BENGALURU: As a boarder at the Good Shepherd School in Ooty in the 80s, Nawab Abdulla would dread just seeing the Fernhills Royal Palace, a popular hotel in the quaint town, after a long holiday back at home in Bengaluru. “My school used to be located just 100 metres from the hotel. I would just get all worked up about going back to what I thought was a jail, then. The hotel used to be an eyesore for me because it was a signifier of how close I was to my school,” reminisces Abdulla.
Many years later, little did he realise that this picturesque hotel would serve as a setting for putting in action his own idea of entertainment - to provide a platform for rock and indi music in the country, while also promoting various arts.
Nawab says, “Back then the concept of a two or three day festival and not picked up all that much. One could get up in the morning in Bengaluru and go for an EDM concert in the evening and then forget about the experience the next day.” The idea for the GoMad Festival or as Abdulla puts it, the “music art and dance and destination festival,” was born.
“We started the fest as a way for people to go and witness art and music in a particular destination. You would have to travel and commit to spending time in an experience with your kids and family,” adds Abdulla.
Nawab teamed up with fellow old time Bengalureans, Bini and Biju Thomas (his brothers-in-law), owners of Thom’s Bakery, one of the old and iconic bake houses in the city, to finally make GoMad possible.
Started in 2012, the GoMad fest marks its return after a gap of four years on January 26 and 27. When it was first held, the fest was well appreciated and featured some of the biggest names in the independent music scene. It was organised one more time the next year and was discontinued after that, due to the lack of sponsors and problems of funding, says Nawab.
Change of heart
A dentist by training, Nawab practised this trade for a period of around 11 years before deciding to try out other things. One of these was organising corporate events. “While we were organising corporate events we were in regular touch with artists. We thought why not organise something with a unique concept and something that was our own. While music always attracts people why not add more to this concept. But this couldn’t be under the same banner. So we set up the Urban Owl Entertainment Pvt Ltd, that has ownership over GoMad,” he adds.
Abdullah further says that he was saddened by the shrinking presence of live rock music acts in festival setting and the dominance of electronic music. “I come from a generation that loves to listen to live music and live bands. We had jam sessions at home where I would whistle the Scorpions, another would strum the guitar. Now it’s mostly Avicii or Hardwell. I don’t know if many of the young from this present generation even know how to play a music instrument,” he says.
Face in the crowd
From 2012 to now, the music landscape in the country has however drastically changed. There are music fests being organised almost every other month. GoMad has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to be an annual feature. The fest this time was a smaller affair from the earlier editions where three days was the norm.
The number of artists that performed was also only 25 from the earlier 60. In terms of crowd, the fest as targeted seemed to attract a lot of families. Organisers say there were 500 on the first day. On the second day it seemed lesser. Asked how GoMad would compete with others, he Abdulla says, “There is no sure shot way of doing this and ensuring anything. I think we just need to carry on doing what want do do.”