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New Talent To Watch Out For At Escape Festival

Check out these up and coming acts set to perform this weekend

May 23, 2013

With over 40 musicians and bands slated to perform across two stages at the sixth edition of Escape festival this weekend, festival goers have a lot to choose from. Festival favorites such as Bengaluru’s Thermal and A Quarter, Mumbai’s Blackstratblues and Delhi’s The Ska Vengers are sure to pack the stage. Here’s a list of upcoming acts you should catch at the fest.

 

Run! It's The Kid will make their stage debut at Escape Festival 2013

Run! It’s The Kid will make their stage debut at Escape Festival 2013

Who: Run! It’s the Kid

What: A two-member band from New Delhi, Run! It’s the Kid comprises Dhruv Bhola on guitar and Shantanu Pandit on vocals. The college going duo formed a band in January 2013. “Shantanu and I met in college (they study at Delhi University’s North Campus) where we would jam occasionally. Seeing that we had a unified idea in our minds about what each of us wanted to do musically, we took it forward and decided to start a project together,” says Dhruv Bhola. 

Escape Plan: The band, which will make their stage debut at Escape this year, will be accompanied by drummer Bhairav Gupta (Gravy Train, Roadside Radio) and bassist Sameer Selvam (The Alibi) at the festival.“We’ll blow the socks offa everybody,” says the 19-year-old guitarist, adding, “The set we’re playing at Escape comprises eight songs, of which six are originals, and two are covers.”  

Spin This: The duo released their first single, a folksy track titled “Move Over” this week. Listen to it here:

 

Prateek Kuhad

Prateek Kuhad

Who:  Prateek Kuhad Collective 

What: Singer-songwriter Prateek Kuhad has managed to find an appreciative audience in Delhi right from the start. Kuhad started performing in the capital in January this year. Born in Jaipur, Kuhad briefly performed in New York, where he was pursuing a degree in Mathematics from NYU. “I think I wrote my first song when I was around 17,” says Kuhad, whose vocals and acoustic melodies recall Nick Drake (not surprising that he calls upon Drake as one of his influences). “Genre-wise I think it falls into the western folk-rock category. At this point, my sound is very acoustic, raw and natural, which is why I try to stick to mostly acoustic instruments both live and in the studio. My compositions are melody-driven and words are very important to me. I try my best to make every line of lyric count,” he adds 

In the works: After releasing his self-titled debut EP comprising a collection of acoustic pop rock English tracks in 2011 (songs from the EP can be heard here), Kuhad is now working on a Hindi EP, slated to release in mid-August. “There’s no particular reason why I chose to go Hindi. I just realized at some point that I had a bunch of Hindi songs good enough to be released, and decided to put them out in the form of an EP. Some of the songs on it are totally new, and some others are ones that I’ve sort of put out on the internet in the form of live videos on Youtube,” he says about his upcoming EP. Songs such as “Chahe Ya Na Chahe” put him in the same league as Mumbai rocker Ankur Tewari. “I’m very excited about it, I’ve put a lot of effort into the arrangements and the recordings so hope fully after it’s mixed and mastered it will sound incredible,” he adds. 

Escape Plan: As part of his collective, Kuhad is joined by Vir Singh Brar on percussions and Sahil Warsi on double-bass. With Warsi off to Berklee now, Kuhad says he’s currently on the lookout for a new bassist. Though equally adept at playing the ukelele, drums, bass and harmonica, Kuhad adds that he will be seen at Naukuchiatal with just his guitar. “I have a very minimal setup with me on the guitar and vocals and Vir on the djembe. All the songs that I’ll be playing are written and composed by me. About half of them will be with Vir and the rest are solos with me on vocals and guitar. I’ll be playing a few new English songs that I wrote recently. I’ll also be playing a couple of songs that are going to be on the upcoming Hindi EP,” he says.

Watch This: Kuhad’s fingerstyle guitar picking technique is likely to add to his showmanship on stage. “I first heard Andy Mckee when I was around 18, so I’ve been listening to this percussive guitar technique on and off since then. The only song I’ve used this technique on is “Raat Raazi”, and when I was writing the song, more than anything else, I felt that the song just demanded it. So I incorporated some percussion into it. I’m not an expert in playing this style at all, so it’s very minimal, but I think it accents the song very well,” he says. Watch “Raat Raazi” here

  

Rounak Maiti

Rounak Maiti

Who: Rounak Maiti

What: Mumbai singer-songwriter Rounak Maiti is currently pursuing an undergrad course at a liberal arts school in Los Angeles, where he plays for a college band called Campus Security. “We’re trying to get some stuff released by the end of this year. After college, I’m considering taking a year off and working on my music for a little while, to see where it can go,” he says. Barely 17, Maiti is a self-taught musician who has dabbled with drums and piano besides the guitar. 

In the works: “I don’t have any solid plans for a release yet, mostly because I’ve just been posting whatever I make as it’s ready on Facebook and SoundCloud. But recently, I’ve been thinking of album names, some album art, and a small tracklist I might possibly release online. Counting everything that I’ve released, I would say as many as there are available (for free!) online, which is around 12-14. I have lots of covers though, because they were exclusively all I played live before,” he says. 

Escape Plan: Maiti, who confesses he hasn’t played a “legitimate gig” in more than a year (the last was at the Gig Week festival in Delhi in 2011) will showcase his solo material when he performs on the concluding day of Escape festival. “People can probably expect to hear live renditions of songs I haven’t played to an audience before. The set’s going to include two covers as well,” he says. Kuhad, who performs on day 2 of the festival will also join Maiti on stage. “Most of it will be solo, but for playing some of my newer songs which are not just instrument and voice, Prateek is going to provide some accompaniment on the guitar,” he adds.  

Spin This: Maiti’s soulful, raw vocals have a distinct quality that fit his easy melodies. “I draw influences from several of my favorite artists to try and make simple, melodic folk/pop songs. I used to go with a barebones voice-and-guitar thing when I was just getting started on writing, but I’m beginning to incorporate a lot more lately, like this keyboard/synth I bought online ”” a BlipTronic, which is a kind of simple melody sequencer, production effects and harmonies,” he says. Listen to  “Cleveland” by Maiti here:

 

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