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The pulsating beat

Rising tone
Last Updated 15 December 2014, 16:20 IST

It is quite apparent that Electronic Dance Music (EDM) has garnered a massive fan following all over the world, and as a genre of music, it is widely appreciated in Bengaluru as well. This sudden popularity has brought many world-renowned DJs like Tiesto, Hardwell and Afrojack, to name a few, to the City.

But these electronic beats and autotuned vocals are taking a toll on the music industry.

Many talented artistes and independent musicians feel that because of EDM they aren’t getting an opportunity to showcase their work and perform as often as before. Rohan SM, keyboardist of ‘De’Sat’, a Bengaluru-based metal band, talks about how EDM differs from other genres of music. “I’m a metalhead, and I play for a metal band as well, so to me EDM feels artificial when compared to other forms of music. When ‘Metallica’ or ‘Children of Bodom’ came to Bengaluru, they didn’t sit in front of a laptop which had all the tracks pre-recorded hours or days ahead of the event. When they took to the stage, they used their instruments and recreated their masterpieces in front of a live audience. I feel that’s where EDM fails in comparison to live music.”

Avinash, lead vocalist and growler for ‘Necrophilia’, says, “I make sure I practice my vocals everyday and there have been times when I have been on the brink of exhaustion from growling. To see that pre-recorded music by a DJ is getting more exposure than live acts is quite disappointing. Still, live acts by different genres have stood the test of time and to me, rock and metal will always be evergreen.”

Music aficionados are not impressed with the antics of EDM artistes.
  “I listen to basically all Western genres of music, and usually attend EDM concerts with my friends from time to time. The experience is quite enthralling to say the least, but when I heard that a world-renowned DJ cancelled his world tour recently because he lost the thumbdrive that contained all his tracks, it made me detach from the genre a little bit,” opined Pranav Aditya, an avid hard rock fan.

“I’m an old school ‘rock and roll’ fan, and I just love the oldies and would do anything to watch those bands live. That being said, because of this DJ revolution there are so many songs released in such a high frequency that there are never any songs that seem iconic because they all sound so similar,” says Anupam Nanda, a student.

But Rohan says you can’t outright blame EDM. “You can’t say EDM is ruining chances for bands. There are always going to be fans of EDM and there are always going to be fans of rock and metal. But we might see fewer fans for the other genres since there are fewer rock bands coming to India when compared to EDM. You can only hope that it will change with events like
‘Rock In India’ and ‘Bangalore Open Air’. ”

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(Published 15 December 2014, 16:20 IST)

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