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January 18, 2010 04:17 pm | Updated December 02, 2016 08:55 pm IST

19 MP Band

19 MP Band

BAND NAME : Public Issue

FORMED: 2005

WHAT THEY CALL IT: “We don't know! The music composes itself... We just add the funkin garnish!”

LINE-UP: Nipun Nair (lead guitar), Christopher Stanley (vocals), Handel (bass guitar), Vinay Ramakrishnan (drums)

THE ROAD SO FAR: Public issue was formed when guitarist Nipun Nair proposed the idea, along with bassist Vinodh ‘Tibu' Rubin. “Scouting for a drummer, and a vocalist, we roped in classmate Vinay, and complete whack job Christopher Stanley! Together, we discovered an unreal chemistry that seemed to identify with our style,” recalls Nipun.

Seven months later, Public Issue was seen competing on a national stage. “That surely gave us a taste of the limelight we were thirsting for. Having finished second runner up in the national Campus Rock Idols competition, and south zone winners in DSP Rockilution, Pi had come a long way.”

Yes, they abbreviate their band name to Pi. Once Handel replaced Tibu as the bassist, the band got a fresh feel and a reworked set-list. The band has a record of winning Best Band and Best Guitarist for three years in a row and Best Bassist and Best Drummer twice at Ovations (2005 to 2007). Nipun also won Best Guitarist for two years in a row at Underground 2006 and 2007.

Pi was chosen to perform at June Rock Out, Chennai, in 2007 and 2009, and won the IIM Bangalore B-School of Rock in September 2009.

Their last big gig was at the Hard Rock Café, Bangalore, in October 2009.

MUSIC: Pi has carved out a new genre for themselves they can't seem to coin a name for! Ask them what they play, and all you get is: “It's not a definition... it's an experience!”

“Ours is a ridiculously unexplainable genre. We like twisting the simple stuff, ‘groovifying' the time signatures and ‘funkifying' it in its entirety,” says self-taught guitarist Nipun, known for his jazz licks, funk grooves and jaw-dropping solos.

Christopher Stanley, the versatile vocalist and primary lyricist of the band, often tickles the crowd with his improvised comic acts while Handel contributes a unique eclectic feel to their music. Drummer Vinay, who worships Mike Portnoy and the Liquid Tension Experiment, plays funk for the band.

SAMPLE THEM AT: http://www.reverbnation.

com/publicissue

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