MUSIC SPECIAL ........METAL: THE REVIVAL

MUSIC SPECIAL METAL: THE REVIVAL

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Mumbai’s metal music scene has got a shot in the arm, with new, regular gigs at various venues. But in the times of EDM, can it survive?

Last month, a high-on-energy gig took place at Cult Lounge in Belapur, Navi Mumbai. City-based bands like Primitiv and Abstruse performed at the third edition of Black Blood. Metalheads moshed like there was no tomorrow. Some bled, some fell down, some fell on the stage. All in all, a successful metal concert. Black Blood 3 is one of a handful of new metal-only music properties in Mumbai. Hard Rock Café (the Worli outlet) now dedicates the last Sunday of each month to metal. Social, Khar, features the genre exclusively in its basement venue, Anti Social.

Jay Singh, co–founder and executive director, JSM Corporation (they run Hard Rock Café), reckons there’s demand: “It’s a genre with a lot of passionate fans. We wanted to give them a place. I see it filling a void in our local music space.” Evidently, they’re not the only ones.

THE DECLINE

In 2012, underground venue, B69, in Andheri, shut its doors. Metal fans mourned the loss of their favourite, most dedicated space for hard rock. Himanshu Vaswani, business head, Bajaao Entertainment (the events arm of online musical instruments retailer, Bajaoo.com), recalls, “There was literally just a stage and enough place for people to stand in there. People could walk in dressed however they wanted. B69 had hosted over a hundred shows.” It was a death blow for metal.

For most other genres of music, demand leads to supply, and venues are quick to adapt their programming to match whatever is the current trend. It’s hardly surprising then that every other restaurant, pub and live music space today has a heavy dose of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in their line-up. The rise and rise of EDM was a big blow to all other genres. Unlike rock, it makes for easy listening; it doesn’t require actual instruments; or lyrics. Besides, EDM is cheaper to produce, and more profitable for organisers. And as India emerged as a top global market for EDM festivals, city venues lost no time in catering to the masses.

IT’S BACK. REALLY?

Despite stiff competition from the now-mammoth EDM scene, metal is slowly but surely resurfacing. In May, Anti Social and Bajaao Entertainment joined hands to launch Roots — a gig series that showcases metal bands once a month. June saw Mumbai’s original death metal festival, Domination — The Deathfest (first launched in 2000, revived in 2013) return to the city after having been in Hyderabad for a year.

Vaswani, of Bajaao, reckons the internet gave metal bands the platform they’d lost in the physical world. “It became easier to find an audience who still liked the same music you do. Getting the word out was simpler.”

As the fan base was revived, it was time to test waters. Last year, Bajaao revived B69 as BIG69, a two-day metal festival at Richardson & Cruddas, Byculla. Over 2,000 people showed up on each day. If proof was needed of whether metal could still sell tickets, this was it.

More gigs means more opportunities for new bands to cut their teeth. And more variety for music lovers.

MORE GUNS, LESS ROSES

But in the case of rock or metal, the impact of the music is in live performances, unlike pop or EDM, that you could still enjoy on headphones. That makes the availability of venues critical. Plus, finances are a problem, as the demographic of metal fans is usually college students and professionals in their early twenties. Social’s culture manager, Sumit Vaswani, says, “We get a younger audience at Roots. We sold tickets for the first two editions at `500, but then had to slash it to `300.” Venues seem to have realised that there’s an audience. It’s not mainstream, like it was a decade ago. But it’s there, and it might grow. Irrespective of how things pan out, we’re just glad there’s an alternative to the standard-issue, lyric-less EDM.

SAHIL MAKHIJA aka Demonstealer, of Demonic Resurrection and Reptilian Death, on the progress and problems of the indie metal scene Over the past few years, I have noticed the metal scene grow in smaller cities — more bands and more shows are happening in places like Kochi and Jaipur. They are usually sporadic and tend to be DIY gigs (which means no sponsors), but it’s starting to happen. Fifteen years ago, who would have thought of a metal show in Kochi? Look at The Down Troddence — they are from Kannur in Kerala. The members of Chaos, too, are from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Today, these bands have music videos and albums out.”

ON DECLINING ALBUM SALES

When I see an album being sold in Europe for €20 (approx `1,500) and the same album priced at `120 in India, I feel really bad for the artist. Music sales are dismal. In the internet era, music has become extremely accessible. But there is no excuse as a music lover to not buy music. The CD format may be obsolete and most may not own a CD player, but there are so many options to stream music today. One part of the problem is that kids, today, don’t put a value on music. Their parents probably never bought a CD. They might have asked him/her to download a movie/TV show for them. They are never taught that it’s not okay to steal.

MONEY MATTERS

I curate Metal Mania for Hard Rock Café. As of now, Hard Rock Café is breaking even. But the minute it stops to make financial sense, every venue, be it Hard Rock Café or Anti Social, will pull back. India, on the whole, lacks a culture of going out for live music. Barring our metro cities, there’s not enough live entertainment — be it music or stand-up comedy. At a national level, for the scene to be sustainable, it will take 50 more years.

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