..x.. Vishal Dadlani Fan Club ..x.. - Page 16

I-Rock XXI: Day 1. Some thought the mike stand would fly at the crowds again. It fell to the floor with a dull thud, instead. The bad man of Mumbai's rock scene, Vishal dadlani, apologised to the crowds for what had happened in Mosh Mania, the previous year. The crowd, though, continued to boo him. By the time Pentagram's act ended, the gaali-galauj had, more or less, subdued. R. Krishna met Vishal to find out what happened that night.

Vishal Dadlani apologising? And I thought I had seen everything...
I have been looking for an appropriate forum. See, as a performer, I was probably responsible for letting the crowd get to a point where that happened. My apology is heartfelt in the sense that I really feel that it didn't do the (rock) Scene any good. It's all of our responsibility. I have no problem backing down. It's not an ego thing for me. I have no problem saying "I'm sorry". I really am. I didn't want to hurt that guy at all. Josh is a friend of the band, and has been for a long time. Very stupid thing for me to do. I didn't know what I was doing. Pure mistake.

I hope they'll (the rockers) understand that I was not thinking straight because of the fact that we were for all pratical purposes attacked. And for what it's worth, let's face it, we are all rock n rollers because we are aggressive people. I have never been known to sit down and take a punch. But again the fact that someone got hurt is truly regrettable.

So did you plan the apology in advance?
See, I apologized at Velocity as well. As long as I feel that people are pissed about it I would apologize. As much as those hecklers pushed me to it, I shouldn't have gone over the edge. I know that and I believe that. You don't understand how much I love this whole thing. First of all, being in Pentagram defines me as a human being. It's who I am. Secondly, being on that stage talking to those people and rocking it out with those people has been something I have done now for thirteen years. And I have dreams about it. I want to be there, I want to do that. It's not a hobby for me. Sure, I do a lot of stuff musically as well. But the fact of the matter is my being part of Pentagram, my being part of Bombay's stages, playing my music to those guys - that defines who I am to me. It's very important. So maybe that's why I took it so personally. I still take it personally. All of them man... all of them - the screamers, the shouters, the jumpers, the throwers, the... whatever they want to call themselves, whatever music they like, wherever they come from... the people who are in the front row really matter to me. And always have. It's very easy for me. I can call up the organiser and ask him to put the barricade 40 feets away from the stage. But I've always been the guy who takes the barricade down and has the crowd right up there, because without them, there is no show.

So this sort of thing doesn't happen elsewhere?
Strangely, it's not there anywhere. But, here's the thing. The public in Bombay - and it's a bautiful thing don't get me wrong - come to see Pentagram. People come to see other bands - say Pin Drop Violence or Zero. They are dedicated and rabid followers of that band. Sadly, in their head, that makes everything else 'not cool'. So, may be, they should also tone down a bit. But that's their call. I am happy to see they are into it (rock) that much. At the end of the day, whether you like me or hate me you come to the show, right? A lil aggressive energy... I have no issue with that. Come on, let's face facts... we are not god's sweet children. I mean normal people don't form a moshpit (laughs). It's cool with me. I have got no issue with that.

Was the constant abusing at I-Rock demoralising?
Actually, this is the first time it's happened to us. See, Pentagram has always been one of the most popular band. This time there was a price I had to pay. I knew it was coming. So, it was not demoralising... I was expecting it. Had it not happened, I would have been very pleasantly surprised. That it did, was expected. Like I said, you gotta pay your dues. I assume this was it. I hope, again, that everyone involved will forgive us... or me specifically. And that we can move on, 'cos our new album is coming out soon and it's f**king fantastic even if I am saying so myself. It's serious. I just hope everyone will listen to it and judge it on that basis.

All the abusing on the stage. Is it really you, or part of some on-stage persona?
The guy I am on stage is not the guy I am off stage. But that's for any artist. Any band will tell you. I don't know what it is. But yeah there's always been a lively energy around (and) it's always been good. There's always been a lot of love as well. We have a lot of fun, you know. Look, the words Bhench*d or madarch*d or m*therf**ker.. they are not used as cuss words realistically. You know how it is. It's like a rythymic chant. You go on a football field the chants are not pleasant to the players' mothers or sisters. You know what I'm saying. That's how it is. But it's all part of the support, so to speak. So I have no problem with it. Maybe the fact is it has become a thing of its own. All bands encourage it. Everyone plays a lil rythm to it. I find it a lil silly in the sense that you are here for the music. Enjoy the music. Why scream abusive stuff at your own band. But however you want to show your appreciation, it's all good. I live for that. Quite frankly man, being in front of 3000-4000 people on stage with Pentagram doing what we do, that's everything for me.

Pentagram has been criticised a lot for the shift in the kind of music you play, more specifically to electronica...
Man, let me tell you this. At the end of the day, it's your job as a performer to pick the crowd up. It's your job to take them to the level they want to go. As a peformer you have to carry the crowd. Everytime it doesn't happen the performer fails, not the crowd. The crowd always rocks. Crowd is fantastic. People are people across the world. And either it's a good gig or not a good gig. At the end of the day you got to square your shoulders and take the hit. There's no such thing called a bad crowd.

So, what have you learnt in Bollywood?
I have learnt a lot more about studio technique. I have learnt about recording. I have learnt a lot more about different genres of music a lot. And I have also brought a lot from the rock scene to the music I am making in Hindi music. So it's a nice little trade that happens.

What sort of relationship does Rock and Bollywood have? Is it an uneasy marriage?
I don't know. For me they are two different things. I do this because I can. I do that because I can. There is not too much of an overlap. If you hear Pentagram's music and Vishal & Shekhar's music, there's not much of an overlap. The only real overlap is that I'm involved in both. Everything I don't get to do here - like I love hip-hop - I get to do that in the film music I do. For me, music is a very diverse. I like to do many things at one time. I get to do a lot of genres of music (in Bollywood).

What about the producers?
Ya. Luckily we have been successful with doing what we want to do.

Has your music changed due to Bollywood?
No. Have you noticed anything? I will tell you one thing. Anyone who tells you they have not heard Hindi music while growing are being slightly hypocritical. Fact of the matter is that you live in Bombay. The Hindi film industry is based here. I saw all of Mr. Bachchan's films as a kid. I was a big fan. So I know that space. That music taught me a lot as well. Alongwith this I also heard all of Santana, Led Zeppllin, lot of disco music. Why would you want to deny any of these experiences? I am not saying I am the world's largest Abba fan but I have heard an Abba record or two.

People say that Pentagram are good musicians, but don't deserve to be in a Rock Show...
Cheers! Don't come.

No man, look at the end of the day we frighten you, good. No I am serious, 'cos we are not here to make you all warm and comfortable in a security blanket. That's not our job. As much as those guys freak me out, I'm freaking them out. If I wanted to be cosy I would sit here all day and do it. Do you have any idea how much I get paid for this. But the whole point of it is that edge is required. That's who we are. It's a symbiotic thing. I live off those guys, they live off whatever they derive from the show. For every person who says that, there are 100 people who say Pentagram is the maddest band we've ever seen. I gotta count on that support. And for the people who don't dig it and yet they come... cool, you are still in that front row. You are still giving me that energy I need.

Pentagram-ania

Milkmaid chai and James Brown provided the perfect ambience for a tete-a-tete with India's biggest Rock act. Arjun '6-String-Bass' Ravi met Vishal (lead vox), Shiraz (drums), Papal (bass) and Randolph (guitars) of Pentagram, to discuss life, the universe and Indian Rock.

Shiraz's house, in a kopcha in Bandra, is not exactly what you'd expect the residence of the drummer of India's biggest Rock act to look like. It's hardly a penthouse apartment, but it occupies the terrace of a 3 storey building, and is covered in posters and photographs of cult films. Papal arrives first, casually about twenty minutes late, followed by Vishal and Randolph whose excuse was "the auto guy was too slow."

It's been two years since their last album Up, the biggest selling Indian Rock album of all time, and Vishal informs me that "kaam chalu hain" on the follow up, which should see a March 2005 release. "We've been writing a lot of songs. It's just a question of figuring out where those songs will go", he says.

In 2005, Pentagram will turn 11 years old. It hasn't been pretty flowers and double bass pedals all the way. Vishal confirms, "Even now, it's the same. We're well known and charge a lot of money, but the way things are structured in India... Bollywood is omnipresent, there's very scope for anyone to hear any other kind of music. Technically speaking, if we were in the States and we'd spent the same amount of time and effort over there, we'd all be rich. But the fact of the matter is that, and we've always said this, the place, the people, and the fact that we come from here, means a lot to us. So, whatever we wanna do, we wanna do from here." "We're trying to take the music to the people", adds Randolph.

So it hasn't been easy being around for so long, and Vishal's advice to new bands hoping to make an impression is, "Make sure you're good at what you do, and believe in it." Randolph's pearls of wisdom - "Don't worry about the money part, you can't make any... or at least, not the amount you desire. If you're a good musician, people will come and give you money to do what you want to do."

I bring up the topic of songwriting, as Vishal picks up a flute (which he has been using as a drumstick) and blows a very poor tune to the lyrics 'She ain't never comin' home, to me'. "When it comes to writing, we just have fun. We figure out what we want to say, and then we say it."

Pentagram's music has been genre-defying. What started out as an Alternative outfit now features a lot of Techno and Funk influences, something that took people aback when Up was released. "Hopefully, and this is the real hope, the next album will do that again", says Vishal. "The Rock scene was actually stagnating. No one was doing anything different. No one was taking anything further in terms of sound."

Papal has somehow managed to procure some tandoori chicken and rotis, and promptly begins devouring the same. When I ask about the band's expectations when they started out, Vishal taunts him to answer. Eventually, Vishal answers it himself. "They were the same as now." He puts on a wannabe teenage punker face, acts all excited and says, "One day we'll put out an album, and it'll be damn good fun. Chicks will dig us..." Everyone laughs and, as if to emphasise his point, Vishal plays another screechy note on the flute.

Did they believe that they would sell 20,000 plus albums, in India? "Ya, ya!" says Vishal cockily. "There was that one little belief. The other stuff that was happening at that time was Indi-Pop or whatever. There were other bands like Indus Creed who had made some good music. So we knew that it could be done."

Pentagram will be playing steady gigs in India and abroad in the coming months. From the Roskilde festival in Denmark, to an MTV gig in Tokyo, many media bigwigs have invited them to play at international venues. If they could change one thing in the last ten years, Vishal believes that it would probably be the fact that there was a six year gap between albums one and two. "But maybe not", he retracts, "coz that's what it takes." Finally, Papal speaks up asking "Is this going to be on air?", and I courteously inform him that this is JAM magazine; we don't have air, only print.

The band has collaborated with Shankar Mahadevan and Javed Akhtar in the past. Vishal doesn't agree that this was an attempt to make the bands' music more marketable. "Shankar's a buddy. And he's a genuinely talented guy. The point was that (on Price Of Bullets, the song on which they collaborated) Shankar and Javed sahab wanted to say the same thing as we did ." What are their views on music piracy, considering it has played a major role in getting people to hear their music? "The thing with piracy is", says Shiraz "if people are downloading it for a listen, it's great. If they're making money out of it, then it's not."

As the night wears on, Vishal discloses his views on the state of Zero, with Warren moving to New Zealand, and Siddharth also planning an international getaway. "I'll tell you one thing about Zero, they're a bunch of lazy wankers. They should get off their asses. They're leaving behind a good thing. When you've got a band like that, you just don't leave it and walk away. It's a big thing. All of them are great musicians, but I'm sorry to say their priorities are all f***ed up."

"As a musician, if you think you've done it all, you're f***ed to start with. Secondly, you've never done it all. I've got two words for you - Mick Jagger. You start off thinking, 'I'm gonna take over the world man!' That's the way it should be." And that's the way it is with Pentagram. They might not take over the world, but they're sure as hell gonna try.