Sunday, December 23, 2007

Champagne Supernovae

I have no idea why I choose to name this post so...first thing that popped into my head...much like the title this blog carries.

It really is a pity when a band that makes good music goes out of business - or transforms into something else. Guns 'n' Roses is a famous case in point. Did you know they still existed?

Well they do.

In any case, its a real shame when a band that could have been great just gets disbanded. They didnt even get to release a CD.

It was the cultural fest at Pilani and band was called Antaragni. The lead of the band was this guy called Raghu, who 's now trying to make it on his own. In any case he had some real fun stories to tell about his past experiences in Pilani. All bands I ve seen live try to do this - I guess it makes them a little more accessible to us, the audience. Hell.. in a Dream theater concert in Buffalo, we found out that Mike Portnoy's father passed through Buffalo once - to full throated cheers.

Im sure he did.

In any case this band was for sort of an "take two one free" deal with Parikrama - the guys famous for "But it rained"(or was it Mother Jane?). The anticipation in the auditorium was therefore befitting - most people were there just to ensure that they got a seat reserved for the Parikrama show.

They played for 2 hours - I think. And they were simply smashing. It wasnt a real band yet ...nuthn full time. It seemed like, correctly I learnt later, an experiment a few very talented people were trying - away from their main jobs. They had a violinist, and lead and rythm man(Raghu), a lead guitarist (who looked from far like Slash, leather and everything), a KICKASS bassist (Josey John - famed to play for every indian music director, except for Rahman (!!??!!)) and a drummer who played the drums standing up. They were dressed in saffron lungis n stuff...really trying to project their music as a mix of the Indian and the western - known in certain cycles as the Fusion genre these days.

Listen to Indian Ocean - you ll know Fusion music has a future.

In any case, the music was amazing...much better than anything else I have heard live since. I remember Raghu saying that they were on the verge of a record deal - and urging us to buy the record when it did come out.

I prayed hard for these guys...and hoped they would come out with a record. I was certain it would be a smash hit. Well you can judge for yourself.

Heres a youtube link someone benevolent has posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMfzTgZQxO4

And here a folder that has a couple of their songs...my favorites that day at the concert

http://www.esnips.com/web/sujan83/

Sometime back, one of my friends wrote Raghu, to ask for a link to download Antaragni's songs from. She learnt that the band had broken up for good. They never did come out with a record.

Too bad..really! badshit! as they say in certain circles.

Update

Happily, they arent gone forever. Oja and Goyal - Thanks!!


4 comments:

Ojas said...

It couldn't have been Parikrama, for I have never witnessed a Parikrama live at BITS. I believe it was Motherjane.

Antaragni certainly was a great band. I remember Jossey Jose kicking ass and all of us astonished!

I guess they haven't broken up, because i had heard something about them playing in Delhi. I think Goyal (akgoyal.com) went for one of their shows lately. He will throw more light I guess.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sujan,

The band has undergone transformation and now plays at fests as "The Raghu Dixit Project" (really bad name if you ask me). Raghu still swears that the CD will be out soon and he still makes good music.

His band played at the SAARC Music Fest in Delhi sometime back and were just as nice. They played a couple of new songs and both were nice. Raghu still is a complete entertainer and I wish their album is released.

Another band that made an impact during that show was The East India Company from Assam. Do check out their website.

http://akgoyal.com/2007/12/01/awesum-day/

[Directed here by Ojas]

Blackbird said...

@ Hari
Heh..i remember the "but it rained " phase..psychological abuse! heh heh

Good ole rakesh!:)

@ Oja

Parikrama did play at BITS...an episode that led to psychological abuse for some..(above)

But I think you are right...it was Mother Jane after these guys (or was it?..damn my memory)

@ Goyal

Thanks a lot!..will check the links out..good to know that Antaragni's still alive in some form

Unknown said...

I saw Raghu play live for the MTV Lycra Fashion awards, man. The same two famous songs of his, Hey Bhagwan and Mysore se Aayee...have no idea if its possible to get a video of the same.
Not too bothered though, since I have both the songs.