So who am I? Or SWAMI as this British Asian band calls itself was in Pune on October 15, 05, courtesy the British Council. Swami had performed at the MTV music awards in Mumbai on Friday, and they took stage at Fire and Ice on Saturday night.

The band has two vocalists, Sups, and S-Endz, a drummer (Siddharth of Zero fame, this time around), a bass guitarist, and Diamond on lead and rhythm guitar. The band claims that their music is about breaking down cultural barriers, removing stereotypes, and exploring issues of identity in a rapidly fragmenting and increasingly multicultural world.
The vocalists are young in their twenties; Sups provides the Punjabi elements, while S- Endz is the hip hop man. Diamond hits the riffs, and programs the sequenced sounds while the drums and bass keep company.

So what is their music like? We had to wait a long time to find out, as the band slated to play from 9 pm, opened the show at 11 pm instead. Maybe, the sparse turnout was to blame. And then they played for just 45 minutes before retreating into their VIP enclosure. So what was their music like? Well, loud bhangra beats with rock riffs, a lot of aggressive hip hop shouting, plus the mandatory Punjabi lyrics - something the band calls 'desi rock'.

Some of the tracks were funky, and pushed to very fast tempos, while the rest were a mixture of straightforward hip-hop and rock. Does it work? No sadly, it doesn't. The music is repetitive; the band just does not have it when it comes to working out the riffs and the hooks. The first few numbers sound good, and then the riffs keep repeating themselves. There was hardly any soloing; Diamond's guitar did get off once or twice, but that was all. The vocals were quite incomprehensible - partly the sound system, partly the accent, and partly the fact that the voices sounded much like a hyperkinetic rant. The band believes it is pushing a political statement through its lyrics and reaching out for truth, but listeners would have to call into play all their active listening skills to make that out. The energy was there all right, but was quickly expended.

In the postmodern world, bands seem to be running wild on club floors; a gimmick here, a gimmick there, all in the quest for the holy grail of a dance or club number, that would sell and make it to a compilation. And if it is only for the dance floors, the music is by nature transient, gone after the house lights are extinguished. Swami makes the right noises, the right moves, and has the look; so important these days for music and musicians. But that is all they have; the rest is just recycled.

Andy for Drumming World