Phenom (rock group)

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For other uses of the term Phenom, please see Phenom (disambiguation).
Phenom
The 2006 lineup of Phenom.From left to right: Gaurav Joshua Vaz, Jnaneshwar "JD" Das, Mark Lazaro, Trinity "Tiny" D'Souza, and Mrinal Kalakrishnan.
The 2006 lineup of Phenom.
From left to right: Gaurav Joshua Vaz, Jnaneshwar "JD" Das, Mark Lazaro, Trinity "Tiny" D'Souza, and Mrinal Kalakrishnan.
Background information
Origin Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Genre(s) progressive rock/classic rock
Years active 2001 – 2006
Label(s) Independent
Website http://WeArePhenom.com
Members
Gaurav Joshua Vaz (Bass)
Jnaneshwar "JD" Das (Keyboards)
Mark Lazaro (Lead Vocals)
Trinity "Tiny" D'Souza (Guitars)
Mrinal Kalakrishnan (Drums)
Former members
Sashi Wapang
Noella D'sa
Deepu Jobie John

Phenom is a progressive rock group from Bangalore, India, notable for being one of the first Indian rock groups to release their work under a Creative Commons license.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] The College Years

Phenom began its life in 2001 as a college rock band, at the PES Institute of Technology. Originally formed to perform covers at competitions and college gigs, Phenom had a fairly rapid turnover of band members in its early days, and settled down with a lineup of Gaurav Joshua Vaz on guitars and vocals, Sashi Wapang on lead guitar, Mrinal Kalakrishnan on drums and guitars, Deepu Jobie John on bass, Jnaneshwar "JD" Das on keyboards and Noella D'Sa on vocals.

[edit] First songs

In 2002, the group's first success came at a culfest whose rock competition rules required them to perform at least one original song. They composed a song named Coloured for this World, inspired by Sashi's tastes in progressive rock.

After Deepu left the group in mid-2002 after graduating from college, Gaurav took up bass guitar duties, quickly developing a uniquely identifiable playing style.

In December 2002, Phenom performed their first solo show, as the headline act at Linux Bangalore. From then on, the group went on to perform at shows and competitions several times each month, and developed quite a winning streak. By mid-2003, Noella graduated from PESIT and left the group as vocalist, but continued to coach Phenom in singing and harmonies.

[edit] First Album

"Coloured for this World" set the direction that Phenom would follow from then on, and the group rapidly began composing new songs, most of which were of the progressive rock genre, but some, such as CAP 5101 (famously named after Mrinal's car registration number), were straight rock and roll.

In mid-2003, Phenom decided to record an album. Their manager, Atul Chitnis, introduced them to Dharmendra Chakrasali (known as "DC"), who had recently built his own studio, Purple Beast Studios. DC had many years of experience in the recording field, and Phenom was his first "product" to record. In late 2003, Phenom recorded what would become their first album, Unbound. The recording sessions stretched from late November 2003 through February 2004, and often resulted in complete re-compositions of the songs, notably "A Little Step". By Spring 2004, the album was ready, having been mastered in the USA. Phenom began looking for a distribution contract.

Performing at NLS:Strawberryfields in 2003
Performing at NLS:Strawberryfields in 2003

During this time, the band could not participate in many shows due to their hectic recording schedule. Phenom did, however, participate in NLSIU's prestigious rock festival Strawberry Fields, which they won in the college category.

[edit] Knocking on doors

The group quickly realised that having a good product was not enough[1]. Indian music publishers showed little interest in Phenom's music, citing it to be too difficult to market. India had not yet developed a commercial market for English rock music, and even established groups were unable to find publishers.

[edit] Changes

By mid-2004, the group members graduated from college, and Sashi left Bangalore, leaving the band without a guitarist. With Sashi gone, Mrinal took over the guitar playing. The drummer throne was occupied by a friend from another group.

Around this time, Mark Lazaro, whom Gaurav knew from another musical outfit, joined the band as vocalist. A formally trained vocalist with an extremely wide range, Mark competently relieved Gaurav of lead vocal duties.

The group played Strawberryfields again in 2004, after a five-month hiatus, but failed to repeat their success of 2003.

[edit] Release of "Unbound"

Phenom Unbound Web "Cover"
Phenom Unbound Web "Cover"

Based on interaction that Atul had with Larry Lessig in Berlin in June of 2004, Phenom decided to release their album under a Creative Commons license. Both Mrinal and Atul were staunch Free and Open Source Software supporters, and the concepts embodied in the Creative Commons movement were very much in tune with their own ideologies. Use of a Creative Commons license allowed Phenom to freely distribute their music, without losing their rights as copyright holders.

On Christmas day of 2004, Phenom released 'Unbound" on the Internet.

However, the rationale behind the Creative Commons licensed internet release, as explained by the group, was more practical than ideological:

...the real reason isn't so much the money, but that we are hoping that with enough people hearing our music, we will get noticed by some big music company that recognises both the quality and potential of our music, as well as the fact that so many people are listening to it, and are enjoying it! That cuts the traditional "element of risk" for a publishing company down to a bare minimum — a wholly acceptable value proposition! [2]

The effects of the release were significant. With thousands of downloads every month, Phenom "sold" more albums than most Indian rock groups before it. This appears to have encouraged other Indian groups to follow suit, as today the amount of Indian rock music available online under CC licenses is significant, and growing.

[edit] More Changes

Still facing lineup issues, Phenom tried out several replacement guitarists for Sashi. In early 2005, Trinity "Tiny" D'Souza joined the group. Tiny had performed with Mrinal in a progressive rock band, Cryptic, several years earlier. He knew the style of guitaring that Phenom needed, and brought along his own style as well.

[edit] RadioCity Live

Performing at RadioCity Live 2005
Performing at RadioCity Live 2005

In February 2005, the new lineup of Phenom played back to back with equal billing with one of India's best known rock groups, Thermal and a Quarter, at a live gig organised by Bangalore's main FM radio station RadioCity, in front of a packed audience. The show, held in the heart of Bangalore's famous Cubbon Park, was promoted on radio, in print, and on the Internet.

The impact on the group's popularity was, understandably, significant. They gained exposure in a market that was more used to listening to Bollywood music. Encouraged by the success of the show, RadioCity promoted Phenom and other rock groups over the next year, culminating in a huge event on the Bangalore Palace Grounds on 17 March, 2006 — Phenom's biggest live performance to date.

[edit] In the News

An instrumental called "Linux Can!", a tune originally written by Mrinal and Atul half a decade earlier, was modified by Phenom into a rock instrumental[3]. Phenom first performed it at Linux Bangalore/2002. In 2005, when Microsoft commissioned the group Parikrama to write a song on programmers, the press quickly made the connection.[4]

[edit] Today

The group continued to perform live, as well as collaborating with other artists and groups. Having graduated from a "college band" to one of the more senior bands in the circuit, Phenom spent a considerable amount of time coaching and promoting upcoming groups. Professionally, three of the members (Gaurav, Mrinal and JD) work in the IT industry, Mark is a graphic designer and 3D animator, and Trinity is a professional guitar coach and performer. In addition, Gaurav also performs with the Raghu Dixit Project, and is also co-founder of internet radio station RadioVeRVe.

In July of 2006, Phenom announced that they were disbanding, as two of their members (Mrinal and JD) were leaving for the USA for higher studies. On 29th July, 2006, the group performed for one last time, coincidentally on the birthday of one of their greatest influences, Rush's bassist Geddy Lee.

[edit] Creative Commons

On January 26th, 2007, Phenom's album Unbound was included on the CD distributed at the Creative Commons India License launch, in recognition of it being the first Creative Commons licensed music coming out of India.

[edit] Members

[edit] 2006 Lineup

[edit] 2004 Lineup

  • Gaurav Joshua Vaz - Bass and Lead Vocals
  • Sashi Wapang - Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals (left group in June 2004)
  • Mrinal Kalakrishnan - Drums and Backing Vocals
  • Jnaneshwar "JD" Das - Keyboards and Backing Vocals

[edit] 2002 Lineup

  • Gaurav Joshua Vaz - Guitar and Backing Vocals
  • Sashi Wapang - Lead Guitar
  • Mrinal Kalakrishnan - Drums and Backing Vocals
  • Jnaneshwar "JD" Das - Keyboards and Backing Vocals
  • Noella D'Sa - Lead Vocals (left group in early 2003)
  • Deepu Jobie John - Bass (left group in mid 2002)

[edit] Discography

[edit] 2004: Phenom Unbound

Phenom Unbound
Phenom Unbound

The album was released under a Creative Commons license, and contained five songs, all of which are freely downloadable from the internet:

  • "Unbound" [5]
  • "Coloured for this world" [6]
  • "CAP 5101" [7]
  • "Resurgence" [8]
  • "A Little Step" [9]

[edit] External links