perfect. Divya Dwarak, a student at SRM, is part of their band Ben’s Study Room. “Although we take part in inter-collegiate events, it is difficult to find time to practice and play at events often. So we try and practice as and when events come up,” she says.