Tag Archives: Jimi Hendrix

The Tyranny of Technique and the Magic of Silence

Playing a guitar essentially involves fretting a string with one hand while striking it with the other. As a right-handed player (I was born left-handed but that is another story), it is my left hand that determines the notes, and therefore the melody, while my right produces the sound. Techniques are add-ons, alternative ways of playing a set of notes. Instead of merely fretting and striking each note, you do something different with either hand, or both.

Till a few decades ago, descriptions of technique were centred on sliding, hammer-ons/pull-offs, bends/reverse bends, harmonics, etc. All of these were left hand techniques. Right hand methods were relatively fewer and simpler, consisting mainly of variants of alternate picking. The advent of the electric guitar and amplifier and of effects processors in particular, changed this equation considerably. Jimi Hendrix’s ‘pyrotechniques’ with the whammy bar and feedback; and the first experiments in two-handed tapping by Steve Hackett or Harvey Mandel (depending on which story you choose to believe) started a new trend. Soon you had pinch harmonics, 2-handed tapping, electric hand-drill picking, sweep picking, banjo-style claw-hammering, slapping and popping and so on. All of these are right-hand techniques. When technique moves from the hand that creates different notes to the hand that produces the sound, you can see that ornamentation is beginning to take precedence over the person wearing them.

This is not a rant against technique. I’m merely putting forward one possible perspective on where techniques stand in the overall scheme of things. Techniques are extremely useful. They spice up your playing, add tonal variety, grab the attention of listeners and make them go, ‘Wow!’ But today almost every guitarist, at any level of playing, feels compelled to learn every new technique that comes along. Once you’ve done that, you find it necessary to utilise them whenever you can. Technique then becomes compulsive, both in the learning and in the deployment. I recently heard a guitarist play riff upon fleet and fluent riff, each with a different technique, none of which had any connection to each other or to what the other musicians were playing; bereft of melody, lyricism or expressiveness, it was purely a demonstration of physical prowess. A more seasoned guitar player justified this approach, “But his technique is excellent.” Technique has been allowed to become its own justification. Onanism comes to mind – it is entirely about technique, too.

At much higher levels of guitar playing, the worship of multiple techniques segues into a celebration of myriad styles. I watched this very renowned, highly proficient guitar player once, in an impromptu performance. He played rock on an electric guitar, then moved into jazz and then into finger style jazz. Then he played fusion on a steel string acoustic, eventually moving on to playing classical on a nylon-string. All of it was done with consummate expertise and ease. Except that at the end you were left with nothing that had touched you, nothing that went home with you. One listener described it beautifully, “He performed everything without playing anything.” Exceedingly fluent, highly skilled, consistently reliable, extremely versatile: without the heart, guitar-playing becomes a sport.

The ascendance of technique has also been supported by a strong distance-learning industry spewing out instruction videos, on-line lessons, magazines, books, etc. We have allowed them to collectively create a large number of well-schooled clones. It is easy to teach techniques at $29.95 each – but you won’t find lessons that teach you to play goose-bump-inducing feel or shivers-up-and-down-your-spine expressiveness. You’ll need to discover this for yourself; and that is how it should be. Think back at the musicians who came up with your favourite techniques – which video did they learn it from? The great jazz pianist Bill Evans was once asked to demonstrate some of the exquisite chords he used to play. He refused, saying that he did not want to deprive others of the pleasure of discovering beautiful sounds for themselves.

Any student of linguistics will tell you that new words and descriptors do not pop up randomly. They are rooted in the cultural context from which they evolve. Today, if ‘riffs’ are ‘chops,’ the guitar an ‘axe,’ a great guitar player has ‘monster chops,’ and the headline of an ad for an acoustic-electric bass in ‘Bass Player’ magazine says, “Step up and slam low-freq through them until their tongue-studs crack their molars,” it means we have elevated guitar-playing from a sport to a gladiatorial sport.

Technique is about how you play notes, but playing music is much more than that. Allow me to describe one more aspect of this. I call it the Magic of Silence.

Take two very simple riffs: one which goes from C to D and another that goes from C to E. What is the difference between the two? Both start on the same note, both end on higher notes and both can be played on the same string. The simplest explanation is that the end notes (D and E) make all the difference because they are of differing pitches or frequencies. But this isn’t really true. Any musician knows that a C-D riff is the same as an A-B progression despite differences in pitch. It’s just that the riff has been transposed to another key. The difference between the two is actually about the ‘harmonic interval’ (major 2^nd versus major 3^rd, if you must), or the musical space between the notes. The point becomes clearer if you consider a drum beating a 1-2-3 and then a 1-2-3-4 rhythm. Both involve the same stick beating the same skin and producing an identical sound with every stroke. The only thing that has been altered is the silence between each drum stroke. Music is not about how you manipulate the notes that you play. It is about how you utilise the silences between them.

Vinoo Matthew

Vinoo has been playing music for longer than anyone ought to, and has played rock, jazz, blues, fusion and music that no one listens to. He plays/has played bass with the Rex Rozario Quintet, Aftermath, River, Gerard Machado Network, Ministry of Blues, Cantonment Jazz Terminus, Chronic Blues Band, Bangalore Jazz & Abstract Music Club, etc. ad nauseum. He also plays lead guitar with the underground group, the Sarjapur Blues Band, proving Frank Zappas statement: "All bass players are failed lead guitarists."

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Three Wheels Nine Lives by Thermal And A Quarter

If the city of Bangalore ever masqueraded in the sonic dimension, it would probably be heard in a TAAQ album. Three Wheels Nine Lives (3W9L) is a guaranteed bumpy ride through the city on that black-and-yellow mean machine.

3W9L impresses right from the album art, the inner sleeves, and the humungous poster with caricatures of the trio.

Surrender opens up a funky first disc with a lot of hooks and sing-alongs. The wah-wah croaks and sniggers around Bruces Hendrix-y casual vocals. The title track Meter Mele One and a Half is in 11/8 time or 5.5/8, which comes from the title (meter -4, mele– plus 1 ½ =5 ½). Despite the complex time, the songs still got addictive chorus lines.

The auto takes a break as Bruce and friends relax with mellower tones that seem to paint sonic pictures of Lalbagh. In the Middle, Birthday and Bangalore Flowers have the best lyrics on the album. While In the Middle has a reference to John Coltrane, Birthday outrageously imagines the possibilities of time being space. Bangalore Flowers is the pick of disc one, which lyrics that Bangalore-lovers(lovers of Bangalore and lovers in Bangalore) can relate to and a brilliant much-awaited-on-disc-1 Bruce Lee Mani guitar solo.

If Them Blues fuses Chennais local dabbankuthu genre (the beat, the whistle) with Hendrixs Jam back at the house (Woodstock 69). The jazzy guitar-vocals duet in Sad Moon featuring Priya Mendens on haunting vocals closes disc one.

For the Cat retains some of disc-ones Saturday-afternoon-in-your-armchair-sipping-coffee feel of tracks like Bangalore Flowers and Billboard Bride but slowly moves into a tighter blues groove before returning back to the armchair. Ho-hum (instrumental) is a brisk walk between auto-stands, while Chameleon and Dangerous Mind are the two dark-hard tracks of the album.

Saturday afternoon moves into night with the ponderous Who Do We Have Sex With? and the fizzy Wont Stop. The bluegrass-y bonus track Something You Said closes out disc two in a fashion similar to disc one mellow and haunting.

The singles and live disc has its own gems Simply Be a quirky eccentric track with a cracking bass solo, Mighty Strange and One Small Love have fluttery sax and a husky flute with the latter being in 10/8 time embroidered with a very Dire Strait-ish guitar work. Grab Me is the best song on the disc, a 12/8 slow burning blues with lovely solos and the anti-corruption anthem Kickbackistan completes the auto journey.

In 3W9L, TAAQ have brewed a perfect concoction of laid-back bluesy tracks and brisk rock n roll. The environs are unmistakable Bangalore with its street-side chat shops and the large malls, the IT folk and the parks and yet it never gets up-market at any point in the album.

If youre a guitarist you want Bruces amp and if youre a vocalist you want his everyman Bangalorean casual approach to singing parts in complex time. His solos are sophisticated yet expressive. The rhythms section of TAAQ (Prakash KN on bass, Rajeev Rajagopal on drums) keeps the grooves tight and interesting through the winding time signatures.

While many bands in the country are opting for a native and desi feel with Carnatic, Hindustani or folk-ish sounds to spice things up and express themselves succinctly, TAAQ use the time-tested palette of jazz-infused blues, and aptly so, for the urban Bangalore vibe is precisely what they want to conjure.

Purushotham Kaushik

Purushotham Kaushik is a freakish-blues guy with a Carnatic frame of mind and surreal poetic sensibilities.

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ZIRO – Mud, music and madness

It was three days of love, peace and music not in Woodstock, but Ziro. As the picturesque meadows echoed with sounds of 20 ensembles from around the country, the Northeast swayed to its first indie fest of tunes.

Every time someone talks about a music festival the first thing that comes to ones mind is indeed Woodstock 1969. Often hailed as the mother of all music festivals, it never ceased to acquire a mention whenever there is a reference to a magnificent association between love, peace, harmony and music. But guess what, all of that is about to change and especially for the people who were at the Ziro Festival of Music in Arunachal Pradesh from September 14 to 16. From now on every time someone mentions a music festival, it will be the one in Ziro that will secure an immediate mention among the people of Northeast and trust us, rightfully so.

Whether it was the magnificent festival venue nestled amidst lush green meadows of the hamlet between Ziro and Hapoli, the rainy weekend, 20 musical ensembles or having a gala time swaying away to music in muddy fields and sipping on local rice beer, Ziro Festival helped all those who were present at the do to relive moments which many of us have usually savoured in the videos of festivals such as the Woodstock 1969. And we should very well say this that the first edition Ziro Festival will go in the pages of history as one of the pivotal moments that changed the music scene in the Northeast by providing enough exposure to the region for the world to acknowledge its splendid grandeur.

The attendees to the three days of Eat, Drink and Merry festival (as the tagline of the fest goes) were not confined to the Northeast alone. There were people from all walks of life and with different geographical sensibilities. Though the attendance was paltry (considering all three days), but notwithstanding that it was festival that managed to re-establish peoples faith in the power of music and how it can get people together despite differences. And music took the center stage with the artistes and audiophiles – many among who were visiting the Northeast for the first time.

Day One

The first day kicked off at around 3.30 pm and went on late till late in the night. Frisky Pints and undoubtedly Bombay Bassment (among the others) were the bands to look out for on the first days schedule. It was a busy day not only for the organizers but also for the festival-goers as all of them was busy getting prepared for the next two days to follow. Setting up of tents, doing a recce of the venue, tasting the available delicious culinary offerings and savouring the scenic beauty of the festival venue took up most of the time. But all that didnt take anything away from these bands that offered a fantastic platter of songs that shook Ziro on the first day and set the tone for the next two days. Bombay Basement with their eclectic blend of tempo-driven hip-hop, funk and reggae gave a fantastic ending to the first day. However, people continued to flood the stage arena long after the music was called off for the night, which gave an impression that people simply wanted more. Those staying at tents at a plateau around some 200 meters from the stage continued jamming with djembes and guitars which they had brought along with them and it continued till the wee hours of the night. The serene environment of the hamlet echoed with music and we all waited for the sun to rise and mark the beginning of yet another fantastic day of music.

Day Two

Echo of acoustic music from djembes and guitars woke us up in our tents the next morning. Early birds were already on a musical high when we came out of our tents to find out what is going on. After seeing a few of our fellow festival-goers pounding percussions and strumming guitars, we joined in and that set the mood to enjoy performances by the professionals who were lined up for the day. Our impromptu jamming was on a all time high when a soothing cover of Alanis Morissettes song grabbed out attention. We knew it was time for the first act of the day Alisha Bhatt. A singer-cum-songwriter, recently Alisha has been in the news for her soulful urban folksy performances something one can relate with the likes of Joan Baez, Ani DiFranco among others. After a performance in front of a 50 or so people, she left the stage for Aftertaste, a five member alternative rock ensemble from Mumbai.

Here it is imperative to mention that the rains never stopped pouring for more than a few hours in all the three days, but that didnt hinder anyones enthusiasm to watch these acts out which were not only independent in their approach towards music but also unique in their appearance on stage. More importantly, till this festival, we had only heard about many of these acts but never had the chance to witness them live. But, they were experienced festival performers who knew when and how to get the crowd going and it was very much evident right from the time they stepped on to the stage. Aftertaste, as a band, was a pleasure to watch. And right from the word go, these musicians manifested how to articulate a performance, even when one is performing in a venue for the first time in front of a crowd which probably they have never entertained for. Their professionalism was apparent when some technical difficulties struck guitarist Michael Lees setup and Keegan Pereira, vocalist of the band, broke into a spontaneous song with some random yet meaningful lyrics and candidly confessed to us that it was a gimmick to buy some time for his fellow bandmate to fix the problem. They were well received by the crowd and had to oblige to encores. As the day bid adieu and evening set in, it was time for some metal. The only representative of metal in the entire line up of the three-day fest was Lucid Recess (LR), the three member alternative metal guys from Assam. Those who have known LR and their music would know that they are pretty neat in their live performances, but guess it was a bad day at work for the trio at Ziro. LR was followed by some much-needed girl power. And no brownie point for guessing as it was the only all-girl ensemble in the line up The Vinyl Records (TVR).

TVR got a great slot to perform at the festival as they got to perform in the evening on day two. As many of us would know they are good at what they do, but in Ziro their performance didnt have the zing that could make the crowd tap their feet. The highlight of day two was indeed Peter Cat Recording Co. (PCRC) and organizers Menwhopause. We got to know from sources that prior to the festival PCRC were desperately hunting for opportunities to perform in the Northeast and their wishes were granted when they were given a slot in the lineup. They did a fantastic job. Those who havent heard these alternative musicians, we would like to tell them that the ensemble is an unique blend of genres that evokes certain emotions probably something like as if Sid Barretts technical and psychedelic imagery is having a romantic date with that of The Doorss introspective lyricism and lively showmanship. But, the band which stole the show on day two was Menwhopause. The organizers were also blessed by the rain Gods and the audience could savior their music blessing them for coming up with the festival that will be in the coming years one of the most sought after festival in indie musical the map of India (provided its organized again).

Day Three

The last Day of the festival was once again kicked off by yet another soloist from Delhi Dayglocrazie. The guy with an acoustic guitar is a subtle musician that might remind many of the likes of Jack Johnson and Ben Harper among others. But, here is the catch – unlike any of the above mentioned musicians Dayglocrazies music had a hint of regional elements. To be precise his compositions smelled of baul music of West Bengal cleverly weaved with western music sensibilities to give it an urban avatar. In fact the opening two acts – Dayglocrazie and Tritha Electric (which followed him next) offered some Bengali flavour to the audience in the middle of Arunachal Pradesh in the fest. If Dayglocrazie sounded like baul music, Tritha sprinkled rebellious poetry of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the Bengali poet, blending it with a bass guitar and a well toned drum. In fact looking at the line up of day three it seems the seven bands were paired in accordance of the genre of music they play. For instance after the first two Bengali-inspired poetic acts, it was time for some alternative punk. The Dirty Strikes and Street Stories unleashed their punk-inspired power and at times covered contemporary pop like that of Lady Gagas Poker Face to attract the rain-soaked crowd. But if we are to choose one between the two, our vote will go with that of Street Stories. Mainly because of their exquisite stage presentation and some crazy (we mean literally) guitar playing.

The next two similar sounding bands to occupy the stage one after another were Digital Suicide (DS) from Guwahati and Sky Rabbit (previously known as Medusa) from Mumbai. Music enthusiast in the Northeast are well acquainted with DS post grunge sound. Though it took them quite a while to get their preferred sound out of the speakers and it did irritate the audience who were anxious to savior some of their lucid riffs and distorted bass slap. But once they got going the crowd swayed away to their music forgetting the initial technical hiccups. Sky Rabbit was a soothing surprise as we have heard them when they were a metal ensemble named Medusa. Their sound and compositions echoed of a peculiar British neo-rock tinge which was appreciated by the crowd.

The Finale

But, it was celebrated veteran pop/rock musician Lou Majaw and his friends that took the third day of the festival to a crescendo. We all know Majaw and his music. Being in the Northeast he is no surprise as we get to see him every time there is a rock concert of some magnitude. The veteran clad in his trademark shorts and multi-coloured socks yet again gave a reason soothing enough for the crowd to go berserk and scream for encores compelling the artiste and his associates to render one song after another long after they formally bid adieu to the crowd. But, the love for music in the Northeast was evident when the crowd refuse to left the concert venue even after the organizers called it a night, So much so that they were left with no other option but continue playing music so what if it was CD recordings. From Pink Floyds overplayed Another Brick in the Wall to Jon Bon Jovis previously unheard remix version of Wanted Dead or Alive there was everything that shaped many of our tastes in rock.

Well, there was no Jimi Hendrix, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker or Sly and the Family Stone for the crowd to savior. But will it be too much to say that the lineup definitely had the potential to become one of these great acts and hence Ziro Festival was nothing short of what they call a perfect field day for musicians and music lovers. We sincerely hope the organizers give it a serious thought to organize the festival next year so that those who could make it to the festival and were on a wait and watch mode will get a chance to relish some serious independent music that too in Apatani style. Till then keep your fingers crossed!

Debarun Borthakur

Debarun Borthakur has been a journalist for the last 7 years in many national as well as regional news dailies. His forte is music and loves to be honest with his words. He has been strumming the guitar for a decade now and swears by authentic Delta blues and Seattle's grunge.

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Galeej Gurus at Hard Rock Cafe, Hyderabad

Named as one of Indias hottest bands according to Rolling Stones in 2010, the opening act for bands like Mr. Big, Deep Purple, Bryan Adams; and having played in Dubai Dessert Rock Festival alongside bands like Velvet Revolver, Korn, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Galeej Gurus is a force to reckon with. Their growing fan club in Hyderabad couldnt wait to listen to them yet again and could barelty contain their excitement. Formed in the year 2000, the Galeej Gurus have been in the music scene for over a decade with over 500 gigs in their kitty. Their line-up includes Nathan Harris on vocals, Naveen Thomas on the guitars, Ananth Menon on guitars and vocals, Matthew Harris on the bass and Kishan Balaji on the drums.

As a band, their influences are Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Eric Clapton, Steve Vai and Deep Purple. However individually, Nathans influences include Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Guns n Roses, Robbie Williams, Prince etc., while Ananth tips towards blues and rock and roll. Matthew draws his inspiration from modern guitar funk and rock, for Naveen Thomas, who is considered the most technically proficient musician in the band, it is more of progressive influences like Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, Tool, Killswitch Engage etc. , and Kishan is inspired by freestyle improvisation and jazz. A blend of their individuality is the essence of their band. Galeej Gurus music, according to them, is a bit of Alternative, Funk, Blues-Rock, Progressive and Grunge put together; whereas critics classify them as Indie Rock.

Their set list for the day was a mix of their compositions and covers. The band opened with their own composition Believe in Tomorrow, to warm up the crowd. Picking up pace, their OCs Shes Mine, Play On, Jets Cold Hard B*tch got the crowd pumped up. Ananths bluesy voice was perfect for the cover of Eric Claptons Before You Accuse Me. Blind, Make some Noise, Dark Hungry Eyes were the rest of their OCs for the first half of the evening. By the second half of the gig, the crowd grew bigger and the energy grew higher. This second set included 3 Doors Downs Loser along with Maroon 5s Move like Jagger and another composition Flyaway. The crowd sang along during Foo Fighters Rope and Kings of Leons Use Somebody, while the band continued on with their other compositions Breathe and Physiological Breakdown. The finale was a medley of three rock legends Led Zeppelins Whole lotta love, Jimi Hendrixs Purple Haze and Lenny Kravitzs Are you gonna go my way leading to Full meals by The Wayside. They threw in a few amazing guitar and bass solos and pulled in Baba Native Tongues frontman and a good friend of the band for one of the numbers, which added to the overall flavour.

Every composition of theirs has a bit of Alternative and Progressive while most of them were groovy. Nathans versatile vocals, Naveen Thomas and Ananths skills on the guitar, crazy bass riffs by Matthew and Kishans tight drumming put together, makes a perfectly wrapped package of good music.

The sound was decent with very few glitches and there were quite a good number of people for a weekday evening. As the front man, Nathan knew how to keep the crowd engaged throughout the gig. The energy of the entire band was so contagious, they crowd couldnt contain themselves. Everyone was high on music (also on booze, but mostly music) till the end.

Galeej Gurus claim that they are a bunch of crazy ass rockers who dont understand the meaning of keep it quiet! and they sure kept their word! After a week of rain and traffic jams, an evening with Galeej Gurus at Hard Rock Café was the perfect way to unwind.

Vini Lilian

Vini works with an ad agency. She's a metalhead who can't play metal so she writes about it. She loves tattoos!

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Day 1 of Indigo & Blues – International Jazz and Blues Festival at Palace Grounds, Bangalore

Rohan Arthur

May 2012 will be remembered as the month when Bangalore had a much needed overdose of the Blues. The ten-day Ode to the Blues Festival with film screenings, busking and concerts conducted all around the city was followed by the (unimaginatively titled) Puravankara Indigo & Blues International Jazz and Blues Festival a week later. The line-up looked quite delicious, with the likes of Van Wilks, Bobby Whitlock and Blackstratblues promising to dish out a surfeit of sweet blues music that is music to the soul.

Day One of the festival featured The Chronic Blues Circus, Groove #3, Overdrive Trio and The Van Wilks Band. The arrangements at the venue were replete with blue Nilkamal chairs, tables with spotless white tablecloths, uniformed stewards and ofcourse, the stage! The stage was nothing spectacular, so to speak, and the lighting arrangements were leaning towards Spartan (for an event of this magnitude). I was lurking around in the hour before twilight, looking for artists doing their last minute sound checks, but could find none. What came as a pleasant surprise was that the proceedings started a few minutes after 6 p.m., just as promised! This was a novel experience, but the downside of it was that the crowd had not yet poured in as expected. Perhaps they assumed that the show would start at least an hour late, as is usually the case at music festivals.

Chronic Blues Circus was the first band to take to the stage. The band is headed by, as described by a friend, the “Amitabh Bachchan of the Indian Blues Scene”, Mr.Peter Isaac on the harp, guitar and vocals. They opened the proceedings with an upbeat instrumental version of John Mayall’s ‘So Hard to Share’. The 7-note bass cycle served its purpose of hooking the (still sparse) audience into a lull. This was followed by their own ‘Indian Blues’ with Miriam on the vocals and then Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Killing Floor’ which was opened by a rasping rally call of ‘Let’s Go’ by Peter. Ananth Menon and Venkatesh Subramaniyam (Venky) took turns to show us what they could do with their six strings, through the protracted complementing licks.

Venky then went on to introduce the next song, called ‘Woman’, written by Peter way back in ’93. The song was appropriately wistful and cynical in places and this was confirmed somehow with the two part vocal harmony. Another original, ‘Sweet Nicotine’ followed, which seemed to fit better with a theme of love-making and heartbreak rather than having anything to do with tobacco. I say this with due respect and a hat tip each to Ananth and Venky for their wailing, perfectly tremolo-ed leads. Owen Bosen, the otherwise self-restrained bassist took over the vocals for the next song, and just when I was thinking whether anyone else in the band could also sing, first Venky and then Ananth polished off one verse each.

Despite being wowed by the band members’ singing prowess, one could not help but notice the fluctuating vocal levels. This was the only distraction, the sore tooth in an otherwise perfect little set. True, managing sound for a band which has five lead vocalists is a challenge, but for an event of this magnitude, it should be easily doable. Palace Grounds is an open green area and is bound to have a swarm of mosquitoes in the evenings, something that could have been avoided by probably sanitizing the area before the show.

Owen was back on the vocals for ‘Money Talks’, with his Knopfler-esque nonchalance, that beguiles the talent and experience that stand behind it. Ananth Menon’s pearl-blue guitar told many stories that evening, and really stood out as something that would be remembered for a long time to come. The songs that followed were ‘Win n’ Lose Blues’ and ‘Ulsoor Lake Blues’, both originals. The latter is, obviously about Ulsoor Lake and what it stands for in Bangalore’s past and present.

The refrain call of ‘Stop giving me waste’ was sort of half-wasted, considering the audience was only half-full. This was my favourite from the set, both for the message that it carried and for the classy execution. Mukut Chakravarthy was quite the demon on the keys, wincing and jumping off his seat in time to the magically achieved coda. Despite the overly booming bass levels and the fluctuating vocal levels, The Chronic Blues Circus, for their part, managed beautifully to present one melodious blues sound.

Groove #3 was the next, and I was impressed all over again with the promptness hardly five minutes after the previous band had vacated the stage, the next set was kicked off in style! May 18^th incidentally marked the Chennai-based band’s first anniversary, and hopes were high for something special that evening. After the opening instrumental, frontman Benny Dayal appeared on stage in his curious wool cap and introduced the band to us. The first song was an original called ‘Baby You Got Me’. The sheer capacity and range of the vocals hit me almost immediately. It is very rare one comes across a vocalist who has got so many things right, even down to the showmanship. Napier Naveen Kumar’s slap bass for this ditty rightly justified the “Groove” in Groove #3.

Bob Marley’s ‘Get Up, Stand Up’ was up next, but it took a while for the audience to identify the song. This was thanks to the long lead and bass intro, and it wasn’t until Benny started with the lyrics that anyone could’ve guessed the song. Old jazz standard ‘Summertime’ followed, but this time in the funk/jazz style. This rendition by Groove #3 has become rather a phenomenon on YouTube but I have my reservations about tampering with the jazz standards. Yes, I am a purist, guilty as accused. If I were to imagine this to be some other song, then I would say I was rather impressed with the meaty groove and the arpeggio-ridden bass line. If I were to put the feeling in words, well, on one side, this version sounds rather “happy” for ‘Summertime’. On the other side, I was impressed by the walking bass line, the staggering guitar licks, the slippery keys and the brutal snare-belting. I was sold when Benny pulled a kazoo out of his pocket and let it rip for a few bars.

The next song was an original called ‘Nowhere to Run’, purportedly about “getting trapped in love”. The staccato one-note introspective soliloquy, that forms most of the verse, did not impress, nor did the unimaginative chorus. The song really was saved by the breaks – the chunky chord work on the keys and the guitar lead caused the song to finally admit to the remorseful, regret-filled lyrical content. Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ was up next, which, curiously, had Leon James playing the slap bass on the keyboard and Napier just playing the semi-muted root notes on the bass guitar. The meat of the song was rather like a quick march, and the break-aways were the 80s style organ sweeps and Benny wailing in full belt, causing the happy marriage of “soul” and “groove”.

Another original called ‘Don’t Let Go’ was up next. The perfectly timed rests were enriched with music, and the song urged the audience to “stay funky, keep it right”. From the whole set, this song really stood out as the essence of Groove #3’s funk/jazz sound. This would’ve been the last song on the set, but the crowd clearly wanted more. After confirming with organizers, the band agreed to give us one more song. Just as I was beginning to jump with joy, I realized they were going to repeat the only lackluster track from their set, ‘Nowhere to Run’. This unfortunate choice for the encore was my cue to scuttle off to indulge in the sumptuous free snacks that were on offer. I must pause here to give two thumbs up to the organizers and my compliments to the chef.

Mumbai-based Overdrive Trio took the stage next, with Adrian D’Souza on the drums, Vibhas Patil on the bass and Sunny D’Souza on the guitar and vocals. This time, however, there was a slight delay allowing for Adrian to set up his own drum kit. I tried to get a peek at it, but it was mysteriously hidden behind a mountain of stage amps. The band opened with an original, ‘You’ve Got Me Tripping’. With its minimal lyrics and maximum overdrive, the song sent the audience tripping. The sound guy was still struggling to get the bass levels right, but I suppose we had just decided to give it up for a lost cause. Another original, ‘Long Distance Blues’ followed. Sunny’s guitar patch for this one sounded so fuzzy that it had an almost organ-like tone. Adrian D’Souza has been one of my favourite drummers and he surely didn’t disappoint. The 2-minute drum solo with the rumbling toms was as impressive as any other and one could spy members in the audience intelligently trying to keep time with the abstract clashes and thumps.

A quick change of tuning, and the band played another original titled ‘The Mid Life Blues’. Sunny’s vocals and guitar lead spewed desperation and anger as did Adrian’s drum rolls. Vibhas’ bass line walked all over the choppity-chop-chop guitar riffs to present an excellent and gratifying listening experience. At one point, Adrian jumped clear off the drum thrown HALFWAY through the roll, which itself then went the other way to emphasize the angst and the helplessness that was intended for the song. Richie Kotzen’s exquisitely crafted ballad ‘Remember’ was lined up next. This version was slowed down even more than the original, with longer wails emanating from Sunny’s guitar, giving the song an almost Gary Moore-like sound, creating an active, engaging conversation between the vocalist and the guitar.

Next in the set was Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’. I have never heard a version like this one before. The original song was all about swagger, but Overdrive Trio’s rendition had so much more tear-jerking soul in it. I will carry that coda in my heart for a long, long time to come. Just as Sunny announced that this was the last song from them, and was saying his thanks, the crowd went wild with cries for more. Even I had forgotten that Van Wilks was playing next, and would have had Overdrive Trio play forever. A quick nod from the organizers, and then they did oblige the crowd with a rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’. My first witnessing of the Overdrive Trio had left me in an admiring daze, and I was already making promises to never miss another show by them. What is it with Mumbai and blues trios? Overdrive Trio’s positively incandescent performance would be complemented the next day by another blues trio from Mumbai, the Blackstratblues. But more on that in the Day 2 review.

Santosh Gnanakan, popularly known as RJ Saggy took the stage next to introduce the headlining Van Wilks Band, and also to do some justified promotion for Radio Indigo. Saggy also helpfully pointed out some members of the Bobby Whitlock Band and Coco Carmel, who were rubbing shoulders with the audience and drinking in the blues stupefaction. Also in the crowd were the boys from Blackstratblues.

Van Wilks strutted on to the stage with two friends in tow: Dave Ray on the bass and Nico Leophonte on the drums. Van Wilks is a world-renowned blues guitarist from Austin, Texas. He carries the Texan swagger and an easy humour with him. Seeing this easy-going natural stage baby, one could hardly guess that he is a cancer survivor, an inductee into the ‘Texas Music Hall of Fame’ and has a state wide official ‘Van Wilks Day’ celebrated every November 6 in Texas. It was clear that sparks were going to fly that evening in Palace Grounds, despite the problems with the sound and the mosquitoes, both of which were hurriedly brushed under the mental carpet in order to drink in the experience fully.

The opening song was ‘Secret’ which won the crowd over from the very start with its cheeky lyrics. Van’s fretwork for this song set the expectations quite high for the rest of the set. Another thing that stood out was the amount of fun the three boys were having on stage. Sadly, this failed to transfer completely to the audience, who were too comfortable in their Nilkamal chairs and too busy munching hors d’oeuvres. Sure, there was this small number of revelers who were dancing unabashedly right in front of the stage. The next song was ‘Stone Cold Day’ which incorporated hammer-on overdrive tones with a groovy bass line to create an exciting blues song.

‘Mama Talk’ followed with its heavy, almost hard rock intro. The faithful crowd in the front went berserk for this one. The experience would have been perfect with some nice stagelights, but sadly this was not to be. The lead section had Van Wilks affectionately patting the guitar with his strumming hand which produced an unholy beautiful sound while Dave’s bass licks kept the song on its burning track. The next song was ‘Temporary Love Affair’ with Van Wilks introducing the song as: “I may not be a lawyer but I can damn sure get you off with this one.” The song is an honest and not-too-humble confession of the singer’s love for beautiful women.

‘Dialtone Blues’ was a high reverb dreamy song with a spaced out lead and cleverly disguised bass and drums that created an aura of a lucid dream with eerie sounds. The shocking, crashing coda with the fast strumming bass (something I had never seen before) snapped us out of the reverie and ready for the next song. ‘I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More)’ was a regulation Texas blues song with a 4/4 time and a catchy meaty riff. The lead had lightning fast licks and squeals that reached high up to the Heaven. ‘Goin’ to See My Baby’ had the “on-the-road-so-long” theme which is one of the favourites among blues song writers. This song, however, also incorporated the Texan swagger and thus created a nice stylish little ditty.

The next song was ‘Without a Word’, a blues ballad. This is my favourite kind of blues music, and I was rather looking forward to the trip. I wasn’t let down. That could have been BB King playing on stage. Only, it was the smiling Texan, Van Wilks playing the guitar lead and transforming it again into a Blackmore-esque squall. This song sent me tripping! There was a big green praying mantis on a chair next to mine, and it seemed to be swaying with the music. The two of us probably made a circuit of Saturn and Jupiter while Dave took over on the bass lead which was played in the higher frets. The sound was exactly like the guitar lead, except in lower octaves. This could go on forever, everything else forgotten, just the sweet sweet music washing down all around us. Sadly, the end was inevitable, a song has to be time-bound, and therefore, come to a halt.

The next song was a complete paradigm shift into a pumping fast British Blues style number called ‘Stiletto Blues’. All hands were in the air in answer to the booming bass drum, and finally, the audience forgot about the chairs and the snacks and were on their feet, dancing. At the end of the song, Van said that he had “beaten the guitar out of tune”, so had to change it. The band then wrapped up with ‘Bleedin’ for You’ and ‘Boystown’. The latter offered a Texas-Mexico mish-mash sound that somehow gelled very well together. If you’ve heard anything by the band Tito and Tarantula you will get my drift. However, these two songs were somehow not half as impressive as the previous ones. Or perhaps I was still tripping from ‘Without a Word’, so failed to notice anything going on. The band looked justifiably exhausted after their adrenaline splashing set, and so, the music had to stop.

Van Wilks and his band had exceeded all expectations. One can only hope for more tours to India, with more of that healing, uplifting Texas Blues. I got a chance to meet Mr.Wilks backstage and I asked him about the experience of playing in front of an Indian crowd, to which he said, “It is not very different from playing back home. Music is the same language in Texas as in Bangalore.” Hats off to the man for having tackled my childish question with an unassailable truth!

And so, Day One of the Puravankara Indigo and Blues International Jazz and Blues Festival had come to a close. All around, one could see people walking around in a daze that can only be caused by an overdose of the Blues. I reminded myself that there would be more awesomeness to follow the next day with Adil and Vasundhara, The Saturday Night Blues Band, The Blackstrat Blues and Bobby Whitlock and CoCo Carmel. This indeed proved to be the “unadulterated blues rock experience” as promised by the organizers.

Rohan Arthur

Rohan Arthur is a Photographer + Writer at What's the Scene who enjoys all music that does not involve growling/vomiting into the microphone. Rohan is the vocalist of a blues rock band and also manages another folk rock band. At every given chance, he runs away to the jungles, which he believes are his home.

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XXX’Mas at The Kyra Theatre, Bangalore

The XXX’Mas gig held on Christmas Eve, more importantly on Lemmy’s birthday, was supposed to be a tribute to those artists born in December who had inspired the bands playing that night. The artists being paid tribute were Dave Murray, Lemmy Kilmister, Ozzy Osbourne, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Marty Friedman, Randy Rhoads, Daniel Antonsson, Jari Maenpaa, Mille Petrozza, Chris Barnes, Chuck Schuldiner, Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison.

There were a few hiccups before the gig began – Corrode (covering Dark Tranquility/Wintersun), Pushing Tin (covering Jimi Hendrix/The Doors) and Theorized (covering Metallica/Megadeth) pulled out at the very last minute. Shepherd, Djinn & Miskatonic and Dhwesha pitched in and agreed to play even though it was at such short notice.

Shepherd was a few minutes into their set when we walked into Kyra. Since we were not familiar with the band due to last minute changes in the line-up, the first couple of minutes were spent trying to figure out what they were called. Though they have a characteristic doom-laden sound, the down-tuned, but heavily distorted lead guitars and the processed, yet abrasive vocals were very much reminiscent of YOB, or even Acid Bath. The throbbing bass was prominent in the mix, and even though most of the tracks lasted a bit over six minutes, the sudden tempo changes surely made for an interesting set. We later found out that this was their very first gig, something that was perhaps evident from the zero interaction the frontman had with the crowd. Shepherd is certainly a band to look forward to in the future, especially for the sludge-like vibe from their sound.

Djinn & Miskatonic was the second band of the three last-minute additions that evening. They have a very interesting and unconventional line-up that consists of a drummer, a bassist and a vocalist (yessir, no lead/rhythm guitars!) D&M’s sound is primarily bass-driven (duh), with the rhythm section playing a tight, but plodding version of traditional doom rock grooves. The vocals range from laboured, almost drone-like sections sung clean, to low-pitched growls. The feel, if we could use the term, is one of horror films of days gone by, to be honest. Their brand of ultra-slow, trudging doom is not everyone’s cup of gin & tonic, and will certainly confuse a metalhead who sticks to the conventional riff-based gloom perpetrated by the likes of Sabbath, Pentagram and Candlemass.

Dhwesha was the third band in queue and put on a great show even though it was only their second live performance and they had little time to practise. They kicked off their set with typical, old school death metal ferocity and ‘Hoy! Sala’ was the first of the original compositions that they played. After enthralling the crowd with ‘Dhwesha’, ‘Ugra Narasimha’ and ‘Yudhabhumi’, they even managed to squeeze in a rousing cover – Bolt Thrower’s ‘Those Once Loyal’. Together with Djinn & Miskatonic and Shepherd they provided an excellent opening for the rest of the bands lined up.

Up next were Gorified, one of the bands from the original line-up. They were paying tribute to Cannibal Corpse and Death, more specifically Chris Barnes of the former and the Chuck Schuldiner of the latter (Schuldiner wasn’t born in December but passed away that month). As is their standard, they got the moshing started in no time giving the crowd a nice, strong dose of their brand of extreme metal. Their brutal onslaught included intense covers – Cannibal Corpse’s ‘A Skull Full of Maggots’ and ‘Stripped, Raped and Strangled’; Death’s ‘Denial of Life’ and Napalm Death’s ‘Scum.’ They ended their savagery with a song from Gani and Charlie’s older project Cremated Souls.

Mumbai’s Albatross were the next band on stage and their set that night was a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads. They took a while to get started and set up but once their set began they were a sheer thrill to watch. The vocalist – Biprorshee Das has a solid set of pipes and terrific stage presence; he was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the night. They started off with classics ‘Bark at the Moon’ and ‘Crazy Train’ and had quite a few people singing along. Switching gears, they played Sabbath much to the crowd’s delight. Following their commendable covers of ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ and ‘N.I.B.’, they had a surprise for the crowd – Ganesh Krishnaswamy from Bevar Sea joined them for a brilliant rendition of ‘Paranoid’. Reverting back to Ozzy one last time, they played ‘Gets me Thru’ and ‘Mr. Crowley’. They had one last cover for the night – Wolf’s ‘Voodoo’ – and did quite a good job of it, especially Biprorshee, who nailed those falsettos with ease. The set ended with ‘In the Court of Kuru’, a song from their debut E.P.

Headliners Kryptos were doing an Iron Maiden tribute set (celebrating Dave Murray’s birthday). Much like a Maiden gig, they had U.F.O’s ‘Doctor, Doctor’ playing on the P.A. before taking stage, something that rather unfortunately went more or less unnoticed by a large chunk of the crowd. They started with ‘Ides of March’ and proceeded to play ‘Wrathchild’ and ‘Killers’ with Ganesh taking over vocal duties the second time that night. Nolan Lewis attempted the formidable task of singing songs from Dickinson-era Maiden and did quite a good job with ‘Children of the Damned’ and ‘Flight of Icarus’. Biprorshee joined Kryptos for a phenomenal cover of ‘The Trooper’, and everyone in the crowd was chanting along fervently with the band. Ganesh was back on stage once more to round up the set with ‘Running Free’ and ‘Iron Maiden’. Kryptos were hands down the best set/performance of the night. They were also the only band to play only covers that night (Pillbox 666 doesn’t count given that they’re a cover band).

The last act of the night, Pillbox 666, took to the stage to a reduced and slightly sluggish crowd. Their set was a tribute to the mighty Lemmy from Motorhead and Teutonic thrash legends Kreator (Mille Petrozza), though the original billing had them doing a Rolling Stone tribute too. Vikram Bhat, the vocalist, couldn’t make it and the vocal duties were taken over by Ganesh and Bharad Ravi (ex-Culminant). The first half of their set comprised of Motorhead covers, Ganesh pulling of an uncannily good impression of Lemmy, playing ‘The Chase is Better than the Catch’, ‘Killed by Death’, ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘Going to Brazil’ before handing over the reins to Bharad who closed the Motorhead set with ‘Overkill’. The next half – the Kreator tribute set – was equally fun to watch (more so since the songs were from Kreator’s first two albums) with them performing badass covers of ‘Under the Guillotine’, ‘Son of Evil’, ‘Total Death’ and ‘Tormentor’.

Despite the last minute changes in the line-up and the fact that almost half of the bands ended up performing original material instead of covers, the good turnout and the nostalgia associated with some of the artists that were being paid tribute to, made sure the audience had a good time. Given how city-centric the metal acts in our scene are, it was a refreshing change to see a band like Albatross to come over all the way from Mumbai to play here. Certainly something everyone would like to see more of in the days to come. No milk and cookies here for Mr. Claus though, beer and cigarettes are more rock n’ roll! Bet Lemmy would agree.

Siddharth Nagarajan

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The Himalayan Blues at Counterculture, Bangalore

It was a Friday evening and the roads were wet and slippery after the incessant rain. I was exhausted after an arduous journey all the way from Electronic City to Whitefield but happy that I made it half an hour before The Himalayan Blues gig began. I was really excited and was looking forward to a bluesy night with not one but three remarkable bands. I armed myself with a notebook, a pen, a glass of whisky and a pack of cigarettes before I settled down at the table right at the centre of the long corridor where candle-lit tables were beautifully laid out.

The first band on stage, The Hudugaas, had completed their sound check and were about to start playing. The first thing you’d notice about The Hudugaas is the guitar sound. It was loud, crunchy, very raw and, very bluesy – the perfect sound for a blues band. The sound was achieved by connecting a Fender Strat directly to a Marshall amp and fiddling with the sound controls. The rhythm section, handled by Vinoo Matthew (Bass) and Deepak Raghu (Drums), was groovy and provided a solid foundation for the band. Most of the soloing was done with a harmonica which blended in quite beautifully with the blues setting. However, if you had come to witness a blues guitar ceaselessly wailing away, you would have to wait a while. The lone guitar solo on ‘Sinister Purpose’ was very ordinary and the notes were not clear in certain sections.

The band succeeded in drawing the reluctant crowd onto the open area between the tables and the stage. I suddenly realized that my feet were subconsciously swinging to the rhythm. The band’s set comprised entirely of covers and they kicked off the proceedings with ‘Goin’ Down Slow’, a song popularized by The Howlin’ Wolf. The vocals on the second song ‘Key to the Highway’ – a Charlie Segar song popularized by BB King, were particularly impressive. The set was completed in half an hour with a couple of blues favourites such as ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ and ‘Pride and Joy’.

Next up was Izzy and Chris – a band from West Virginia that is heavily influenced by the country music scene there. They are a very laid back duo with Izzy handling the guitars and vocals and Chris playing the mouth organ. The entire solo section was handled by Chris. Their set easily blended in with the cool evening air and got a lukewarm response from the crowd. The first things you’d notice about the band would be the dexterous flamenco style strumming, the strong vocals and the beautiful harmonica work. They played multiple songs from Izzy’s record Preachin’ The Blues Vol 1. There was a lot of raw emotion in his voice which was very touching at times. However, I must say it got a little too monotonous towards the end because an hour long set with broken guitar strings, irksome guitar tuning on stage and an energy-sapped performance is simply too bothersome to digest even for the most devoted Blues fan.

Last on stage was The Jimi Hocking’s Blues Machine. This is definitely one of the best blues bands I have seen on stage. Jimi was flawless with the guitar and had an incredible voice. Karl’s bass lines were irresistibly groovy and Greme’s drumming was simple yet effective. The crowd obviously loved these guys as this was certainly a great change of mood. The whole place suddenly came alive with excitement. Jimi’s song, ‘I Think I Can’ about the blues train in Melbourne, was a peppy number which effectively showcased his showmanship. Their set was a right mix of own compositions and covers, covers which were tweaked a bit to give them a great flavour. Jimi is a great performer who interacts with his audience a lot and ensures they’re having a great time. He doesn’t fail to display his dexterous guitaring skills by playing the guitar behind his neck and under his legs – an immensely popular Jimi Hendrix stunt. The covers played included John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers’ ‘All Your Love’ and Hendrix’s ‘Hey Joe’. On the whole, this band was tight, played well-orchestrated numbers and had extremely powerful stage presence. Jimi Hocking was definitely the fix for a blues guitar junkie yearning to hear a blues guitar ceaselessly wailing away to an irresistible groove.

On the whole, the experience was fantastic and the sound on the PAs was incredible. The bands put up a great show and the crowd had a wonderful time which was very obvious because by the end of the show, almost everybody was standing and shouting out for encores.

Anand Kumar

Anand Kumar plays bass guitar with a few Bangalore bands on and off. He is a coordinator with Songbound - a music outreach initiative that uses singing to reach out to Indias most impoverished children via collaborative projects with schools, choirs and professional musicians worldwide. His other interests include discovering new music on YouTube and computer programming.

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Phoenix at Hard Rock Cafe, Bangalore

Sharanya Nair

This review isn’t going to be a long drawn out affair because, frankly, I’m not a fan of prolonging the agony. The Phoenix gig at HRC Bangalore, showed promise because they followed Thursday night acts that have been in more than a few good books. In the current musical atmosphere – the Indian music scene blossoming as it is with bands attempting to re-invent themselves with each album, it’s difficult to appreciate or even stomach the thought of a band sustaining itself with a cover-oriented approach. But there’s a silver lining to everything, I assume.

Phoenix is a crew of five – singer Ruben, bassist Lokhi, percussionist Badri, guitarist Keith and Ankita who sings and plays the keys.

The band started out with a few Marley numbers (‘Redemption Song’ being the most notable performance). Ruben’s reedy vocals suit the dreadlocked artist’s music in specific. But no one can pull off Marley like Marley; with the second song, I was looking for a change. Welcome or not, it came in the form of The Police’s ‘Roxanne’ – an average performance that served more as a gentle reminder of the song than a powerful rendition. The only cover that I appreciated for its unique quality was their mash up of ‘Zombie’ and ‘Numb’; though it had its weak moments with the harmonies being frightfully off. YouTubing led me to a similar arrangement here. Phoenix’s version was definitely better than this. Bill Withers’ classic ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ was shaky in places. But they pulled it off with a quirky air to it. You could tell they’re better with the endearingly lazy styling of a reggae band than classic rock.

The band thereafter went through a riot of songs and artists, including Marley’s ‘Is This Love’, Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’, Guns n’ Roses, ‘Use Somebody’ by the Kings of Leon, Adele’s supremely popular ‘Rolling in the Deep’, ZZ Top’s ‘La Range’, Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’, The Doors and even a very low rendition of AC/DC and Ozzy.

I know I run the risk of sounding too close to an American Idol judge for comfort after this statement, but song choice was a huge issue; it seems to have been based more on the popularity of the song than the actual capability of the vocalists. Ankita’s voice has a beautiful tone to it but it’s not enough of a powerhouse to carry off Adele without glaring flaws and coming off as more Karaoke than Cover. Slowing the song down, adding an out-of-way instrument or doing a reggae version would’ve taken the pressure of Ankita to perform as well as the original artist.

Guitarist Keith shone throughout the performance. He whipped out a mean looking guitar just before the cover of Ozzy’s ‘Crazy Train’ and had the audience in a tizzy with his skill thereafter. Drummer Badri, hidden in the far corner of the raised stage, went about his business holding it together with as little ado as possible as did bassist Lokhi – whose dry sense of humour came across when he admitted to being “the old guy”.

All in all, I wasn’t too impressed with the band. It’s a tough business; however talented you are individually, you need to work creativity into your arrangements as a band to stand out from the crowd.

Sharanya Nair

Sharanya is a 'writer' and an 'editor'. You know the type. She loves her music too much to share.

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Tuning, Practice and Precision: The Turning Point in the 80s

Photo Credits: Chethan Ram

“With what attentive courtesy he bent
Over his instrument;
Not as a lordly conqueror who could
Command both wire and wood,
But as a man with a loved woman might,
Inquiring with delight
What slight essential things she had to say
Before they started, he and she, to play.”

The Guitarist Tunes Up’ by Frances Conford (1886-1960)

I’ve always loved this poem. Today though, it reminds me of some of the changes that have happened over the years.

When I started playing the guitar in Calcutta in the 60s, I knew of just one seller of the instrument in the city, a shop called Reynolds (I don’t know if they’re related to the one in Bangalore). ‘Box’ guitars cost Rs.75 and were made of plywood, with necks probably made of the ends of discarded tea chests. You were guaranteed that the necks would warp. The only solution was to loosen the strings each time you were through with playing it. Tuning and detuning the guitar thus became an integral part of the act of playing itself. You would detune it in various ways, experimenting with different detuned combinations, until you’d had enough and were ready to put the instrument to sleep. Tuning up was also a ritual in itself – first thing in the morning, of course (at 16, if you love the guitar, you’re not just in love; you’re obsessed. You pick up your guitar before your toothbrush). You tune up one string at a time, play that string alone, listen to its timbre and nuances, experiment with it, often running up from the lowest notes to the highest ones imbedded in the non-cutaway body. Then on to the next string. Of course we used mechanical devices – I used to be the proud owner of a pitch pipe. But the process was entirely aural.

A natural fall-out of this was that bands tuned their instruments on stage. Without today’s electronic tuners, there was no way you could tune a solidbody electric until it was plugged into an amp (off-stage amps don’t exist in India even today, O Tempora! O Mores!). Most of us walked onstage with loosened strings and started from scratch in front of the audience. Anyone who’s seen the movie Woodstock will remember Richie Havens tuning his guitar on stage. He’d just changed strings and hadn’t had time to tune up off-stage. But it wasn’t considered odd; to us, in fact, it was part of his performance.

I remember going to a concert by the Bangalore band Human Bondage in the early 70s. More than the vastly superior musicianship, what struck me was that before the curtain went up there was just this one, single note from an already-tuned guitar. Then the stage opened and the first song started right away. All of us were amazed. Of course, the fact that they were playing, “f**kin FENDERS, man! A Mustang into a Silverface!” made a difference; but I swore I would never tune my guitar onstage again.

So much changed with the advent of the plug-in tuner in the 80s. Today, I know guitarists who’ve been playing for over 40 years, who can’t tune up anymore without it (all of us who’ve been playing that long have probably lost it, anyway). But tuning is now a silent activity. Nobody hears it, not even the player. What used to be most important part of preparing your instrument before playing is now done visually.

Have we lost an important part of the process of communication between instrument and player? I think so. Most musicians today see communication as happening only between player and audience. There is no communing with one’s instrument. In its stead, there is ‘practice’.

I think the 80s was also when the concept of a ‘practice regimen’ among rock guitarists came into existence fully. While some musicians may have dabbled in it earlier, nothing is known for instance about the guitar practising schedules of Jimi Hendrix, Mike Bloomfield or any of the luminaries of the 60s. I don’t think they had any. No interviewer asked them about it. It wasn’t considered important. (The only noteworthy story about practice from that era is the unconfirmed one where the vicar of the parish of Ewhurst in Surrey, UK, on a visit to one of his parishioners’ homes, sees a guitar on the wall and asks the owner to play for the church. When the owner agrees, the vicar suggests that he practice for a few months first. It is only years later that he realises that the man who came to his tiny church to play hymns such as ‘Amazing Grace’ with amazing grace, was named Eric.)

Although I don’t place myself in that hallowed group, in my teens and much of my 20s I obsessed over the guitar, playing for 6-8 hours a day (wrecked my studies and dropped out of college, too). But you ‘played’. You never ‘practised’. There were no distant goals; you merely immersed yourself in the delight of playing the instrument, in the now-ness of the experience and that is what Conford describes so beautifully.

Years ago, I made my only attempt at learning from a teacher. I quit after 2 lessons because he wanted me to practice the exercises he gave me, while I was only willing to play them if they were part of a song or at least a musical-sounding snippet. I met him later and he asked me if I was practicing. I said I wasn’t, but I was playing a lot at home. So he says, “That’s what I meant by practice.” I don’t think he got the idea.

Playing, individually or as a band, outside of performances is essential of course; but intensive, repetitive practice produces chronic competence. It’s a bit like adding a Compressor to your talent – you will never do badly; but you’ll rarely rise above yourself either. A certain amount of the serendipity that can and ought to occur while playing – onstage or off it – can be lost, because much too much is rehearsed and preplanned. Magical moments become fewer.

You may not agree with me; but do go back to Conford’s description of the relationship between the player and the instrument. Do you see digital dexterity as an objective of the foreplay? Producing forth a cleanly arpeggiated Ab Augmented or D# Demented was not the point – that would be a natural by-product of the intense relationship.

Another change that has happened is, I believe, a product of the 80s’ shred guitar trend. Shred guitar was not only about playing at extremely high speeds; its corollary was maniacally mechanical precision. Any note that is off the key or even marginally off the beat is considered wrong today. Friends who cut their teeth on 80s music often fail to understand why older musicians leave in notes that were clearly off the scale or the beat in newer work. “Why didn’t they go back and change it? After all, it was a studio recording!” Ah well. There used to be a higher god than correctness – stream of consciousness, for instance.

You can find fine examples of variable time and chord changes in almost any of John Lee Hooker’s work. The legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson’s recordings of the 1930s demonstrate a totally different definition of tonality from ours today. Check out his ‘Crossroads Blues’ on YouTube.

As one learns more and more about music, the definitions of right and wrong notes tend to get increasingly blurred. Who then, is the final arbiter of the bum note? Just as each of us has her/his own, unique style comprising choice of notes and manner of playing them, we also have completely individual ways in which we make ‘mistakes’. Aren’t we the sum total of all that? The point isn’t that one should or shouldn’t make mistakes or leave them in, in recordings. The point is that there is a choice, provided you accept that mistakes are natural. Unlike the factory-processed leather we usually come across, hand-tooled leather will always have a few marks left by the implements used. As Eric Blackstead said of the flaws in the Woodstock recordings he produced: “Consider them like scars in fine leather; proof of authenticity…”

Vinoo Matthew

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