JOIN USReggae has a peaceful vibe to it'
For Shivarjun aka Gunzilla, a reggae artiste, it wasn’t just the beats of Bob Marley and his son Damian that inspired him. It was the whole message behind the genre — peace to mankind and the fight against corruption.
This youngster, who is a student of construction technology and management at Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, says that he loves the way reggae music has a certain peace to it and brings out a message for mankind.
He started his performances in September 2014 and it was the legendary reggae king that inspired him to stay tuned. “I was into R&B earlier and it wasn’t until two years back that compositions by Bob Marley caught my attention. I listened to a few tracks and I got plugged to it.” Shivarjun slowly got into the groove and realised that this genre gave him a sense of satisfaction like none other. “I kept writing and composing tracks, so that I wouldn’t get a writer’s block,” he says excitedly.
This youngster says that reggae isn’t really influenced as much by the mechanics of beats as it is by the words. “Unlike hip-hop music, reggae is more about peace and motivational messages. Every word has to be audible enough to seep into the audiences’ hearts,” he says.
This kind of music is more educative and not jus entertainment. In short, Shivarjun believes that “reggae is god’s music”. This youngster who was into rap earlier, settled into reggae music because he “found rap music to be a little violent”. “Reggae has a peaceful vibe to it. So I started fusing reggae with rap and I was happy about how it turned out. The music has a Jamaican style and one cannot deviate from the form,” says
Shivarjun.
He is part of the reggae-rap band, ‘The Anarchists’, along with three members and has composed around 80 tracks. “Some of my highlighted tracks are ‘Homicide’, a two-minute track which is more like free verse; ‘Paranormal’, a track which focusses on the demon that sits in people’s minds and ‘Shine’, a track that inspires and motivates all kids and teenagers to not give up the path they've chosen,” he says.
A track that he is immensely proud of is ‘Shadbhuja’, which is yet to released. “This track has six dialects of Kannada incorporated in it — from Tulu, Coorg, Kollegala, Mandya, Bengaluru and Hubli. This is probably the first time in our music scenario that a track like this is going to be released. This track is centred on the State’s beauty and culture,” he says.
Having performed in college fests, this artiste grabbed the limelight when he also got invited to pubs across the City like Muse Bar, Indiranagar. “I also performed at an event which was held to pay tribute to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at Sindhi College. Each performance has been very special for me, as it got me more attention from the public.”
Shivarjun performs with a friend almost every alternate week at Forum Mall, Koramangala and Garuda Mall, Magrath Road. “It is always nice to see how people react to a kind of music that is not as popular as other forms in the City” Shivarjun says that he sees great potential for Reggae here. “The message must spread and I’m sure it will,” he wraps up.