Ankur Tewari On JD Rock Awards: “I’m a bit biased towards Indian Ocean”

Ankur Tewari (Photograph: Bharat Sikka)

Ankur Tewari, of Ankur & The Ghalat Family, and  recipient of  2010’s ‘Best Male Vocalist’ award, spoke to Rolling Stone India about winning an award last year and how the JD Rock Awards have helped recognise the independent scene.

“Winning a J.D rock awards last year was really great because various types of music had been recognised and different genres and artists had been nominated all together. The vibe was also really nice and had a cool independent feel to it – nobody was stuck up.

India is a country which culturally has various kinds of music and folk traditions, but movie music has been dominating for the last ten years. Any recognition of music other than film music is really required right now, and I believe the independent scene is the true and honest sound of the nation.”

Tewari gave an honest answer when asked if he recalled any specific events from last year’s awards: “Due to excess consuption of J.D., I have very little memory of any specific events. But it was great to sing a couple of songs and the vibe was very nice and unpretentious.”

Tewari took home the award for ‘Best Male Vocalist’ last year, while his solo album Jannat earned producer Zulfiqar ‘Xulfi’ Jabbar Khan an award in the ‘Producer of theYear’ category. This year’s contenders for ‘Best Male Vocalist’ include Kishore Krishna (Adam and the Fish Eyed Poets), Garreth D’Mello (Dischordian), Siddarth Basrur (Goddess Gagged), Vishal Dadlani (Pentagram), Raxit Tewari (Sky Rabbit) and Shashank Bhatnagar (Undying inc).

“All the various vocalists are very far removed from each other and suit the kind of songs, so its a very difficult category to pick from. I won’t say what my favourite is, but most of these voices suit the kind of words they writing. I think a good voice should complement the type of lyrics and message. One of my favourite albums this year was Pentagram’s, and I have recently started following Godess Gagged and Sky Rabbit.”

The singer/songwriter also shared his thoughts on this year’s best band category, whose nominees include Indian Ocean, Menwhopause, Pentagram, Peter Cat Recording co. and Undying Inc. “I’m a bit biased towards Indian Ocean as i have been listening to them since my school days and they have been very  inspiring. Originally they played purely music and now they have evolved into great songwriters too.”

Tewari has been working on new material and hopes to put together an album soon.  ‘I have been on this amazing creative adventure recently and I have been writing a lot of songs. I have almost 15 to 20 songs that are ready, and I am around the corner form recording them and assembling my next album.”

To vote for your favorite band, log onto www.jdrockawards.com and cast your vote!