Author Archives: Rohit Panikker
Two things could have worked against Bangalore-based The Bicycle Days on their debut album Calamitunes – a full-length debut almost three years after a well-received EP is a massive risk, given you wouldn’t really know whether the first set of fans you’ve garnered back then would still remain interested in the sound. But if the interest levels did indeed wane, then the best thing to do is experiment with the sound. And that’s the second risk this band has taken. The Bicycle Days has experimented with a whole range of sounds and effects over this nine-track offering, some of which give you a strong sense of déjà vu while others take you into uncharted territory (when you say psychedelia-infused music,…
Jordan Rudess has had a busy few months. After an extensive 14-month tour with his band, the keyboardist and one-half of the primary songwriting force behind Progressive Metal act Dream Theater was in Chennai for a week-long residency programme with the Diploma students at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM), which ended with a two-day workshop titled Connecting The Dots where he joined Prasanna (guitarist and President of SAM) to talk about music education, entrepreneurship and innovation in sound. Its not every day (or every year even) that someone from a band as big and constantly on the road as Dream Theater comes down here, to a two-year-old music academy to talk to and spend…
Served with a touch of lime: Launch of Grey Shacks album Step Outside at Star Rock, Spring Hotel
Rohit PanikkerRohit PanikkerRohit Panikker
Formed in 2007 in the deep woods of Madras Christian College, Grey Shack has had an erratic existence until they made an appearance back on the live circuit last year. Featuring Rohan Sen on vocals, Vikram Vivekanand on guitars, Vinay Ramakrishnan on drums and Madhav Ravindranath on bass, this rock n roll outfit finally released their debut album Step Outside at Star Rock (Chennai) on August 14. The calm before the storm, you could call it. But while the clock hands were shooting past 8.30 pm on Tuesday night, the members of Grey Shack were calmly walking about the venue as the crowd trickled in and shaking hands while Vikram surveyed the equipment. We finished soundcheck in no time…
