‘Nothing good comes easy’
7 Sep 2014 11:16 PM GMT
Tell us about yourselves. How did you guys come together/start off?
Well, it all started back in our college days, after I (Girish) decided to pursue music for good. Having known Suraz and Nagen since the initial college days, we decided to put up a band together and started jamming and playing as a house band in a local pub in our hometown, Gangtok. After a few months of playing together, due to some issues we had to discontinue and carry on our separate ways. This was back in 2007. I then went to Delhi to initiate my musical journey.
I got an offer to work as a vocal instructor in a music school in Delhi. After having experienced that for a few months, the journey continued and this time it took me to Kathmandu, Nepal, where I was invited by some of the musicians playing in the local pub scene out there. This is when I met a lot of musicians and this phase of life was a sort of training period for me. Then, in 2009, I came back to Sikkim where my brother (Yogesh) and I recorded our first ever recorded song – Angel. During this time I was performing as a solo artist in Café Live N’ Loud, Gangtok, under the show name - Girish Unplugged. That was when Nagen and our ex-bass player approached me and said if I were interested to form a band… and that’s how it all started and how the band got the name ‘Girish and The Chronicles’. This was followed by Suraz joining the team and after a few months Yogesh joined the forces as well.
What was the first big break for you guys?
Having taken part in some of the major band competitions back then, the band started earning a good reputation within the music scene. The major breakthrough during that time was when we won a competition which gave us the opportunity to be a part of Suncane Skale music festival held at Montenegro, Europe back in 2010. Having won the first runner’s up Silver position in the festival amongst various nations cross Europe, the band started gaining the required attention from the media as well and of course the good name started spreading across.
How would you define your musical philosophy? Tell us a bit about your music, what do you think defines you guys?
Music is our first love and our passion. It’s what we do and live for. Infact we exist because of it. We all grew listening to old school rock and heavy metal songs. Inspired from bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, ACDC, GNR etc., one could say that our music has been influenced a lot from these bands. You could say that we learnt music from them. With the love for Rock N Roll combined with our own creativity, we came up with the songs that you’ll get to hear in our debut album Back on Earth. Musically you can find total hard rock and heavy metal stuff with some hint of progressive and blues rock as well. Lyrically our songs are themed on subjects which grasps our attention, touches our hearts…mostly it’s the story of our own lives and also on some social, political subjects.
How easy (or difficult) is it to make a mark in the music scene? What do you think about the main issues are?
Well, nothing good comes easy we suppose. One must need to have a lot of patience and do a lot of hard work in the process. The most important thing would be to be totally persistent to achieving your goals. There are a lot of talents around but it can be difficult for them to leave everything behind and just struggle to make your mark doing music. It is a tough industry, especially for non-commercial/non-Bollywood musicians.
To find the perfect platform, to be heard, to have sufficient sources to have a good sound, to find proper band-mates, all these various factors are issues that makes the journey difficult. Luckily due to technological advancements and with the help of the Internet nowadays it has become quite easy to reach the global audience. There are different kinds of music listeners, numerous genres, therefore it is very important to do, create, play something from the heart and to know that if you love what you are doing, there will be others who would agree and support what you’re doing.
What/Who inspires you?
Inspiration comes from many things or people. Of course for us it has been our heroes, our idols, the legends…all the bands that we love and grew up listening to. Watching their videos, listening to their albums, their songs…all these things inspire us. Sometimes it could be some issue, social, political, natural, which inspires us to write about it or maybe compose something about it.
Tell us about your best tracks
We grew up listening to all the major Rock n Roll bands of the 70s and the 80s… In fact we’ve covered a lot of their stuff as well which our fans and followers would know. We have a lot of favorites and to name a few, it’d be Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, Rock N Roll, Sweet Child O’ mine, Hard as a rock and the likes..and of course we love all our originals (laughs).
What songs top your playlist right now?
I guess all the band members have their own playlist to listen to (haha). Some of us are currently listening to some Def Leppard, Motley Crue, some ACDC, Nativity in Black (I and II). Suraz is presently in the whole Joe Satriani zone (smiles). Depends on the mood I guess.
What suggestions/advice would you have for newbies in music?
The most important thing that we feel is a must for any band is to find the right band members and to stick to each other and follow a common goal. If the interests are scattered then it will be very tough to survive. Just follow you heart, believe and love what you do and don’t ever forget that although ‘it’s a long way to the top if you wanna Rock N’ Roll’ (courtesy :ACDC), don’t ever let the hurdles that come along slow you down or break your spirit.
How has Delhi been for you guys?
It has been 3 times that we’ve played in Delhi and we must say that it has been fun. The gig at Jamia Mila university a few months ago and the recent Hard Rock Café gig was real fun. We loved the crowd.
Well, it all started back in our college days, after I (Girish) decided to pursue music for good. Having known Suraz and Nagen since the initial college days, we decided to put up a band together and started jamming and playing as a house band in a local pub in our hometown, Gangtok. After a few months of playing together, due to some issues we had to discontinue and carry on our separate ways. This was back in 2007. I then went to Delhi to initiate my musical journey.
I got an offer to work as a vocal instructor in a music school in Delhi. After having experienced that for a few months, the journey continued and this time it took me to Kathmandu, Nepal, where I was invited by some of the musicians playing in the local pub scene out there. This is when I met a lot of musicians and this phase of life was a sort of training period for me. Then, in 2009, I came back to Sikkim where my brother (Yogesh) and I recorded our first ever recorded song – Angel. During this time I was performing as a solo artist in Café Live N’ Loud, Gangtok, under the show name - Girish Unplugged. That was when Nagen and our ex-bass player approached me and said if I were interested to form a band… and that’s how it all started and how the band got the name ‘Girish and The Chronicles’. This was followed by Suraz joining the team and after a few months Yogesh joined the forces as well.
What was the first big break for you guys?
Having taken part in some of the major band competitions back then, the band started earning a good reputation within the music scene. The major breakthrough during that time was when we won a competition which gave us the opportunity to be a part of Suncane Skale music festival held at Montenegro, Europe back in 2010. Having won the first runner’s up Silver position in the festival amongst various nations cross Europe, the band started gaining the required attention from the media as well and of course the good name started spreading across.
How would you define your musical philosophy? Tell us a bit about your music, what do you think defines you guys?
Music is our first love and our passion. It’s what we do and live for. Infact we exist because of it. We all grew listening to old school rock and heavy metal songs. Inspired from bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, ACDC, GNR etc., one could say that our music has been influenced a lot from these bands. You could say that we learnt music from them. With the love for Rock N Roll combined with our own creativity, we came up with the songs that you’ll get to hear in our debut album Back on Earth. Musically you can find total hard rock and heavy metal stuff with some hint of progressive and blues rock as well. Lyrically our songs are themed on subjects which grasps our attention, touches our hearts…mostly it’s the story of our own lives and also on some social, political subjects.
How easy (or difficult) is it to make a mark in the music scene? What do you think about the main issues are?
Well, nothing good comes easy we suppose. One must need to have a lot of patience and do a lot of hard work in the process. The most important thing would be to be totally persistent to achieving your goals. There are a lot of talents around but it can be difficult for them to leave everything behind and just struggle to make your mark doing music. It is a tough industry, especially for non-commercial/non-Bollywood musicians.
To find the perfect platform, to be heard, to have sufficient sources to have a good sound, to find proper band-mates, all these various factors are issues that makes the journey difficult. Luckily due to technological advancements and with the help of the Internet nowadays it has become quite easy to reach the global audience. There are different kinds of music listeners, numerous genres, therefore it is very important to do, create, play something from the heart and to know that if you love what you are doing, there will be others who would agree and support what you’re doing.
What/Who inspires you?
Inspiration comes from many things or people. Of course for us it has been our heroes, our idols, the legends…all the bands that we love and grew up listening to. Watching their videos, listening to their albums, their songs…all these things inspire us. Sometimes it could be some issue, social, political, natural, which inspires us to write about it or maybe compose something about it.
Tell us about your best tracks
We grew up listening to all the major Rock n Roll bands of the 70s and the 80s… In fact we’ve covered a lot of their stuff as well which our fans and followers would know. We have a lot of favorites and to name a few, it’d be Black Dog, Stairway to Heaven, Rock N Roll, Sweet Child O’ mine, Hard as a rock and the likes..and of course we love all our originals (laughs).
What songs top your playlist right now?
I guess all the band members have their own playlist to listen to (haha). Some of us are currently listening to some Def Leppard, Motley Crue, some ACDC, Nativity in Black (I and II). Suraz is presently in the whole Joe Satriani zone (smiles). Depends on the mood I guess.
What suggestions/advice would you have for newbies in music?
The most important thing that we feel is a must for any band is to find the right band members and to stick to each other and follow a common goal. If the interests are scattered then it will be very tough to survive. Just follow you heart, believe and love what you do and don’t ever forget that although ‘it’s a long way to the top if you wanna Rock N’ Roll’ (courtesy :ACDC), don’t ever let the hurdles that come along slow you down or break your spirit.
How has Delhi been for you guys?
It has been 3 times that we’ve played in Delhi and we must say that it has been fun. The gig at Jamia Mila university a few months ago and the recent Hard Rock Café gig was real fun. We loved the crowd.
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