Guitars are buzzing, cymbals crashing, bass guitars creating walls of doom as indie rock explodes all over the country. With bands mushrooming all over, it gets more difficult to stand out- talent wise and stylistically. Mumbai’s four-piece alternative pop rock band Modern Mafia manages to do that- playing their pop flavoured urban rock- at studios, live shows opening for Metallica, playing at the NH7, Pune and we guess at their basements.

Active since 2011, the band comprises of  Varun Das on vocals/guitars, Ishaan Krishna (guitars/backing vocals), Karun Kannampilly (drums) and Krehl Gonsalves (bass/backing vocals). Radioandmusic.com caught up with the ‘mafioso’s’ in-between their studio sessions for a Bollywood flick.

Excerpts

How is the Indian rock scene?

The Indian rock scene at the moment is truly amazing. We are expected to play original music at venues and the audience prefers original music to covers. This wasn't the case a few years ago. I think we are in between a music revolution in India. Will have to just wait and see what happens. Money is still a problem on regular basis but bands can be expected to be paid well as compared to before. Time will always be a factor if artist have other fulltime jobs and music on the side. Fortunately for us we are all full time musicians.

Any pressure on the home front?

Parents will always be concerned as this is not a profession where you can expect a monthly pay cheque. It’s a scary thought not having a backup plan to fall on but it’s only fair..

Can you give us a brief background of the members- how did you get to form a band/ your first gig/ first pay/ how do you network for gigs or competition.

All of us from the band have been good friends for many years now. We have played together in different bands over the years. We formed Modern Mafia just over a year. We first hit the studio, recorded our EP Random Sheep this year and then started looking out for gigs.

Our first gig was at MTV F1 Rocks opening for Metallica at Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai. It was one crazy gig and we got known from then on. I guess it was the best way to get started and we saved up a lot of time from doing the usual type of gigs for any new band to get started.

For the first few months we used to send out emails with our profile and music to many different places. It was a little easier after featuring on national TV. Recently we got an amazing manager to help us with gigs and all business decisions.

Musically, are you guys self taught or have formal lessons? How useful is the internet in learning riffs and solos (Tabs and instructional videos).

All of us from the band are self taught in most ways. I (Varun) have personally never taken a call for guitars but did take a crash course for my vocal training so I’d say I am self trained in vocals as well. I learnt most of my guitar lessons online. Karun (drummer) is currently learning online from Mike Johnson- one of the best drummers in the world and has an amazing teaching program. Karun even made a trip to the US to attend one of his drum camps last year.

Ishaan (guitarist) is a walking jukebox. The man can play almost any song you can name. He’s self taught as well.  Krehl (bassist) has got a few different degrees in music. He's the one with all the technical knowledge and he teaches as well. 

How would you define music? Your live shows have bright and poppy numbers while your EP- Random Sheep- is much heavier. How did your sound develop?

We would like to define ourselves as Indie Punk. At NH7’s Restless Band Hunt, we played three songs from our EP and a new song called ‘Superhero’. Our music is not normally heavy. I guess it seems more fun live than on CD.

We are still searching for our sound. I think our sound has developed over the last one year and seems to be heading to the right place. We don't worry too much about how we sound its more about how much we love playing the track.

How do today’s rock bands make singles/ records and get themselves heard? Is it a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) effort or are labels still involved? How important is marketing?

Home studios and the Internet- It’s so much easier now a days to record an entire album at one's on pace at a home studio. It’s a much better deal. For drums, you have to record at a good place, but the rest can be done at home. Our EP was recorded at Jason D'Souza's home studio.

Marketing is always important. At the end of the day your record is a product that has to reach the right consumer. The band is a brand that has to be recognized.

At the moment indie music is DIY that's the best part about it- no one to control your creative work. The best way to promote your work is the internet and word of mouth marketing. I think music videos do help a lot but they have to be really fun and innovative. Something that people can willingly share online without being pleaded too.

We still have mainstream labels and indie labels but at the end it’s the artist's decision to take their music to either one. At times artists may do better on their own.

Is rock music losing its elitist tag? Do you see rock bands/ artists coming out from the smaller cities/ towns?

Absolutely. The amount of talent coming out from all over the country is amazing. We live in a time of music revolution. With the technology available now a days, anyone can get out their creative side. It’s not hard and at times its really amazing stuff. 

So, what is Modern Mafia up to?

We just finished recording a Hindi version of one of our tracks for Bejoy Nambiar’s upcoming movie 'David'. Its sounding great and we have also shot a cameo. The movie should be out next month.

We also had an animated music video this Christmas. It’s a first for an Indian band as we are all animated in the video.

We have also been playing our new track 'Superhero' based on comic books and recently composed a Star Wars theme track called 'Chewbacca's Revenge'. We are also planning a album sometime next year. Still writing material so will have to wait and see.

Parting shot for readers?

I love the type of music being churned out at the moment; the best part is that it’s all original music. Unfortunately we haven't yet met the international standards but it’s not too far away- we need just one band to make it and open up a new door.