NH7: When did you first hear dubstep and what is it about the genre that you like so much?
Johnnathan Gerard: I have been experimenting (with) electronic music for the past ten years. I love creating unique sounds and I use them for all my shows to enhance my robotic moves. I have been using wobble bass and bass drops for a while but it was only recently, sometime during 2010, when I heard songs from Skrillex -a dubstep artist – I realised that dubstep had become a genre and I feel(sic) in love with the music instantly. As a dancer, especially when it comes to locking, popping, robotic, liquid dance, tutting, slow motion and strobe, dubstep makes all these dance moves look cooler. Even the most subtle body movement with dubstep music will look wacky.

NH7: How did you get into dance and music in the first place?
JG: Dance and music is in the family + relatives lol (?). Mom, Amala, (is) trained as a singer. She dances as well. Dad, Gerard, (is) an artist and athlete. Both my sister Bibiana and Evelyn are classically trained dancers and of course my brother Joshua you can see him dance in the video “ID” (“Indian Dubstep” – video below). I was brought up in UAE, 16 years, and as a child I got trained in karate and sports. This kept my body fit and flexible till date. Therefore my family and childhood, helped me improve my dance skills over the years.This also helped me to adapt new dance styles. Apart from that, just like any other dancer, I get inspiration from Michael Jackson and Prabhu Deva!

Check out the trending video “Indian Dubstep” below.

NH7: When did you realise you had a talent and passion for dance?
JG: Since childhood, I have been performing… After I finished college – Vis-com (at) Loyola (College, Chennai) – people started acknowledging me as professional dancer. I then got loads of fans when I performed for (a) dance competition in Star Vijay TV and then movies. I kept receiving a lot of requests from loads of fans and professional dancers for my works/performance. I then decided to upload videos on YouTube for all those dancers who want to experience something new or at least inspire them to think outside the box. That was when I realised I could be a professional dancer/have unusual talent. Till then I never thought about it.

NH7: Your choreography is very unique – especially your hair and shoulder blade routine. What is your inspiration? 
JG: I never learnt dance! As a professional, getting inspired and then creating dance out of nothing, is what I like to do. I observe very small details wherever I go. I might find something interesting that catches my eyes, I mix that with dance. This is how I usually work and that is how I introduced ‘hair tutting’ and ‘shoulder blade tutting’ for the first time. For example, I was tying my shoelace and the crossed pattern looked interesting and now I will be incorporating it in one of my videos. I can control most of the muscles in my facial area and I started dancing with my face when I was just a 10 year old kid. And now I will be introducing ‘face tutting’ in my upcoming video for the first time. I have been doing it for years and I got used to it but now I want to share it to the world and am sure ‘face tutting’ is going to be something new to the world.

NH7: You seem to be releasing one single at a time. Do you have plans of putting out an album or EP?
JG: Yes, I do have plans of putting out albums… you will hear about it soon. For now I am concentrating on some unique dance choreography for my music.

NH7: What are your plans for the future?
Videos – I have been receiving a lot of requests from both professionals and armature (sic) dancers, singers and music producers, who wanted to be a part of the video. I would like to use them all. When it comes to dancers, I know a lot of talented dancers who do not have enough exposure and recognition that they deserve. Therefore I would like to give a shout out to all the dancers, all of you have a chance to appear on my video – even if you are an average dancer. If you are extremely unique and talented, I will personally feature you in the video.

Music – Whenever I find some free time, I do a very rough composition and upload it on Soundcloud and later the good one’s will be made into a music video. I will be adding vocals into my music track. I will also be making music video where I will be rapping. People know me for my music and dance alone and I am hoping they will enjoy listening to my rap as well.

Live shows – I have been receiving a lot of show requests from all around the world – India, USA, UAE, Canada, France and Hongkong – especially the last one month. The show details will be updated on my website.

Films – I will be performing and directing a short musical dance film. I will also be doing short films. Details will be available soon.

Multimedia – By profession am a 2D animator/senior visualizer. I will be have 2D cartoon animation and flash games updated into my site.

More from Johnnathan Gerard as we hear it.

In December 2011, New Delhi alt-rockers menwhopause played a gig inside (more here; photos here) what is possibly one of the most feared places in the country, Tihar Jail. Recently, The Ska Vengers, also from New Delhi, announced that they would be playing a show in support of the inmates of the prison. The band have released a video showcasing their efforts within the prison, wherein the play live gig fixture ‘Kick Up The Rumpus’, much to the amusement of the audience members.

Here’s what founder and keyobardist of the band, Stefan Kaye, had to say about gig

I had spent the month of December last year helping with music tuition inside Jail 4 at Tihar. This turned out to be a live-in arrangement as I also availed the prison’s hospitality and enjoyed their mostly vegan cuisine. Invariably the facilities were stretched, instruments needed replacing and more tutors were needed.

With the help of music retailer Furtados, we were able to raise enough music and sound equipment to enable the prisoners in three of the nine jails within the compound to take up music studies . This was made possible by two concerts we staged named Ska! Ska! Ska! at Tihar! The first at Blue Frog, Delhi with Peter Cat Recording Co., Vinyl Records, DJ Uri and SlumGods alongside The Ska Vengers and the second at Tihar Jail itself. Again with Ska Vengers and also SlumGods again and prison band The Flying Souls whom menwhopause had worked and performed with.

The Ska Vengers’ drummer Nikhil (Vasudevan) had been involved in workshops at jail number 3 with menwhopause at the same time I was working with prisoners at jail number 4. His experience would have been pretty much the same except he was free to get an auto home after each session.

What struck me whilst performing was how receptive the prisoners were to a form of music that very few would have heard or get an opportunity to hear on the outside. Although most of the lyrics were given in English this did not seem to phase any of the audience as they responded favourably to the groove and I suspect, the glamourous ladies in group.

The whole experience was very humbling as just for a couple of hours on a thursday afternoon a crowd of 2,000 inmates were able to leave behind their troubles and skank with the best of them.

The New Delhi act have also promised the release of their debut album, which was due in February, later this year. Also, the vocalists of the band have plotted a tour of the US of A later this month; deets here.

Check out the video below. Stay tuned for a photo gallery from the gig.

In related news, Tihar Jail will also have it’s own version of American Idol.

We spoke to guitarist and vocalist David Simon and asked him more about the song and the album

‘Paloma Polama’ is a song about the celebration of youthful vibrance, about the celebration of the finer things in life that we tend to overlook each day – with respect to each and every one of us, as citizens of our beautiful country, contributing to the society in our own special way, about taking advantage of the various amenities that our government has provided us and occasionally bending (not breaking) the law to have a good time without having to be a roadblock to anyone else. The title of the song is actually just ‘Paloma’. It became so catchy that the ‘Polama’ almost came as a default package deal. We chose ‘Paloma’ as it is the best word to rhyme with ‘Polama’ which means ‘let’s go’ in Tamil. The song was written out of a phrase which we used to use back in our freshman years of college. We quickly realized that the song is beyond just your run-of-the-mill catchy, and that we must put it on a record and overload the masses with it. Our debut album ‘Crystal Moon’ is already out for sale. You may contact Siddharth or me to grab a copy. We haven’t had an official launch show yet, but we definitely have plans of doing so. We will keep you posted.

Check out the cover of the album below. Yes, that is Old Monk font.

Album cover for Crystal Moon

The band is trying to organize a tour but is also working to get their new lineup in place. For more information on buying the album you can check the Facebook page. Keep watching this space to hear more from the band. Stream ‘Paloma Polama’ below.

Stream two tracks off the upcoming album below.

[trackplayer 4787,4788]

The album has been mixed by Shantanu Hudlikar of Yashraj Studios (more on him here) and Keshav Dhar (of Skyharbor) and mastered by Chris Athens, who has worked with artists like AC/DC and Coldplay. The band have also released a video for their song ‘Untitled’, which you can watch here (sharing the video gives you free downloads), and has been shot by Srinivas Sunderrajan of Enter Guerilla Films. We last caught the band play the opening set for Indus Creed on Day 1 at the India Rock Weekend (photos here).

Tracklist
‘Bitten’
‘The Dreamcast’
‘Agenda’
‘Peddler Of Rainbows’
‘Untitled’
‘Angry Song’
‘Blacklisted’
‘Storm’
‘Paperdoll’
‘Porcelain (Carpenters Don’t Fuck)’

MotheredLand Cover

RSVP to the event here.

James Hetfield of Metallica @ Palace Grounds, Bangalore

The promoters of bigger, outdoor concerts in Bangalore are cautious about booking Palace Grounds for future shows. The Palace Grounds will host quite a few gigs this May but for some promoters, such as Arpan Peter, doubts about the venue’s availability remain. “Is it really worth asking for so much money when the venue is uncertain?” asks Peter. His next big event is the Nokia Alive 2012 show which will feature Lamb of God and Skyharbor (more on that here) and Peter decided early on that this event would not take place at the Palace Grounds but at Clarks Exotica (a resort which is based just outside Bangalore). “My sponsor is happy with the move and they support it. We were the first people to approach Clarks Exotica with the intention to do events there. Two years ago, we did a blues festival called Bangalore Blues Festival with Soulmate and a few others. I chose Clarks because it is very well-connected with the rest of Bangalore,” explains Peter. When asked whether traveling outside the city for a gig would be a hindrance for many, Peter responded by saying, “If people from seven to eight different countries can make the journey to the show, then surely Bangaloreans can travel for more than 20 km for the same show.”

Cradle of Filth @ Palace Grounds, Bangalore

Naturally, not everyone shares Peter’s opinions on the matter. Salman U. Syed is another Bangalore-based music promoter and he’s responsible for setting up the Bangalore Open Air festival, which will take place on June 16 at (surprise surprise) Palace Grounds. Syed doesn’t feel that Palace Grounds is unsuitable for gigs and was quite confident about holding Bangalore Open Air there. “It has not been officially announced by the Karnataka Government that we cannot hold gigs at the Palace Grounds. There have been issues with hosting grounds since the 90s so this isn’t something new. There are a lot of other grounds in Bangalore but the Palace Grounds is the venue for so many shows this month, so I don’t see a problem. From our end, Bangalore Open Air will take place at Palace Grounds. There have been many rumours (about the Palace Grounds) but we are in this business and we feel the Palace Grounds will continue to be a gig venue,” Syed told us.

Whatever side of the argument you might find yourself on we thought it would be useful if we looked at some alternatives to Palace Grounds in Bangalore.

E-Zone (East Bangalore, Marathihalli)

Norman 'DJ Fatboy Slim' Cook @ E-Zone, Bangalore

The go-kart track is a reminder of what E-Zone used to be. In the good ol’ days when people went go-karting all the time, E-Zone must have enjoyed quite a large following of eager go-karters but like bowling, go-karting simply faded away. Thankfully, E-Zone is not too far from the center of Bangalore and the large open space has already been put to good use by gig promoters. Submerge Supernova took place recently at E-Zone with the large hall being put to good use as a more intimate space for a DJ set. For bigger shows, the go-kart track and surrounding field can be used to play host to a much larger crowd as evidenced by recent the Fatboy Slim show.

Clarks Exotica (Next to the International Airport in the North)

American metal veterans Lamb of God will put Clarks Exotica to the test

As Peter mentioned, Clarks Exotica is located outside Bangalore on the highway to the international airport. While the venue seems quite far away, it is also spread over two acres which is enough to hold quite a huge concert. The Bangalore Blues festival has already taken place there and Nokia Alive 2012 is sure to attract a large enough crowd to put this venue to the test.

KTPO-Whitefield (East Bangalore, Whitefield)

Poets of The Fall play Great Indian Octoberfest 2011 @ KTPO-Whitefield

Karnataka Trade Promotion Organization has a huge ground that has been used for big gigs in the past. It was only last year that Great Indian Octoberfest was held here and the likes of Finnish rock act Poets of The Fall played here. The only problem with Whitefield is that the cost to promoters is high and this makes it hard to hold gigs there. Arpan Peter mentioned that the rent was “very high” and that the people at KTPO demand a “large percentage of ticket revenues”. “The high prices are the reason why most of the events that take place at KTPO-Whitefield are corporate events,” adds Peter.

The thought of Palace Grounds not being the preferred destination for Bangalore’s biggest is a tough one to imagine but there are some viable alternatives in the city. It seems particularly cruel that live music in general has to suffer because of a lack of understanding on the part of the local government, at the moment it might be all speculation but the Palace Grounds situation is reminiscent of what happened to legendary Mumbai gig venue, Rang Bhavan. At a time when more international acts are coming to India than ever before and the continued rise of Indian indie music, denying access to quality venues is a counter-intuitive and repressive act that has no clear benefactors. Here’s hoping common sense prevails and the Palace Grounds situation can be resolved for the benefit all parties involved. We’ll give you more news on the Palace Grounds situation as soon as we can confirm it.

With inputs from: Debayan Deb, Abhimanyu Ghoshal and Prateek Biswas.
Photos by: Abhimanyu Ghoshal and Prateek Biswas