Nitish Pires.

Tell us about howyour Journey began as a musician.

I started my journey as a musician in 1999. I was one of theguys who started the Hindi rock scene and it was initially very difficult tomake a breakthrough because back then, people didn’t understand the concept ofHindi rock- at all. Basically, there were no bands doing that kind of stuff inIndia. Although bands like Junoon were around - they had a heavy Sufiinfluence- and so they were more of Sufi-rock bands than anything else. Nodisrespect to them though. They did a cool job. But not exactly

- what I was aiming at. Also, Bands like Euphoria wereputting out albums – but they were again into a lot of fusion and had more of apop-sensibility.

I was one of the guys who did rock- without any other influence.Just the Hindi lyrics and the rock format: that was it. Also, at the time- itwas quite difficult to convince labels to invest money for such projects.Pakistan had become a big brand- and most labels thought that we IndianMusicians weren’t meant to play rock- We were only good at doing Bollywoodmusic. Well, that’s what they thought. I had other plans in mind.

I struggled everyday- Just for the love of it. I used to goto Universal music and sit at their reception for long hours at a stretch- andafter three years when I finally got my first contract- I was on the top of theworld. I was 22- at that point of time. And I was steadily beginning to thinkthat I’d finally set out on the path I always wanted to tread.

So, they got all of the things together- and released thealbum- but then I slowly realized- they released it just for the heck of it.I’m not even sure how many copies they made and it never even went to theshelf. This was a big shock to me because I had taken loans to make the videofor the album- I had also done the audio on my own- the label hadn’t paid me asingle penny- for the recording and eventually I didn’t get anything out of it.Nobody really got to listen to my music. Eventually, my band split. We weren’tgetting shows anymore and Djs had suddenly become the trend.

And your comeback with Sarhadein…

Yeah, I came back with Sarhadein in 2007.  There was a friend of mine who sponsored mewith this album. It was with his money that I got a video together for the promotionsand stuff. So, this time I was beginning to think I’m technically correct- Ishouldn’t fail this time. I have good video representation and I’m going tomarket it well this time- but eventually I came to the same shitty situation.

I went to a few music-labels they said the same things ‘Giveus the marketing money and we will release your stuff’. There was a friend ofmine who had a small label and since I knew him well we released the albumthrough him but it didn’t work out because- it didn’t have enough network andnot enough links. MTV did release the video and gave a little bit of support.They played it and did whatever they could come up with and I understand theycouldn’t have done more- because they had their own protocols- like any other musicchannel on the planet.

 And Chauraha?

Chauraha is a concept album. It’s based around this guy- whotakes a wrong direction in life and the day he realizes the road is wrong- heturns back to find all doors closed for him. It’s a beautiful story- that wasinspired from teachings that I read in the Bible and the Geeta.  So when I was done making the album I waspretty confident I would get back-up because nobody else was doing this kind ofa thing at that point. Sadly, I was facing the same things again. This time –the offers were even worse. There was this one label who offered me a contractsaying ‘You make your own video and give us 8 lakhs- we will market it’. Iasked them what I would gain from it. They said they’d give me 35% royalty fromCD sales. So, then I asked them ‘if they could assure me that I would do wellin the market if I give them the money and they were like “How can we guaranteethat?” I walked out at that very moment.

As you might have guessed- I was extremely pissed. I was confusedabout one simple thing- We have what it takes- we want to work hard. Whywouldn’t they accept us like the way we are? I mean I’m sure they wouldn’t haveasked Metallica for the same thing! And I don’t see why we should be treatedany differently!

About the tour- how did it start and why did you start it inthe first place?

I did all I could in terms of approaching people. I facedfailure over and over again. And I was sure, It wasn’t my mistake. A simpleopportunity was all I was asking for. And Music labels were not providing methat. So then I formed my own music label called ‘Music Hawkers’. When I didthat I realized I wouldn’t be able to market this because I didn’t have moneywith me. So, I sold whatever I had – my house, my car- EVERYTHING. My wife wasalways a huge support. With all the money I gathered- I made my album, a videoand 3000 cds. Now I suddenly got this idea. I realized that the only way ofconnecting to an audience would be to go to them and make them hear your music.So, that’s how it began. I brought myself a van, my own sound, powers etc.- abasic set-up- in other words and got my act together. I decided I will go todifferent places all over the country and try spreading the word- with just onething at hand- the power of my music. With this journey-I had one thing inmind- people will listen. And I knew that for sure- because I believe in mymusic and also because nobody has to pay me. I guessed nobody would think twicefor a gig. And so far, that’s exactly how it’s been. I can practically playanywhere. Also, this is not just about the playing bit. This is about a messageI carry. People will steadily come to realize that Indian bands have more thanjust music with them. I’m hoping that with my tour- people will come to realizeand support the power of Indian Bands

About the journey…

I started my Journey from Mumbai. Initially, it was kind ofdifficult because I was driving alone. But then, I slowly came to realize thatthe whole tour was about ‘faith’. Faith gave me the strength to go on. Istarted this tour with 2000 rupees in my pocket and it was faith that broughtme here- to you. I was stuck in Pune for 10 long days- Faith got meopportunities- the money poured in and I was able to get through. Every place Igo to- I get a desired amount of money collected- in form of donations and cdsales-not through anything else-but faith.

You could have made your music sitting at home andpopularized it through the internet. Why take all the pain of doing so much?

I’m not doing this just for myself. I’m doing this forothers as well. I want to connect with people through my music. Make them seewhat exactly my world is like. I want them to feel my music- not just listen toit. And I can assure by doing it- rite in front of them. I’m trying to be avoice for those people who worked their asses of to promote their music butcouldn’t do it because of these Music Giants/ Big music labels. Tomorrow whenthis tour ends and when people get my message- it’s going to help each one of us.And I can guarantee you that.

When will this tourend?

It’s not an organized tour, If it was I could have calledpeople saying ‘Main aah raha hun’- things would have been a lot easier. I go toa city , stay there for a few days-learn about the place- meet people –makemyself heard and once I think I’m done – I move on to the next one. Funnily, Inever know what the next destination is. Hence, I’m really unsure when it’sgoing to come to an end.

After this tour?

I want to continue what I’m doing- helping myself andhelping other aspiring musicians reach a better platform to perform and beheard. I want to do this on a global level someday. I’m also working on thissite- it’s called Ungli.com- it’ll be a platform for people to talk about anddiscuss the elements/ happenings/ evils of our society at large. I’m aFilm-maker too. So, I’m thinking of getting back to that as well. So yeah,loads on the list. Stay tuned!