The musical spirit of the city has given birth to several college bands. Even when it comes to genres, Bengaluru has embraced all forms of music.
A unique band making waves in town by jamming Carnatic and folk songs and giving both rock and classical music listeners something to look forward to is ‘Shadowz’. Their performances seem to have floored music lovers here.
And it all started when Akshay BM, a passionate drummer and keyboard player, started performing at school gatherings. He received a great response from the audience.
He wanted to have a band of musicians who could play a variety of instruments and the search began 3 years back. ‘Shadowz’ was thus born in 2014.
“It took a long time for me to find the right people. I searched for them in music schools, other colleges’ music associations, friends’ circles and on social media. After months of research, I finally brought 7 more people together,” says Akshay.
He named his dream band himself. The name ‘Shadowz’ has 7 letters each representing a ‘swara’. “The word beginning with ‘S’ refers to ‘sa’, the first swara,” he explains.
The band comprising Neil Kalghatgi, Varun Ramachandra, Advait R, Sanjith Ajjarapu, Sumukh Rao, Thyagaraja Ranga, Arvind and Akshay started finding their sound soon and agreed to keep the genre as Indian fusion.
“We used to practise syncing all the instruments and would miss many beats initially. It took time to understand how music works when played in a group with around 7 instruments. We worked on fusion, cover songs and many more things,” adds Varun.
In 2015, the band was ready to hit the stage after a year of rigorous practice and hard work. Their first performance was in a nearby local school.
They entered their first competition at an event held at Mount Carmel College and were declared runners- up. “It was a very proud moment for a band for which it was the second stage performance,” recalls Akshay.
The band has performed at several other colleges across the city as well. They won the ‘best keyboarding’ and ‘best Indian instrumentalist’ awards at Christ University this year and also emerged winners at MS Ramaiah Management Fest 2016.
They have even enthralled crowds at flea markets, music venues and other public events across the city.
The high point came when ‘Shadowz’ represented Karnataka in an audition conducted by the AR Rahman School of Music in Chennai. Playback singer Malgudi Shubha immensely appreciated their performance and admired their energy and passion, which gave them great encouragement.
In a span of one year, this young and energetic band of musicians has made a mark in their own way and they aspire to perform for their dream band ‘Agam’. Seems like ‘Shadowz’ is a band to watch out for!
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