'Kickstart Freedom' performs live on Thursday, 2nd August!

What places this band a cut above others is their versatility and also their ability to churn up tracks depending on the crowd. Their repertoire ranges from The Beatles To Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep purple , Coldplay, Linkin Park, AC/DC and almost anything in between.

Its time to stop whining…. Its time to stop complaining ….. Its time to break Free 

A whole lot of the 60s and 70s, some punk, some Jazz, Some Rock N Roll and a Dash of Metal..

Here’s a band of 4 talented Individuals who, while excelling in their own departments have always been looking for a chance to break away from the ordinary, and free themselves and the audience from normal everyday sounds. More than just a band, some call this the beginning of a movement that promotes free expression of thought through music.

What makes this band extremely versatile is that these 5 musicians blend in to produce a brilliant mix of creativity, style and feel. The band’s influences include almost every genre, right from the Beatles to Audioslave and include Funk, Pop, Jazz, Heavy Metal, Grunge, Alternative and almost anything that you could think of.

Kickstart Freedom’s ability to churn up tracks depending on the crowd is what gives them an edge above the others. Their repertoire ranges from THE BEATLES to PEARL JAM, LED ZEPPLIN, PINK FLOYD, DEEP PURPLE, to COLDPLAY, LINKIN PARK, AC DC and everything in between.

Overall a very tight and entertaining act that is everready with spontaneous compositions and crowd pleasing acts

The Band Members

Cajetan D'souza (Caji) 

An accomplished and versatile musician who is equally adept at playing guitars, keyboards and also Bass. He sure is a familiar face at Hard Rock Cafe and other venues, playing with various bands and musicians over the years. Also featured on a few music videos, this talented musician always has loads to offer. Has toured with the likes of Colonial Cousins, Rabbi Shergill and many others

Cassius Fernandes (Cassy)

Cassy is definitely the driving force behind this band and his style and technique are what most aspiring drummers wish to learn. A familiar face in the country's Music circuit, having played with almost every known musician in the country, some of who include Gary Lawyer, Colonial Cousins, Manasi Scott and many others. 

Sujit Kumar

Sujit has been singing with various bands over the years. His styles range from the lows of Eddie Vedder to the highs of Robert Plant and always gets the crowd going. His ability to convert any flat surface in the venue into his own stage sure is a treat to any audience. His crazy stage antics and eccentricities are what people look out for whenever the band is on the go. 

Adrian D'mello 

Always the one, who has his parts completely worked out! This seasoned ‘bassman’ is always happy to get back on stage and Rock the hell out of any crowd. He has been Touring around the world with established musicians like Sonu Nigam and has worked with international acts like Trilok Gurtu.

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'Manasi Scott' and 'Tamir Khan' live on Thursday, 26th July!

Manasi Scott

Manasi scott is the only singer in the Indian Music scene who has built a name for herself by performing live way before she even released an album. This platform is exactly for such a multi-talented artist.

She is a singer, songwriter, composer, professional MC and now also an actress working on her debut film.

 

Manasi Scott is one of India’s leading singer performers, with many firsts to her credit. She is the only Indian singer to have graced the coveted cover of The Week, the only Indian singer to be brand ambassador, model and host for brands such as Sunsilk, L’oreal and Reebok.

She has 2 Australian and 1 Indipop album(s) to her credit and has done playback singing down south. She has now turned composer-singer and featured in Sanjay Gupta’s Acid Factory as well as sung for the soon to be released Loot and Tom Dick and Harry Rocks Again.

She is a master of many genres and languages and her performances include Hindi, Punjabi, English and regional hits in pop, rock, folk, r&b, hip-hop, etc - if the occassion demands - with her incredible live band, backing dancers and jugalbandi concepts with other artists.

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'Parikrama' opening act by 'Half Step Down' live on Thursday 26th, July!

Parikrama is a legendary rock band,playing basically Classic Rock based music,fused with Indian Instruments like the Tabla and the Violin, and has been around for  21 years .

The band has done more than 2800 shows till date and still play around 160 shows a year, a record for ANY performing artiste, in any genre, in this country.

Parikrama has had a very successful tour of the UK earlier,where they were promoted by none other than IRON MAIDEN and their legendary manager Mr. ROD SMALLWOOD. Iron maiden saw Parikrama , at bangalore, and  you could hear what they thought of the band , in the documentary shot on Parikrama by BBC, and shown on their show " DESI DNA",in UK. 

IRON MAIDEN invited Parikrama to 07 shows in the UK, including the mighty DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL  and venues like Rio ( Leeds ) , The Underground ( Camden ) , The Peel ( kingston ) Etc.

Parikrama is also representing  India at the prestigious KENNEDY CENTRE,USA,On march 11th , 2011 , under the 50th year celebrations of John.F.Kennedy coming to power.

Parikrama is the ONLY ENGLISH ROCK BAND accredited with the ICCR and just finished a highly successful 08 city tour of Indonesia through them.

HALF STEP DOWN

Formed in 2005, Half Step Down began gigging in 2006 as essentially a rock 'n' roll band, though it would be more accurate to acknowledge their sound as a versatile mish-mash incorporating elements of the blues, alt-rock, funk and reggae. 

Consciously refusing to let themselves be fenced in by genres, they derive their sound from influences and inspirations ranging from Led Zeppelin, RHCP and Dave Matthews to Rachmaninoff, Marley and Django Reinhardt. 

In early 2007 the band made it to GIR (The Great Indian Rockshow) with their track Overture to Outerspace, which subsequently launched them on a much vaster platform. They spent most of the following year touring the country, taking time out in June to appear on Channel [V]'s show Launch Pad. They wrapped '07 with a highly acclaimed unplugged performance in their city, Delhi, where their cover of Redemption Song stood out as one of the critics' finest of the evening. 

Known for their antics on stage, HSD are perhaps as much the performers as they are the musicians. With a hedonistic approach to music, they maintain an air of fun that remains a key quotient despite lineup changes and other minor disruptions. 

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'Indus Creed' opening act by 'Safar' live on Thursday

Indus Creed are back! The trailblazers of the Indian rock movement return to form with their highly awaited new album. Self-produced by the studio (and live) veterans, and mixed by mixing genius Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, U2, Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, Porcupine Tree), Evolve will be released in the first quarter of 2012. Expect Uday Benegal, Mahesh Tinaikar, Zubin Balaporia, Rushad Mistry and Jai Row Kavi to break new frontiers with their high-on-energy/big-on-melody sound yet again.

The story of Indian rock cannot be told without a mention of the country’s most iconic rock band. Uday Benegal (vocals), Mahesh Tinaikar (guitar), Mark Selwyn (bass), Jayesh Gandhi (guitar), Zubin Balaporia (keyboards) and Mark Menezes (drums) first came together in 1985. Then called Rock Machine, the guys had no mission or plan. Just an unflagging desire to play the music they loved. In the face of all reason (there was just one government-run TV channel and radio station, neither of which thought rock’n’roll to be particularly "cultural") the band set out to do just that. It took blood, guts and a steely resolve to cut through the crap. It was just a matter of time before practically every college and concert promoter in the country wanted to book what had become India’s favourite band. The rest is history. They recorded three albums, won a bunch of awards and changed their name to Indus Creed. And in the process they inspired an entire generation to pick up an instrument and rock it out. Here’s a quick roundup of some of their multifarious achievements:

• Toured the length and breadth of India

• Repped the country at the Festival of India in the USSR

• Played at Peter Gabriel's WOMAD festival in the UK

• Performed with Bon Jovi to over 40,000 people in Bombay

• Performed on stage with GN’R guitar player Slash for MTV’s launch in Bangalore

• Toured the UK and the Middle East extensively

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'Soulmate' opening act by 'Lagori' live on Thursday, 26th July!

Inspired by the roots and groove sounds of the Blues, Blues-Rock, Soul, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Funk and R&B, SOULMATE was formed in Shillong, in October 2002 when Rudy Wallang and Tipriti Kharbangar decided to form a band dedicated to playing the Blues and spreading awareness about this important genre of music. Since then have played numerous gigs all over India and Abroad. In 2011 they played in the US selling out two shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC during the Maximum India Festival, did a successful 4 city tour of Norway, played alongside John Mayall at the Jakarta Blues Festival and most recently alongside Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal and John Lee Hooker Jr, Robert Randolph Jr at the Mahindra Blues fest 2012 and Matt Schofield, Johnny Lang and Shemika Copeland at the Mahindra Blues Fest in Mumbai 2011.

In the past Soulmate have toured the USA playing in Memphis Tn., Brown University- Rhode Island & Colorado and were twice semi finalists at the 23rd & 26th International Blues Challenge. They have performed in France (Disneyland, Paris), Germany (Baltic Blues Festival 2012), Sweden (Gothenburg and Monsteras Roots and Blues Festival 2012), Singapore (Mosaic Music Festival), Dubai (Du World Music Festival), Indonesia (Jakarta Blues Festival 2010/2011) Bhutan and Kathmandu (Jazzmandu-2004 / 2005 / 2008).

Soulmate have recorded two albums thus far, ”Shillong” and “Moving On” and are in the process of putting down songs for their next one.

Anyone with an interest in the western music scene in India will recognize Guitar player/ Singer/Songwriter/ Rudy Wallang, who leads this tight knit musical unit. Born into music, he grew up listening to his father Toto Wallang making music and he started singing and playing the ukulele at a very tender age eventually graduating to the guitar. Today, Rudy is one of the foremost Blues guitar players/ singer / songwriters in the country with a long musical history having been part of the country’s most well known blues rock acts, Great Society & Mojo

The beautifully talented Vocalist and Rhythm guitarist of Soulmate is Tipriti ‘Tips’ Kharbangar who has earned a name as one of the finest female singers to have emerged out of Shillong and India as a whole! If there is one thing Tip’s is happy doing it is singing and reflecting this, she vocalizes with a joy and exuberance that is unmatched and original. She has also begun to write songs for the band as well. She started out singing gospel songs at the local church choir and is now drawn to the Blues, Soul and Jazz.

LAGORI

Lagori makes Indian music with a Melodic twist and Intensity, but at the same time, filled with total fun and energetic performances. Follow the band and catch them live in your city soon! 

Lagori is an eclectic group of musicians with varied musical influences, who have come together to dish out foot tapping, soul stirring music. 

Although Lagori draws influences from the flavour of each musician - ranging from Hindustani, Soul, Funk, Rock, Blues and Metal, the end result is a unique sound which at the same time has a tinge of familiarity to it. 

While the band uses Hindi/Kannada to communicate their inspirations and message, the music is something that everyone - despite lingual differences - will understand.

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'Thermal & A Quarter' and opening act by 'Cadent Slaves' live on Thursday, July 26th!

Thermal And A Quarter is a path-breaking band from Bangalore, India.

Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ) is a path-breaking band from Bangalore, India. TAAQ describes its music as ‘Bangalore Rock’; a sound as unique and layered as the fast-growing city of its birth. Imagine a Phish-meets- Steely Dan-via-Mahavishnu-Orchestra vibe: the TAAQ sound is all that and more. Through the last 15 years, TAAQ has played all over India, completed tours in the United Kingdom, West Asia and South-East Asia, released four studio albums, supported acts like Deep Purple and Jethro Tull, and won awards for individual musicianship as well as overall contribution to ‘Indian Rock’. 

Live, TAAQ delivers an unforgettable, immersive musical experience. From packed clubs to arena-size venues, TAAQ’s stellar musicianship, hard-hitting lyrics, and fluid improvised style make every gig unique. 

Band Members

Bruce Lee Mani (guitars, vocals)

Rajeev Rajagopal (drums)

Prakash K N (bass)




CADENT SLAVES

Cadent Slaves is a Metal band from Hyderabad, India. Formed in 2008.

Biography

Cadent Slaves: of Rhythmic sense

Cadent Slaves had its genesis as an Rock/Metal band in 2008, founded by Rahul, Phani & Santosh switched to rather grew into Metal by the late 2008.

The band has had it's share of change in the line up with Vocalists changing and the band ending up dormant for almost a year till it rose up with fresh blood infused, trying to furiously make up for lost time!

Own Compositions:

1. Cadence Theme

2. Vengeance

3. Silence of The Darkness

4. Kill My Enemy

5. A Blissful Spirit

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Red Hot Chilly Peppers Tribute Gig ' Live On Thursday, 19th July!

The Line-up :

Abhijit Sood - Drums ✳ SOUL'D OUT

Aman Singh - Drums ✳ ADVAITA

Aveleon Giles Vaz - Drums ✳ FIVE8, PLOK, THINK FLOYD, SIMPLE TRUTH etc.

Carl Abraham - Bass ✳ HALF STEP DOWN

Chintan Kalra - Vocals ✳ PARIKRAMA, MOB MARLEY INC, THINK FLOYD etc.

Gaurav Chintamani - Guitars ✳ ADVAITA, RED etc.

Krishnan Chatterjee - Vocals ✳ CONTRABAND

Nikhil Malik - Guitars ✳ CYANIDE, HALF STEP DOWN

Nikhil Mawkin - Vocals ✳ RED MAWKIN etc.

Prithwish Dev - Vocals ✳ THEM CLONES

Sid Mathur - Bass ✳ JOLT, MOB MARLEY INC etc.

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'Sky Rabbit' performs live on Thursday, 19th July!

Sky Rabbit

Six year old Sky Rabbit (formerly known as Medusa) defines their sound aselectronic/alternative. A formidable quartet of Mumbai’s most gifted youth, Raxit (Vocals/Samples), Rahul (Guitar/Samples), Siddharth (Bass) and Harsh on (Drums) have stumbled upon something unique, merging electronica with indie and post-punk styles.

Sky Rabbit was one of four bands in India that was selected to be part of Soundpad, a project organized by the British Council, where they recorded two tracks with legendary producer John Leckie (Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Verve) at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai.

In 2009 Sky Rabbit performed at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton and continued their UK tour to Cardiff, Oxford, Liverpool and London.

The new debut album, which releases on 10th Jan 2012 under the Virgin EMI record label, is a set of tightly constructed tracks that blend synthetic textures with more organic instrumentation, creating a sound that is bold, experimental and ultimately captivating & addictive.

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Swastika - Tribute to Pearl Jam live on Thursday, 19th July!

Swastika formerly known as iLLuminAti came into existence in late 2010 after the band changed their name and now is known as SWASTIKA. 'Swastika' in Sanskrit means "well being" or "lucky charm". Well, this word comes with a lot of meaning and history, and has been used across many cultures, religions and countries. But, as a band name it just came as a random thought. The basic idea was of making original, pure and powerful music which brought these four likeminded musicians together in the first place. Abhishek had been the drummer of the band "The Trip" and played with several other musicians. He also takes drum lessons in pune. Varun, Uday & Tanvar from the same college, sharing and singing the same tunes started their musical journey with the band 'Illuminati', quite popular within the local rock circuit, playing a lot of Grunge and Rock n Roll stuff. Later on the trio decided to take their music ahead and started jamming with musicians around. "That period, of looking for a permanent band", with a lot of line up shift and Abhishek joining the band as a new drummer the band decided to change their name and now is known as swastika.

With Abhishek on drums the line up for Swastika was complete with Varun on Bass, Uday on Guitars and Tanvar giving his vocals making it a 4-piece band. Working a lot on originals the band categorizes their music as alternative, hard rock and experimental. Well, the name 'SWASTIKA', they say, perfectly goes with the 'luck' they had in forming their band and the ‘well being' that came with its music. And now they want to spread it around. Peace out!!!

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'All Stars-Tribute to Coldplay' live on Thursday, 19th July!

Band members:

Saahas Patil - Vocals

Shalini Mohan - Bass

Jason Zachariah - Piano

Anish Nadh - Guitars

Kishan Balaji - Drums

The band members come from various popular bands in the city of Bangalore, India. Our music takes bits of various genres such as Rock, Pop, Country, Celtic, Folk, Jazz, Classical, Metal that doesn't attempt to sound like anything, but forms a musical counterpoint. We believe in making music and writing stories that we connect to. Our songs have a distinct flavor and our inspiration comes from people and events around us.

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'The Echoes- Tribute to Led Zeppelin' live on Thursday, 19th July!

Shawn Pereira - Lead Vocals 

Abhishek Shah - Lead Guitars 

Vinayak Pol - Drums 

Chirayu Vedekar - Bass 

Amar Sukhi- Saxophone

‘The Echoes’ is an outcome of a brilliantly discussed idea over a table of beers. ‘The Echoes’ were formed in the year 2005 with a vision to be one of India’s leading bands known for their brilliant original compositions. At the time the listener base was opening up to the idea of Original English music by an Indian Band. The challenge was trying to utilize this opportunity to create their own sound and continue to increase the patronization of the existing & growing listener base. Instead of going gung-ho about participating in competitions and constantly doing free shows with a hope of getting some recognition, The Echoes took a different route. They visualized themselves to be a professional band and functioned like one from the very first day. They would pitch to pubs and restaurants around Mumbai and Pune for paid gigs. The cash registers started ringing slowly but steadily, and word started doing the round as the bands popularity started to grow. The increase in fan base and great reviews ensured the band many more regular gigs. 

Since then, ‘The Echoes’ have performed at Corporate Shows and played at leading venues in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad among others. ‘The Echoes’ had a plan for their music too. Since the crowd that visited pubs and restaurants were more inclined to covers, they started out as a jam band. They’d play a well known cover and improvise the song with their own style and touch - sometimes compose lines impromptu and skillfully add them in the song. They also played really rare covers of famous bands. The non - commercial nature of the songs and good renditions were welcomed by the regular audience. This paved the way for ‘The Echoes’ to slip in and surprise them with their originals. It wasn’t up until the year 2008, when cost effective recording opportunities came about and ‘The Echoes’ decided to record their debut album, ‘Stitched’. As the band would like to put it- “Stitched relates to the sewing movement that binds together each moment and feeling to bring forth a finished product – the garment of life.” The album got rave reviews by all musicians who heard it before release and EMI Music came onboard to mass-produce and distribute the album worldwide. The Echoes had their album launch in March 2010 at Hard Rock Café Mumbai to a packed crowd of music lovers! The band went on to continue promoting at other Hard Rock Cafes in the country with following gigs at Hard Rock in Pune and Hard Rock in Hyderabad. The band regularly performs at Pizza By The Bay (formerly ‘Not Just Jazz By the Bay’) and Hard Rock Café Mumbai. The band believes in delivering high quality entertainment and an unforgettable experience for the listeners and is always up for a performance, no matter what the occasion!

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Photos of Founders Day Celebrations at Hard Rock Cafe Bengaluru on June 14, 2012

Building Blocks is committed to breaking the poverty cycle in India by providing a free, fun-filled, safe, quality kindergarten education and nutritious meals and thus assisting slum children to enter good English medium schools.

    

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'Sky Rabbit' and opening act by 'Urban Early Men' live on Thursday, 12th July!

Sky Rabbit

Six year old Sky Rabbit (formerly known as Medusa) defines their sound as electronic/alternative. A formidable quartet of Mumbai’s most gifted youth, Raxit (Vocals/Samples), Rahul (Guitar/Samples), Siddharth (Bass) and Harsh on (Drums) have stumbled upon something unique, merging electronica with indie and post-punk styles.

Sky Rabbit was one of four bands in India that was selected to be part of Soundpad, a project organized by the British Council, where they recorded two tracks with legendary producer John Leckie (Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Verve) at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai.

In 2009 Sky Rabbit performed at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton and continued their UK tour to Cardiff, Oxford, Liverpool and London.

The new debut album, which releases on 10th Jan 2012 under the Virgin EMI record label, is a set of tightly constructed tracks that blend synthetic textures with more organic instrumentation, creating a sound that is bold, experimental and ultimately captivating & addictive.

The Urban EarlyMen

Genre: Psychedelic/Funk/Alternative.

Band History: The Urban EarlyMen, formed in the summer of 2011, is an alternative band that draws its influence from, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beatles, The Doors and many others that have an element of psychedelia. The band was formed after several line-up changes during the jamming sessions that lasted for more than 7 weeks before the final line-up was decided. the original line-up included Roshan Roy on the drums, Abhijeet Saniyal on the bass, Mridul Luthra on the lead guitar and Adityan Nair on the vocals. Later Siby Mathew, a dear friend of Mridul, was introduced as the rhythm guitarist and the band started jamming under the temporary name "the Chawla Band". Siby's introduction to the band encouraged the psychedelic influence in the music that the band made that primarily intended to be a funk/alternative band. After the band's first performance at The Summer Jam '11, bassist Abhijeet Saniyal left the band due to creative differences because of which Siby Mathew took up the bass guitar. 

The name "The Urban EarlyMen" was finalized after considering each of our musical preferences, which coincidentally proved to be similar. All the band members share a common interest in old, classic rock songs, sometimes calling us as early men listening to songs on a tape record in a jesting way.

Members. : Adityan Nair – Vocals

                    Mridul Luthra – Lead guitar

                    Siby Mathew – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals

                                             

                    Roshan Roy – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

                                             

                    Rohan Arora-Drums

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'Blakc'-Album Launch on Thursday, 12th July!

BLAKC’s Forthcoming Album- MOTHEREDLAND

With the release of MOTHEREDLAND, BLAKC is making good on its longstanding desire to release its music on its own terms. Through a handful of collaborative partnerships, we were able to make the music accessible across multiple platforms for our fans.

BLAKC will release their highly anticipated second studio album, entitled ‘MotheredLand’. Sunday, JUNE 3, 2012.

The lyrics for MotheredLand were penned by Shawn Pereira with music written by Anish Menon, Reinhart Dias, Roop Thomas, Shishir Thakur and Shawn Pereira. The album has been recorded and mixed at Yashraj studios by Shantanu Hudlikar (head Sound Engineer YRF) and Keshav Dhar (producer/songwriter Skyharbor). The album was mastered at Sterling Studios, New York by Chris Athens (Coldplay, AC/DC).  

'MotheredLand' means a highly messed up state of affairs. It is our take on the current situation we find ourselves and our country in. The album seeks to point a finger at those responsible, and make people aware that sometimes we are just sheep in a game played, owned and run by wolves. The album cover and inlay was conceptualized by Blakc, designed by Elvin Pereira and illustrated by Sukrit Nagaraj and Vivek Nag.

Released on May 1st the album’s first single, “UNTITLED,” launched on NH7 has over 10,000 views onlineand is currently airing on all major music channels in the country. 

In the last 5 years Blakc has been around, we have played over 100 shows across 16 cities in India. A large number of these shows have been at colleges among which there have been IIT’s, Symbiosis and many other well known colleges in India.

We've also covered most major festivals like E18's Independence Rock, Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Seagram Fuel's RSJ Great Indian Rock, Channel [V]'s Launchpad, DNA's Campus Rock etc as well as venues like Hard Rock Cafes across the country, Blue Frog (Mumbai), Morrissons (Delhi), Someplace Else (Kolkata) We were also slated to open for Metallica in Delhi, but the show was cancelled.

Since our inception in 2007, BLAKC has sold all copies of the first release “Choking On A Dream” (2009)The band has also released anunplugged set recordedlive at Blue frog (2010) which was very well received by the online community recording over a 1000 downloads.

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'Eagle Riders' perform live on Thursday, 12th July!

Eagle Riders is a contemporary rock band from Hyderabad. Active since 2008 the band plays a mix of various genres and is immensely popular in the college circuit in Hyderabad.

Eagle Riders is a contemporary rock band from Hyderabad, India. We are a blend of like minded people that strive to achieve the same goal. We’ve started off as a band in the year 2008. We have been inspired to name ourselves the Eagle Riders ‘cause we identify ourselves as people who soar above the winds and the storms in life.

We as a band are on a mission to try and make a difference in these times of fear, war and terror. The band sets out to portray love, kindness and peace through the talents and the tool of music. To set an example that life without hatred, addictions, immorality is better off.

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'Blek' perform live on Thursday, 12th July!

Blek is the mumbai based indie-alternative trio of Jared Creado, Rishi Bradoo, and Varoon Aiyer. They like chai, Bill Murray movies, and songs with strange names. Blek have been making quite a name for themselves and were recently one of the 5 all-India winners of the Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds talent hunt.

Blek launched their debut EP "Hexes + Drama, & Other Reasons for Evacuation" on ennui.BOMB Records on 14^th February 2012. The EP is being hailed all over including a “CD of the Fortnight” review from Timeout Mumbai. The entire EP can be downloaded for free fromwww.ennuidotbomb.com.

The band is heading out on a national tour to promote the EP starting with the Eastern leg covering Kolkata, Guwahati, Dimapur and Shillong in a back-to-back gig series. Future plans include the Southern and the Northern legs of the tour and a video for their first single off the EP “Fog + Strobe”.

For critical descriptions and analysis of their music find the nearest play button.

Connect:

http://www.facebook.com/BLEKMUSIC

http://soundcloud.com/blek

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'The Echoes- Tribute to Led Zeppelin' live on Thursday, 12th July!

Shawn Pereira - Lead Vocals 

Abhishek Shah - Lead Guitars 

Vinayak Pol - Drums 

Chirayu Vedekar - Bass 

Amar Sukhi- Saxophone

‘The Echoes’ is an outcome of a brilliantly discussed idea over a table of beers. ‘The Echoes’ were formed in the year 2005 with a vision to be one of India’s leading bands known for their brilliant original compositions. At the time the listener base was opening up to the idea of Original English music by an Indian Band. The challenge was trying to utilize this opportunity to create their own sound and continue to increase the patronization of the existing & growing listener base. Instead of going gung-ho about participating in competitions and constantly doing free shows with a hope of getting some recognition, The Echoes took a different route. They visualized themselves to be a professional band and functioned like one from the very first day. They would pitch to pubs and restaurants around Mumbai and Pune for paid gigs. The cash registers started ringing slowly but steadily, and word started doing the round as the bands popularity started to grow. The increase in fan base and great reviews ensured the band many more regular gigs. 

Since then, ‘The Echoes’ have performed at Corporate Shows and played at leading venues in Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad among others. ‘The Echoes’ had a plan for their music too. Since the crowd that visited pubs and restaurants were more inclined to covers, they started out as a jam band. They’d play a well known cover and improvise the song with their own style and touch - sometimes compose lines impromptu and skillfully add them in the song. They also played really rare covers of famous bands. The non - commercial nature of the songs and good renditions were welcomed by the regular audience. This paved the way for ‘The Echoes’ to slip in and surprise them with their originals. It wasn’t up until the year 2008, when cost effective recording opportunities came about and ‘The Echoes’ decided to record their debut album, ‘Stitched’. As the band would like to put it- “Stitched relates to the sewing movement that binds together each moment and feeling to bring forth a finished product – the garment of life.” The album got rave reviews by all musicians who heard it before release and EMI Music came onboard to mass-produce and distribute the album worldwide. The Echoes had their album launch in March 2010 at Hard Rock Café Mumbai to a packed crowd of music lovers! The band went on to continue promoting at other Hard Rock Cafes in the country with following gigs at Hard Rock in Pune and Hard Rock in Hyderabad. The band regularly performs at Pizza By The Bay (formerly ‘Not Just Jazz By the Bay’) and Hard Rock Café Mumbai. The band believes in delivering high quality entertainment and an unforgettable experience for the listeners and is always up for a performance, no matter what the occasion!

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'The Shakey Rays' perform live on Thursday, 5th of July!

The Shakey Rays are a four-piece Indie Rock band from Chennai. Songwriting duo Dhruva Gautham and Vikram Kannan, having disbanded seminal Chennai rock group, Easy Street, decided to get together with Chennai’s most adaptive rhythm section, Niranjan Swaminathan and Iuni Yoomi, to form The Shakey Rays- a D.I.Y Indie rock n roll unit that combines the ancient traditions of rhythm ‘n’ blues, swing with the aggressive energy and attitude of Garage Rock and Punk.   

The band is at its strongest when the music is interactive and impulsive. Extended, onstage jams allow the musicians to branch out musically and vary the 4-piece format. Dhruva Gautham and Vikram Kannan tend to work on different arrangements for each song and explore various musical patterns, with an emphasis on the intricacies of crafting a record. The musical style of The Shakey Rays is raw and rooted in blues and Rhythm ‘n’ Blues while their approach and setting are fresh and contemporary, setting them apart in the Indian indie circle.

Check out the music online at

Bandcamp: http://theshakeyrays.bandcamp.com/

Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/theshakeyrays

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theshakeyrays

Facebook: Http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shakey-Rays/196463863718688

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'The Uncertainty Principle' and 'Plok' perform live on Thursday, 5th July!

The Uncertainty Principle is a Delhi based band which was formed in September,2010 by Abhishek and Nishant. After several changes, the lineup was finalized a year later in September 2011. The band’s line-up today is an amalgamation of members with similar musical tastes and goals; consisting of RaghavMeattle on Vocals, AbhishekRajan and NishantKurup on Guitars, SiddharthRajan on the Bass and Keith Peter on the Drums.

After finally having found stability in the lineup, The Uncertainty Principle's music changed from an alternative rock sound; and developed a more progressive rock sound drawing its influence from bands like Tool and Karnivool. Their music is characterized by complex rhythm sections, intricate lead sections and melodic vocals. They classify their genre as Progressive Rock.

The Uncertainty Principle made their mark on the music scene after winning IIT Delhi in 2011 followed by a series of victories in several college competitions in Delhi including SRCC, LHMC, VenkateshwaraCollege , Delhi College of Engineering to name a few. A number of highly praised live performances of ours include the ones at the finals of IIM Bangalore 2012 and the Delhi finals of Hard Rock Rising 2012.

With an extremely committed line-up and belief in their music, The Uncertainty Principle is here to stay!

Past Achievements: 

Winners of the prelims of 'TNT 2011', NSIT, held at Attitude Alive.

Finalists at NSIT, Avalanche 2011, Opening for UK's Viatrophy.

Finalists at Ragna Rock 2011, MNIT Jaipur, opening for Parikrama. 

Runners-up at Battle of the Bands, Ramjas College, in January 2011.

Best Vocalist at 'Pandemonium 2011', Amity University.

Best Vocalist at 'Clash of the Maestros 2.0', JamiaHamdard.

Runners-up and Best Vocalist at 'Rave n Rock 2011', JamiaHamdard.

North Zone Finalists for 'Yamaha Asian Beats 2011'

In 2010, pursuing an ever-existing fantasy of making music together, in a rather befuddled state, we (Neeraj, Anirudh and Rahul) picked up a guitar and started plucking an undeniably ‘pop’ riff. Contrary to our music preferences, we started bouncing to it and before you know it, we had an interesting melody going. That night saw the birth of ‘In a sense’ and ‘Plok’ too. From there we moved on to recruiting the brightest musical talent in the city: Tushar, Yugank and Aveleon to create the freshest sound, as described by others, that makes Plok what it is today.

Who we are:

Neeraj Aggarwala, Vocals

Been around in the circuit for over 10 years, he has been singing with Artistes Unlimited and various other bands.

Profession: An entrepreneur, with a passion for branding and marketing, running a lean-mean Internet company. Influences: Metallica, Dream Theater, Incubus, Live

Anirudh Subramaniam, Guitars 

Been in the music scene for a few years playing guitar and singing for Artistes Unlimited, A.R. Rahman, Free Will Theory. 

Profession: IT professional. Influences: Dream Theater, Opeth, Mr. Big, Extreme, Alterbridge, Porcupine Tree.

Tushar Rawal, Guitars 

A prodigy, who rocked the school music scene for 5 years winning best guitarist at several competitions. 

Profession: Pursuing Chartered Accountancy. Influences: Mr. Big, Extreme, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, U2, Coldplay. 

Yugank Mishra, Bass 

One of the most sought after rising bassists in the Delhi music scene, having played with a few known artistes, he has swiftly caught the attention of Delhi music enthusiasts. 

Profession: This is what he does, he’s a musician. Influences: Dirty Loops, Jimmy Haslip, Adam Nitti, Herbie Hancock, Sting

Aveleon Giles Vaz, Drums 

A solid powerhouse drummer with variety and flexibility as his strengths, he is a session musician and also plays for Five8. 

Profession: Drummer/Percussionist. Influences: Metallica, Jojo Mayer, Benny Greb, Tool.

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