Battle it out

Here are some bands that stole the show with their stellar performance and paved their way to the Grand Finale of the Battle of the Bands

After weeks of massive hard work, excitement and loads of music, it’s time to witness the explosive grand finale of the Vodafone Battle of the Bands. The bands that will clash at the finale are MH43 from Sanpada College, Mumbai, Into Bracket from FTII, After Acoustics from Pune University, Skrimish from AIISMS, Tashkar from Modern College and Richman & Co from SIIB. The competition reached out to more than 100 colleges in Maharashtra and Goa, and is a one-of-its-kind platform for young bands to showcase their talent.

The idea of Battle of the Bands is to give all amateur music groups a platform other than a college fest to show their mettle. “This is an opportunity for our young patrons to create a lifetime worth of memories with their friends. As a part of this campaign, we visited 100 leading colleges across the state. We aim at giving these budding musicians a vibrant platform to showcase their talent,” says Ashish Chandra, Business Head, Vodafone India.
 Here are some bands giving us an insight into their music.

Richman & Co

This in-house SIIB band has been a major crowd-puller. Their style is soft rock that fuses old and new instruments. After having won the Deloitte, Maverick War of Bands, the group has managed to create a niche for themselves. The band comprises Aniket Jadhav and Shashwat Mittra on vocals, Shashank More on flute and keyboard, Gautam Zaveri on bass, Kushal Tipree on lead guitar and Vishnu Modi on drums.
 The band plays diverse classic rock covers;songs from Roja to Om Shanti Om, along with their wide variety of original compositions. “We put our own spice to the songs. Besides this, we play jazz and blues too,” says Shashwat Mittra. Their recent single Dunyadari talks about the materialistic side of the world. “We want to make our voices heard through our songs. We don’t just plan a subject for the song. We make sure each and every member of the band contributes in the songwriting. It’s a collective effort,” he shares.

MH43

As the name suggest, the band members belong to the MH43 RTO area, which is Navi Mumbai. Having performed at more than 80 events in less than two years, they met each other in college. This four-member band comprises Kamal Soni on bass, Soham Basu on guitar, Kunal Singh on the drums and Keyoor Karadkhedkar on vocals. “In today’s world when everyone’s trying to impose their music on the crowd, we believe in playing for the crowd. We make music which appeals to them, which connects them to us,” says Keyoor.
 This college band is already going places, with a loyal fan base. They believe strongly in not uploading videos and recordings on YouTube, because they prefer to play live and surprise the audience each time. “We mostly play punky originals and various Bollywood covers. Retro and dance music is our speciality. We have a setlist of more than 50 songs which include melodies as well as heavy beats songs,” adds Keyoor. They choose the songs depending on the crowd and their response. Nineteen months on, they’ve already won more than 40 competitions. “Amidst hectic college schedules, exams and committed work, we are planning to set a record with our number of stage performances,” he adds.

After Acoustics

If you’re looking for a truly fresh sound, then you must checkout After Acoustics, a Pune based folk rock and country music band. Their original, peppy country songs get the audience going. What sets the band apart is that they have no drummer. The role is fulfilled by multi-instrumentalist Anurag Kumar. Bass, drum, acoustic guitar and vocals are handled by him, simultaneously. “We believe in creating something different and making sure that people trip on it. Our songs are mostly about life’s journey, love and human emotions,” says Anurag.
 Apart from Anurag, the band comprises Gaurav Wavhal on keyboards, Akarsh Shetty on vocals and Mihir Samak on mandolin. In their early days, they won the national Channel [V] Launchpad 2015, which they count as a great success. Their debut song, Meethi Chori won the Songdew Awards 2015 from among 200 entries from all over the country. The band is soon to release their fifth album. “Our main focus and priority stands to be not just playing music but enjoying and living every part of it,” he adds.

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow