Music, live shows and how it shaped my life

I love music. It soothes the soul. I play the guitar. It brings out  a variety of emotions in me. Mostly it helps when I am extremely happy or sad. I had a band in college. We used to call ourselves “Spectrum”. It was not registered officially. We used to play during college fests, school annual fests, rongali bihu( mostly), new year gigs, club shows, Doordarshan NE channel, local cable channels( accompaniments in Talent shows) etc. After a few years of practising, I got invited to play live with several bands as a part time musician. Although, in fits and starts, we used to get paid handsomely.

I used to be quite an introvert person. But, once I started playing on the stage, I became quite extrovert and confident. I got famous a bit and liked it. My friend circle broadened exponentially. I started receiving attention and enjoyed it.

 During my undergraduate days in college, I used to have quite a decent bank balance compared to kids my age.  I did not take any pocket money from parents  since then. Many of my musician friends took it as a profession.

But, soon I realized that its not for me to be taken as a profession.  I concentrated on my studies henceforth. Later in my IIT days, it was more of a recreation then. Those were the best days. The last live show I did was “Alvida” an indian ocean tribute concert by the final year students on 16th April 2011 just before leaving the campus. Some of the videos are posted there in youtube.

Henceforth, I did not play live till date. But, I sincerely wish I could play someday with a band like old times. Midway through this song( embedded youtube link) I have a 2 minute solo performance which was pretty well executed. 😀

Struggles

I often had to bunk afternoon college lab classes for practice rehearsals. But somehow I managed to maintain a healthy balance between my studies and music. Thanks to some of my classmates who helped with my missed lab classes later.

Initially, my father was strictly against it. I was even locked outside the gate at the middle of the night when I used to come home late after music shows. I used to crash at my cousin’s place nearby, watch late night movie marathons and have fun. He was eventually cool with it when he could see my grades in the college were fair enough.  I was making a great deal of money at the same time while I was studying. I bought my own music gears slowly which cost me a fortune.

There were a few times when the organizers fled without paying us. Eventually we got, but with a great deal of waiting and complaining to local authorities.

Due to regular late night shows, and travelling distances within and outside state (sometimes) my health took a toll. I could not sleep enough since, the next day again had to attend classes. I was almost always sleep-deprived.

In addition, I used to give private tutions to school kids too(All subjects). I liked doing it . It gave me a sense of achievement to see my students performing well. Probably, at a young age I realized that its better to be self reliant than to pester parents for extra pocket money to fulfill wishes.

Fear factor

While returning from shows sometimes I also had to walk past a graveyard in the middle of the night to reach home which was a short cut. Believe me, it was spooky all alone. Instead of feeling afraid and run past it, I used to stare at the place while walking to overcome my fear.

Stray street dogs were a real menace. Especially during nights the dogs became extra active and start to follow us barking at the top of their voice. It was usually when we used to walk the less familiar routes.

All these happened during the initial days of struggle when we did not used to get paid enough to hire a car. We were often dropped off by organizing committee at a common point from where we walked to our respective homes. Things were different once we got slightly famous. Then it was much more comfortable.

My journey with music is around 23 years old. A lot to write and share. It has changed me and shaped me as a confident, outspoken individual. I feel differently ever since I was introduced to music. It is an universal language for all emotions in this world. A set of musical notes can alter / change your mood. Its very powerful. Just a couple of notes are enough.

I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z and this is the M post.