Name : Divyan George Varghese

Band : Rusty Moe

City : Chennai

How was 2009 for you and your band, what do you think has been the best thing to happen for the Indian Rock scenario in 2009?
2009 was a good year for us, since it is our second year under the name RUSTY MOE, though we have been playing under different names right from 1997. Though we started off as a fun project, it was this year that we realized that we will keep this going long term, and NOT be like quite a few bands that fizz off after a period of time. The last few years in fact has seen most bands playing more and more originals. This is something we enjoy doing too, but we realize that there are hardly any bands that do the good ol classic rock covers. This year we also won the Chennel [v] SPRITE rockers for the chennai edition, so that was also something special. We also got the opportunity to headline few shows outside chennai and finally to top it off, we are really happy to have released our Christmas single, which we feel is quite unique to the indian rock scene.

As for the Indian rock scene, I feel that the band scene in general has been getting some recognition with our indian acts getting to open for some serious international acts. A lot of bands have released some good full length albums and have seen quite a few good videos too.

What are your Favorite song / album from 2009?
From what I have heard, my pick would have to be E-Flat‘s Parables of Pariah. Have not heard much of the others, but I also liked Blood and Iron. However, from a very personal angle, for me the best thing that happened was our song “Dreams Untrue” because when it was written, it reflected exactly what few of us in the band were going through. I always feel that the best songs come out of experience.

Please share an instance on/offstage that you can’t forget from 2009.
Onstage, our best moment was in MCC when we played for the Channel [v] sprite rockers. We had done a show in MCC last year, which was sort of a disaster, which we really felt bad about. All four of us are alumni from the same college. We badly wanted to go back and make up for last years show, and by winning the chennai edition of Sprite rockers we got that chance, and we truly did redeem ourselves. It was an awesome show.

Offstage, out favorite incident is in fact what led to us having nick names. After a practice session at night, we were outside the practice pad. Our guitarist was still inside paying off the dues. In a building right in front of us, on the first floor we saw this fully naked chick, come out after a bath and stand naked in front of the huge window for a long time. Our bassist was the one who saw it first and hence the name spotty moe. Our singer started sweating badly when he saw it and hence the name sweaty moe. I was not carrying my original pair of glasses and hence was vision was slightly blurred that day. hence the name blind moe. our poor guitarist missed a good fifteen minutes of free show which was over by the time he came out. he refused to believe that something like that happened, and insisted we were cooking it up. Hence the name jealous moe. Quite an inspiration for our songs like “wham bam thank you maam” , “late” and even “Squeeze” which is yet to be released.

What is your and your band’s plan for year 2010?
We have been planning our album for quite a while. We have around eight to ten good songs ready. Now we just need to find the time to sit down and lay the tracks. We hope to do it in the year 2010.

If you had to change something from the year gone by what would that be?
Nothing really. All bad experiences were a learning experience in its own way. am glad we went through all that. However, i wish we had more shows. We also headlined day 1 of JRO thus year. it was an awesome show. However, we got a lot of feedback that our classic rock was not really appreciated after good doses growling metal, which is quite popular now. i wish i could change that mindset, but i guess thats how things progress.

How do you think the Indian rock scene will change from 2010 onwards?
I dont see any immediate change in the next two or three years. In fact, i feel there is going to be more and more metal and fusion shit. However, it is really encouraging to see international classic acts like winger, whitesnake, Dio, Dokken etc come out with successful classic rock albums. 20 years after their decade where they ruled, they are being successful again. So its a circle. it goes round and round, and in a few years classic rock will be back in India.

[Interview questions compiled by Ashwin Sharma ]