Urban Indians seem to have mastered the art of holding corporate jobs (or any other 9-5 jobs for that matter) and rocking out in their free time. Go to any pub or a club, a sizable chunk of the crowd will invariably be the part-time rockers, fans with an enviable knowledge of the Beatles, Doors, Pink Floyd to Metallica.
A band of such kind- Vin Sinners- recently kicked-off their ‘Element of Surprise Tour 2013′ to support their debut album Element of Surprise. Formed in early 2010, the band has gone through several changes in their lineup. Presently the band comprises of Vin Sinner (vocals, song writer and producer), Adol Rock (lead guitarist), Joe D’mon (bass guitars, backing vocals), Cmythonika (keyboards, backing vocals), JB (Jing) and The Skinner (drums and percussion). Heavily influenced by bands like Guns N’ Roses, Slash and Scorpions, their album ‘Element of Surprise’ received a fairly good response in UAE and India. The debut album was released on Artist Aloud in July.
Radioandmusic.com tapped UAE based rock band Vin Sinners songwriter / producer front man Vinesh Venugopal Nair aka ‘Vin Sinner’ who is also the global head of marketing, Xpress Money.
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Excerpts:-
A brief backgrounder/ history.
Vin Sinners was started in 2010. I had begun working on music with my co-producer and I realized that if I was to really give this music ‘life’, I’d have to form a band and it started from there.
After many adjustments and changes, we have finally found our ‘appropriate’ line up that comprises of talented, committed and passionate musicians who believe in the same things that of course form the band ideology. Today, we are on the cusp of a tour in India that we are organizing ourselves with the help and support of a few people who really believe in our music and believe in what we do.
How is that most Indians from urban middle, upper middle class grow up listening to rock music and then “play it safe” by joining the corporate/ bureaucratic world?
Listening or playing rock music doesn’t really mean that you need to give it up and chase the corporate dream. There are stories that comprise of people who have kept the fire burning. In fact, Vin Sinners has Joe D’mon (bassist) who has been a musician right through after college and continues to have a good day job and play bass guitars on the band.
Music has its seasonalities. What appealed to you when you were 14 years old perhaps doesn’t appeal ‘as much’ now. Look at dance music. People are raving about ‘Gangnam Style’ but that will be gone in a few months. What happened to ‘Macarena’ or ‘La Ketchup’? How often do you pull those CDs out and listen to those tracks? Perhaps never, but you will track down a ‘Smoke on the water’ and listen to it. That is the dramatic difference between pop and rock music. Rock music is like fine wine that gets better over the years. Dance music is a lot like cheap whisky that leaves you with a head ache the morning after.
What could be the reason on India not being unable to produce a ‘classic’ rock song?
Who said India hasn’t produced a classic rock song? The ‘classic’ songs were indeed produced but were they promoted like those that you got from the West? The answer is no. Songs like ‘Pretty Child’, ‘Top of the Rock’ (by Rock Machine- Indus Creed) were really nice tracks that could have been made into cult songs but that is what is unfortunate because both of them came from the same band while there were so many bands back then.
It is only of late and I mean the last 15 years or so that Indian bands are being encouraged to play their own music. But when that happened, Indi Pop had already taken over and hence bands that worked their own music didn’t get any exposure.
Tell us about the wildest thing you did while in high school/ college?
Let’s just say that I had seen this T-shirt on one of the bands that said ‘I am the one your Mamma warned you about’ and every time I saw that picture, I had a cheeky smile on my face.
Has any old friend accused you of being sell-out? What is your opinion of Indus Creed’s disbanding and reforming?
My old friends have to the contrary been extremely supportive to the resurgence of my musical aspirations. So that has been a great support. Indus Creed coming together is a fabulous thing and great for rock music because India desperately needs some rock icons to go forward. I like their new music; extremely mature.
India is currently going through a productive phase of indie artists and music. Is this a trend or something more concrete?
This will be a trend if it doesn’t bring musicians together under an umbrella where there is place for everyone. Music is one such thing that can have anyone in there and it is up to listeners and viewers to make their choices of what they like or what they don’t like.
India requires a lot of venues, a lot of promoters and a very open, committed lot of people who are willing to do this for music and no fiefdoms that have in the past ruined opportunities for music of this kind. There is a severe dearth of venues and there are very few people with access to these venues. I know this because I’ve had some ridiculous experiences trying to get venues to work with me in spite of my doing so much more (and I know this) to ensuring ticket sales and audiences. I wonder what organizers and venues then really want?
What kind of music does your band play and where has it toured? Any chance of the band turning full-time professionals? What is the USP of the band?
The USP of our band is the ‘balance of life and work’ so going full time is a NO-NO for me at least. I do far too many things to turn entirely into a musician. We’ve not toured anywhere yet but we are on the verge of an India tour. Dates will be announced soon.
We had a massive concert on 11 Jan at The Music Room in Dubai. The Music Room is a favorite haunt here for indoor rock concerts. We’ve played at the Gulf Bike Week last year where Megadeth played. We opened for Indus Creed and Motherjane in 2012. 2013 is looking very promising and exciting and it will culminate in the launch of our second album.
Guns N’ Roses had a song- ‘Nice boys don’t Play Rock N Roll’. Do you agree?
The song was from their EP ‘Live like a Suicide’ but later released on their GnR Lies album. But that’s honestly cliché. All these bands are busy cleaning up now. We’re just starting off all leaned up’; basically we’ve taken the better route home.
