The Threshold of Coolidity

So do one hit professional bands get called back to redo their show? Hell ya, if they are good enuff. And that what takes them from a transitory professional status to the real one.

Well, gloating jokes aside, it’s always fun to play for a crowd, at least it’s really important to me for some reason, but it’s always very flattering to be offered money.

Well, so this is the way the third performance story goes. The Delhi School of Economics were having a National Alumni Meet at the University of Maryland. Ayan, our lead singer was entertaining some people at a party by naked singing (singing without instruments) and some organizer there asked him to be a part of the reunion show. In turn he offered to bring his whole band along. Yup, that what we do , when we are offered to a party, we like to bring our whole posse along.

The only issue at hand was that Sowmya was unavailable for the show. At the same time, we had Supratik’s new Fender Strat to show off, Alap’s new mean Ibanez Bass Guitar, Mainak’s Roland Percussion Instrument, and Antardhwani’s new distortion unit the V-amp, attached to my guitar, born to make Sayonee sound ever so sweet.

So, since Sowmya couldn’t make it for the show, this demanded a huge number of songs to be added to the song lineup. This though cumbersome, was the perfect time for us to add fast songs to the line-up which was our primary concern after Sparsh. Slow, pretty songs, are awesome to mellow out to, not to watch at a high energy concert. The songs added to the line-up were Sayonee, Dekha Na, Tanha dil , Kya Soorat hain, Yeh Dil na hota bechara, and Kabhi Aana tu meri Galee.

Gearing up for the show took our minimal 3-4 practises which without being too proud is a very very short time to put up a 7 member band 1 and half hour show. But, as the practices shaped up, the sad thing was that this was a completely private affair for DSE students to we couldn’t invite our friends. To make up for it I organized the band’s dress rehearsal practice in unison with Beer’s birthday at my crib. The plan was a great success, tons of our friends were there, there was the original performance, tons of alcohol, tons of requests, RAj fell splat on his ass in the kitchen which I cleaned, and Anu showed up with her college friend from India who was totally cool.

Well a show whose preps required five paragraphs of English, will take just one since it was so good. The crowd loved our music, one string on my guitar broke and it took 10 mins of repair job while the band churned out Pehla Nasha perfectly. Also Somya showed up for the party and the show so we gave the audience some her songs. The last song Kabhi Aana Tu Meri Gallee was the best, people danced we rocked the joint, just too much fun. In other news the food was delectable and I downed more food than anyone should and packed more for home.

However, the best part was yet to come, DSE organizers said that they wouldn’t be able to pay the $350 that we normally get payed (or got payed once!) but a week later Utsav (organizer) hands Pauli a check for $350. Now to get payed $350 is something, but to be promised less and then paid more based on performance …. Priceless!

Sunday 9:00 am (29^th May, 2005), we found ourselves prepping a room overlooking a pool. Antardhwani was set to play at a birthday party for around 75 people, our second stage performance.

Okay, yes, I hated the fact that I was going to play guitar at a birthday party! There! I said it. However, I was the first band member to vote in favor of it. After Sparsh, an adrenalin filled performance with dozens of praises, there was still much to be redeemed. The fact that we produced magic in a room, which wasn’t reproduced on stage due to mixing issues hadn’t left my mind. Redemption, revenge, and closure are much needed medicines for the human mind, redemption being one of the motives for this second performance. The other: Single shows are always a lot of fun. Pretty much like one-night stands: unknown company, the element of surprise, adrenalin pumped up, maybe a lesson or two, and in my case a round of applause after the performance. All in all, a lot of fun, though nothing changes the fact that a night from then you are sleeping alone. I did not want Antardhwani to be a one-night event. Even, though the above analogy may seem rather stretched, the parallelism in relationships and being a band member is remarkable. Diverging dreams amongst band members can pose threats to the band’s survival, my dream being writing music, I hope there isn’t too much divergence within my band. Similarly, bands demand time management, monetary management, emotion restraint etc from the members, and due thought will reveal its kinship with relationships. Neways, in accordance with my dreams, and hopefully that of most of the other band members, we wrote our first song (my first hindi composition). Its called Dil Chahne Laga and to be honest it’s a beauty. Lyrics by Alap, music by Subhamoy, Alap, and moi. We recorded a live version of the song at Saturday’s practice. Earlier I was very apprehensive about singing in hindi given my accent, but after hearing friends’ opinions and devouring the song at least a thousand times I just have to say that I have done a abso-fucking-lutely awesome job. I am in love with my voice though Dil Chahne Laga’s addictive music is its dominating feature. Wait till Channel V/MTV play it!

Back to the performance, with a hangover that felt like a swarm of bees perpetually buzzing in my head, waited around till the audience finally felt like listening to music. A shaky start lasted one song and was then overpowered by something as close to perfection as we could hope. Redemption was ours, the crowd applauded, the only feedback this time was good. We even signed autographs for this little girl Teja (she pronounced it as Taija), who later used me as a punching bag, along with her troupe of under seveners who demanded spinny rides.

So our reason to play at our second show was fulfilled and we were granted 350 other reasons to play in a sweet check. We are finally a professional band. I want more money, I want more new compositions, I want more time with my band, Dil Aur Chahne Laga!

It was an evening of conflicting results, overpowered by this insane feeling of satisfaction and euphoria. Never got down to blogging bout it earlier since I was busy making music and hardly had time to pour words into this journal in a desperate attempt to express my inner feelings, and prevent myself from turning into an emotionless bastard. Neways, a coupla months ago, I joined a band, started by a dude named Subhamoy. Had seen the post for a guitarist a while back, and thought I'd check it out since the guy had posted some rather smart comments to counter some ridiculous banter voiced by some bored SCI members on the e-mail list. and yeah, joining the band was totally worth it. 3 guitarists (including moi), 1 keyboard (but two keyboards), a tabla player (whom I keep giving a hard time), two singers, 12 practice sessions, teaching the new kids (guitarists) their parts, and 234 cigarettes later we entered the Colony ballroom equipped with pride, a 14 song routine and nothing to lose but our dreams. So , how did I stick around with a music group which didnt play music my brain craves for? coz it was fucking magic everytime we played, and even when it wasnt, we knew magic was around the corner, and that made every discordant note worth it!

Sound checks started as ANTARDHWANI hit the stage and music happened, and we had the attention of the 12 people in the room. With every instrument blended into a perfect mix we exitted awaiting 5:35. Come 6:10 we hit the stage cheered loudly and then shit hit the ceiling. The people we were supposed to entertain had changed the acoustics of the room. The chordless mikes started screeching like pigs being slaughtered. if only we would have shifted to stage mikes! (dint strike any of us).

The show was awesome, at times we drowned each other out, at times the crowd longed for faster songs, at times we couldnt hear anything, but damn! it was great fun ........ I shook my ass all over the stage and banged my head till it almost came off (to hindi music!) and of course! we played Face of love from Dead Man Walking and I got to show off my Eddie Vedder voice. haha .. .The rest of the night entailed huge amounts of praise for the band, and my dancing (did anyone fucking hear me play guitar?). All in all it was great, and i got the feedback that I look like a stuck-up, snob undergrad. I did wonder, Is someone popular if people wanna talk to them or when people actually talk to them, coz depending on that feedback, I am either really popular or infamously unpopular?

We put a cap on the evening at college perk (which now sells alcohol-god bless their souls). A cozy group in a cozy room, singing our hearts out. The closest you can come to family. Our inner sound was heard!