Hard Rock Cafe’s Battle Of The Bands Winner Profile: Franks Got The Funk (Hyderabad)

Chennai-based alt-rock funky rockers Franks Got the Funk, were adjudged winners of the Hyderabad leg of Hard Rock Rising, Battle of the Bands. The five-member band is made up of Bjorn Surrao on vocals, Sajith Satya on bass, Vikram Ashok on keyboards, Shashank Vijay on drums and Merwyn Christopher on guitars. The band has gone through various lineup changes since they got together in 2009.

 “But what the band was back then, is not even close to what it is now,”  says Ashok, songwriting force and keyboardist, who counts Dave Mathews Band, John Mayer and Prodigy as his influences. They’ve won several competitions such as Deepwoods, Strawberry Fields, NXG Rockstar and IIT Saarang. 

Interestingly, the Hard Rock Rising series of gigs was the first time Franks Got The Funk performed in the venue. “When we won, we were overwhelmed. We missed our exams and invested all our time and resources in to this competition. So it was really worth it,” says Ashok.

Hard Rock Cafe’s Battle Of The Bands now has five winners. These five winning bands from India – Zedde (Mumbai), 83 mph (Bengaluru), Franks Got The Funk (Hyderabad), The Urban early Men (Delhi) and Point Blanc (Pune) – now compete (via fan voting) with other winning bands from across the world. The eventual winner of the Battle of The Bands contest will perform at the Hard Rock Rising 2012 festival in London’s Hyde Park, headlined by Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band. 

To vote for your favourite band, go to the Hard Rock Cafe’s Facebook pages for each city – Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi.

Voting is open from April 9 to 24.

(Interviewed by Vyoma Shah)