BANGALORE: The scorching summer heat of Bangalore did not deter the city’s rockers from being a part of Battle of the Bands, a nation-wide music competition that concluded last Sunday. The battle was well contested, and it brought to the fore many newly found talents. Jekyll and Hyde walked away as the winners with a powerful performance, with Tiffin Box finishing second. Stretched over two days, Battle of the Bands was held in the campus of Jain Heritage School in Hebbal. A total of 26 bands contested on the first day, which saw a mix of English and Hindi music outfits. From the preliminary round, eight bands qualified to play on Sunday, which proved to be a classic encounter between varied genres and styles of rock. More than a competition, the spirit of rock prevailed, as young bands saw this as an opportunity to showcase their music and find an audience. “We were looking for an audience to play for, than competing,” said Michael, the frontman of Mad Orange Fireworks. “We call our genre Orange Rock, in an attempt to create a niche for ourselves,” he said. Being just three months old, Mad Orange Fireworks received applauds for their high-spirited performance. With songs such as School Boy Empty Saturday and an improvised rendition of The Beatles’ I Want You, Apernit Singh, one of the judges of the competition, personally praised the band. Organised by Sonido Musicals, Battle of the Bands was judged by renowned personalities from the music industry. Apernit Singh, India’s fastest guitarist, Siddhartha Baja, the brain behind Freedom Jam, Ricky Kej, music director and producer and Michael Mayne. “The quality of music has been very good, and the bands are tight. As judges, we were looking at uniqueness — something that would stand out and compel me to buy their CD. I think that’s an important factor,” said Ricky Kej. Ashes Awake, a 5-month old progressive heavy metal group, felt that it was their most ‘tight’ performance. Musically inspired by Dream Theater, Ashes Awake has an unusual way of writing songs. “We get totally crazy during our jam sessions to get ideas. Once we have enough ideas, we work on them,” Peter Francis Joshua, the band’s 19-year-old drummer said. The winning band was Jekyll and Hyde. A four-piece garage rock band formed in September 2009, the band believes that their winning performance was one of the better gigs they have played till date. “Compared to other music competitions, Battle of the Bands was very well organised. Also, the quality of music displayed by the other bands was very good,” said Kaushik Shekar, the band’s lead guitarist. Jekyll and Hyde is looking forward to hitting the studio in July. Abhishek from Groove Chutney walked away with the best lead guitarist award. Headlining the competition was Baja, a Reggae outfit formed by Siddhartha Baja. Strumming reggae chords on his guitar, Baja meted out an energetic performance with songs that mixed reggae cadence with that of our very own tapang beats.
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