5 Reasons Why It Rocks to Rock in India - Dhruv Bhate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the curious things I would hear from people
when I told them I was headed to the US was that I
would go a lot further in this whole rock'n'roll thing
in the US, since that's where it's all happening.
After 2 years here, and having played in bands both in
Pune and in the States, I want to question that
opinion. In fact, I hope to convince you rockers that
you have it good. Better that I do anyways.

Again before you get into this article and let the
expletives flow with my name attached to them, a
disclaimer is warranted. This article is for all those
who are in rock bands for the sake of rock'n'roll (its
also the only kind I can write). In the sense none of
you'll are in the Eric Johnson-Stanley Clarke-Ginger
Baker class. Yes, we're all getting there, but untill
then, this will have to do.

So here goes...5 Reasons Why It Rocks to Rock in
INDIA:

1. You are SOMEBODY.
Believe it man: if you're a decent band and have
stayed together a decent time, you are pretty famous.
Sure, not Beatlemania fame and maybe not yet even a
quarter as accomplished as Strange Brew. The point is,
your band is one of a select few groups of people in
your city that makes music on stage for people to
listen to AND gets paid for it.

2. You make more money in India
I played in a band in the US for 8 months: and we
NEVER got paid (though some of the band got laid...).
The Blackbirds in contrast got their first gig even
before we actually got together to play! And ever
since, have been playing almost 120 nights a year!
Unless you're a dedicated 24 hour band with enormous
talent, that's unheard of in the US.

3. The competition is easy
Easier, I should say. Than it is in the US anyways.
The statistic has it that for every band that gets
signed on by a major label, 999 have auditioned for
them. Yes, that's 999 who were invited to audition on
the strength of a press pack and demo cd and some damn
good luck and contacts. But, you may counter, atleast
they're signing some hundreds each year, while perhaps
5, maybe less bands in India have solid record deals
(for one album, if not a series of them). But here's
the scene I want you to picture: open mike night in a
tiny dim coffee shop like thousand others in a small
little town like thousand others and you sign up to
play a few songs. Guess how many people are on the
bill. Seventeen. 17. And get this, all of them playing
Hendrix riffs to perfection. All of them technically
brilliant with gifted voices to match, all of them
parts of the 200 local bands around town. And all of
them without a song on vinyl, cd, tape, without names.
And just like that, the night is over. Till next
Tuesday.

4. The scene is STILL growing:
Which means YOU will make a significant contribution
to its growth! However corny this may sound, your band
can be the Beatles of India: maybe not in terms of the
advances in the music or the sheer mania they caused,
but perhaps in a way that converts more people to
rock, perhaps in a way that convinces people to pay
for your songs, to pay for seeing you live; perhaps in
a way that revolutionizes the way we in India look at
rock: which can only be good for all the bands to
follow.

5. Intimacy and Purity
The truest of rockers will tell you their best days
were playing to crowds of a few hundred before they
became stars, when they felt a palpable intimacy with
their audience, where they would share a drink with
some of them after the show, when the band would get
together and post-mortem and then look at the stars
and wonder how and when they'd ever be counted amongst
them...Enjoy that. Im not saying underperform or
nurture no ambition: Im saying this: in the US (if not
all over the Western world), rock'n'roll is
all-or-nothing. You're either a 1 in a million
(literally) Maroon 5 or you're among the other million
local bands that were not as lucky or didn't write a
catchy hit song. Of course, thats an exaggeration, but
helps make my point. In India, you get off stage at
Mood Indigo after a great first round show and feel
like you're up there with the best, you feel special,
you feel you're being counted. Dream, plan, scheme.
Beg, borrow, steal. But enjoy the moment: if you feel
you're just another drop in the ocean, just another
bent note in the scale, trust me, you're not.

Big isn't always better. And better is what counts.
Better is what's best.