New Gig Series To Take Off In Chennai

Skrat

For long, bands from Chennai have voiced their disappointment about the lack of venues in the city  (Skrat, The F16’s and Adam And The Fish Eyed Poets have a common rant). This month, private radio channel Chennai Live 104.8 FM, the only radio channel in Chennai to air music by Indian bands, plans to give its city’s music scene a shot in the arm by bringing back Purple Fest, a monthly gig series that was kicked off last year, but hit a roadblock due to lack of sponsorship. In its new edition, Purple Fest will be hosted as a fortnightly series with alt rock band Skrat playing at the first gig this month. Says Rohan Sen, presenter and music manager at Chennai Live, “Chennai is one of the few metropolitan cities in India that is severely lacking in live music venues. We (Chennai Live) have been supporting independent artists since our inception, starting with an hour-long show (India Music Hour) with music by bands from around the country.  So the natural progression was to create a concert venue so people could witness it live.” 

Skrat, who recently won over Mumbai audiences at the The Lightyears Explode album launch, last performed in Chennai six months ago. “Most of our touring has been in Pune, Bengaluru and Mumbai,” says T.T. Sriram, frontman of Skrat, adding,  “We are a band from Chennai and can safely call ourselves one of the top 10 crowd-pulling bands here. If we can’t play gig in our city, where we have the highest number of fans, where do we go?” Chennai Live’s Sen, who is also the frontman of blues rock band Grey Shack, is all too familiar with the crisis. “In cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, bands have an option of venues. They can play to a large audience at a big club, a small acoustic set at a cafe or at other such performance spaces. In Chennai, there are no such options,” adds Sen. 

While Star Rock has been organizing gigs for a while now, Sriram believes that a new venue such as the Boardwalk at Ramada, which can accommodate 500 people, will draw a bigger crowd. “Star Rock is a dingy place where many choose not to come. I’ve heard Ramada is an open-air venue and I’m really excited to perform there,” says Sriram, “In my opinion, Purple Festival is not just a platform for artists but the only sign of hope for us here. It’s the only way we can get to our audience.”

For their two-hour set, Skrat will perform songs from their recently released album Bring Out The Big Guns as well as covers such as “Big River” by Johnny Cash and songs by The White Stripes and The Black Keys. On May 31^st, blues band Blues Conscience will perform as part of Purple Fest. IndiEarth, the digital platform of the Chennai-based music label EarthSync, which released IndiEarth Out There Compilation, is partnering with the event. The compilation is a 12-track album featuring music by both the bands playing Purple Fest this month as well as bands such as Public Issue, The Shakey Rays and Grey Shack among other acts from Tamil Nadu. “We have tied up with IndiEarth and their Clementine Studios for all the shows. They will record videos of the entire set and pick one song by each of the six artists for a video compilation that will later be released online,” adds Sen.  

Purple Festival schedule for May 2013:

Skrat, May 17^th, 2013, Boardwalk, Ramada, Egmore. Entry free

Blues Conscience, May 31^st, 2013, Boardwalk, Ramada, Egmore. Entry free

For details, click here