Frontman of Mumbai hardcore act Scribe, Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy lends his voice to ‘Aami Shotti Bolchhi’, a song from Vishal-Shekhar‘s upcoming OST for the film Kahaani (2012), starring Vidya Balan. Usha Uthup, an obvious choice for songs based in and around the city of Kolkata, leads the vocal battery. In the recent past several scenesters have guested on vocals for the Bollywood music producing biggies as Indian indie peeps have made forays into Bollywood.

Krishnamoorthy tells us why it was an exciting project and he hopes to work more in the said space

I didn’t meet Usha Uthup, though I would’ve like to. But, I think I’m one of the first guys to bring metal to Bollywood, and I really hope a lot more comes through.

Uthup won the Best Playback Singer (Female) award at the recently concluded 64th Filmfare Awards for her song ‘Darling‘ from Vishal Bhardwaj’s film 7 Khoon Maaf (2011).

Over the last year, Monica Dogra of Shaa’ir + Func made her acting debut (and also received a nomination for the Best Newcomer (Female) at the 64th Filmfare Awards) in Dhobi Ghat and sang for Break Ke Baad (alongside Nikhil D’Souza and others), Raghu Dixit turned music director for Y Films’ Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge as did New Delhi electronica giants Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale for Soundtrack. Sidd Coutto (of Tough On Tobacco) contributed to the soundtrack of Shahrukh Khan starrer Ra.One (deets here).

A month into 2012, Nikhil D’souza has also contributed vocals to another upcoming release, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, directed by Amit Trivedi (check it out here). Perhaps, the best indie contrib to Bollywood last year was in the film Shaitan where Suman Sridhar of Sridhar/Thayil sang for the hugely popular remake of ‘Khoya Khoya Chand‘, and Bhayanak Maut‘s ‘Habemus Papum’ was used as well.

Check out ‘Aami Shotti Bolchhi’ (which translates to ‘I’m speaking the truth’) below.

Krishnamoorthy was also the director of The Dewarists. More scene links to Bollywood here.

The festival was awesome. It was definitely the biggest and best festival of India. Super well organized. Favourite moment would definitely be the super group jam with all the artists coming on stage and performing.
- Gaurav Raina, one half of Midival Punditz

I think it was a really really well organized festival. I was there last year as well and I think it just gets better and better every year. I really liked Imogen Heap’s gig.
- Sheetal Mallar, model

Got to see Riz MC! Finally gained some insight into the indie music scene in India. When does one ever get to blow one’s mind at your choice of stage? Well worth the tinnitus.
- Joshua Thomas, 23, struggling musician

Stoic-faced giraffe, with a great view of the festival.

It’s the best organized festival this country has ever seen. Everyone there is happy. It’s just three days of pure bliss. For me the happiest moment of the festival was being on stage with Pentagram. That apart, I also got to play with Imogen, the song that we did for The Dewarists and everyone being together for the finale… Also, watching Bhayanak Maut was one of my most fantastic experiences. I had such a great time.
- Vishal Dadlani, vocalist of Pentagram

When Dadlani made Magarpatta the go-to synonym for sex I thought it couldn’t get any better. But then Midival Punditz showed up and performed ‘Firestarter’ with Vishwesh (Krishnamoorthy, of Scribe) and co. That’s just the way the Weekender is I guess. Always blowing your mind!
- Suyash Barve, 23, copywriter for Media2Win

It went ahead to disprove me on many many counts. Number one, that every festival is not overcrowded. I think the best thing NH7 did was cap their audience. I think they reached out to the right audience as well… There were no idiots or eveteasers, etc. There were kids and parents and everybody lying down on the grass. I also think that the different stages was great. It got a little bit hectic walking around because there was a lot to see. I associate a festival with being exhausted at the end of it. I was somehow able to chill at NH7. I think a couple of people blew me away – one was menwhopause, they’re funny… And then anything that Warren [Mendonsa] does. I think Warren for me gets the vote as star of the festival.
- Vir Das, comedian, actor and frontman of Alien Chutney

"Love is blue. Blue, blue, my world is blue" - L'Amour est Blue

I though it was great. My favourite part of the festival for me was my show. I love the Midival Punditz show, I thought it was fabulous at Eristoff. It was very different from last year. ‘Cos last year was much more relaxed, this year was just huge and you couldn’t find people. So that was a little confusing. But apart from that it was fantastic.
- Alisha Batth, singer-songwriter and one half of Middle Sister

It was an adventure from start to end. Right from outsmarting the friskers, to figuring out who is playing where, dodging people who were laying down, and finding your friends based on intuition (networks were pleasantly weak). I’ll be back … for the Baalti!!
- Devin Kewlani, 23, the Twitter guy at Foxymoron

It was my first year at NH7. I missed last year and deeply regretted it. I made up my mind this year that I wouldn’t this year… I literally found out after shooting all night that I could go. Within an hour, I packed, called myself a taxi and left for Pune and actually got to Pune at 8pm on Friday… I got there just in time for Basement Jaxx. And then I actually flew out at 6am the next day, after being up till the after party, to Hyderabad for the launch of my Telugu film, and then came back on Sunday. I was seriously dedicated to the cause. The finale… that energy of seeing all of them being on stage together just having such a f*#king blast together. And it translated to the audience, that was the best part… and then the songs, I mean when Karsh (Kale) started singing ‘Walking on the Moon’, I had my eyes closed, head tilted back, huge smile on my face, one of my friends saw me and said, “It looked like you were glowing.” I was like, “That’s how I felt.” And I’m a huge Sting fan. And they sang everyone’s favourite music. I mean Vishwesh (Krishnamoorthy, of Scribe) sang ’99 Problems’, and it was amazing because people in the audience knew all the words… And to be part of what, 10,000-strong people all coming together for the same reason just made made me feel so good and so proud.
- Sarah Jane Dias, actress and winner of Femina Miss India World 2007

The radiance of Bling Uncle...

What I like most about NH7 was the vibe. It was so chilled and there were so many like-minded people just there for the music. And everyone could listen to whatever type of music they liked best because it was so well-divided. My favourite part was ‘Papa kehte hai’ on the giant wheel! Ace!
- Payal Kapadia, filmmaker

I was happy happy happy all the way through. My favourite moment, man, anything involving one of those buckets… If you could tell Vijay (Nair, of OML), if you have any of the buckets left over, I would love one as a souvenier. Just an empty bucket.
- Rohan Joshi, stand-up comic

My favourite moment was being on stage… for those four songs we had the entire crowd on our side. It was great to see the entire crowd singing along with us. It was definitely bigger and better than the last time. I’m glad it was sold out, that’s a good thing… the tattoo convention was also brilliant as an idea. Traditionally we Indians are not very good with alcohol, and the fact that alcohol was being sold at the venue and people still behaved and had a good time, that spoke volumes for how it was received and what kind of audience came for it.
- Raghu Dixit, singer-songwriter and vocalist of The Raghu Dixit Project

Shiny happy people make India's happiest music festival

Share your experience at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender 2011 with us; leave a comment!

Given the intricacies of her stage act (her “magical mystery” gloves, hand mics, et al), Heap ensured the packed audience remained riveted to the performance; a mesmerizing quality that comes from her affable personality, sense of humor and charm. The lanky artist kept the punters engaged in between songs with funny anecdotes adding further entertainment value to her already fidgety self. The gig had several highlights, including the demonstration of Heap’s much talked about ‘gloves‘, which she claimed will go wireless soon. Her performance of the Frou Frou hit ‘Let Go’ in specific, and a rare performance of ‘Breathe In’, were quite splendid.

After a shaky crowdsourced harmony at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender during ‘Just For Now’, Heap was able to pull off a far more convincing performance of the song within the indoor confines of the Blue Frog. A rather interesting back story, and the use of wine glasses to create sounds, made the rendition of ‘First Train Home’ rather special. She closed her set with a performance of ‘Minds Without Fear’ from The Dewarists, alongside Vishal Dadlani (of Pentagram), Shekhar Ravjiani (who performed with them for the first time) and Karsh Kale on tabla.

Check out the setlist and a few pictures below. Full review and photo gallery soon.

Setlist
‘Walk’
‘Goodnight And Go’
‘Speeding Cars’
‘Between Sheets’
‘Aha’
‘Canvas’
Gloves
‘Let Go’
‘Just For Now’
‘First Train Home’
‘Breathe In’
‘Headlock’
‘Tidal’
‘The Moment I Said It’
‘Hide And Seek’
‘Minds Without Fear‘

Photos by Naman Saraiya

Imogen Heap @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Imogen Heap @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Imogen Heap @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

The first episode of The Dewarists features GrammyAward-winning singer-songwriter Imogen Heap who collaborates with Bollywood music producing giants Vishal-Shekhar. The episode was filmed in Samode and Jaipur in Rajasthan, where the artists created the song ‘Minds Without Fear’ (inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Where The Mind Is Without Fear’). The show was aired on Star World last night, and is now available for streaming in its entirety, in full HD, on YouTube. A limited-time, free download of the MP3 of ‘Minds Without Fear’ is available here.

Watch the episode below.

The next episode of The Dewarists features Pakistani singer-songwriter duo Zeb & Haniya who collaborate with singers Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire. The episode will air on Sunday, October 23 at 8pm on Star World. For more about the show, read this post.

Imogen Heap will headline The Dewarists Stage at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender this year. Tickets are now on sale!

The proceedings of this night saw guitarist Dhruv play a spirited set with a backing band. Next up, Warren ‘Blackstratblues‘ Mendonsa took to the stage, playing with a host of guests. Artists who joined Mendonsa included brother Zorran Mendonsa, a collaboration which saw a performance of ‘Bombay Rain’; only the second live performance of the track (photos from the first time it happened, here). Mendonsa was later joined by Sidd Coutto (of Tough On Tobacco) and Jai Row Kavi (of Indus Creed) on drums, Rushad Mistry (of Indus Creed, Agnee) and Johan Pais (of Helga’s Fun Castle) on bass. Gaurav Gupta (of Tough On Tobacco), Sahej Bakshi (of Dualist Inquiry), Dhruv and Randolph Correia (of Pentagram, Shaa’ir + Func) also joined Mendonsa on guitars at various points of time, to back the host of vocalists.

Sidd Coutto (who we recently launched his solo album, Sunny Side Up, photos here) performed a track from Tough On Tobacco’s second album that has been in the works since over a year and also dropped ‘Alone’ by erstwhile band Helga’s Fun Castle. Ankur Tewari of Ankur & The Ghalat Family was up next and performed ‘Mohabbat Zindabad’ and ‘Bhool’, a track Tewari claims to forget every time. Rhys Sebastian D’souza (who we last saw perform alongisde Bay Beat Collective at Live From The Console, Mehboob Studios; photos here) joined Mendonsa on the stage with a saxophone on a cover of Billy Cobham’s ‘Stratus’. Shazneeen Arethna (of 3 Guys And A Girl) and Siddharth Basrur (of Goddess Gagged) assisted on vocals at different points. Arethna performed her own material, while Basrur performed a cover of Pearl Jam‘s ‘Animal’.

Next up, Vishal Dadlani and Randolph Correia of Pentagram took to the stage, backed by Mendonsa, Jai Row Kavi and Rushad Mistry to perform three tracks – ‘Ten’, ‘This Is For My People’ and ‘Voice’. New Delhi electronica artist Dualist Inquiry took stage next to play a fairly short set, including tunes from his debut EP Dualism (review here) and remixed a couple of Coldplay tracks as well. Sohail Arora of Bay Beat Collective closed the night, with a short, twenty-minute set. Arora, one-third of the local electronica trio, despite performing alone brought the same energtic, bass-heavy material the act is known for, bringing the night to a close.

Photos by Naman Saraiya. For a full gallery of photos, visit our Facebook page.

Warren Mendonsa of Blackstratblues @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Dhruv @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Johan Pais of Tough On Tobacco @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Ankur Tewari of Ankur & The Ghalat Family @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Rushad Mistry of Indus Creed @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Sidd Coutto of Tough On Tobacco @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Rhys Sebastian D'souza @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Siddharth Basrur of Goddess Gagged @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Vishal Dadlani of Pentagram @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Dualist Inquiry @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai

Sohail Arora of Bay Beat Collective @ Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pre-party @ Blue Frog, Mumbai