Introducing the Turbine....briefly.

The past few months have been a blur. Not just because of all the hallucinogens but with the number of shows and the kind of response we've been getting. We've not said no to any gig, except for the ones at malls or the "battle of the bands". We weren't at NITK for the same reason. So what have we been up to?

Well, to start with we had our first out-station gig in January. Pondicherry was kind enough to accommodate us in their hearts and festivities. So we headed down to the lovely city in our beloved Turbine. We drove down overnight, doing stupidities such as turning off the headlights on the newly constructed Hosur Rd. fly-over at about 100km/h and loosing our way and doing about 50kms more than necessary. What really took the cake was taking a turn onto the wrong side of the road, unintentionally of course, while the Turbine roared to 120km/h while we all sat in the car wondering why everyone else was going in the opposite direction. Yes, death was a probability, but it hovered over the head of a little kitten that ran right under our wheels. An extreme sadness took over us at that time.

The sun came to our rescue and cheered us up. We stopped randomly just to watch the sun rise. All night long we listened to the newly discovered Krautrock and post-rock bands that tripped us out with all that smoke. Pondicherry was a very welcoming city. With people lined up at the side of the highway, their bare behinds sticking out and screaming SHIT! at anyone who passed by.

Pondy was a delightful city. Bright, chirpy and all smiles. People are generally open-minded and happy. The Government is open-minded and happy. They don't frown upon things like women going into a bar in the afternoon to grab a beer. At the same time, they have their problems too but they treat life the way life should be - a peaceful fiesta for the mind and soul.

After a visit to Qualithe Inn with a few of our friends who traveled there to support the event, a few drinks down(taquila is 35bucks a shot!!), a smoke on beach road. We met up Pk's parents for more drinks and eventually lunch.

By late evening, we were absolutely wired from the lack of sleep, all that alcohol and smoke. It was the right time to get on stage.

When we got to the Beach Road we saw how huge the festival really was! 4 HUGE stages! each catering to its own audience. It looked like the entire city plus a shit load of tourists were there, for music, for fun, for the lights, for the entertainment and for freedom.

The stage was great. the sound set-up was crazy. All those who were there making the show possible were there because they love music. old music, new music, fresh music, stale music. They loved everyone who loved music as well.

Our return to Bangalore was marked with a show with Lounge Piranha and Sulk Station. This was called upon by the generous people at Lounge Piranha and Unwind Center. We dutifully thank Lounge for trying to give us a boost in the music scene and apologies for any inconvenience we caused that day. Although sulk has some insane material, they could do a lot more live, not just with the stage presence but with the music as well.

February kept us busy. It was the busiest month we've had so far I guess. With Our first gig invitation from Kyra but our first gig was an acoustic set at 64, a lazy loungy homely bar.

The acoustic set was apt. A few of us from the band had just returned from a peace trip to Gokarna on Maha Shivratri. There was a party on the beach for Valentines day as well and unlike the commercial V-Day that we see in Bangalore, this was just a gathering of people, sitting around a huge fire and singing and playing songs and everyone was there to celebrate the concept of love. Not give each other roses or greeting cards.

64 feels great. Its homely and has a big blue door that is shut after you enter. The sound system is very basic and there was no drum kit, so we brought out Adi's shiny new Djembe. 64 was kind enough to let us put up art on their walls and windows and every corner we could find. So we filled up the place with paintings by Pia Rajendran and a few photographs by Adi and Pk.

Kyra asked us to perform on a Thursday. We picked the last Thursday, just so that we have time to prepare a lot more. The stage at Kyra has been good to us, if not the hospitality. We get great sound and also get to do a lot of interesting things especially since the stage was designed to cater to more than one need. So we decided to bring out the big guns. New music, new visuals, we dressed up for the stage and Anand even wore a hat. But we wished we were dealing with people and not corporates when we deal with Kyra. Rajeev is a good man with a great vision, hence Kyra. Its supposed to be a place that promotes music. I don't know what omen rests upon them that they've left many bands who've performed there with a bad after-taste.

Nevertheless, the music, the visuals, the lasers, the lights, the sound and all the preparations paid off at Kyra.We had a great time and Shimrei gave us excellent sound.

Next up, was what felt like a private show to us. We climbed two floors to a very red Suberbia which was quite packed with all our friends. It was a fun show, very simple and although the acoustics aren't the greatest, the company was really worth it. It was awesome to have a smoke on the terrace with practically everybody who'd dropped in, then go down and play songs for the same people. The lines between smokes and jams got blurred that we were sitting upstairs with an acoustic guitar smoking and jamming with everyone standing around by the end of the night. Even the poster the designed for the event was kick ass!

Through all of these shows, we have reached out to more people. We've discovered a lot more music and have made many more friends. But whats been surprising is that at every show we find someone new and totally unexpected coming up to tell us they had a good time and somehow that seems to be a great consolation to everything that isn't working for us.

What we have in store for us in march is very unclear. We're always looking to do something new, so take a chance and send out any ideas you have.

Peace and love!