CHENNAI: Rock bands in Chennai have a reason to turn up the volume as Independence Rock, the country’s oldest rock platform that launched huge names like Indus Creed and Parikrama, will for the first time since its inception 27 years ago, have a Chennai leg of the competition. It will be held at the end of the month before a mega showdown in September.
If you’re still wondering what the big deal is, picture 8,000 people going wild at a massive industrial warehouse-turned-music venue in Mumbai that has seen the likes of everyone from metal greats Megadeth to Bollywood composer Amit Trivedi. Five bands will make it to the final two-day festival in the first week of September. But not before exhaustive auditions in metros like Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Chennai bands eager to participate as far back as a decade ago, were known to send demo CDs by courier or take a bus to Bengaluru, as it was the closest stop to audition. Now, with Fourth Dimension Media Solutions, based out of Chennai, co-organising the event with founder of I Rock, musician and business honcho Farhad Wadia (remember Dil Kya Kare by Instant Karma?), the doorway to this contest has finally moved further South.
And word is spreading like wildfire on social media. With 1,200 entries in less than two weeks and a substantial chunk of these from the South including cities like Trichy, Coimbatore and Hyderabad, Shankar B, CEO of Fourth Dimension Media Solutions, says, “The response has been overwhelming and many bands from these places will now make their way to Chennai to display their skills.”
The event organiser, who has brought names like Jethro Tull, Foreigner and Anoushka Shankar to play to packed crowds all over the country, but never to Chennai, admits, “You know how it is...a big band comes to India and the tour stops are always Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru...rarely Chennai. So this is a big step in the right direction, especially with the massive talent pool here in the South.”
The winning band will take home a cash prize and record deal.
For details, visit the Independence Rock page on FB. To participate, email entries to shankar@shankarbala.in or farhadw@gmail.com