04Jalandhar, Wednesday, December 26, 2012

variety

Nirmika Singh■ nirmika.singh@hindustantimes.com

If you’ve been festival hopping or been clued in tothe indie music scene, youmight have noticed the

increase in the number ofreggae bands and gigs lately.

Even though the genre hasnever been out of fashion —invariably every pop–rockband tends to incorporate thestyle in their repertoire —India had never quite witnessed any dedicated actsthat performed only reggae.But now, there are several EDM and live acts — ReggaeRajahs, The Ska Vengers, Su-Real and Delhi Sultanate— that are changing thescene.

Expanding beyond theexpat audienceDelhi was the first city to witness the trend, as many ofthese bands are based there.

Till about two years ago, a regular gig in Delhi by aniche act such as Reggae

Rajahs would see a rainbowcrowd comprising mainly expatriates. You’d find the usual dreadlockedRastafarians, besides hip-swaying westerners, who swore by the infectious

vibe and socio–political relevance of reggae. “Whenwe started out, it used to be asmall affair supported byvery few people, mostlyexpats who were acquaintedwith and interested in reg-

gae,” reminisces singerRaghav ‘Diggy’ Dang, whoperforms with both ReggaeRajahs and The Ska Vengers.

According to him, YouTubehas been pivotal in bringingon board new fans. “It hasexposed people to music thatthey haven’t listened tobefore. Now they know thatthere’s more to reggae thanjust Bob Marley,” says Dang,who performed to a packedcrowd at the Ragasthan festi-val last month. And thanks tothe multi-city network of livemusic venues such as BlueFrog and Hard Rock Cafethat have given visibility tosuch acts beyond the standalone gigs.

Experimenting with new soundsThe Ska Vengers, that spe-cialises in the less–exploredgenre of ska — a fast–pacedrhythmic style that gave riseto reggae — also performsAfrobeat, jazz and soul.However, Stefan Kaye, whoplays keyboards, says they’re

not harking back to thebygone era. “We’re notrevivalists. We play sub–genres that are related toreggae, but our sound is contemporary. You’d evenfind punk styles creeping intoour music.” The band willsoon be performing at BlueFrog on December 27, as apart of their album launch.

Dancing to their tunesIf there’s a reason for the suc-cess of these bands, it is inar-guably because reggae musichas the ability to make peopledance. With a strong empha-sis on danceable grooves andsing–along melodies, reggaeis synonymous with musicthat makes you happy.

“Brass instruments play ahuge part in reggae. And asIndians, dancing to the tunes of brass bands, atweddings etc, comes naturally to us. The fact thatour music makes peopledance also explains why wehappen to be the only live actat Sunburn,” says Dang.

Thanks to YouTube, now people know that there’s more to reggae than just Bob Marley

—Diggy Dang, singer

Reggae Rajahs members DJ MoCity, Mr Herbalist and Diggy Dang

Rasta revolution on the way

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Independent reggae bands have grown in popularity. Here’s a look at the scene

Film, television andmusic stars includingJeremy Renner,Gwyneth Paltrow

and Beyonce Knowles have

recorded a hard-hittingvideo, urging action on gun

control following the recent

Newtown school massacre

in the US. Julianne Moore, Jamie

Foxx, Selena Gomez andChris Rock also appear inthe video, backing a“Demand a Plan” campaign

which notably seeks a ban

on assault weapons, as well

as criminal backgroundchecks for every gun sold in

America. “How many more

colleges? How many more

classes? How many moremovie theatres? How many

more houses of faith? How

many more shoppingmalls?” the celebs intone in

the black-and-white video,

list the names of America’s

worst gun massacres ofrecent year. The video, also

featuring Ellen DeGeneres,

Jon Hamm, Reese

Witherspoon, CameronDiaz, Jennifer Aniston and

Conan O’Brien, appears on

the website of the campaign

“to demand that President

Obama and Congress step

forward with a plan to end

gun violence” referring to

the elementary school inNewtown, Connecticut,where a gunman killed 20children and six adultsrecently. AFP

Celebs in the West havecome together in the wakeof the recent school killings

JessicaAlbaGwyneth

Paltrow

JamieFoxx

KateHudson

ReeseWitherspoon

JenniferAniston

BeyonceKnowles

JulianneMoore

COLE TURNS DJDURING A NIGHTOUT

Cheryl Cole (below)decided to learn anew talent during her

evening with boyfriendTre (above) on Friday —being a DJ. The singerapparently “set the club onfire” when she clambered onto the stageduring her fun night at TheRose Club with Tre, theMirror reported.

The venue’s officialTwitter page said,“@CherylCole most defi-nitely set the club on fire!!#HipHopThursdays(sic).” Cole was certainlydressed for the part of DJ,rocking a serious amountof pleather in MCHammer-style trousersand a cute baseball jacket.Boyfriend Tre lookedequally street in his leather

jacket and red trainers.The pair appeared to con-tinue the party when theygot home, cracking out themulled wine and slippingon their Christmasjumpers (before forcingthe dog to wear one too).Posing with lily, Coletweeted: ‘Me, myChristmas jumper and myLily hahaha’ With herassistant being called Lily,a tipsy Cole thought it washilarious that she wasactually posing with aFLOWER. “Haha I bet youall thought it was@Lily_England didn’t you??? I’m sooo funny !!!Hahaha #YouLittleMugsLOL atmyself#TooMuchMulledWine(sic),” she added.

ANI

Hollywooddemands a plan

Pakistani band Raga Boyz created a perfect mélange of cultures at a musical evening

Archna Matharu and RohitSachdeva■ archna.matharu@hindustantimes.com

Amidst thick fog andbone chilling cold, thehistoric venue of Khalsa

College came alive with musi-cal notes from across theborder. To pay tribute to leg-endary Punjabi singerMohammed Rafi on his 88thbirth anniversary, Pakistaniband Raga Boyz performedat his hometown Amritsar onMonday.

At a function namedSaanjh Sura Di, organisingTV channel Zee Punjabi paid

tribute to Rafi calling himRafi Dilan Da Haani.Brothers Wali Hamid AliKhan, Inam Ali Khan andNayab Ali Khan, who com-prise the Raga Boyz bandand come from Patiala gha-rana, remembered Rafi andshared information of a richlegacy marked by their fatherand grandfather’s associationwith Rafi.

“We feel privileged to havegot a chance to perform inAmritsar on Rafi ji’s birthanniversary. Whether weperform in India or Pakistan,we never feel any difference.Our roots are in Patiala, and

we love performing here,”said Wali. Nayab added,“Whenever we perform inany part of the world, we goon the stage only after we areintroduced to be from thePatiala gharana.”

While on stage, the band ofbrothers set the stage on firewith their more than one-hour- long performance, inwhich they regaled the audi-ence with a mix of classical,folk, Sufi and rock songs.Starting with a classicaltrack, they followed it with asong written by Bulleh Shah,called Rang Ishqe DaChadeya, and later sang a

composition by their fatherUstad Hamid Khan, MinuTere Jaisa Hor Labha Nahi.After a dose of classicalsongs, the singers gave theaudience a chance to taptheir feet on the song Simmo,which they have sung for anupcoming film.

Proving to be a completepowerhouse of talent, theband of brothers continuedtheir performance with ShahFarid’s kalaam, UmranLangiya, Sufi songs such asAlla Huu, Mera Piya GharAaya, Akhiyan Udeekdiyan,the famous Jugni by AlamLohar, Sayonee by Pakistani

band Junoon and Dama DumMast Kalandar.

A true fusion of cultureswas witnessed as artists per-formed bhangra to the tuneof these Sufi tracks whileDholis from Pakistan accom-panied the foot tappingmusic of the band. Despitethe harsh winter conditions,the spirit of Punjabisremained unaffected, as thecrowd at the venue was seendancing to their songs.

As a tribute to Rafi, thebrothers also sang somesongs such as MadhubanMein Radhika. “There cannotbe another Rafi,” Wali said on

an emotional note. Earlier, Dimple Bhangra

group gave a bhangra andgiddha performance whileMohan, the winner of ZeePunjabi Sa Re Ga Ma Pa,concluded the evening.

Sanjay Vohra, editor andbusiness head, Zee News,said that the channel startedthe initiative from Rafi’sancestral village, KotlaSultan Singh, and planned totake it abroad in the comingyears. He also honouredAmritsar police commission-er Ram Singh and mayorBakshi Ram, who were theguests of honour at the event.

MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO RAFI

Kristen Stewart (A) hasrevealed that the SnowWhite sequel is in the

pipeline and she will be star-ring in it. After one of thebiggest celebrity scandals of2012 involving Stewart andSnow White director RupertSanders, many speculatedthat there was no wayUniversal would be goingahead with plans for a sequel.“I’m not allowed (to talkabout it). The other day I saidthat there was a strong possi-bility that we’re going tomake a sequel, and that’svery true, but everyone waslike, ‘Whoa, stop talkingabout it.’ So no, I’m totallynot allowed to talk about it,”she said.

ANI

Snow Whitesequel inthe pipeline

PHOTOS: MUNISH BYALA

Bhangra performerswere a perfectaccompaniment toSufi music

Raga Boyz inaction