Some names are scribbled on a white board. Dhruv Viswanath’s is among them. On a table next to it, with tiny wooden mug lids on them are Sumesh’s hands going through papers, a phone, fixing, finalising ahead of the big show this weekend. It’s been a year and a half since he last organised something this big in Kochi — the Mojo Rising. This time, he’s calling the fest Alt & Pepper — the alt for alternative music and the pepper for the Pepper House that hosts the fest in association with Aum-i Artistes. “And also for the local flavour, of pepper,” he adds, sitting in that Panampilly Nagar office of his, one he frequents all the way from Thiruvananthapuram, his hometown, for a lot of things keep happening in Kochi.
For a festival featuring 22 bands from all over the country, Alt & Pepper had taken shape pretty quietly from an idea that Issac Alexander of Pepper House came to Sumesh with. “He wants it to be a venue for art and culture and music,” Sumesh says. And given the kind of contacts Sumesh had, having featured scores and scores of independent artistes in his music show for Kappa YV, preparing a line-up was no hard job.
But here, and all his artistes would vouch for this, Sumesh chose a different line from regular music fests by going for every kind of different genre he could think of — pop, rock, jazz, folk. There is even a Thayambaka (chenda performance) by Kalanilayam Udayan Namboodiri. “If you see the line-up there are bands from all over the country, and it is a nice mix-up of genres,” says Shubanghi Joshi, singer-songwriter who is featured for the fest. “It will introduce the audience to different kinds of music. They may come to see a certain band and stumble upon something else they like. In that way it would help the artistes too, to find a new audience.” Singer-songwriter is one such concept, little understood in India. Dhruv Visvanath, whose name was on that board, is one.
“It will be my first performance in Kochi. But then I was there for a short while as an infant when my dad used to work at the Taj Hotel.” He is happy that Kochi is becoming another city about to break its walls and invite talents from across the country. “I am always a little nervous in front of a new audience. But I hope to go crazy on the guitar,” says the young musician who has been listed as one of the 30 great acoustic guitarists Under 30 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine USA.
In the line-up are also bands and musicians from Kochi. Some of the veterans like Suraj Mani with his Bengaluru-based Tattva Trip, and ace guitarist Baiju Dharmajan will be there. “It’s always good to have such music fests, when they happen with good intentions. But sometimes they use ways to ensure a crowd, by including bands that may be more popular, and not necessarily talented,” says Baiju.
Another problem with having music fests in Kerala is how few people would be ready to spend money on tickets. “People are used to free shows of art and culture. It is good that someone like Sumesh is taking an initiative like this, and people start paying for music,” says Kishan John, manager of When Chai Met Toast, an acoustic band, which will also be featured. “Last time when we played at the Muse Room in Kochi, the tickets were sold out. This kind of fests will bring a personal connect with the audience.” That’s what new bands would hope too. If it is tough for rock bands to find venues in Kerala, it is tougher for those playing metal. Blank Planet in Alappuzha has been around for three and a half years, but finds it difficult to get a platform to perform. “So a fest like this is a big boost for independent musicians like us. I hope there will be more progress in the music scene,” says Niranj, front man of the band.
There would be, given fests like these happen pretty often and music lovers would flock in without hesitance. For a short preview, there are artistes like Rishabh, a sitar player, and Archy Jay, a bagpipe artiste. There is from Chennai, Skrat and Oorka and Sapta. There is Kabir Café singing Kabir songs and SmakMahadev with the genre ‘Folktronics Psychedeliâ’. There are also Kerala’s Thakara, Mushroom Lake, Harish Sivaramakrishnan, MG & Main, John P. Varkey, Nikhil J.Menon and Gowri Lekshmi. Spud in the Box, Khalid Ahmed (of Parvaaz), and Anju Brahmasmi are the others. The fest starts today and ends tomorrow.
