Do Not Disturb..Recording in Progress

This Sunday was a productive day and we managed to get a good amount done in the 8 hours or so that we were boxed up in the tiny recording room we use. The first part of the day we spent writing lyrics for a project which can only be described as a first for us. What was the task? To re-write lyrics and record a crazy version of the title track to a very popular animated series for an upcoming spoof of that animation. More details on that when it actually unfolds but man that was fun and completely hilarious! After that we started laying out the drum track for the new Vertigo song and managed to finish that without too much trouble. If all goes well and we can chip in enough time to do the bass, guitars and vocals in time we should have a first demo recording done in a week or two. More updates coming as they happen

Vertigo It Is!

I'm back from out very first meeting and practice session with Vertigo and wow that was fun! I'm still getting over that initial ringing that your years go through after a few hours of practice in a small space but very excited about where this could go. Vertigo has been around Pune for a very long time and once a very active part of the 'happening' days when bands like Agni, Strange Brew, AFS, Moonstruck and Vertigo frequently played on the live circuit and put up some very memorable shows. Now call me old .. but I haven't seen that spirit and competence level in the current bands. The band has been through very frequent line up changes but has played every large stage in India and won Independence Rock, Rock Idols and numerous other titles up for grabs. Lacunza and I have played together for a few years now and we just click right away no matter what we play. Yesterdays practice confirmed that we can make things happen with the new line up and now there is a whole lot to do just to get everything rolling. Oh yea and there is a brand new song that was born yesterday which I can't wait to record. More about that as things progress. For now I have a new band to play with and there is a lot to do. Woohoo!

Introducing the new www.Six-String.net website

The Six String Experiment website has finally been given a much needed face lift with a few design changes and its very own new domain name www.six-string.net It's taken a while for me to get it all up and running and although there are still several things that need to be added at least its live. Photo credits on the new page go to my bro Nevin who managed to do them in a painless 30 minute photo shoot. The new website comes at an interesting time because tomorrow I am off to do something else new...or something I haven't done in a long long time. A recent phone call with Moonstruck front man and buddy Lacunza led to a first practice and meeting with a new band tomorrow. Well its not strictly a new band since its going to be a meeting of members of Moonstruck and Vertigo two bands that have established themselves in the past here in Pune and then been underground for a long time. I'm still a bit on edge since its been such a long time since I last played live and have several questions on what might happen. At the same time its exciting knowing that this could be the end of the dry spell of staying away from live gigs and chance to go out there and play again. Well cheers to the new site and cheers to whatever takes shape tomorrow!

Move Along to Straight Out Rock

This time i've completely outdone myself. I've done something I wouldnt normally dare to do which is to sing vocals on something i've written. I accepted the fact that I can't sing long ago and made sure I keep away from the mic even for back up vocals with any of the bands I have played with. I have no idea what changed today...maybe its the fact that I havent met or recorded with Lacunza or anyone else for a long long time and just had to do something outside instrumental. Whatever it was, its too late and its done. Its now a two and a half minute song titled "Move Along" which goes like this:

Move Along

Verse x 1
We ve walked through lanes
Where the images unfold
Behind the scenes
Of stories untold
And i've been watching
Falling grains of sand
As the time moves on
I don’t know where I am……

Chorus x 2
All I know is this road is unpredictable
Desolate and cold
A way unto its own
But I can't care enough to let it slow me
As long as you’ll be there
We ll move along

The inspiration for this song comes from some conversations I have had with one of my best long time friend Behzad about how unpredictable certain events in life are and also how through those unpredictable events there are still people who we can count on whose prescence in our lives is anything but unpredictable and what also gives us what it takes to "Move Along". When it comes to song writing, I usually put lyrics right up there with melody and structure in terms of importance but this track is recorded in the true spirit of a guitar player where the guitar is nice and loud.....and the words .... well we just threw a few in there somewhere :-) Download this song while you still can becuase the chances that I will pick up a mic again and sing into it are very very low. Happy listening.

Cast In Gold

Its been a slow lazy noon today and I would have probably dozed off to sleep but picked up the guitar instead which was already plugged in and set to record whatever would come out through the pre amp. In keeping with the slow and peaceful afternoon what turned up was mellow and jazzy. Cast in Gold is what it finally got named which comes from a thought which has been the theme of the week for me. I just turned 28 and in the spirit of moping about and feeling all old as many of my friends made sure they rubbed in as they wished me there was a strong positive thought that also lingered. Along the way I've met many people and formed relationships and bonds but there are some bonds that have been just so strong that they have withstood everything through time and been unaffected almost like they were cast in gold :-) This track is a toast to those bonds and those people. To more good times!

The Dawn Railroad Raag

This weekend I managed to plug in and record something in a record two hours. Although i've mostly played straight out rock, alternative, blues and the likes I listen to varied music which I keep absorbing and get influenced by. The three and a half minute track i've just put up is an odd piece which has an electronic dub kind of rhythm and a classical Indian fusion melody with a few bits of distorted rock elements. Why is it called the The Dawn Railroad Raag? Well ... I love traveling through India by train because there is something just magical about being able to zip across hundreds of kilometers while looking out the window, watching the landscape change and digesting just how vast, diverse and beautiful the country is. There is one particular memory I have of waking up early in the morning and getting up from my berth to the sound of the Indian classical morning music they play on the train. I was sitting by the window with a cup of coffee looking out at the Rajasthan landscape while the train was headed to Delhi and just enjoyed one of those perfect moments where you have the wind blowing, great music which blends with the amazing view outside. This track is a tribute to that moment. What has looking out of a train window have anything to do with playing guitar on some fusion track? ... download the song, give it a listen and find out. Till the next post... happy listening!

Videos Just Added

It's been a slow spell for writing new material recently and i've been having a busy few weekends so I havent been able to sit down and play or record. I'm not really expecting this to change much over the next few weeks but hey who knows? I did manage however to dig up a few handycam videos of some of the past gigs from my Moonstruck and Pufferfish days which I have uploaded and added to the Snapshots section of Sixstring Experiments. There is a clip from the very first gig I played with Moonstruck at Zwigs in Mumbai which will be a day i'll always remember. I think right from that day we knew there was chemistry in the new lineup and we could gel really well as a band. There is also a clip one of the Independence Rock Pune gigs where Moonstruck played the second last slot before the close of the night. There were about 9 bands that played through the early afternoon right till the time of the night when the cops come in to shut things down their way :-) The Pufferfish gigs were in stark contrast more quiet affairs where people came to listen to some classic more laid back stuff like Sting, Maroon5, Live, Tracy Chapman, Kenny Wayne Sheppard and Pufferfish jamming away. Well what are you waiting for? Click on Snapshots and get watching.