But coming to the state with something new this November is Mumbai-based independent music label and gig organizers Ennui.BOMB. The festival titled The New Wave Festival of Asian Indie and Punk Music (NWF)
will cater to the independent music genre that has been generating a lot of interest in the country by bringing Asia’s biggest bands to
perform in the state.
Company director and co-founder Rishu Singh says that music in Goa goes beyond trance and electronic dance music (EDM). “There is
so much more music for people to discover and enjoy. We just want to give people in Goa another option to all the other music that they
are exposed to all the time,” he says adding that NWF is in no way competing with EDM festivals held in the state.
The two day festival is to be held on November 15 and 16 at Verna’s go-karting circuit. Talent from all over Asia will feature at the first ever NWF. Headlining the event is the veteran all girl Japanese punk rock band Shonen Knife. The line-up also includes Malaysia’s Kyoto Protocol and Sky Rabbit, Dubai-based band Point of View, The Circus and Youth Unite from Nepal, Myanmar-based punk band Rebel Riot and Indian born bands The Supersonics, Bombay Bassment and The Ganesh Talkies.
Goa’s very own The Elvis Project will
also feature in the festival.
Having had experience with gigs of
their own in other parts of India,
Singh says the event will be strictly
about the music. “It will
be a no-frills affair with
good music and good
food. We are expecting
around 3000 people
each day and we expect
them all to have a ball.”
With early bird tickets
priced between Rs.
750 and Rs. 1,500 Singh
says it won’t burn a hole
in people’s pockets. The
organizers are looking
to capture the interest
of a target audience,
and unlike the one-off
Windsong, they believe
they can generate
enough buzz to make it
an annual affair.
Indie music is indeed making
waves in India. Singh himself manages
bands like the Stupid Ditties,
Blek and the Riot Peddlers, organizing
concerts all over India under his
label.
Ennui’s Bomb Thursdays at Mumbai’s
Kino 108 has been successfully
providing young bands a platform to
promote their music. Indian metal
bands Gutslit and Asylum have also
performed at the Bomb Thursday
line up. They were also the brains behind
the Control ALT Delete metal
show earlier last month at Mumbai’s
Blue Frog.
