They have cast a spell in the Darjeeling Hills, besides the town
of Darjeeling itself where they were born in 1999. Their sound
is upbeat; just what a region with an exhausted civic space needs.
Darjeeling is considered to be the homeground for music and one
of the leading bands in the revival of music in Darjeeling after
the agitation is Mantra. It's a bunch of young men - average age
24 - who is proud to admit that it is the old, and now dead, local
bands that were their inspiration.
"Ofcourse, the sounds are different now. We are technically
more equipped than our predecessors, which makes a difference
in the output's quality", says Bhaskar Dewan, the band's
vocalist who is also a teacher in Turnbull Boy's High School.
"Mantra is about positive vibes. We want to make our people
feel good about themselves and their place... transcend political
boundaries," says Pragya Lama - the lead guitarist and the
youngest member of the band. When the band got its first exposure
outside the hills, which happened on the year of its formation
at the IIT Kharagpur's Spring Fest, Pragya was just about to finish
his Class X.
Mantra has also performed in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, on
invitation and won the Gangtok Beat Contest 2002. It was the same
year that the band released its first number "Timi Bina"
in the compilation "Gorkha Rocks Volume I" - the crowd
will not allow a Mantra gig to end without it.
For the gigs, Mantra dishes out cover versions of popular heavy
metal and popular heavy rock numbers. They are especially good
at Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd and the kind.
The aspirations are big time. "We want to enter into the
national scene, by participating in an event like the 'Independence
Rock' at Mumbai. Lets see we are trying," says Bhaskar.
| Some Mantra photos from their
Kalimpong Gig |
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Mantra are:
Bhaskar - Vocals
Pragya - Lead Guitars
Pravesh - Bass Guitars
Bishal - Drums
Manish - Keyboards
They have recently released their Mantra Album. One can buy their
album by ordering the same with us.
Write to Mantra:
Email:
mantra_11@hotmail.com
fatalwish@hotmail.com
Timi Bina
