In the series of interviews with Bands in Nagpur city, we present to you ‘Genesis’ - the music group. This group not only has a unique band which goes by the same name but also they are involved in organizing full fledged events involving Music and Dance ‘Audio-Visual’ extravaganzas. They have performed as a band in various band contests held in the city and have also organized their individual gigs based on themes such as Patriotism and Fusion Music in various concert halls in the city.
‘Genesis’ – The Band
Band Members
Lead Guitar – Aman Moroney
Base Guitar – Vivek Pimputkar
Keyboards – Aditya Bhandakkar
Drums – Shantanu Velhekar , Piyush Pande
Tabla – Sachin Wankhede
Vocals - Saurabh Dhamne, Radhika Kaple, Devika Dev, Satchit Karkare
Q: When and how did ‘Genesis’ form?
(Everybody in unison) 17th May 2008 to be exact. (Aman) After our 12th std exams we had a lot of time before colleges would start so a couple of friends came together and decided to utilize the time to do something creative. We decided to present our own show which would involve music, singing and dancing. That’s how ‘Genesis’ came into being. My elder brother, Aniruddha, was an inspiration because he had formed a similar group a couple of years back.
Q: How did you come with the name ‘Genesis’?
(Radhika) We had 4 options to choose from when we were deciding on the Group Name. So we did a poll amongst the group. ‘Genesis’ means creation or beginning and appealed to almost everyone in the group.
Q: Is there any particular genre of music that you make/play?
(Aman) Though we have performed in Band contests as a ‘Rock’ band our main genre of music is ‘Fusion Music’. Ours vocalists/singers are training in Hindustani and Karnatic classical music while the musicians are training in western classical music. So we try and work on fusing Shatriya Raaga based Bandish/songs with western classical music.
Q: Where have you performed till date?
Q: Your favorite Indian/Foreign artists/ bands or songs.
(Vivek) ‘Metallica’, ‘Iron Maiden’, ‘Porcupine Tree’, ‘Cold Play’ are our favorite foreign bands. Our favorite Indian band is ‘Shakti’. We also listen to pure Indian classical music including Hindustani as well as karnatic classical music.
Q: What binds you all together?
(Aman) We come from various backgrounds. We have got people who are studying Engineering, Architecture, Medicine, Chartered Accountancy etc. But each and every one of us is very passionate about music. We understand each other well and also know our strengths and weaknesses. Love for Music binds us all together. (Devika)It’s been more than 2 yrs since we formed this group, so we are emotionally attached to each other.That keeps us going. (Mayura) All we can say is, we all come together and form a symphony.
Q: What is the environment for rock bands in Nagpur? What change if any would you like to see in the Nagpur Audience?
A lot of new rock bands have come up in Nagpur. There are lots of talented people involved in these bands. A few bands also compose their own music. But most of the bands just play original rock numbers without adding or fusing anything new from their side. The Nagpur audience is very appreciative of Rock Music but they are a little apprehensive about fusion music. But things are improving, we are getting really good support when we perform on stage. There are limited numbers of recording studios in Nagpur. So bands that want to record and showcase their music have to go to Pune and Mumbai to get the job done which may turn a little costly. We need more recording studios in Nagpur.
Q: Some memorable moments, Awards, Disappointments, goof-ups.
(Aman) We did our first show ‘Vande Mataram’ on 13th of August and we got such good response that we were asked to perform the same show again on 15th of August by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation officers. That was a memorable moment. (Radhika) The ‘Raaga to Rock’ Concert that we did in Vasantrao Deshpande hall was another memorable moment. (Satchit) We did a show just after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and got lots of appreciation. (Aman) If we talk about goof ups, there are many, but to talk about one I will mention an incident where while performing a dance, my trousers were torn and I had to perform the whole dance holding my trousers with one hand!
Q: Do you have a profile on the social networking sites where you post your updates regularly?
We have a community in ‘Orkut’ as well as ‘Facebook’ where we discuss and post our updates. We have also uploaded our performance videos on Youtube. So if anyone is interested , they can join these communities and also watch our videos online.
Genesis Facebook community:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105773456133576
Q: What are you currently working upon?
We are currently working on a new and improved version of ‘Raaga to Rock’ concert. In this concert we will showcase fusion of Classical Raaga based Bandish/songs with western classical music. We are planning to do this concert sometime in the third week of August. We hope that people will like it.
So, this was ‘Genesis’ - a new and emerging music group from our Nagpur city. They are planning for a new concert soon. We will keep you posted about the Venue and the exact date of the concert.
All the Best to Genesis!
