Inception: Humble Beginings - The Tapes

Van Nuys, Los Angeles, 1991.

A small dilapidated studio named “Sound City” is about to become an iconic image in the world of sound engineering,  as 3 young kid from Aberdeen, Seattle record their first record. Later that year, that album would go on to sell 30 million copies worldwide and even displace Michael Jackson on the Billboard top 200 chart. The band is Nirvana and the album is their debut record titled “Nevermind”. Despite the albums mass acclaim, very few people know that the entire album was recorded on analog mixers and tapes.

Watching Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City, 22 years later, gave us a fresh perspective on the type of music we would be focusing on. Being predominantly an old school grunge band with Nirvana as a major influence, we wanted a name that would encompass all the attributes this genre possesses.  Hence, “The Tapes” was born as an ode to the lost era when recordings were done via audio tapes.

Everything started off on a fateful Sunday when I met our drummer Rico in a tattoo parlor. We started chatting about music and I was intrigued when he told me he was a drummer. Simultaneously, another local band called “Angst” were relatively well established within the city, performing in numerous colleges fests and other events on a regular basis. However, never having a steady drummer, they were deliberating on whether or not to dissolve the band. The first time I heard of this dilemma they faced, I told them about the tattoo parlour meeting and the fact that I knew a drummer and if they would like me to talk to him about joining. After very little convincing  and a quick jam session, Angst played and came second in a battle of the bands which was held at Park, with Rico behind the kit and with me as an audience member. They played an original called “Tripping on you” which is the first song ever composed with the new drummer.

After Angst finally dissolved, the guitarist left leaving only 3 members of what was Angst and Rico.

 At that moment a new band was formed:  A 4 piece named “The Tapes”, the primary focus of which would be to create music along the lines of Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and Foo Fighters and essentially making Old School Grunge and Indie music. After multiple jam sessions, the band had made almost 6 OC’s. It was nearly 2 months later that I joined.

Not having another guitarist made the band sound dry and in need of adding another layer to the songs. After much thought they decided to get me in and asked me to join. I instantly agreed, having spoken to Rico multiple times in the past about joining. The first song I jammed with them was cosmopolitan and I fell in love with the band, the music and the messy (yet cozy) jam pad instantly. Breaking away from conventional music styles and trying to mould according to the music we were trying to make took a while, but eventually I felt that I had done justice to the band. The first song we composed with the present line up was Mama Told me and remains one of my favorites to this day.

So there you have it, the humble beginnings of our band. We still continue to jam in Hari’s bedroom and Hari’s bedroom still continues to be messy. We wouldn't have it any other way. I’ll wrap up this particularly lengthy post by saying that the future is uncertain but good music and loads of exciting gigs are certain.

The THC Bomb (Re-uploaded)

DISCLAIMER: The author does not advocate the use of any narcotic substances mentioned in the following text. All references used for entertainment purposes only.

In one of the largest and most covert operations the world has ever seen, a multinational collaboration has been at work for the past 13 years. Started off in late 2000, the aim of this venture, named aptly as "Operation Rolling-Paper", is to observe the effects of total and absolute peace and harmony over a large area and population. This risky operation has no possible predictions as to its outcomes and the only reason it was taken up was after the prompt made to preserve the future of mankind. The last 20 years have led to a widespread destruction of pasture land and the overpopulation of the world’s major cities has led to the waging of enormous scale warfare for the procurement of resources.Hence in an attempt to preserve humanity, a group of researchers from the US government started work on a project so expensive and secretive, it plunged many of the participating nations into recession.
The idea behind operation rolling paper is simple.  Being conducted over a host city, researchers will attempt to detonate a bomb of such epic proportions that its effect can be felt within a radius of almost 1500 square miles. The aim is to unleash enormous amounts of energy by splitting the THC molecule and hence release the power within. Rather than annihilating everything in the vicinity, the split aims at spreading the contents of the molecule and thus allowing every human being to imbibe copious amounts of THC directly into their bloodstream.In other words, every soul within a 1500 mile radius will be stoned out of their skull. It was set to be dropped on one of the most violent cities in the world.
On D-Day, all 8.8 million unsuspecting residents of Mexico City were going about their daily routine, completely oblivious to their impending fate. Dropped from an altitude of 30000 feet, the T bomb was set to detonate 500 feet above ground zero in order to maximize the effect. The nuclear payload of the bomb was 300 Kilotons of TNT. That’s almost 10 times more than the payload seen at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. When seen in perspective (taking into consider the payload and ground area), the equivalent is jamming 300 TNT sticks into a Nutella Jar. It never ends too well for the Nutella jar.

An inconspicuous team of almost 2000 undercover operatives equipped with gas masks patrolled the streets, ready to account for every phenomenon that was about to take place.
At 10:10am, local time, the THC bomb was detonated exactly as instructed. Once it detonated, a huge mushroom cloud of dense white smoke filled every nook and cranny of the city. The gas masked observers would later recount the scene as being absolute mayhem for the next 2 minutes. People wandered around in shock covering their nose and mouth unable to see even 2 feet in front of them. After a couple of minutes of fumbling around covering their mouths and noses, they eventually succumbed and started taking in the concentrated THC fumes. The effect was instantaneous. Shoulders dropped, eyes reddened and 8.8 million stopped what they were doing and simply traveled through their own time and space.

Reggae music was blaring from every speaker in the city and the amount of hysterical laughter that was heard was unbelievable.
As the effect of the THC was seen taking place, one thing became clear. Since the history of civilization, this was the first time so many people were completely at harmony with one another. A quarrel was the last thing on anyone’s mind and even the petty criminals and elite class of business folk were seen tripping out together. Even the most notorious infants stopped their wailing and mellowed out, much to the relief of their mothers. This moment marked an unprecedented milestone in the pages of history and would be remembered for years to come. However, it would not be remembered as the day peace prevailed. No. It would be remembered as the day that the world’s largest riot took place and looting was at its highest.
Although the scientists, with all their laureates and accolades, presumed that the impact of operation Rolling-Paper would be a positive one, they forgot to take into account one simple equation: The devastation that 8.8 million cases of munchies can cause.
Mexico,, with its deficiency of food and high majority of the population below the poverty line, clearly has limited resources. As the high of its inhabitants wore off and the munchies kicked in 7 hours later, it turned the (till recently) peaceful city into a war zone. Reports showed that no shops were spared. No food item was shown mercy. It was a feeding frenzy as everyone tried to satiate their uncontrollable hunger. A group of organised criminals even used their expertise to break into the local Doritos manufacture plant and loot the entire factory.Parched throats resulted in depletion of most of the clean water reserves running dry. As a result, unhygienic water from local bores and streams was consumed, resulting in a considerable number of fatalities.
Other side effects of operation rolling paper included red eye syndrome. Future generations and the offspring of the victims also suffered from red eye syndrome and this has in turn converted even the small scale eye drop manufacturing companies into a monopoly in the pharmaceutical world.
However, when asked about the trauma they faced, the victims gave a blank stare and replied that it was the best day of their life. Looks like life in Mexico City will never be the same again.

Read between the strings - The Tapes

                             

It was during a fortuitous concert in 2005, when the overwhelming drive to play music first appealed to me. It was just a local school band performing that night; a group of messy 16 year olds belting out cover after cover. I then realized that as much as the audience is a part of the music, I found that its creator had a more profound share in its glory.

I had a first-hand taste of the same feeling when I first played on stage. The first song I played with a band was the Bob Dylan classic, “Knocking on Heavens Door”, which was later made popular by GnR. I still get that feeling to this day and I continue to see it in the faces of anyone performing any sort of art on stage. For me, it’s the feeling of absolute control. It’s a euphoria that forces you into submission and yet enables you to be in absolute control of the crowd, of yourself and the thousands of Watts of pure energy blaring from the amp.

Joining The Tapes gave me loads of distinct moments, few of which I remember more vividly than the rest. We had our first gig at IIT-Hyderabad to a crowd of around 150 people. Being our first one, we got a general sense of our standard, shortcomings and what remedies needed to take place. 

The second gig was naturally even better. It was at Durgam Chervu Lake and featured 5 other bands. That night was a just a blur of lights, sound and copious amounts of Red Bull. 

The third one was the day right after the the Durgam Chervu gig and was in Rain. It was a qualifying battle for IIT Kharagpur. After a brilliant performance, we started thinking that this could actually go somewhere. That’s when we realized that every musician’s dream of playing at Hard Rock Café was, with proper prep, not too distant.

We finally got our first big gig at Tooth and Nail Production’s “Indie Night”, at Lost Society. One thing that stood out to me at that gig was that at this point the whole band had come to a state wherein particularly OUR music became second nature to us. There wasn’t much need for thought when it just flowed naturally through your fingers, leaving all your attention on giving a good show visually too. This was no doubt the product of countless hours of practice and a keen eye for detail, which no doubt Rico made sure we inculcated.

 All our hard work  had finally come full circle true when I woke up to a mail from the manager of Hard Rock’s marketing and events asking us to share the bands availability for a headlining slot at Hard Rock on the 20^th of March. This was by far our best one till date. What a gig! The crowd, the energy, the screaming, the applause, the lights and especially the encore all made it a surreal experience.

As I write this on the 21^st, from the comfort of my bedroom, I realized something. It takes time, but it looks like the big guy upstairs eventually does give in to your aspirations.

The curious case of Pandu and his radioactive rooster - The Tapes

Back in September of 2013, the band was ready to record it's first EP. The culmination of 3 months hard work was ready to be shown to the world. However, the only thing hindering this ambition from being realized was the fact that we were flat out broke. Recording is a serious business, one which studios tend to capitalize upon and charge as much as possible depending on how well equipped their particular studio was. 

But a few phone calls later, we discovered a reasonably well furbished studio for a good price  capable of catering to a live band. Thus began the journey of The Tapes.

The studio was located in a tiny corner within Iskon Temple in Secunderabad. That's right. It was actually a small room within the confines of the temple walls. This studio came with a tiny hobbit-like sound engineer named Pandu Ranga or as we liked to call him, "PD Sir". 

The studio was a tiny little place but still felt quite cozy. The walls were adorned with photos of various deities which made us reluctant to curse. You can imagine how difficult this was for a band especially when the tensions of recording and making everything perfect were high.

The atmosphere created by our loud cymbals and heavy riffs when juxtaposed against the bhajans being sung hardly 20 meters away in the pooja hall made the entire situation quite surreal. 

As we started talking with PD about himself and his work, we realized 2 things. His occupation of recording devotional songs for the temple was his entire life. Also, the poor guy had no friends. The second fact is not something I fabricated out of spite or any other malicious intention. He himself told us that he preferred the company of his laptop and his movies rather than human interaction. 

That night I had the craziest dream ever. The next day in college I couldn't help but write it down. Here is, in all it's glory, the poem of Pandu and his radioactive rooster. 

Deep in the secluded corner in the haven of iskon,

Was a pariah named Pandu with friends long gone.

Through day and night over his cauldron he bent,

Trying to concoct comrades to whom he meant.

A pinch of moral and a dash of benevolence,

He fabricated a recipe which made no sense.

The batter was thick with fumes to choke,

As PD tried his best to clear the smoke.

It cleared up and held a sight to see,

a radioactive rooster till the height of his knee.

As he stared at what lay before his eyes,

The rooster attacked and stifled his cries.

A friend in need is a friend indeed,

But the fate of poultry has done its deed.

As blood spread over the studio floor,

There lay Pandu with life no more.

Deep in the secluded corner in the haven of iskon,

Was a radioactive rooster and a man long gone.

What and why.

11/03/14
Unravelling myself, music and everything in between.
I am an ardent believer that most spontaneous and potentially life changing ideas have their genesis in 2 places: The shower and late night insomniac introspection. Life altering ideas and decisions seldom occur during any other time. My spontaneous decision to start a blog happened as an exception to this rule.  It occurred as the result of the frustration I felt in not making any productive progress in the arduous task of achieving the goals  my college has meticulously planned out for me. As it turns out, listening in class is one of these goals.. One that I feel I am not doing justice to.
This blog is my honest attempt at filling the void created by mundane activities such as (in my opinion)  learning the difference between the various internet protocols, how a linker differs from a compiler etc.
I've also been meaning to start a blog for a long time but was never struck by the particular stroke if inspiration  that hit me today.  Hopefully I won't restrict my blogging to a few topics but rather branch out in a attempt to unravel a plethora of thoughts as seen through my eyes. It also gives a glimpse of me and what lays BEYOND the grapevine as opposed to the distorted  reality you may hear about me THROUGH grapevine.
I also hope that the inspiration that manifests itself in me today feels benevolent enough to  accompany me throughout the next few posts.
With that, I leave you with 2 things.  "Through the grapevine", my first blog and the promise that the subsequent posts won't be as dry as this one.
 More posts soon.