The Score Magazine - Archive January 2017 issue! | Página 45

Sumeet Suvarna
"We're looking for an international band to headline our
fest.", Is something that a lot of Artist Managers/Booking
agents from India hear all the time from students of several
big and small educational institutions. There is no dearth of
talent in India, not even when it comes to Western music. As
an Artist Manager, I've worked with both; Homegrown and
International talent. I've also worked with a lot of colleges
for their festivals. And I've had a wonderful experience
for most parts. When a college has a good budget for the ir
fest and wants a pretty famous international headliner, it's
understandable. They're clear about what they want and how
they're gonna go about it. But what do you do when someone
wants Coldplay but has 'budgetary constraints'? Well, you tell
them that you can help them book some Indian bands in that
budget. That's not good enough! The question again, is why?
Why is it that so many colleges prefer to have a lesser known,
if not completely unknown international band headline their
fest than book a very good Indian band to headline their
festival? Are Indian bands not up to the mark to headline these
events? Or are the international bands somehow better, just
because they're well, from overseas? Or is it xenophilia? Last
year, I was approached by one of the colleges who I had worked
with earlier. They wanted to have an international headliner.
Given their budget and time constraints to get all the
paperwork you need to sort out to come and perform in India,
I couldn't suggest them any bands from overseas that I worked
with. So I recommended some Indian bands that I was working
with. Some that would bring tear down any stage they perform
at. But I was told, 'ONLY INTERNATIONAL band or nothing',
even if the international band had no credibility. I found that
absurd, because, here we have an organizer of a fairly reputed
college festival who is willing to compromise on the quality
of performance as long as it's an 'international band' doing
it. But the absurdity of it started to dissipate as more people
approached me with similar ideas.
You cannot pinpoint at one particular aspect and say, 'This
is why it's happening' because there could be several varied
reasons for it.
Rock/Metal is not very relatable to an average listener in
India:
Indian Rock/Metal music is not native to us in India. It's still
not a viable career option and it'd be foolish to expect most
people to start following it. Despite all of that, these genres
of music have made their way in India and we have tens of
extraordinary artistes and bands that can get on any stage in
any part of the world. And so many homegrown bands have
proven that time and again. But at the same time, very few
understand these genres of music here. It is also primarily a
Western music form, so it's probably automatically assumed
that a band from overseas would do a better job at headlining
their concert than an Indian band.
Is it Xenophilia?
Amarjeet Singha of Bohemian Live certainly thinks so.
"Indians like anything white", he says without mincing words.
"Anything International is the general mindset", claims
Amarjeet. Without meaning to sound virtuous, it is true to a
great extent.
Roop Thomas Philip, bassist of Bombay based Alt-Rock band
Blakc doesn't hold back while sharing his views on this subject
either. He says that the colleges are too caught up in a useless
competition. And not necessarily the healthy one. "They try to
promote it a lot with the term International band. As harsh as
it may sound, it doesn't have a lot to do with art. It's got more
to do with race."
Glamour:
When college fests decide to get international bands that aren't
very popular, are they thinking about the glamour quotient?
Maybe having international artists onboard helps them notch
up their glamour quotient. Amarjeet Certainly thinks so.
Something unique for students:
"Even if not always the primary reason to have international
bands over Indian bands, I must add that they can sometimes
pull more crowd because people don't get to see them often.",
Roop concludes.
Most students may have never had a chance to watch bands
from overseas perform live anywhere in India. So for them,
getting to watch band(s) from halfway across the world at
their own campus must be a special feeling, especially when
you have never seen them before and likely never will again.
Johan Lund (Guitarist, Mindshift from Sweden), who are all
set to visit India for the second time since 2015 says, "I think
they want to give their students something special and unique
and to have a band flown in from Sweden or another country
so far away, I'd say that's pretty special. Not only for the
colleges, but also for the bands that they book. It's also really
cool for them to go to a country like India and play, so it's a
win-win situation."
And the common goal of everyone putting together a show is to
make sure your audience go home (Hostels in this case) happy!
What does coming to India mean to upcoming bands from
across the world?
As per Johan, it's a big deal for them to be able to come to
India and perform here. "It's a huge opportunity to break new
grounds and get fans that maybe would never have heard
our music otherwise. And from what we have come to learn,
India is a hotbed for metal music with great local acts such as
Godless, Albatross, Killkount to name a few and the fans for
the music are crazy! The response that we have gotten so far
has been great, far beyond our expectations. The rise of metal
in India is also evident if you look at the bigger bands that are
going there to play like Meshuggah, Megadeth, Behemoth, etc.
The future for metal in India is looking bright." And looks like
bands like Mindshift would like to be a part of the mix.
I may sound like a hypocrite, for I've booked quite a few bands
from outside of India for several college festivals across the
nation. And I'd do it all over again if I could. Because I've
learnt a lot working and touring with all the bands (Indian and
International) over the years to reverse that experience. All
said and done, the choice of who they want to book for their
annual festivals rests solely upon the colleges. And all of it
opens up tonnes of opportunities for cultural exchange and
also tourism in a small way. While we do this, we need to try
and ensure that we do not compromise on the quality of art
that we subject our audiences to.
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