Chennai-based rock act White Lady’s first meeting with Hyderabad is going to be special for them, for two reasons -- One, this is going to be the first time that they are going to perform in the city and two, this will also be the first time that any band in the country has performed a tribute to Aerosmith.
Very predominantly influenced by the legendary rock act, the White Lady team says they are glad to be the first ones to perform this tribute. “All the bands from the 70s to 80s have had a huge impact on many music lovers across the country. We love Guns N Roses, Aerosmith and many such bands, which have a unique sound. We are also working on a similar concept of unique sound, which will differentiate us from other bands. At the tribute in Hyderabad, along with a few of our own compositions, we will play Aerosmith’s Love in the elevator, Crazy, Crying and others,” explains Amith Sivashanmugam, vocalist of the band.
The band line-up consists of Amith Sivashanmugam (vocals), Darren Netto and Isai Amuthan (Guitars), Conrad Simmons (Bass) and Eugene Guest (Drums).
Happy to perform in the Nawabi city, the band says that they are looking forward to it. “The rock scene in Hyderabad is gaining a lot of prominence. Bryan Adams and many other renowned artists performing in the city gave Hyderabad a great boost. We happy that we are introducing our music to a whole new audience.” Be it their music, their even more unique stage acts or the kind of costumes they wear, in just about two years, the band has already gained a fan following in Chennai. Finalists at the Cricket for Peace competition, Amith was adjudged the best vocalist at the contest. “It has been great since the last two years. The time is good for musicians. Opportunities are many and even the audience outreach is better. Back then there were not many. With more international rock acts coming to the country, the idea of rock scene has gained prominence.” And why the name White lady? Amith replies, “As a band we focus on a lot of social issues. And so, the name somehow struck us. We are a band like our name - interesting, different, appealing, yet mysterious. We chose the name White Lady, because it is simple, catchy, and one can never forget it. The title has a lot of meanings to it. White Lady is a term used for the drug heroine in South America, it also has a racistic angle and white lady also means a ghost. .”
The band believes that marketing oneself is very important with the amount of competiton in the country now. “One has to market onself, because is just not restricted to music anymore. It also about the musicians and how they present themselves,”he says and then adds, “We are very conscious about our stage act. The way we dress, how we carry ourselves, our stage gimmick. Everything from a mike stand to a costume is different.”
TIll date, the band has about 8-10 own compositions, which includes one hindi song as well. “We composed for a Tamil movie recently called Konjam Coffee Konkam Kadhal,”Amith informs. The band a couple of targets to be fulfilled by the end of this year. “We want to perform in as many as cities as possible, make a couple of music videos and launch them, a music album, lots of compositions and also get actively involved in even more social initiatives.” Unlike the other bands, White Lady believes that getting tagged is infact a good idea for the band. “It is true that it is easy to be stereotyped and I believe that it is essential to be stereotyped, as only then you can discover your original style and get recognised for it. Like we call our music Anthem rock, as all our songs are anthemic and something that one can sing in Chorus. And definitely have a message,”he signs off.
The Band will perform at the Hard Rock Cafe today, from 9 pm onwards.