MUMBAI: It’s that time of the year when one of the smallest multi-purpose agencies in the country prepares itself for one of the most devoted indie-punk annual gathering. The third edition of the travelling DIY festival New Wave Asia takes a pit-stop in Delhi this year, and ennui.Bomb - the organising entity - despite losing on a few brand associates and partners did not compromise on one aspect that propels the music festival – the music.

Held traditionally towards the end of the year, the talking point of the third edition of New Wave Asia is its only international act – ILHAAM Project. Some music festivals usually incorrectly boast of featuring ‘underground/unheard/fresh’ acts, but a quick look at New Wave Asia’s last two editions will suggest how instrumental the festival’s role has been in terms of exposing the Indian community to some of the best unheard sounds of Asia and India.

The Promising ‘Ones’

ennui.Bomb’s efforts to explore the unattended and untapped talents of the country does not restrict to the annual travelling festival, as the multi-purpose agency provides platform to these faces through initiatives revolving around a similar DIY ideology. The ideology has, in more ways than one, become synonymous with ennui.Bomb, as founder Rishu Singh puts it. One fine example of the same is the entity’s confidence in singer-songwriters/solo acts; be it the relatively underground names or the now-established ones. One of the youngest acts of the current edition, 20-year-old Mumbai-based solo act Ramya Pothuri will join the exclusive club of singer-songwriters that features Tejas Menon, Taba Chake and Pragnya Wakhlu (who recently released her new single ‘Burning Fire’). The solo acts front feature Delhi’s emerging electronic efforts ‘Karajimo’ and ‘Cowboy and Sailor Man’, the latter representing the chillwave/synthpop world of modern music – the only act from the edition to do so. But that wouldn’t be the end of synthpop for New Wave Asia 3.0 as Guwahati-based four-member act Joker’s Whoop will bring its idea of blending synth-pop with ‘rock’. Abhishek Bhatia has made fans amongst his counterparts and the music community through his electronic project ‘Curtain Blue’, and gradually continues to become a regular face in the country’s live music scene. Mumbai-based composer Ronit Sarkar’s on-stage representation in the form of ‘Awkward Bong’ has helped him earn several invites across various initiatives, and New Wave Asia surely acts as yet another building block in his musical journey.

The fresh, the refined, the established

New Wave Asia tends to get louder, really really louder. And to ensure that, the third edition will feature alternative rock Crazy Weather performing at their home turf, Delhi-based trio Ioish and indie rockers Outliners. New Wave Asia encourages experimental sounds and genres so it does not come as a surprise that Urdu Alternative rock band ‘Above The Shadows’ and sacred rock from Calcutta/Paris Tritha Electric found a place in the latest edition’s line-up. Rishu Singh loves the sounds of the 80s and 90s, and the promoter of punk rock and the founder of ennui.Bomb must have had no difficulty in narrowing down the option to Soul Inclination. Hosted in Delhi, the attendees or the city’s scenesters will need no introduction when The Circus (currently on a tour) and post-rock band Zokova hold their positions at antiSOCIAL. Metal and New Wave Asia’s association continues through the third edition as Pune’s Doom Metal band ‘Dirge’ and Delhi’s own progressive metal band ‘Passages’ will represent the genre on Day 2. Begum will have a busy December as the Delhi-based trio would extend its music festival outing to New Wave Asia, just four days after performing at Magnetic Fields in Rajasthan.

The Biggies

Staying true to its identity, New Wave Asia has stepped beyond the continent this time, and the festival will feature the French duo ILHAAM Project as one of the headlining acts.
ILHAAM Project’s sound is a direct reflection of ethnic and cultural union of the two musicians involved – Nina Nassif, the French-Lebanese songwriter and Omri Swafield, the Israeli percussionist. The two musicians utilise several instruments to create poetically eerie sound that draw inspirations from the respective lands they represent. For reasons like these and more, ILHAAM Project prefers to put the genre of its music under ‘world’. The Vinyl Records pays the best compliment to the three year old festival, as the ‘new wave’ four-piece band returns for yet another night of unadulterated raw music. FuzzCulture will surely witness a huge turnout as its recently released EP ‘Twins’ continue to garner critical and commercial rave reviews across portals and regions. One of the finest live performing acts in the country, yes..country, Death By Fungi proved its worth in the recently concluded ROOTS’ Punk Rock Edition in Mumbai, and New Wave Asia would hope the band recreates the spellbinding performance at antiSOCIAL on 17 December. Arguably, Delhi’s most noted and respected band, Peter Cat Recording Co. will perform on the final day (i.e. 18 December) at antiSOCIAL.

What makes New Wave Asia a genuinely ‘big deal’ is ennui.Bomb’s reluctance to give up on its IP despite the recent obstacles that would have enforced promoters to shut shops. With official apparel partners Haul, the festival looks forward to another seamless execution, in Delhi this time with the support from its official venue partners – Raasta (16 December) and antiSOCIAL (17 & 18 December), and once again prove the ‘live music’ industry of the country that ‘new age’ sounds deserve ‘new age’ approaches and while ennui.Bomb still hasn’t found an ideal formula to ensure so, it surely has rolled its dice in the right possible manner despite the lack of corporate support.

Day 1 (16 December) of the New Wave Asia will be hosted at Raasta with no entry charge.
Day 2 and Day 3 (17 & 18 December) will be executed at antiSOCIAL with an entry charge for Rs. 600 per day.
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