Music Diaries: Anindya "jokhon" 25

"I am not a celebrity, I am an artist" - Anindya Bose

You know what it means when everything falls into place? Anindya "jokhon" 25. 25 years of musical journey coupled up with the tiniest of thanks makes Anindya Bose the person he is today. 24th March 2017, the city of Kolkata witnessed one of its favorite musicians turning 25.

The dim of the auditorium of the fully packed Gyan Manch brightened up the face of the man of the evening, spotlighted for attention. "They all know me, don't focus on me" the man was at his wittiest best.

The brightest face of the evening? Samarpita Bose, his wife. Pride written large on her face as she gets no time to even sit for a while. Resting her head on the walls of the auditorium, seeing her husband perform a song dedicated to her, holding her hand and looking in her eyes, the tear drop was unmissable even from a corner of the audience.

The front row had the likes of music stalwarts of the fraternity of Bengal like Upal, Sidhu, Pota, Joy Sarcar, Pratik Chowdhury; who apart from being very close friends have also contributed to a very large extent in the life of the man of the evening. The recent contribution? Recreating the magic of his most famous song, the title song of the event, "Jokhon nirobey door e"

Who, present in the audience from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM can forget the time when everybody gave a standing ovation to the man they all love, with everybody inside that auditorium singing out aloud? Everybody also stood up, dedicating their musical time and paying a tribute to their own beloved. Kalikaprasad Bhattacharjee.

"I couldn't sleep last night" - Anindya confessed as he whipped out songs after songs from his kitty. Being thankful to the man at his canteen during college days to the people who emerged from his social media handles to watch him perform live, the "rock er chhele" was at his candid best.

The highlight of the evening was the man himself. Interacting with the audience as if they were all his family to being just himself on stage, you can see him perform for hours and not be tired. Doesn't that explain the tireless and happy faces even after the event got over late at night?                                       

 Shohor, his band performed along with him on stage and goes without saying- they were superb at supporting the man. From Jumping on stage to jumping off stage, Anindya Bose is a treat to watch.

      "Onek bhnaat bokechi. Aaj gaan gaaibo" - He said at the beginning of the event and he surely lived by what he promised. Excellence teamed up with wit and glitz, the evening was surely a "starry" affair.  

                                                                                                                                                                  It has just been 25 years, Anindya. There are many more yet to come. Wishing you all the best for all your future works and your life ahead. Thank you, for this experience. "Tumi "ko" peyecho, Anindya..."

All pictures are copyrighted to Antaheen Partha

If you are a musician and you want to speak about music or get featured here, get in touch with me at vanyasnotebook@outlook.com. 
I would be more than happy to talk to you and discuss music with you. 
If you think that there are things about music that you know and would want to share with the whole world, don't forget to leave me a message. To help me with my endeavour, do not forget to share the post. If you have come up with a music album and would want me to review it before release or for that matter, after release, I am always there. Also, if there is a music launch and you want me to cover it (especially if it is in Kolkata, India) I am there. For the people outside Kolkata, give me the details of the launch and I would cover it for you. If there is any music event that you want me to attend, I am just a ping away always. For the rest, as I always say, let your soul be musical.

Music Diaries: Rohit Ganesh

Stepping into the third month of Music Diaries, I have been blessed with the chance of interacting with the people who have such a vast knowledge of music. The more I learn about music, the more I am falling in love with it, unable to get out of it. And do I need to get out of the hang? With a lot lined up for this endeavour in the future, this week has a wonderful keyboardist in store.

Rohit Ganesh, a very talented keyboardist of Nth Time Lucky and more such bands is the highlight of the week. A lover of Sufi music, he has been playing for quite some time now and is also associated with many more live line-ups. To those who know him, an introvert by nature, he surely speaks his heart out when it comes to music. Presenting, Rohit Ganesh unplugged…

I'll start with the basics? What was the first ever tune that you learnt? Or rather, what was the first ever tune that attracted you to your musical journey?

Rohit Ganesh—The first song that I recall listening to on loop was Dil se. The title track. The first thing I picked up by myself on keyboards was the karz theme tune. The one composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. But Dil se would be the track that actually got me interested about music.

So, how would you define the instrument that you play? In a band or in any kind of song instruments play a huge role. Each instrument has its own. How does the keyboard give in to the band?

Rohit Ganesh— Well.. in my opinion any instrument can play any role. Keyboards can be the backbone of any production. Creating the required ambience without being upfront. On the other hand it can also be very in your face. I think it's the same for all the instruments. If the musician gets the vibe of the song he can play it any way.

You have been performing live for quite some time now. How is it performing live? Stage fright? Adrenaline? Scared?

Rohit Ganesh— I had stage fright at first. But it slowly fades away. Actually it depends a lot on who you are performing with. The bands I perform with... All of us a really close friends. We keep making fun of each other all the time. So we know even if don’t fuck up on stage we'll be making fun of each other. So I just don't think that much. But the butterflies and tension is there. And it'll be there throughout the years I perform in the future as well hopefully. And anyways the amount of work that goes into performing one show. I don't really even get any time or effort left to feel scared.

Playing with a band v/s individual projects. People have their own choices. What would be your choice and why?

Rohit Ganesh— I don't think I need to choose. I like to be involved in both. Playing with a band means 70% adda and 30% serious rehearsals mainly. We're constantly pulling each other’s legs or doing this or that. But whatever less we rehearse is tight. And on stage it's a different feel if you play with your own band. We mostly know if someone's going to improvise. Individual projects are equally fun. Cause everything's mostly professionally done. And it's even better if the project is not something I have already done. Then I'll get to learn more. I'll get to know more people. Play with more people. For me it's like projects are like tuitions. There's more serious work involved but with time we get new friends and we have fun along the way. But a band is like school. No one goes and studies in a school. It's all fun. It's not like playing in a band is not serious at all. It's a serious job. And sometimes it can get more stressful than a project.

So when we are talking about this, we know that different people have different tastes in music. What kind of music do you like to play? Or what kind of music attracts you?

Rohit Ganesh—This is a tough question actually. I'm attracted to multiple genres. My playlist has daft punk, Ramstein, Linkin park, Iron maiden, A R Rahman, Hans Zimmer, ed Sheeran, Eminem Macklemore. I listen to everything almost. Anything I like or makes me feel something I listen to it. But the genre that I guess attracts me the most would be Sufi. There's a different calmness you get if any Sufi song is performed aesthetically.

What next? Upcoming projects? Gigs?

Rohit Ganesh— No upcoming gigs as of now.  As far as projects go. I have two projects I'm involved in. One is an alt rock Bengali band called bongsquad. Another one is a studio project which is still in the concept stage I guess. My band nth time lucky will start recording singles as soon as my useless bandmates get time from work. No seriously hopefully we'll be ready with two singles soon. And I'll be doing my own covers and tracks on my SoundCloud profile time to time.

SoundCloud

What's your take on the current music scenario? You know, back in time it used to be so much band oriented but these days, no one really knows about the bands.

Rohit Ganesh— The current music scenario. Well. People do know about the good bands today. But it's just that with time music has become more production oriented. There are more studio projects now than live projects. The live crowd for any gig has become lesser with time. Human mentality itself is slowly getting compressed. Everyone wants to have a good time. No one has the will to go to somewhere, not drink and listen to musicians performing their hearts out and then pay money to watch them. And places where alcohol is involved bands start getting requests like chainsmokers or baby Ko bass pasand hai. I hope that will improve with time and more live acts. And more good events. But the scene is not all bad. People are there who are working hard to improve the scene. For musicians like us especially. Hopefully it'll be stable eventually.

Don't you think it's become very brand oriented? Rather than band oriented. Singers are given more live gig contacts than bands with their originals?

Rohit Ganesh— That has happened. But in my opinion bands are also less in number these days which are making meaningful originals. And I'm talking about the bands in my level. Which are still struggling. The ones which make good originals get their due credit in due time. It's actually very simple. The music industry in our country has no infrastructure as such. So we have to be headstrong if we want to survive in it. The scene is different today. It'll be something else tomorrow, better or worse. And for singers getting more live gigs than bands with originals. In my opinion there is an audience who likes to listen to only singers covering certain songs. But there's also an audience which likes to listen to bands and artists performing their originals. The latter audience I guess mostly has young people like us. They need to realise that we musicians also need money to feed ourselves. So paying a minimal of 100 bucks in an event to see a few local musicians perform is not a waste of time. It gives us a way of survival and people who are still unsure whether to pursue music as a profession or not the motivation to do so.

See... We musicians have become a poor race. And I mean a financially poor race. If that has to change people have to understand music is free only if you download it. Either they understand or people taking up music as a career will lessen in number gradually. And there will be more and more "DJ's" and "live EDM" producers.

I know it's tough but if at all you were to choose 1 song of yours for yourself which you would cherish then what would it be and why?

Rohit Ganesh— One song of mine? Very honestly I have not composed anything myself yet that I'll cherish. I will. Sooner or later. But not yet.

What about this one gig that you'd remember forever?

Rohit Ganesh— Well. This is a tough one. There have been lots of gigs I'll remember forever. But I guess there are three particular gigs that I'm very emotional about. 2nd year umang, we opened for Agnee. My college band ekalavya. That was a very emotional gig. Then our last performance in umang 3rd year e. The 3rd gig would be this gig I played with Durnibar o Shohochari in Tripura Agartala. I hope I'll have more gigs to add to the list in future.

Now that I've bored you, wrapping up. What would be your message to the upcoming musicians?

Rohit Ganesh— My message to upcoming musicians. I'm myself an upcoming musician. But if I have to say something to my fellow musicians it would be.... Just keep practising and keep working hard. Give all your heart into it. Be patient and keep faith. Everything falls in place eventually. There are examples everywhere. In all fields. People who have struggled beyond our imaginations and have made it big. All of us have our own obstacles and personal issues. But it's upto us if we want to keep whining about it or just get to work start doing something about it.

 So, goes without saying, if you are a musician and you want to speak about music or get featured here, get in touch with me at vanyasnotebook@outlook.com. 

I would be more than happy to talk to you and discuss music with you. If you think that there are things about music that you know and would want to share with the whole world, don't forget to leave me a message. To help me with my endeavour, do not forget to share the post. If you have come up with a music album and would want me to review it before release or for that matter, after release, I am always there. Also, if there is a music launch and you want me to cover it (especially if it is in Kolkata, India) I am there. For the people outside Kolkata, give me the details of the launch and I would cover it for you. For the rest, as I always say, let your soul be musical.

Music Diaries: Deep Phoenix

Tomorrow is Holi and if I had to define the festival of colors in music, there has to be only one name that would come in my mind. The one person whose videos are filled with colors and whose tunes make you dance. Can you guess?

Yes! I'm talking about none other than- Deep Phoenix. A wonderful guitarist and a very famous name in today's music circuit, it has been a pleasure talking to Deep and knowing about his “lazy” journey in music. So, here's presenting you. Deep Phoenix, unplugged.

I'll start with the very basics. Can you tell me what was the first ever tune that you learnt to play or what attracted you the most?

Deep Phoenix-- I honestly don't remember what the first thing I learnt to play was. There was nothing in particular that attracted me. Music wasn't like an all powerful divine calling that I had. I was a lazy kid who didn't go out and play much. I had a toy keyboard lying around at home. It was honestly, a result of boredom.

That's interesting. A result of boredom to passion, now. How would you define the instrument that you play? Given the fact that you started with a toy keyboard and now are a guitarist, how did you make this transition and what attracted you to the guitar?

Deep Phoenix-- So I went from toy keyboard to the big boy keyboard. Learnt piano. Used to play in school. One of my friends used to play guitar. I was really keen on learning another instrument just for the heck of it. Again, no divine calling or nothing attracted me to it. It was the most accessible instrument at the time. And I could play it lying down in bed so it was really good for lazy people. Hence, guitar.

Laziness surely gave you a major part of your life. If you were asked to explain to a person from a non musical background about the guitar, how would you do that? How does the guitar contribute to a song?

Deep Phoenix-- It's not as good an instrument as say a piano but then again it could be based on how you play it.  You don't get the immense range of a piano on the guitar and if the music you play fits into it that's fine. But then again, I imagine it'll be harder to execute percussion or any kind of immense groove on solo piano. (Tigran Hamasyan can do it, I cannot). So yeah, it's got it's pros and cons just like any other instrument. And about contribution to a song, it doesn't matter what instrument it is. It's got more to do with the way you play it I guess.

Freestyle, is it called? Percussive guitar, I would rather. What made you think that you would try something like that? Slowly there are people who are trying new things on the guitar. Was it curiosity or something else?

Deep Phoenix-- So I had seen this guy called Newton Faulkner play a song called Teardrop and I liked the way he was hitting the guitar in time and so I showed my teacher. And he turned me onto another man called Andy McKee and I wanted to learn his music and that's how it happened.

From Deep to Deep Phoenix. How was the transition? And how did it happen?

Deep Phoenix-- It's a comedy of errors really because when I signed up for my first ever gig I sent in the demo and forgot to include a name and they assumed I was a band named deep phoenix because of all the different things happening. So then the guy got on stage and announced. Next up we have the band, Deep Phoenix. And I walked on and was like, "Hi! I'm the band." way too late to change now.

How's it performing live? Performing live v/s playing for a video. What would you prefer and why?

Deep Phoenix-- There are ups and downs. Videos are completely different. My videos have little to do with playing. They aren't like traditional fingerstyle videos with just a play through so.  So they aren't the same thing at all.

I've seen your videos. Very innovative, indeed. There are many things that goes on in a musicians mind when they work and they want people to ask them certain questions which probably people fail to. So, what is the one question that you want to be asked but haven't been asked yet?

Deep Phoenix- What do you like to do apart from music.

So, What do you like to do apart from music?

Deep Phoenix-- 1. Eat.
2. Watch cartoons.
3. Make bad jokes.

Woah . That's interesting!! Talking about an audience, since you are also an audience. What kind of music do you prefer listening to or rather, what kind of music attracts you the most?

Deep Phoenix-- I don't think there's any particular style of music that appeals to me more than others. If the music is good, it's good. Doesn't matter what it is.
That being said, I do have a natural draw towards good metal bands.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

Deep Phoenix-- I really don't plan that far ahead. I've gone down the road of a working professional. I dunno if I'll have switch to something else tomorrow, next week, next month or 5 years later. I just know that there are a few things I want to do, musically and otherwise.

For the final question, What would be your words for the musicians of tomorrow?

Deep Phoenix-- I dunno if I'm qualified for this yet because, I mean, I don't think I've made it there yet but I can only tell them what my teachers and friends have told me.  One for the heart, one for the head. You have to be able to adapt. Hang in there no matter what with the hope that things will get better.

Isn't this wonderful? Knowing about music and talking about the musician's journey? A musical instrument makes so much more sense now. I can, at least, differentiate between instruments now.

So, goes without saying, if you are a musician and you want to speak about music or get featured here, get in touch with me at vanyasnotebook@outlook.com.

I would be more than happy to talk to you and discuss music with you. If you think that there are things about music that you know and would want to share with the whole world, don't forget to leave me a message. To help me with my endeavour, do not forget to share the post. If you have come up with a music album and would want me to review it before release or for that matter, after release, I am always there. Also, if there is a music launch and you want me to cover it (especially if it is in Kolkata, India) I am there. For the people outside Kolkata, give me the details of the launch and I would cover it for you. For the rest, as I always say, let your soul be musical.

Music Diaries: Rayne new single review/release

Happiness knows no bounds today for me as I step into the third month of Music Diaries with no gap in between and standing here; having the whole month planned is a big deal for me. Would you like it if I end up having 2 posts per weekend instead of 1? If you love me the way you do right now, this might just end up coming true. 

With many more interviews and album releases planned down the line, I would today be reviewing BRIT ROCK TRIO RAYNE’s  new single 'SUBJECT A'.

Sunderland (UK) based indie/electro/alt rock outfit 'RAYNE' drop news that their latest single 'Subject A' is available to stream for free.

Taken from their highly anticipated 'Complex By Design' album, the track showcases the trio's distinctive love for epic song arrangements, anthemic hook-lines, synth grooves and guitar driven rock creations. With well over one year hidden away in the recording studio, Rayne members - Ben Potts (Vox/Bass), Adam Dagg (Guitar/Synths) and Steve Naisbet (Drums) are committed to unearthing their very best material to date. With 2017 arriving soon, RAYNE shall be announcing full album release details and UK live dates in coming weeks.

The first thing that caught my eye when it came to this specific single is its music. The second thing was of course, the music. Given the point that I am completely new to the scene I actually made a few of my friends listen to the track for an unbiased review and trust me when I say that majorly all of them had great words to say for the track.

I would personally like to say that I have become a fan of Ben after listening to this track (and sneaking in to listen to all their tracks as of now). If the album description says that their songs have this usual “Anthemic hook lines” then I would actually sit and second them on this point. The song actually gets into your mind.

Having said all of that, do I really have the qualification of saying anything bad about this single? All that I qualify to say is, tune in to SoundCloud and listen to Subject A by Rayne and do not forget to let me know how you found it. I will be waiting for your take on the single and of course, looking forward to, like ever before, the whole album release details.

Goes without saying, if you are a musician and you want to speak about music or get featured here, get in touch with me at vanyasnotebook@outlook.com. 

I would be more than happy to talk to you and discuss music with you. If you think that there are things about music that you know and would want to share with the whole world, don't forget to leave me a message. To help me with my endeavour, do not forget to share the post. If you have come up with a music album and would want me to review it before release or for that matter, after release, I am always there. Also, if there is a music launch and you want me to cover it (especially if it is in Kolkata, India) I am there. For the people outside Kolkata, give me the details of the launch and I would cover it for you. For the rest, as I always say, let your soul be musical.