Uncle Tom’s Cabin

I love it when bands deviate from the generic themes, and talk about weird experiences. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is one such song, and it’s beautiful in it’s own way. It narrates a story, a creepy story might I add.

The original is by Warrant

The interesting thing is, when songs do this, it gives you room to make up visuals in your mind. Papa loves creative freedom. It’s almost like you get to live the song. In this case, it’s me and my nephew spending quality time in the woods (I can see a cabin-life for me in the foreseeable future), and my nephew is bound to see weird shit like this happen.

Happy Holi!

Rock

I’ve been living in Kolkata for more than seven years now, and there isn’t a single rock band that I really like. There were a few songs here and there, and that was it. The Bangla rock scene is huge. There is a huge following of loyal fans who attend concerts on the regular. I never could find a band whose sound I could relate to. I didn’t hate the music, but it just wasn’t of my taste. You probably know where this is going. I found a band.

I was taken by surprise, because I had given up on this search long ago. In a first time in a long time, I was excited to discover something new. Yesterday there was a party at work. Some of our new products were being launched, and all of a sudden this insanely tight riff gripped the air. It was like sound coming from space. Very old, yet very fresh. Very new, but if I had a past life I probably listened to these guys. This is the rock equivalent of love at first sight. Only difference is you don’t want to fuck it after. A group of professional, passionate musicians. Their journeys different, but their paths, intertwined. I salute you, Cactus. Thank you for making me happy.

New experiences

I saw this today

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As weird as it looks, it is some of the most incredible moves I’ve ever seen. It’s scary, it’s cool, it’s a major workout. I was told that it is a folk dance of Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa. Here’s a little taste

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I have two new obsessions

Freak Kitchen, and The War On Drugs. Two bands, couldn’t be more far from each other in terms of sound, but both make me happy. I finished watching the Dahmer series. I love the guy who plays Dahmer. I don’t know his name, he also plays quick silver in X-Men.

Pure love

I have never listened to a more powerful album. I wish everyone knew this band existed. I highly encourage people to read a little about this artist to get their backstory, and what they sing about. It is mindful, masterful, it is very very peaceful.

I love the extroverts

In 2010, I was a shy, Engineering student, living in Coimbatore. Most weekends, I would stay in my dorm room, and do NOTHING. Sometimes, I would go out, and get drunk. I liked to play the drums. I was good at it. So naturally, I found myself playing for one of the college bands. One day, I got a call from a guy, who tells me he’s looking for a drummer. I said YES. Long story short, I ended up playing for his band, and I had a blast doing it.

Now, lets talk about Simon. Simon is a friend from college. Simon has seen me play the drums. Simon went around town, hitting clubs, and socializing. Simon is an EXTROVERT. Simon, also liked music. Simon can talk to people. Simon is a people person. Simon has long hair. Simon is handsome, but most importantly, Simon is a good guy, because he went to a concert, and recommended me to one of the rock bands.

The next few years of my life CHANGED because of that one little gesture. I was playing in restaurants, colleges, even recorded a song. Then it all ended, but who cares? My life was awesome for a little while, and it was all thanks to long haired, extroverted Simon. I don’t even know if he’s still alive, but thank you, wherever you are.

 

Amongst the engines, hustle, and conversations, within the silent gaps, you can hear my loneliness.

90’s kid

No matter where I go, no matter what I do, no matter what cooking oil I get used to, I am, and always will be a 90’s kid. My small world was Michael Jackson, Nintendo video games, and Back To The Future. Even crap like Titanic and postage stamps. Damn! the 90’s was so diverse!

The mysterious black box

If there’s anything 2001: A Space Odyssey has taught me, it’s that black boxes(excluding coffins) evoke curiosity. There’s a mystery behind them(may include coffins). For some people, it evokes a little fear(definitely coffins).

But there’s nothing to fear about my new black box, a.k.a Cajón. It is a percussion instrument made of wood. It doubles as a short stool. In fact, you have to sit on it while you play, a sort of musical bonding between wood and ass.

 

This is not what it sounds like. This is a bad recording of the black box.

What I have learned from starting a band

I am not leadership material. But I do have ideas. So my plan was to bring together, a bunch of musicians, explain my ideas to them and then neatly slide away into the darkness while the band began cultivating ideas on its own. I hoped someone would take on the mantle from me. I hoped someone would steer the ship in the right direction. But none of those bitches share my dream. So now I am “captain of the sinking ship” and the only Jack and Rose in this story are me and my vision.

Teamwork

I have a dream, a simple, revolutionary dream. I want to make music. I want to see people become happy when they listen to my music. Unfortunately, I do not have the talent to realize this dream on my own. I need a team(in the words of the great Deadpool, “a super dooper fucking group”). I’ve been trying to put together a team for the past one month. After several auditions, I finally got a bass player and lead guitar player. I explained my dream to them. I narrated it in Morgan Freeman’s voice. I put forth the idea like Steve Jobs explaining a business idea. I did everything I could. Yet those fuckers want to pursue a more “people-friendly” genre rather than taking a chance with me. I respect their musical interests. So now, I travel for an hour every weekend, play drums to fuckin “Foo Fighters” at a recording studio, come back home and eat till the depression fades away(Domino’s wins again). 

I met a family who lives inside the studio’s premises. Here they are: