The last few months have seen a distinct change on the Goan musical front. While local cover bands have been popularly advertised for, as is the norm, bands with their own stamp of originality have been creeping across the state’s border to promote their art; the bulk of these being indie acts such as Dhruv Visvanath, Tejas Menon and Spud in the Box. One popular venue for promoting such acts is Cheenos in Baga. Ajit Singh, the Managing Director of the venue, says, “I do feel that our local live music industry should be encouraged to follow whichever musical vocation they want to. At Cheenos, we have live performances at least 3 times a week and we call various local acts and budding bands for that very reason. We want to do our part in supporting these bands, especially since each and every one of them makes it such a refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable experience!”
Similarly, the south is not starved for such action, with Soul Soufflé in Verna rapidly making a name for itself in the musical sphere. “As part of Soul Soufflé Fresh, we seek to blur the boundaries between different cultures of music and bridge the distance. Goa must place a premium on our musical ingenuity and open doors for the arts from all over the country. Only then will we be a more culturally sensitive people who can inspire, connect and appreciate what is around us,” says Proprietor Reynold Abranches.
While the local music following has a propensity to prefer good covers, these covers have to stem from somewhere, i.e. a good original. Whether it is something they look forward to or not, local acts will have to accept that the need (more than the want) to make their own music may not be too far away.
