NLS Strawberry Fields, the prestigious annual rock competition that took place at National Law School, Banglore has officially declared the winners list on its website. New kids on the bloc ’Blacklisted’ won this years event. Here are the details …
The Winners of SF 2009 were Blacklisted (Chennai) and the runners-up were Solder (Bangalore). The best guitarist was from Blacklisted, best drummer from Solder, best vocalist went to Bridge, best bassist to Bicycle days and the best Keyboard player award was secured by Armour of God (read more).
On the first listen of the album, I was curious to know what these guys would bring to the table on these 10 songs. The album starts off with “Voices In My Head”, with vocal harmonies and percussion based on claps, describes the tiny little voice that pops into your head everywhere, anytime! The second track titled “Already Told You” and immediately I love Sidd’s amazing drums (Sidd plays the drumtracks on the recordings). Many bands have started using live drums, and it’s a welcome change from software drums. “Concert Piano” comes up after that and is a humorous-happy ballad describing how the protagonist has a bit of a trouble playing a concert piano, and compensates by using technology. “Consuella” seems to describe the ups and downs of a relationship as does “Don’t Leave Me Behind”. “Forest of Doom” describes the protagonist under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms (magic shrooms) and features sax by Neil. The aptly titled “Happy” is a happy song about being happy and positive. “Happy” is a new anthem amongst crowds and is almost like a single having gotten airplay on many Mumbai and Delhi based radio stations. “Taxi Song” happens when you’ve been drinking in the pub and don’t want a breath analyzer shoved into your mouth. The album’s penultimate song, the self-titled “Tough on Tobacco” is about the band’s message on anti-smoking and the final song is “Wait Till The Night’s Out.” * Neerav Gupta is a student from Jaipur, studying in his final year of Junior College. He enjoys music, particularly progressive rock, heavy metal, djent and psytrance. His other interests include drumming, reviewing music, and topics like psychology and computing.
Hornbill festival committee just announced shortlisted bands (out station bands) that will take part in the prestigious HORNBILL FESTIVAL on 6th of December at Kisama, Kohima, Nagaland.
Abraxas, Pune
Baraka, Darjeeling
Chronic Xorn, Kolkata
Cynical Recess, Kolkata
Hypnosis, New Delhi
Inferno, Mumbai
Kanglasha, Manipur
Lucid Recess, Guwahati
Phobia, New Delhi
Pip of the fourth mother, Shillong
Silverscreen, Kolkata
Slain, Bangalore
Sonstroke, Bangalore
Stacy’s Penitence, Mizoram
The Pot, Stone and Blues, Ahmedabad
(List of Naga bands will be updated soon)
Five Little Indians (Kolkata) will headline the event..
Hornbill Festival Website .
MTV, which has always fed off the now happily moribund record industry (recently resuscitated by MJ’s passing) and now mooches off Bollywood to survive in the subcontinent, has no authority to comment on the indie scene. In the two fitful decades of Indian rock, MTV has neither recognised nor supported the indie movement. And to pay lip service to it now, with a limp biscuit such as this, is both embarrassing and shameful.. – Journalist Bijoy Venugopal about why MTV(iggy) can never befriend Indian indie rock.
Formed in December 2008 The Cynical Recess is an up & Coming progressive rock band from Kolkata ,the City of Joy. With trademark high octane vocals they created a buzz (and raised few eyebrows as well) as the the only band to get selected from Kolkata for the prestigious GIR XIII . We caught up with this rising band for a short interview.
The Cynical Recess
IRMP3 : Hey Guys thanks for the interview, tell us about the ‘origin’ of Cynical recess, How did you all meet? and how you guys came up withe the band name “Cynical Recess’?
CR: Cynical Recess was formed in December ’08. We were just a bunch of friends deciding to jam up and relive the 80’s era of progressive glam rock but we always lacked a vocalist. Then Abhishek Gurung joined the ranks which eventually resulted into the formation of the band. After bagging top honors at almost every rock competitions held in and out the state, the band left a buzz around the national circuit. Some of our memorable victories would be, Kings of Rock ’08, Milieu ’09, Headstrong ’09 (Bangalore), Vh1 Jam IT ’09, Times of Youth Rock Festival ’09.We also played at Café Morrison,RSJ Pub Rock Festival and Independence Rock and headlined a lot of school and college festivals.
Cynical Recess according to our theory is a “doubtful break”. Basically we are all decked up with studies, college and work. We hardly used to find time to get together so out jam ups were always in short supply(not anymore) ,hahaha..thats why we came up with the name Cynical Recess.
IRMP3 : What is the current line up? Could you Please introduce yourselves
CR:
Abhishek Gurung (Vocals)
Abhishek Chatterjee (Guitar/Vocals)
Abhinandan Mukherjee (Drums/Words)
Gaurav DasGupta (Guitar)
Rahul Maity (Bass)
Suraj Sinha (Keyboard)
IRMP3: Describe the genre Cynical Recess plays? What are your influences musically or otherwise?
CR: Our music aptly sounds next to Progressive Glam Rock with an Alternative touch. Influences : Ronnie James Dio, White Snake, Angel Dust, Van Halen, MR.BIG,Paradise Lost, Deep Purple, Skidrow, Led Zeppelin, Alter bridge, Hammerfall,Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Iron Maiden, FireHouse, Europe, Scorpions.
IRMP3: Cynical Recess was one of the short listed bands for GIR,in fact You guys were the only band from Calcutta to make it through, how did it feel to share stage with some of the big bands?
CR : Playing at GIR is the epitome of all achievements for any Indian band and bagging the GIR title at the first shot that too being the only band from Calcutta will always be one of our most memorable achievements ever. So it feels really good. We had a great gig at GIR and the response was overwhelming so we are all pumped up now.
IRMP3: Could you explain briefly about your music making process? and How often you guys rehearse?
CR: We rehearse about 2 – 3 times a week now. We compose our music with a lot of prowess, keeping in mind how it will relate to the audience. Each of our tunes has a separate code of message attached to it. First Abhinandan writes the lyrics, Suraj frames the structure and then we all jot the inputs down and make each of our sections as matured as possible.
IRMP3: What is Cynical Recess is like when unplugged?
CR: Apart from Suraj, we are all college going students. Even when we are not making music, we do make it a point of hanging out together, goofing around and chilling out at Suraj’s place almost every weekend and having a lot of fun. Suraj, being an IT analyst by profession takes care of our ration at every outing. That’s about it.
IRMP3 : Now that GIR is a huge feat in your resume, what are the plans ahead? Do you think Calcutta Music scene will get bigger with CR in 2010?
CR: Yes, definitely. We are planning for an EP release this January. Hope it works out according to our expectations.
The music scene in Calcutta is really booming fast, there are a lot of bands with enormous promise and having Cynical Recess in 2010 will definitely help boost up the spirits of the younger bands out. We hope to set a good example in the circuit so that the young bands can actually look up to us and set a goal for them.
IRMP3 : Is there anyone you guys would like to thank for moral or financial support?
CR: Yes, we humbly thank our parents for their overwhelming support and love towards our music. Its only cause of their well wishes and blessings that we have achieved so much till date. We would also like to raise a toast to Suraj for his share of financial support to the band and then of course our dedicated friends and fans, who always make it a point to be present at our in station gigs, we do have sell out shows in Kolkata by the way, and that’s only cause of the CR fanatics. We love you guys.
IRMP3 : Famous last words are…
CR: Keep up the support and Rock Out Loud.
Cynical Recess Team.
Mumbai based Tough on Tobacco is launching its debut album ‘ The Happy Goat‘ tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai. Tough on Tobacco or simply known as ‘ToT’ is Sid Coutto’s (Helga’s Fun Castle , Zero) project with Jai RowKavi on Drums and John Pais on Bass, Pozy Dhar and Gaurav Gupta on Guitars and Niel Gomes on Violin/Flute.
Multi talented Sid was also nominated for song writer of the year at this years ‘Sutasi Award’.
The Happy Goat is a FREE GIVE AWAY, You can download the entire album at this location. Pretty Imaginative album cover as well 
TRACK LISTING:
http://adityaanupkumar.com/
Humor Metal act Workshop will play live at Sophia College , Bulabhai Desai Road on 21st November. YES ! MEN ARE ALLOWED !! Workshop will play two hours of ‘comedy rock Live’ . Be there and enjoy the par-tay !! More Details ..
