Underground Authority
Underground Authority is an alternative rock / rap rock band from India. Formed in early 2010, in Kolkata, their music is flavoured by a blend of protest poetry, reggae, alternative rock, rap rock and hard rock. The band is noted for their socio-political messages / Anti-capitalism agenda in their song lyrics and also for their Music to express and not impress quote.
The current line-up includes Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer, Adil Rashid, Soumyadeep Bhattacharya and Sourish Kumar.
History
Formation / early years / pre India's Got Talent
Underground Authority was formed in early 2010, when two of the previously existing acts from Kolkata, collaborated to put forth a new act together. They primarily started off performing in the premier pubs of Kolkata and participated in major music events, including the Closed Mic / Best of open mic at Someplace Else and Tuborg Unseen Underground Pub Rock festival. They were also the runners up at a national rock band competition, Yamaha Asian Beat 2010, held at Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai.On 17 May 2010 – They had performed at a concert in Kolkata organised by Power 107.8 FM to help promote mass awareness on the extinction on tigers in the country.
On 16 July 2010 – They had also been a part of a special night organised by popular city bands and individuals to offer a tribute to the Indian film music directors at the pub, 'Basement' at 'Samilton Hotel' in Kolkata. They performed A.R.Rahman directed songs, 'Rukmini' and 'Humma Humma' in their own versions as a tribute to the former.
!Banned
!Banned was a rap-metal band from the city, composed of Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer on the vocals, Kuntal De on the rhythm guitar, Roheet Mukhejee on the bass guitar and Anup Hela on the drums.They were mostly active from time period January 2009– March 2010 and had won many rock band competitions
held at the cultural festivals of colleges. Some of the notable are named below,
- 'Outlawed/Rivet 2010' – NUJS, Annual cultural festival – Battle of bands winners.
- 'Srijan 2010' – Indian School of Mines Dhanbad, Cultural Festival – 'Avalanche 2010' winners.
- 'Rockophonix 2010' – National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, Annual Cultural Festival – Battle of bands winners.
- 'Irock 2010'- Institute of Engineering and Management, Kolkata, Annual Cultural Festival – Band competition winners.
- 'Integration 2010' ISI, Cultural-tech Festival – Band competition winners.
- 'Sanskriti 2010' – Jadavpur university, Cultural Festival organised by the students of the Engineering Department- Band competition Winners.
- 'Spunkz' 2010 – Pailan College of Management and Technology, Annual Cultural Festival – Band competition winners.
- 'Sanskriti 2010' – Jadavpur university, Cultural Festival organised by the students of the Arts Department – Band Competition winners.
- 'Cacophony 2010' – Calcutta Institute of Engineering and Management, Annual Cultural Festival – Battle of Bands winners.
- 'Springfest 2010' – IIT KGP, Annual Cultural Festival – 'Wildfire' battle of bands runners up.
- 'AGON 2009' – Calcutta National Medical College, Annual Cultural Festival – Battle of bands winners.
- 'MITALI 2009' – Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital, Annual Cultural Festival – Battle of bands winners.
- Calcutta Medical College – Battle of bands, Winners, 2009.
- 'Eclecia 2009' – Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, Annual Cultural Festival – 'On the rocks' band competition, third-place winners.
The band discontinued in April 2010, as the bass guitarist, Roheet Mukherjee left the band to join another city band Five Little Indians.
Skydive
Skydive started as a rap-rock side project that included Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer on the vocals/rap, Adil Rashid on the lead guitar, Soumyadeep Bhattacharya on the bass guitar, Bhaveen Juthani on the rhythm guitar and Sourish Kumar on the drums.Though the activity of the band didn't span for more than three months, from January to March 2010, the band had an unbeatable record of winning all the band competitions it had taken part in at cultural festivals of colleges. The following are the competitions they took part in,
- 'Oorja 2010' – Indian School of Mines Dhanbad, Cultural festival – Battle of bands winners.
- 'Kritansh 2010' – KIIT University, Annual cultural festival, 'Holocaust 2010' – Band competition winners.
- 'Almafiesta 2010' – Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Annual cultural festival, 'Euphony 2010' – Band competition winners.
- 'Srijan 2010' – Shri Shikshayatan College, Annual cultural festival – Battle of bands winners.
Band members
Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer (EPR)
Also known as E.P.R, Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer is the frontman / emcee of the band, he's one of the first emcees / rappers in the city to make a mark. He is noted for his stage presence and passionate delivery of vocals. He's also the lyricist of the band and is a follower of Anarchist Communism, which can be seen in his works. Sure.
Previously he used to often rap / perform at open mic sessions at Someplace Else, Park Hotel, Kolkata and was a very popular performer since then. His interactions with the audience are powerful and he frequently crowd surfs / stage dives at his performances.
He also participated in MTV Hustle season 1 and finished runner-up next to winner, M-zee-bella.
Adil Rashid
He is the lead guitarist of the band and is a Gibson supported artist from Gibson Guitar Corporation. He specialises in jazz, blues, funk, rock and metal. His inspirations are Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Slash, Vito Brata, to name a few. He is also the grandson of Mohammed Salim, who was the first Indian footballer to play overseas, in 1936 for the Scottish club Celtic FC 1st division.Soumyadeep Bhattachary
Soumyadeep Bhattacharya alias 'Bubbla' is the bassist in the band. He states that he fell in love with the instrument called the bass guitar when he first saw it in a shop.Sourish Kumar
Sourish is the drummer of the band. He is extremely versatile and received the best drummer award at Hornbill International Rock Contest 2013. He is one of the best drummers from Kolkata.Musical influences
Underground Authority is known for its original compositions, which always tend to portray a political message which they term it as "Protest Poetry". Some of their popular original songs include,- "Microphone"
- "Realize",
- "You Can't Stop Us",
- "We Kill G.I. Joes"
- "Urvashi"
- "Humma Humma"
- "Rukmani"
- "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi"
- "Maa Tujhe Salam"
''India's Got Talent – Khoj −2''
Underground Authority tried their luck at the auditions of the second season of India's Got Talent, which is a large-scale televised entertainment variety show created by Simon Cowell and Syco TV. The show presents India's best unknown acts and talents, and made their maiden appearance on national television through Colors TV.During the nationwide talent competition, the band covered A. R. Rahman's hits in their own style, which secured their position as one of the nine finalists in the show, earning them a huge fan following. During the competition, the band performed a song from the soundtrack of the Hindi action film Dabangg, which starred guest judge Salman Khan.
The band received an overwhelming response from the Indian audience, winning the hearts of Indian celebrities, including Salman Khan, Sonali Bendre, Nikhil Chinapa, Ayushmann Khurrana and Kiron Kher. Salman Khan requested them to remix the whole Dabangg soundtrack album, in their own unique style. After India's Got Talent, the band became known for twisting Bollywood retro songs and presenting them in their own style of music.
During the television shoot for the auditions of India's Got Talent, in Kolkata, Nikhil Chinapa had liked their performance so much that he had instantly uploaded a status message on them on his account on the social networking site, Twitter.
Hornbill International Rock Competition 2013
Hornbill International Rock Competition was a part of the annual cultural extravaganza, Hornbill Festival, which showcases the rich Naga culture and is organised by the state government of Nagaland's Music Task Force, department of Youth Resources and Sports.Hornbill International Rock Contest is also the longest music festival in the country, it being a seven-day-long festival. India's biggest prize money for battle of bands contest has been an integral event of the Hornbill Festival extravaganza since its inception in 2000. The contest was held at the newly constructed venue at Solidarity Park, Kohima from 1 to 10 December.
On celebrating the 50th year of statehood, of Nagaland, the government decided to double up the prize money for the competition to make it grander and to have something to remember.
The selected bands competed for the top prize of a whopping 10,00,000/-, 2,50,000/- for the second place and 1,50,000/- for the third place. Individual Prizes for Best Vocalist, Best Guitarist, Best Drummer, Best Bassist will also be given with a prize money of INR 30,000/- each and other surprise Sponsored Prizes.
On December, 10, following the final performances by the short-listed bands, it was announced that 'Underground Authority' were this year's un-doubted winners along with winning, other individual prizes of Best Vocalist, Best Bassist, Best Drummer and Best Runner's up guitarist.
The competition was judged by True School of Music co-founder Ashutosh Phatak, Nagaland youth activist and pastor Doring Lungalung and actor Purab Kohli.
Hornbill International Rock Contest 2013 Winners:
- Winners: Underground Authority
- 1st Runners-Up: We The Giants
- 2nd Runners-Up: The F16s
- Best Vocalist: Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer
- Best Guitarist: Aren Longkumer
- Best Bassist: Soumyadeep Bhattacharya
- Best Drummer Sourish Kumar
- Best Keyboardist: Harshan Radhakrishnan
Professional career