Break Free 2012

So I got a call a couple of weeks ago. It was Keerthi Sagathia, one of bollywood's leading playback singers. He needed a bassist to play for a gig in Udaipur. Now really.. who wouldn't want to perform with Keerthi, not to mention when its an all expense paid trip to Udaipur and back. So I agreed to it.

The journey was quite cool, as we had a flight at 5.30am in the morning, which made us all stay up the previous night so that we can get to the airport at 4am. So we got to Ahmadabad by 6.30am and had us picked up from the airport to take us to Udaipur. We reached our Hotel - Hotel Mansi Palace by about 1.00pm. We had our lunch and headed off to the venue for the sound check. It was quite a good setup that was provided. I was contend with my Hartke 350 but the cabinet was little squeaky. It didn't bother me much. We had a good one hour dedicated for our sound check. Soon we got back to our hotel room, got freshen up and left for the gig.

We opened with Keerthi's new song from an Aamir Khan production "Satyamev Jayate". The crowd went berserk as we started the song. We continued with other tracks for an hour and half. We were quite excited but also really exhausted after staying up for nearly 45 hours on a stretch. The next day we had some other interesting people joining us. We had Naveen Kumar, DJ Lloyd, Mehul Gadani who shared the stage with us. It was really fun jamming with DJ Lloyd. Never thought would get a chance to play with him. He totally rocked the stage.

We were to leave the venue at 10.30pm as we had a flight at 5.30am in the morning. But we ended up performing until 11pm. We finished our dinner and left the hotel by about 12.30am. We are thankful to our driver who zoomed in past the other vehicles and got us to the airport by 4.30am. The best part about any gig is the time you spend with the band traveling, chilling out, rehearsing, sound checking, eating.. its that time of bonding that you always cherish from these memories. Here are some of the pics from the gig.. hope you like them.

Good Start

So the new year has been a pretty good start for me... and for the band.. The band has got 4 gigs so far for the month, one of them we had to refuse and hence 3 so far. So it so happens a few of my friends and I are enjoying dinner at Martin's Chinese Nook, when my brother Chris (who is also our band manager) got a call from Channel [V]. They said they loved our performance at Blue Frog and would love to have us at LaunchPad. Hence we registered for it, not really knowing what it was. On Sunday evening I was out for dinner at Pizza Hut with my friends Mr. & Mrs. Scott when we get a call from Channel [V] saying we have been shortlisted for Launchpad and that we need to perform the next day at B69 at 3pm.

Now that was indeed a shocker for most of us guys, cos we had to literally bunk work and play the gig. Well it happens I was the only one who had to bunk work, my vocalist went to work after the gig and the guitarist before. I had been sick since Sunday evening, so I told my boss I was sick and went for the gig. But it got worse there.. So I bought a bottle of cough syrup and drank it until I find relief for my throat.. I finished the entire bottle but never really found the relief, in fact my throat went dry during the gig and I had to hunt for a bottle of water. We left promptly after our slot was done. One of the reasons being I was drowsy having finished the whole bottle of the syrup. My friends said that I was performing drunk in the influence of Alcohol in the cough syrup. I did not really care for what they had to say, until I crashed after getting home and got a hangover the following day.

Adam Young - Most Under-rated Musician/Artist

There are times when you come across an artist accidentally.. and you're like "WHOA!!! where were you all this while man??" That's pretty much what I felt when I got introduced to Adam Young. This young Christian lad from Minnesota used to work in a Coca Cola warehouse and compose songs in his parent's basement. Adam used Myspace and CdBaby to distribute his songs, until the record giant "Universal Republic" signed him up in 2007. Adam works under different project names such as Owl City (Synthpop), Sky Sailing (Acoustic), and more... well you can click here to read more about him and about his other projects.

Something about Adam's songs are that they were pleasant to hear and creates this really magical atmosphere around you which just leaves you mesmerized. So I thought I'll just leave behind a few of his beautiful songs for you guys... Enjoy!! :)

Now That Sucks!!!

Yeah now that totally sucks that I got so busy all of a sudden.. and have posted just 2 posts in the last month... Woah!!! whats up with me?? he he

Guess I am just getting too busy these days... Lot of things happening in life and career... don't know where to start.. Well.. got a band manager at last.. one of my old college class mate, who promised me would finish MBA and become my band manager if I was serious about my band.. and Yes I am serious so there he keeps his word... :)

So there goes the band thing... pretty soon we would be playing a few gigs at places like Not Just Jazz By The Bay, Aura (Powai), Firaangi Paani... to name a few... but one of our most sorted out place is the Blue Frog. But we aren't sure how long would it take us to get to there... But nevertheless we are enjoying every moment of our lives now... :)

So Practically it doesn't suck... he he...

In My Head - Work In Progress

Lately I have been really feeling bored to write about my recording status... but just to keep you all updated. We have finished with 'All I Need' you can find it on www.myspace.com/win4i

We finished with the guitars on 'In My Head' tomorrow. And we loved the output... still have to work on the vocals and some string actions... Too much work to do but we are really excited about it.. :)

MLTR Still Rocks!!!

Yesterday we had this power cut in office and we didn't know what to do? so we took our guitar and started playing music until it was back again. We started off with Beatles and John Denver and went on to singing some of the classics by Michael Learns To Rock... and I was like... WOW I need to listen to some of MLTR soon... anyways the power came back at 4pm and then we stopped and I headed back home...

But soon I got to download the entire Discography of MLTR and began listening to it. And it was the sweetest feeling in a long time... just reminiscing those school time memories... when I was 15. And I felt like I had gone back in time and was a teenager again. One of my favorites 'Someday' I have embedded here for all of you to watch. I always believed Someday was kinda like my story. Something I have been doing all my life... and it was nice to stumble upon these old classics agian...

In The Studio - Day 3

Yesterday, we had our 3rd day in the studio. Was a crazy day. I had my drummer Ashish Malvi too with me this time. We left on his bike and half way down it began to rain. It was just slight showers to begin with but soon it began to pour and I was half wet before I reached the Studio. But it was nice getting wet for once in the rain. You remember all the childhood memories. So anyways we reached the studio before time and began to work on the guitar parts for the track 'All I Need'.

It was indeed a long day but a terrific one. We loved every moment of it. We had Nyzel working on the guitars. He completed the drives and the solos. He is so creative and talented and totally skillful that he just blowed our mind. He was totally on fire buring the riffs, and we just can't wait to get to hear the final mix of this track. It's been really difficult to juggle between work and the recordings and especially now when my boss needs me in the office during work hours that I cant get any more offs. But in the midst of these busy lives, some music to your soul and you are rock n roll... ;)

In The Studio - Day 2

So it was 'Day 2' today at By Grace Studios. My engineer, Mr. Nyzel was on a week's vacation out to mangalore for a music retreat. Yeah he sure did have fun, I could see that on his work today ;)

I worked on the bass parts for 'All I Need' and it was terrific. I thought I did awful by taking an hour and half recording the parts for the whole song, but Nyzel comforted me by saying that there were bassists who take more than 3 hours to record a song. That sure is comforting for someone who was playing the bass for the first time in a recording studio. I had got my Yamaha Rx170 4 string bass to the studio, but Nyzel wanted me to use his 5 String Fender Jazz Bass. As he felt the Fender had more thick sound to it, and sure he was damn right. It was a total honor to play with one of those beauties. So we are still on Track 1 'All I Need' and so far we have finished with the Drums and Bass, got lot of guitar work to be finished tomorrow and the vocals the day after. So stay in tuned here to read more about what's happening on this project.

Back to the studio...

So I am back to the studio... It's been almost more than 2 years now that I have given it a serious thought to work on my debut album after I lost interest the last time. Lot of reasons why I lost interest, but I wouldn't want to divulge it. So anyways today was a super cool day, as I began working on my album all over again. We did 'cue-tracks' for 2 of my songs 'All I need' and 'In my head'. It was really nice. I am working with Nyzel D'lima on this. He is the sound engineer as well as the guitarist and my producer for this project. It's been a really exciting day today, and I am just waiting patiently to see how it results once we are done. Stay tuned here to read more about the progress of this project.

Oh yes... if you really feel like sponsoring me on this project, you are more than welcome to do that... ;)

BONO: A True Christian

There has been a lot said about this guy, and a lot of debate between Christians about this man's approach to Christianity. But today I can confidently say, Bono has always been a true Christian. He confesses that he used to hate Christians because of their double standards but that just got him more determined to know more about who Christ was. David Ruis one of the leading worship leaders from Vineyard Music states, "that he has yet to meet someone with as much passion for God as Bono." He further states, "U2 came from the church, but at the time they started, the church didn’t know what to do with them."

Bono himself said once in an interview, "I’d join the movement, if there was one I could believe in, I would break the bread and the drink the wine if there was a church I could be received in, because I need it now."

But its just that the church for so long never accpeted him, and many more like him who were just different and looked different. It was by God's grace and plan for his life that Bono still held on to what he believed and who he believes in.


There have been so many songs of U2, where they show their desperation to work together with the church and be a part of it... but it took so long for the church to not be judgemental and accept these people with open arms. Here are some of the songs that U2 speaks openly to the church about what they feel and their passion for God.

One - You say love’s the temple, love’s the higher law, you ask me to enter, then you make me crawl, I can’t keep hanging on to what you’ve got, if all you’ve got is hurt. One love, one blood, we’ve got to carry each other.

I still haven't found what I am looking for - I have run I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls, Only to be with you, But I still haven't found.

Where the streets have no name - I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls, That hold me inside, I want to reach out, And touch the flame, Where the streets have no name

In their biographies, they talk about how they contemplated splitting up the band because they felt like they couldn’t play their music and still be called Christians. Their passion and their talent is incredible, but what we as the church didn’t know was where to place them.

Check out this incredible interview with Bono by the Willow Creek Pastor Bill Hybels.

How to save a life?

I was just hovering around on the 5th floor at my workplace and heard my friend Violet listening to this song. I was so caught up with the music of the song. It sure is a broken-hearted's song but its so beautiful that I had to look it up on youtube. And I managed to find this video of the song. Ladies & Gentlemen this is 'How to save a life' by The Fray.

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Journey of this life...

The last few days have been really really exhausting for me... lot of things at work, classes, and also my relationship with friends took a toll... it was just too much of a thing going around. I had the most hopeless weekend ever... and today was not a great day either. I was running around and fixing machines and just thinking about everything that is messed around in my life. I was totally confused just didn't know what I have to do... and then I put on this song 'Zindagi Ka Safar' by some guy named Sheldon Bangara. I don't know what was about the song thatjust kinda broke me down but made me feel a lot better and made my heart a lot lighter. I didn't find the video so cool, but the song is so awesome and anointed... I thought il just put them up here for everyone to watch it.

Zindagi Ka Safar

Zindagi ke safar mein
Agar Koi saathi ho
Toh woh hai Yeshu
Yeshu

Paap ke Andhere Mein
Agar koi roshni ho
Toh woh hai Yeshu
Yeshu

Tera wachan hai prakash
Hum ab na honge niraash

Kyunki Tu ne paap par vijay payee
Kyunki Tu ne mrityu pe jay payee

Prem ki Aisi Chaaya
Karuna Barsaaya
Toh woh hai Yeshu
Yeshu

Zindagi Mein Aaya
Humesha Ke liye Samaaya
Toh woh hai Yeshu
Yeshu


Tera wachan hai prakash
Hum ab na honge niraash

Kyunki Tu ne paap par vijay payee
Kyunki Tu ne mrityu pe jay payee

Sin has lost its power
Death has lost its sting
From the grave you've risen
Victoriously

Still Missing Dublin

I was missing Ireland a lot today.. so i thought about doing this video... as a tribute to this magical land and my beautiful friends I made there...

Please note that this is a low res file, hence the jitters in some parts of the vid. Please let me know if you need the High Res file. :)

Missing Ireland...

Today I am working, not really a great thing on a saturday afternoon to crib about but cant help it. I have to work on this project and have to complete it before evening. Anyway, I was just listening to this beautiful song 'Yahweh' by the Irish band U2 and I so began to miss Dublin... Besides U2 are from Dublin too. Bono the vocalist of U2 lives in Killiney, just 5mins away from where I lived during my stay there. But I was a jerk I really never tried to visit his lane, I could have at least grabbed an sight of his home there... Guess that's why my Irish friends gifted me a U2 'Greatest Hits' CD, so I could always remember these moments I had here. OH My God... I so wanna go back... Anyways you guys check out this song, it's one of the most beautiful song by the band.

Fun In Unpredictability

It so happened last Friday... Everything seemed as usual, I attended by Red Hat training at 7am and reported to work by 11.15am. I didn't really have anything particular in mind about what the day in store for me. I thought perhaps I would return home and laze around in front of my computer. But my 2pm Ajay pings me on gtalk and asks me if I am available to play the bass guitar for a gig that evening at Bandra, as their bass guitarist wasn't available for the evening. I asked what time is the gig and he replied it would begin at 6.30pm and I had to report by 4.30pm for the sound check.

I casually checked with my boss if there was any chance I could leave a little early for the gig. My boss was too cool to give me a break. I left from work by 3.30pm and reached Bandra, the National College Auditorium right on time with Abigail. We didn't get to do a quick rehearsal and played most of the songs Live. It was one crazy night... we loved every moment of it. It was a wonderful time with some of my friends and fellow musicians...

But the best part was the unpredictability of that day... with the surprising turn of events that unfolded that day. It was an amazing feeling. I so hope every day would be a very unpredictable packed with lots of surprises just like this.

Next Best Thing To Falling In Love

I found this on a random web searches. I don't know why did I like it so much...
Maybe I was just listening to this beautiful song by this certain band 'Friday Night Boys'.

On a second thought... I think listening to a beautiful music is the next best thing to falling in love itself... :)

(Click on the image below to view the gif animation)

Hit the Amp

This is a Heavy Metal song I wrote while I was still working in Lionbridge Technologies. Now when I read it thru I find the lyrics so lame... but apparently 2Blue the lead man for the Rock Band Zedde seems to like it and asked me for a copy of it. It's never released yet... :P

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Hit The Amp

What do you do when people hate to see your face?
What do you do when they are lost in life's crazy maze?
What do you do when they realize things wrong?
And all they want is you to be gone?

What do you do when people mislead?
What do you do when they want you bleed?
What do you do when all they want to see
Is you plead and beg to be set free?

Hit the Amp, Amplify the overdrive
Lead the way to the one glance paradise
Hit the floor, Surfin the Mosh
Lead the hand to the one who'll save your soul

What do you do when your hands begin to shake?
And in the presence of the mighty you begin to quake?
When your head spins a Three Sixty
And your mind wants to follow the mystery

It's like a bullet in the gun wanting to be let out
To taste the freedom of what its got
The feeling of lost when you are found
A Simple misconception fed when you are born

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PS. This is not a Christian song... and I have no idea what I was writing.. its total crap...

Music :: A Gift To Your Soul

Today, as I was just working... Was all worked up with some things I had to get organized. But as I put my music on... all of a sudden I began to feel how beautiful is our world... every little thing around me. I never felt it like that before yesterday or the day before that... or even for the last week or two... Why so now...?

Soon I realized it was the music I was listening to... :)

Do music really affect us so much...? I began to wonder. It seems it does. A music has the power to heal or break someone... It depends what we choose to listen to... :)

Women Of Honor :: We 'Guys' rocked it...

It all began when I received this sms on 7th Nov 2008 from Ajay Cardozo the worship leader from New Life Fellowship Bandra Church, inviting me to be a backup for their bassist who had fallen sick. I was more than excited to be a part of something Big... for the "Women Of Honor" Conference which was held on 13th Nov 2008. Though this conference was held by over 1400 women I didn't get to see a single person's face as this spotlight constantly hit my eyes temporarily blinding me... But it was truly a great time with the folks...

PS. It was really really really uncomfortable playing in the suit...

The Party That Lasted 2 Days...

My parents left for Kerala on 28th Oct for a week's Vacation. And we folks have been planning a party that we all would remember forever... a party that would last for a week... All right that was little exaggerated but we started it off pretty good... ;)

My Parents left the house at 9 am and we entered in at 12 pm. We had our lunch of Pizzas and Chicken Biryanis... and then watched 'Get Smart'. After which we played some music and got down to posing for the Camera. Here are some of them:








































Well after all the photo shoot was over... it was almost 9.30 pm and we proceeded to Silver Coin Restaurant where our dinner was waiting for us to feed on... :P

But the posing didn't stop there either... seems like we just a bunch of posers after all...




























We feasted upon a couple of starters... don't even know what they were... for the main course I was high on Chicken Steak... while these folks ordered some Indian Naan and Chicken... followed by deserts...
















Soon we were back... and goofing around again... until it was 3 am... and continued goofing around again...































We slept at 4 am at last... and woke up at 7.30 am the next morning... and this what it looked like the next day...