What do Advaita, Swarathma, Medusa and Indigo Children have in common?

Nothing short of a kickass deal, these 4 Indian bands made the final cut for the Indo-British collaborative project titled, Soundpad. Co-produced by Brit legends, John Leckie and Dan Austin, the album launches in the city today

Even though most believe that our country is bursting with great talent, especially in music and the arts, little is done to take them out of here and expose them to the West. So, when the British Council decided to team up with legendary British producers John Leckie and Dan Austin, who have worked with the likes of Radiohead,
Massive Attack and The Verve, we knew justice was not too far behind. Soundpad, as the project came to be titled, was to scout for strictly original and non-established talent from across the country, cut an album with the help of Dan and John and give them touring opportunities in the UK.

"When we approached John three years ago, this wasu00a0 why he agreed to come on board. He didn't want to work with bands that were simply aping the West," says Tasneem Vahanvaty, Arts and Creative Industries Project Manager, British Council. John, who was closely following the Indian music scene in the UK, was very keen to work with bands from India and together with Dan, the duo browsed through profiles of 1,000-odd bands on MySpace, after which a 100 were short-listed and 40 asked to showcase their talent to John in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. "Listening to them and watching them perform live are two very different things.

And for Soundpad, we were looking to get a great blend of both a good sound as well as good performance skills that keep the audience engaged," says Tasneem.u00a0u00a0

Medusa (Mumbai), Indigo Children (Delhi), Swarathma (Bangalore) and Advaita (Delhi) are going to the Great

Escape Festival

For close to three months, John was tutoring these progressive, folk-rock, contemporary organic bands over email and helping them tweak their sound. Finally, he came down in October last year and recorded an album with the four bands. "Each band has recorded two tracks on the album released under Counter Culture Records and EMI, which will be launched today," shares Tasneem. The bands will be travelling to Brighton, England to perform at the Great Escape Festival next month.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

Attend the launch of the Soundpad album today at Lands End Amphitheatre, next to Taj Lands End, Bandstand, Bandra (W). Bands Medusa, Swarathma and Indigo Children will perform.
Time: 7 to 10 pm.
Entry: Free.
Log onto www.myspace.com/soundpad

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