Naad

Naad is an Indian semi-pro rock band formed in 2006 with Chandrahaas Uniyal on vocals, Madhur Shukla and Uvais Mohammed on guitars, Maruthishankar Chandrasekaran on bass guitars and Sriram on drums. Naad was started by three college friends Chandrahaas, Madhur and Uvais, who in spite of having different musical taste individually, share the same passion for making original music.

Beginning

All the members of Naad are from Vellore Institute of Technology. During their first semester Chandrahaas and Madhur met each other through common friends and started jamming popular hindi songs in Madhur's room. Both of them realized the comfort they shared while trying out songs for the first time. This led to an understanding and they started practicing regularly.

Star Vijay EQ

At that time when most of the guitarists were inclined towards heavier sounds, Madhur concentrated on his clean sound. His different style led to a sudden recognition in the music club of college and he got a spot in the college team that was to participate in STAR Vijay Entertainment Quotient. He suggested Chandrahaas to participate in it as a vocalist. During the event they covered Euphoria's Maeri as an unplanned item, and got appreciated as best performance of the day. This provided them the confidence and will to proceed with their music.

Riviera

Chandrahaas and Uvais were in the same department. One day while sharing a desk they started off with discussion over a song and realized that they had similar favorites. Chandrahaas called Uvais to jam with him and Madhur. For the college cultural fest, Riviera, they practiced "Patience-GnR" for the Western Acoustic Auditions. They got selected in this category and won the Indian Music Category as "Six Paise" including Mrinmoy (on tabla),Maruthi (on keys),Sourjyo (on Bass) and Harish(drums). With this they became a frequent part of Rock Shows in their college.

The later years of college

Naad was never constant on live scene. This caused them to lose a lot of audience. But they managed to record some songs during last few semesters. They changed their line up quite a few times, prominent of which was the lineup with Sriram on drums. With this lineup they played in Christian Medical College, Vellore. Later, Maruthi played bass for their Hindi songs, Pravrutha and Subbalakshmi joined for vocals, and Ashwin Bala joined for keyboards. With this lineup Naad played in Saarang (IIT Chennai) where they got covered by leading newspaper The Hindu and featured on Radio Mirchi.

Musical Style

As mentioned on their official page, Naad's music revolves around "Emotions, Poetry[and] White".^[1] They never describe themselves under any genre. Their music consists of layered vocals, extensive use of chorus and harmonies, glam rock guitar solos fused with Hindustani Classical riffs on acoustic guitars, common Indian percussions and melodic interludes.

Lyrics play important role in Naad's songs. Using hindi as main language in their songs, Naad has created a different style of writing that includes using lots of syllables and thus singing them rapidly for some sections of a song. Till now Naad hasn't recorded in any professional studio. They use home studio setup to record.

Dekhte Dekhte & Roothe

Naad recorded Dekhte Dekhte as their first well structured song. People had mixed reactions as they were not comfortable with Hindi lyrics initially, but later this (using Hindi) became Naad's strength. Dekhte dekhte is about the impact of rain on five different individuals. It has very ambient sound. "Roothe" was the first song of Naad to get them a contract, that they signed with Hungama Media Ltd.^[2] This song was available at a standard price over Amazon^[3] and iTunes (only for USA).

After College

"Aa Thaharein" was their first song after undergraduate life was over. They composed and recorded the song during February, 2011 for the occasion of Valentine's Day. They distribute their songs through social network. "Aa Thaharein" was followed by "Holi" which was a major success as they got overwhelming responses from friends and strangers alike. It was a song about the Indian Festival of Colors-Holi. Naad was a part of team that composed Aids Day Song for Artist Aloud Team.^[4] They continue to make music using internet as a common platform.

References

1. ^ http://www.facebook.com/NaadOfficialPage?sk=info
2. ^ http://www.hungama.com/music-song-Roothe%20featuring%20NAAD-378003
3. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041M2VBO
4. ^ http://www.artistaloud.com/artist-Durex%20Jeans%20Condoms%20present%20the%20World%20Aids%20Day%20Song-45921

External links

• Official Page
• Soundcloud Page