INDIE MUSIC BANDS GO QUIRKY WITH THEIR NAMES

INDIE MUSIC BANDS GO QUIRKY WITH THEIR NAMES





From defunct cinema halls to horror films, independent Indian rock band names are getting crazy and imaginative

SHKABANG

This electro-pop group stars playback singer Anushka Manchanda, Shiraz Bhattacharya, Pozy Dhar and Papal Mane.

Game behind the name: Says Anushka, “We wanted a name that bounced, was fun and didn't stick to any genre. I was going bang, bang, boom, pop, blah blah and a friend suggested Shkabang.“

MADBOY MINK

Popular for their high-on-energy performances, this duo comprises singer-guitarist Imaad Shah, son of Naseeruddin Shah, and singeractress Saba Azad.

Game behind the name: These cat-loving artistes are individually known as Madboy (Imaad) and Mink (Saba), which are also their nicknames. While Madboy is a pun on Imaad's name, Mink is a kind of ragdoll cat.

THE SKA VENGERS

This ensemble ska band was formed in 2009.

Game behind the name: It works on two fronts, incorporating their genre of music (ska) and also punning on the term scavengers.

GODS ROBOTS

It is a collaboration between Mumbai-based vocalist ShriiK (Shridevi Keshavan) and San Francisco-based electronic music producer Janaka Selekta (Janaka Atugoda).

Game behind the name: “Most of our music was made over the internet in the virtual space,“ says Shridevi. And so came the electronic-meets-creative tag.

REVERRSE POLARITY

This progressive hardcore band has gained both commercial and critical acclaim over the years. The line-up of this five-piece group includes Gaurav Kataria, Jordan Veigas, Gautam Deb, Sameer Suri and Shikhar Manchanda (the brother of singer Anushka Manchanda).

Game behind the name: Says vocalist Gaurav Kataria, “Reverrse Polarity is the final power of Magnus in DOTA, a roleplaying computer game. The band name stands for a collective charge that dominated all aspects of our lives; our objective is to `reverrse' charge these and attain neutrality.“ Deep!

GANESH TALKIES

The four-member band from Kolkata is the dance music cousin of Bollywood via Indian indie.

Game behind the name: A defunct movie hall they used for a photo shoot that stands in their beloved city, Kolkata that has become a landmark over the years. It also signifies their brand of kitschy and uptempo music and filminspired videos.

THE LIGHTYEARS EXPLODE

They incline more towards punk pop and is angst and pop-oriented.

Game behind the name: `The Light Years' came from the Hollywood animated movie Toy Story and the boys decided it would sound cool if they added `Explode' to it.

LIVE BANNED

Satire, mash-up and crazy costumes are the mainstay of this Bengaluru-based indie band that will be playing at The New Wave indie and punk music festival in Goa this November.

Game behind the name: The band thrives on puns, even for their songs. Auto Tune is about rickshaw drivers. Naturally, the . group couldn't help putting an obvious pun in their name too.

JEKYLL AND HYDE

This Bengaluru-based garage rock outfit is a fast riser on the indie band ranks.

Game behind the name: Interestingly, the name doesn't come from the iconic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde book by Robert Louis Stevenson. Says lead guitarist Kaushik Shekar, “I was seeing a bunch of guitar pedals with our rhythm guitarist Anant (Sharma). We saw a distortion effects pedal called Jekyll & Hyde.“

VICEVERSA

Bangalore-based music producer Manas Ullas, Mumbai-based musician P-Man aka Rohit Pereira and indie rockstar Sidd Coutto complete the electronica trio.

Game behind the name: Says P-Man, “Our journey is also about finding new sounds and, along the way, a lot of jugglery of beats and pauses, highs and lows, words and silences -straight up or ViceVersa!“ This explains why their sets draw influences from dubstep, drum n' bass, rock n' roll to hip hop and breakbeat for a sound that could be described as desi Prodigy.