They’re mad, quirky, funny and extremely talented. You can love them or hate them, but you can’t ignore them. Live Banned, the “local” lads from Bangalore are back to hog the limelight with a bang, and this time with their debut album that seems equally mad - If You park here Your Tyre Will be Air Out .
Comprising Amrit Rao on vocals, Sridhar Varadarajan on guitars, Siddhart Kamath on keyboard, Dheerendra Doss on drums and Raveesh Tirkey on the bass, the crazy costume-clad, wig-wearing band is popular for their signature ‘Putting It’ style of satirising, restructuring and twisting music in bold, flamboyant and energetic riffs.
Taking time out during their post-launch three-city album tour, the five-member Indo-International mass music band says the idea for the album came on their way back to Bangalore from a gig in Mumbai last December. “While thinking of a name for it, Sridhar suggested this name based on a sign we had seen in in Basavanagudi outside a kebab joint. The name stuck because it had Live Banned written all over it since it was quirky and long, giving it a good recall value. There is no real meaning to it in terms of a theme but if you look deeper, there is a message in it for everyone,” says Amrit.
The album, which is a reflection of their hard work and journey so far, is full of social commentary, satire, South Indianised English, and features an eclectic range of songs, including the hilarious ‘Death Dance’, ‘Bloody Roads’ and their popular vent on autos ‘The Auto Tune’.
Looking back, they recall that they’ve come quite far and gained much ground since they formed in 2010. “Our first live gig was in June 2011. We’ve done close to 130 gigs so far. Initially we found it difficult to find people who are open to comedy and parody in music. We were doing mash-ups since the Bangalore scene had bands doing covers and we wanted to be different,” says Dheeru. Amrit adds: “It was a risk that we took with our style. It would either be a superhit or a big flop. We wanted to entertain ourselves, have fun and get people to join us. Entertainment was the main reason why we formed this band. It’s paid off and we are happy it worked out.”
Formed to mark a kind of protest against the banning of live band gigs at that time, the journey for Live Banned is all laid out in the album, says Dheeru. Amrit pitches in: “Personally it’s been a great journey. We’ve learnt a lot from each other.” Sridhar adds that “We discover more about ourselves musically every day. We would have been far more ordinary if it wasn’t for this band.” Amrit sums up: We’ve been able to surprise ourselves in every gig and every song. Without the originals, the album would not have happened. People will take us more seriously now.”
“We didn’t need to be mad,” says the band. “It was the natural us. Nothing that we do is an act. We ‘put it’ naturally after we randomly picked wigs and costumes for our first gig.”
Amrit points out that Bangalore lacked a comedy-parody act at that time. “That is how we’ve positioned ourselves as a band and that is our USP.”
On the independent music scene in Bangalore, they say there are too many venues. “Bangalore is still laid back and there is a need to support independent live gigs. However, we know it will work out. we wouldn’t be where we are now otherwise.”
Looking ahead, Live Banned plans to do more festivals and expand their horizon. “We are fulltime musicians and we adapt ourselves to what’s around us. Our target is the aam aadmi . We will do a lot more YouTube videos, which are quite popular among our following already, and collaborate with other bands as well.”
To upcoming bands, they say: “Believe in what you do. Don’t give up. Try to reinvent yourselves. Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly.” Amrit sums up: “Above it all, just Put It.”
