2005 article on women in India's rock bands. Video illustration by me!

[the_future_modernes]

The chicks behind their kits:Women rockers in India? May their tribe increase

On the international scene, female rockers have always had a niche. But try going on a quest for women in rock bands in India, and you would encounter only a few.The female vocalists, of those there is shortage. But the women who make the sound behind the vocals? Ah there you have us. Says guitar teacher Rupert Fernandes, "Female rockers are as good as non-existent. This could have a lot to do with the fact that being in a rock band involves being on the road a majority of the time, and practising late hours may not be so easy for women. Also, holding the crowd together at a rock show could get challenging."

While rock band Scribe's bassist, Srinivas,

Scribe @ Independence Rock XXII Finals

Scribe - 1234 Dracula live at blue FROG - 5th September, 2010

feels "women may be shy", Exhumation's guitarist Prashant Shah says, "There are hardly any men in the country who listen to rock these days, so women rock fans are even more scarce, let alone being band members."

But let that not fool you. Across India, female rockers are increasingly making their presence felt. Take Yasmin Kazi,

Yasmin Claire from Myndsnare

drummer of Bangalore's progressive death metal band Myndsnare. She says the initial reaction when the crowds saw her was of scepticism. '"What's a girl gonna' drum for a death metal band', they asked," she says. "Or 'What's that singer chick doing behind the kit'?" But after five years of showing the country her double bass skills, even professional drummers across the country quiver when they watch her play.

Myndsnare - Raining blood.mpg

Gino Banks, a sessions drummer, insists she is the best drummer in India for that genre.


Mumbai's all-girl band called The Real Thing who recently inaugurated a hotel in Delhi has Chitra Marathe as its guitarist. She has been playing the instrument for over nine years. "Initially, my folks were sceptical about me making a career in music," she says. "Being a girl surely makes things different. People are more curious than anything else. But if you are good, people appreciate it more when you are a girl."

But for the band's drummer Sapna Desai, things were a bit different. Her father is a drum teacher while she is also a life insurance agent, a badminton coach, a Kathak dancer and an interior designer. It never mattered to her what gender she is, not even when negative reactions like "Yeh to ladki hai, ye kya drums play karegi," were thrown at her when she was the only woman in her former band, Panic Attack.

Anindita Gupta, a girl who slaps the bass for Bangalore's Zebediah Plush,

Zebediah Plush - Tea and Toast

faced initial hindrances like parental issues about the late hours of practice and travelling out of town for gigs. "But now that we have an album out and public recognition, they're more supportive," she says.
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