Indian rock

Indian rock is a genre of popular music in India that incorporates elements of Indian music and mainstream rock and if often topically India-centric. While India is known for its northern and southern classical music, etc, the Indian rock scene, and has produced numerous bands and artists. Various Non Resident Indians and People of Indian Origin have also formed bands rooted in Indian culture.

History

1960s and 1970s

There has long been a rock movement in India, especially in cities like Bangalore, where during the 1960s and 1970s, the emerging genre in the west gained a following. Renowned acts such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Doors and the Byrds were notably influenced by Indian Classical Music as a way of reinforcing the psychedelia in their music.

1980s and 1990s

Whilst the orientalist trend of the 60s and 70s was by the 80s and 90s largely over, India itself has continued to produce bands in various styles of rock music, from soft rock and roll and rock pop, to hard rock and metal. With the arrival of MTV, tastes rapidly changed, encouraging bands to harden their style and focus more on underground styles such as death metal, alternative metal, prog rock, etc. The 1990s saw the rise of a much larger following of various harder styles for this reason. Bands that had formed in the 80s, such as Rock Machine, (who would later be known as Indus Creed), altered their style with the influx of newer techniques and influences from the west. Others formed in the 90s with harder styles influenced by the growing split between popular rock, (such as Britpop), alternative styles, (such as punk), and metal styles, (such as thrash) - the last of which many considered to be truer to the roots of rock music, and the legacy of hard rock bands from the 70s. The Indian sub-genre of fusion, which encourages a similar blend of ancient Indian musical traditions with rock music to raga rock, was also carried forward, and is perhaps the most unique Indian style of rock.

2000s and onwards

The current Indian rock scene has a larger following than ever, (although is still marginalised compared to filmi music), and with the advent of globalization, may soon be recognised in the international arena, as various South American and Japanese bands have become. Recent entries into the rock music scene are increasingly becoming comparable in production quality to western bands, have been compared favorably to other internationally recognised acts, as critics wake up to the Indian scene, and digital technology allows new ways of these bands to achieve distribution and sale. Some British bands of South Asian origin, such as Swami have, like their hip-hop counterparts, tried to enter the Indian market in addition to maintaining the traditional fanbase of non-resident Indians in Britain, Canada and the United States, and others such as Rudra have emerged from Indian communities in other Asian countries.

Rock and Roll

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Parikrama performs at Dahnolti Rock Fest

India has produced many rock bands, even some that have made it into mainstream Indian music, and achieved some international recognition. A good example of this is Indus Creed. Others include Parikrama, Orange Street, etc.

Indian fusion

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Promotional picture of Indian Ocean band members

An Indian sub-genre of rock that focuses on the blending of Indian styles of music with western music, in this case, rock. As mentioned before, the term of non-Indian bands using Indian instrumentals and vocal in rock is raga rock, however, Indian fusion also encompasses attempts by Indian pop musicians and film composers to incorporate rock music into their work, starting in the 70s with film scores like those of the Amitabh Bachchan classics. It is related to Indian funk. A recent example of India fusion is Indian Ocean.

Indian funk

Indian funk is a loose term describing the style of rock and roll which is sometimes blurred into the realms of pop and other genres. Whereas Indian fusion may only incorporate Indian style into rock, or rock into Indian music, Indian funk can be broadly defined as what rap-metal is to heavy metal - an infusion of elements from rap, reggae, pop, and dance genres that some might consider to not be 'true' rock. Groups originating in South Asian communities in western countries like Britain are noted for this style, with bands such as Swami and Asian Dub Foundation using elements of British garage, UK bhangra and hip-hop, such as synthesisers, rap vocals and turntables.

Hard Rock and Metal

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Rudra's second full length album The Aryan Crusade

Several bands from India have focused more on the hard rock or metal styles. Bangalore based Millennium was one of the first and heaviest metal bands. Other bands centred around Bangalore and Bombay such as Threinody, Xenon, Pin Drop Violence and Kinky Ski Munky have a dedicated following in their cities. Death metal bands such as Demonic Resurrection have a following in India, and have achieved some favorable recognition amongst international metal experts, as demonstrated by this review at RockSomething.com: "We’ve been waiting for this one at the RockSomething office – and I do mean wait. You see, Demonic Resurrection laid claim to being India’s best demonic metal act and given the quality of this record (and I’ll admit it that bar Dementra, Threinody and these guys, a limited knowledge of Indian metal), there’s little reason to disbelieve them... ...What makes this record so special however, isn’t the fact that it laboriously crossed the seas for three weeks to get here, isn’t the fact that the main man behind it all is called Demonstealer and isn’t the fact that it’s really, really fucking heavy."^[1]

Vedic metal

The Indian Singaporian band, Rudra, with its style of 'Vedic metal', based around Hindu themes, has gained some fame in South East Asia, and is perhaps the most successful Indian band to fuse metal and traditional music in the vein of Brazil's Sepultura. Many international critics from America, Germany and other countries, have given the band's latest album rave reviews, as HellrideMusic's Chris Barnes said, in this review: "To my ears, Brahmayidya may be the most successful blend of native traditional music with Heaviness since Sepultura’s Roots. It not only works, it is essential. Rudra don’t so much pepper traditional East Indian rhythms, chants and percussive instruments into their music as much as make them the focal point."^[2]

Since the genre was pioneered by Rudra in the late 1990s, it has grown in popularity. Bands like Aryadeva (Ukraine), Symmetry (Indonesia), Warriors Of Peace (India), Asura (India), Advaita (New Zealand), The Aryan March (India), Narasimha (Singapore), Kaliyuga (Malaysia), Azrael (Australia) and Blue River (Sri Lanka) have done pioneering work in the genre. Often, alongwith the Vedic lyrics, the music has shades of Indian Classical music. The definitive album of this genre is the Rudra album The Aryan Crusade released in 2001.

Influences

Indian rock has been influenced by some notable cultural trends, and has in turn produced influences of its own.

Raga rock

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The cover of 'Axis: Bold as Love', The Jimi Hendrix Experience's second album, featured Hindu iconography

In the west, certain groups, such as the Beatles traveled to India, and incorporated some aspects of Indian music, especially classical instruments such as the Sitar, into their music, often as a way of conjuring psychedelic 'eastern' feelings. The term for this was raga rock, and examples of it are The Beatles 'Norwegian Wood', 'Tomorrow Never Knows', 'Strawberry Fields' and 'Within You Without You' - The Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black' - The Kinks' 'Fancy' - and The Byrds' 'Eight Miles High'. A number of prolific Indian classical musicians such as Ravi Shankar aligned themselves with this trend, making collaboration albums with western artists. Indian bands themselves mainly covered early rock songs by pioneers of rock and roll in Britain and America, and only achieved recognition in popular culture by supporting film scores, and Indian pop.

Rock scenes

Many cities and regions have produced collections of bands large enough to be classified as a scene within Indian rock.

The Kolkata scene

One of the most notable rock music scenes in the Indian subcontinent, Kolkata delivers a diverse range folk-, metal-, jazz-oriented music. The scene culture is known to have a significant impact on the youth all over West Bengal, who have been known for their revolutionary thinking and rebellious and questioning attitude dating back to the Bengal Renaissance. A key figure of the raga rock movement, sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar himself is from West Bengal. A major aspect of the Kolkata scene is bringing forth the variety of folk music to younger audiences in new light. However, with the exception of the band Bhoomi, metal and hard rock still dominate the scene. The other significant scene in West Bengal is Darjeeling, best known for its Nepali rock, which although in recent years have dwindled.

The Delhi scene

Delhi's music circuit has seen its share of ups and downs, but has held on largely due to the local presence of Rock Street Journal (aka RSJ). Delhi being the operational home of the Allahabad-based magazine, local bands have benefitted by the proximity to India's first magazine that (supposedly) was only about rock and metal. The Great Indian Rock festival is mostly held in Delhi, with occasional forays into Bombay, and has exposed the upcoming musicians of Delhi to a wider variety of musicians.

Delhi's most famous products are probably Parikrama, Indian Ocean and Orange Street. Other famous bands to come out of Delhi are Them Clones, The Superfuzz, Joint Family, Prestorika, Level 9, Acrid Semblance ,Oritus, Levitikus and HFT . Off late, Delhi has seen a rise in bands incorporating much more contemporary western influences such as the White Stripes, Rage Against The Machine, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. Genres like Jazz, Grunge and Nu Metal have found a strong following, bolstered by the growth of pub gigs around the city.

Bangalore scene

Perhaps the oldest scene, one of Bangalore's unofficial titles is 'rock city of India'.

Mumbai scene

Mumbai is reputed in producing some of the most innovative and kickass rock bands in the nation. In addition, the crowd is attributed to being the most energetic and "responsive". Independence Rock, considered India's biggest rockfest has been held anually since 1985 by Farhad Wadia. Usually held around the Indian independence day (14th-15th August), I-Rock features the country's extreme metal acts and also has a competition for upcoming talents. Independence Rock is frequently marred by controversies. In 2003, the media raised a hue and cry over a band by the name of "Moist Vagina" (probably after the Nirvana song).Consequently, it had to change it's name to "Stigmata". The Mumbai high court barred the fest from taking place at Rang Bhavan in 2004, breaking an old tradition and raising the ire of the metal lovers. Farhad Wadia has taken the case to Supreme court and the verdict has not been announced as of yet. In 2005, to celebrate 20th anniversary of I-Rock, it was to be held at the Gateway of India. But the concert got cancelled at the last minute after the Mumbai Police didn’t give the requisite permission on the grounds that commercial shows were not allowed at the Gateway. The concert had to be relocated and rescheduled and Wadia hinted that it may be the last I-Rock. However, I-Rock XXII has been announced and will be held at Chitrakut Grounds, Andheri at the 14th and 15th of August, 2006.

South Asian scene

In the Indian subcontinent, other countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal have all produced rock bands. Bangladeshi death metal bands like Severe Dementia, Barzak, Voodoo Economix, Annex, Necropolis and Dripping Gore, as well as other Bangla bands like Rockstrata, Warfaze, In Dhaka, Ashes have gained some following. Pakistan also contains many rock bands, some of which have not only gained fame in the sub-continent but globally as well. Some of the internationally acclaimed Pakistani bands are; Entity Paradigm, Noori, Junoon, Call, Mauj, Rung etc. Being the oldest pop-rock scene, Pakistani bands and musicians lead the pop orientated rock of the Indian sub-continent. The Nepali rock scene originated in the influence of westerners visiting the Nepali and Indian hippy trail.

Indian origin rock musicians

Several Indians living abroad have become famous names in rock music. Examples include Kim Thayil of the group Soundgarden, Tony Kanal of No Doubt and Dave Baksh of Sum 41. Generally, wherever there is a significant Indian comminity, Indian origin musicians have emerged. This is both a testiment to the number and size widespread overseas Indian communities, and India's strong musical traditions. The most notable band composed exclusively of PIOs is Singapore's Rudra.

Other rock musicians of Indian origin, with varying degrees of success, are:

Tjinder Singh: Cornershop (vocals, dholaki)
Sushil K. Dade: Soup Dragons (bass)
Jason Singh: Taxiride (vocals)
Jas Mann: Babylon Zoo
Roy Venkataraman: The Wailers (guitar)
Tanuja Desai Hidier: San Transisto (vocals)
Kaustubh Pandav: Lucky Boys Confusion (vocals)
Giti Khalsa: Seven Mary Three (drums)
Miki Singh: Dragonfly (vocals)
Ra: QED (vocals, guitars)
Ian D'Sa: Billy Talent guitarist