While there has been ranting and raving
from all quarters of the music industry at a local level, nobody has truly
stopped for a second, to give credit where it’s due. Not enough has been said
of the artistes who, despite the current set-up of things, have managed to put
their work out there, for better or worse. There is still good music to be
found within the state’s borders, hand-crafted by those who deem it fit to pour
their soul onto sheet music, before it makes its way into studios, where after
months of crafting (perhaps longer), it finally comes out in formats that make
their way to our stereos, laptops, vehicles and portable devices. But these
local heroes do deserve their moment of glory and 2017 has been a particularly
productive year for members of generation next, when it comes to getting into
the music industry. Here are some fine examples of music worth listening to, if
you have yet managed to do so:
Artiste: Royston D’Souza
Album: Chaos and Symphony
In many ways, Royston D’Souza is an enigma. He holds a degree in Commerce, he
handles karaoke gigs, and is part of a band called The Horsemen. All of this
however, is just a stepping stone to greater things for the upcoming artiste,
whose long-term goal is to focus on using his music to showcase his talent
before a massive audience. The work on the EP, titled ‘Chaos and Symphony’, has
been undertaken by Royston himself – from recording, to mixing and mastering in
his Caranzalem-based studio. A blend of the genres of electronica and ambient
rock, his original music is very left of field, as compared to the kind that
Royston is normally seen playing in more commercial setups. However, this is
for the best, as it truly showcases his seemingly limitless potential to
explore the style he has crafted for himself.
Artiste: Kristian Bent
Album: Campfire Stories
Kristian Bent (aka Krishna Gidwani) is a musician whose musical journey has
seen him evolve from a drummer/percussionist, to a guitarist with a flair for
stringing the right sentences along in free-wheeling musical prose, to a
storyteller par excellence.
Campfire Stories is, in itself, Kristian telling his stories (as he loves to)
in the format that best suits him: music. With the aid of a revolving door of
musicians from parallel parts of the world, Kristian has put together his
magnum opus, which features fabulous arrangements, great lyrics, and one song
that has even evolved many times over, since it was first written at the turn
of the decade: the track, titled, ‘Children of a Lie’. Other songs like ‘She’
and ‘Song with No Name’ have also sprung to popularity, and his album closer,
‘Bus to Bangalore’, seems only prophetic, for it is Kristian’s current base of
operations as he looks to take his music to an even bigger audience.
Artiste: Rohit Almeida
Album: Fairytale
The classroom is the place where learning and development happens, and that’s
something that musician Rohit Almeida will attest to. After performing across
various platforms for three years, he would write lyrics when in class and
unable to focus, sometimes even completing an entire song at a go. His first
album comprises entirely original work, and highlights his songs, ‘Do You
Believe’, ‘Kryptonite’, ‘Change’, ‘You & Me’, ‘Move on (FC Goa)’ and the
title track, ‘Fairytale’, amongst others. His movement began online, where he
would upload videos of stripped-down covers of other people’s songs on YouTube
almost a year ago. Coming from a family that follows diverse professions, Rohit
sees this as complete creative control to express himself through music, often
finding himself on his own during the creative process.
Artiste: Lightseeker
Album: Skybound
Skybound may not be an album, but the single, released by Lunarheed,
is an experiment of stellar proportions. The act is made up of three lads from
the south, Quinston Menezes, Revellino Fernandes and Lezio Fernandes, whose
music spawned from the habit of listening to chill out and lounge music to
relax at night before going to bed. This led to experimenting with the texture
of sounds. The three put together a rig and just jammed together, and Skybound
is simply an experimental session with the musicians fiddling around to create
a track they liked the sound of. The sound is spacy and bizarre, like an out of
world experience, leading to the act’s name, Lunarheed, suggesting where the
origins of their name came from…the seeking of the moon. The next song in the
act’s pipeline is called Lightseeker.
