Waiting for Goa to ROCK ON By Sujay Gupta
The search for the sounds of music of the Goa of old, often ends in the labyrinth of lanes in the gaunthans (villages) of Mumbai. Behind the quaint facades of houses with tiled roofs, wicker gates, wooden doors and red floors, of "villages" such as Pali, in Bandra, strains of Chuk Noris and Chuk Perry, Perry Como and our very own Remo, Larua Brannigan and the Goan Lorna, are heard.
A medley of voices and cultures, not heard on a long playing record or a CD, but performed in living rooms and bedrooms by sons and daughters, who have grown up hearing their parents sing or play.
This is the kind of music which is dying, consumed by downloads and ipods, far from an age where a storage device meant big fat books of musical notes and a natural memory bank.
Sadly, a lot of that is preserved in close knit Goan and east Indian communities in Mumbai- and I have been fortunate to sample their musical flavours over the years- but has fast vanished from the vados and tintos of Goa.
An old Goan Mumbai buddy was on a flashback mode recently in one of our beloved Irani cafes in Matunga in Central Mumbai. He said "As recently as the late nineties, when you walked down any lane in a Salcette village, you could hear a song, a guitar playing, a drum beating or a flute serenading anyone who cared to listen, from almost every home in the lane".
As he spoke I imagined music cascading out of the windows and the fields like a wave, its notes like a froth exploding as the waters hit jagged rocks, soft instrumental notes of Bethoven- quiet and unobtrusive, like a nun on her way to church, or the pure joyous loud beats of the percussion-complete with the clash of cymbals, much like the chanting of the village football team fresh from a victory in the local village league.
That was then. And that is not now. It's a lament of many who lived, loved and died with these songs, performed by impromptu family bands with dad on the lead guitar, the son and daughter on vocals, and another brother on the drums. And the mom, as back up vocals or as a critical member of the family choir.
As dear friend Alex Baraganza, often tells me (and out of a sense of genuine responsibility and nothing else), that while DJ's and RJ's have added to the musical experience, it has not necessarily complimented natural music, but actually taken it away. This isn't about wrong or right, but while celeb DJ's in night clubs may alight parties and liquor sales, the natural sounds of a chord being pulled, a drum stick being rolled or a flute being played, are dying at the altar of remix and techno sound. This may not necessarily be evil. But it sure is sad.
The sense of deep loss can be felt when all of us ask ourselves some questions. Is there a single Goan music band which ranks even in the top twenty bands of the country? When was the last time an all Goan band cut a successful album? When was the last time one of Goas best known singers Remo Fernandes last sing a hit single that was on everyone's lips.
Taking nothing away from a lot of Goan kids who have gone on to become DJ's or RJ's in major radio networks, there is a tinge of sadness, whe you know that at least one young singer with a divine voice, spends time introducing songs and topics in a radio station which plays predominantly hindi music, when she could very well be a w,onderful lead vocalist in any band. Well, it's all about choices and careers, but the music is dying.
Nostalgia always needs triggers. And this time there was a trifle unusual one. The latest cult hindi movie Rock On. Of how four buddies of band called Magik, did just that till the pressures of family, time and livelihoods forced the Magik to die, till a decade later when they all come back to create the same thrill, aura and yes magic with a capital M. Songs and song players never die or fade, till they don't lose the will to do so.
Here's to a time, when melodies will ring again, when the songs of Christmas, birthdays and any celebration will be sung by house bands, to a time when house music will means music composed by members of the house, to an age when music will once again be played by instruments and nor programmed.
Rock On, stirs. And reminds us of the joys of the brotherhood of bands and the cosmos of natural music. And perhaps gives us hope, that Goas next national band, is waiting to be born. ROCK ON!
http://goaunltd.com/?p=535 Goanet A&E - http://www.goanet.org
