“So, is there any real money in this???” I’m sure all of us who make a living as musicians in India have been asked this over and over by their parents, relatives and even friends. Though we do gain immense joy and satisfaction being musicians, the unfortunate fact is that the amount of money one might make playing gigs or doing sessions in India is in most cases not much when compared to other career options and probably not enough to meet the cost of survival in this ever developing nation. It might be easy to wave ‘em off as old timers, but as stated above it is no mean feat surviving solely on music and these people do stress on a painful fact. As a result of the lack of money in the industry, we all have heard about musicians turning to other part time jobs, tuitions, production etc. But here’s a rather interesting one – A band with all its members, full-time musicians, and actively depending on the money they make off gigs. What is their answer to this ever imposing question?

Bengaluru-based Bhoomi’s old school metal has won many fans and friends alike since they started way back in 2002. The band has enjoyed a fair amount of success and fame playing various festivals and college headliners all over the south of India. The band is extremely serious about their set and their contribution to the live music scene and every member regards the band as a part of their life. They have an active gigging calendar for most of the year which includes ripping through their sets comprising  high energy originals and note perfect technical covers.
However, about a year back the band was contacted by an very eminent US based rock producer saying that he liked their music to the extent that he wanted to offer his services to the band if they were interested and could afford to. There came the problem. The band needed bigger and quicker money to be able to afford a studio where they could work with this producer.  Although a couple of members do have ‘full-time’ jobs, none of them had enough money to invest into the recording. So the band members decided to do what they do best. Play more music. But with a minor difference. One which gives them more dough and gets them closer to their goal. This is the band’s new avatar. Secondhand.

Secondhand plays malls, corporate shows, parties and every other place you ask them to play, as long as you pay them a decent amount. They’ll play the kind of music you like and even play audience requests! All in all they’re just the kind of band you need to rock the party. There might be allegations thrown about on them being ‘sell outs’ but the only allegation we can throw at them is – smart move. The band probably does not prefer the cheesy atmosphere of a mall or a dinner party compared to hundreds of screaming fans and ever sustaining feedback from their amps; Or playing the three chords of ‘Summer of 69’ and other such ‘rock songs’ on a regular basis. At some level, is tough to live through these days but every member of Bhoomi would agree to the fact that it’s a small price to pay for what they’re trying to achieve in the bigger picture. Versatile musicians doing what they do best and boy does the crowd love it!

It may seem like a one off happening in the indie music scenario of our country but looking at the ever increasing artistes and bands that are cropping everywhere nowadays, bands with alteregos might indeed be the rising trend in the coming few years. I’m sure most of us would agree that it is a far better job to be doing to make money rather than working shifts at a call center or killing hours selling guitars at the local music store. As long as musicians are making music and its making more live gigs take place all over the country, it IS indeed a great proposition for bands and event managers. Infact more and more organizers should tap into this pool of immense versatility that we have in our musicians here in India and use it productively in order to help the artistes and also promote live music. We hope that this starts happening soon and local musicians start interacting a lot more to come up with more such novel ideas to move music completely out of the hobby zone.

As for Secondhand, good on you guys for being brave and showing the way. We can already see the Bhoomi record rising up the US metal charts.

You can listen to Bhoomi on their myspace page.

Tags: bhoomi, insight, secondhand
Category: Indie Insight »