Hard Rock Cafe’s Battle of the Band’s Winner Profile: Point Blanc (Pune)

Point Blanc

Formed in 2006, Pune’s Point Blanc had moderate success before it’s original line-up went their separate ways. The band’s lead vocalist Cash and lead guitarist Bradley Nipps resurrected the band in 2011 with a new line-up. Now a six piece hard rock band, Point Blanc draws its influences chiefly from Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC. “Though many hard rock bands have inspired us, I believe that we have a very original sound. This is because we’re all from different parts of the country. This amalgamation of varied cultures is what makes us unique. That’s what people seem to like about our music”, says Arjun Shrivatsan, keyboardist of Point Blanc.

Point Blanc has come a long way. They have been winners of many competitions such as Voice of the Voiceless Maadhyam, 2011, Titans of Rock, Silhouette Synesthesia, 2012 and have also won awards for best vocalist, best bassist and best keyboardist. They’re thrilled with the whole idea of being one of the top five bands in India, after winning Hard Rock Cafe’s Battle Of The Bands in their city.

“The feeling is brilliant. For us, it was our greatest dream come true. This is one thing we desperately wanted. When it happened, it was too good to be true. Another good part about this whole Battle of the Bands is that we made a lot of friends through the course of
our journey. We also grew stronger as a band”, says the enthused Arjun.

When asked about how they’re going to go about preparing for the final battle, Arjun says, “We’re obviously going to give this our best shot. However, heavily marketing ourselves makes us uncomfortable. So we’re just hoping that our music takes itself forward”.

Point Blanc is:

Aakash a.k.a Cash – Vocals
Bradley Nipps – Lead / Rhythm guitars
Siddharth Gupta – Rhythm / Lead guitars
Gautam a.k.a Boomer – Bass Guitars
Ajit Godse – Drums
Arjun Shrivatsan – Keyboards/Synth

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)