Rock on!

Nitish doesn’t mince words when he speaks about this endeavour. He says,“I formed the De Nitish Pires Band (DNPB) in Mumbai in 2007. We’re a five-member team but I’ll be touring India alone as it’s not feasible for everyone to live in a van and perform inside it.” Nitish doesn’t have venues or shows fixed. His agenda is simple: “A typical tour is a high level affair and this isn’t one. What I’m doing is travelling to each city,spending two days going to colleges,malls and clubs and fixing up gigs for the remaining three days,” he says. His performances are free of cost and open to anyone who appreciates Indian rock music. “My ultimate goal with this tour is to make way for Indian rock bands. In this last decade,I’ve seen so many bands from neighbouring countries getting the right promotion by music labels. And these same labels refuse to give an opportunity to Indian bands. So this is an open fight against music labels. I want to show them that a band can spread its music without any help,” says this singer,composer and guitarist.

He equals rock music to art,and stresses that a good society is the result of good art. “It’s sad that the new breed of youngsters aren’t as much into live acts as they should be. I want to connect with them and make them fall in love with Indian rock music. If Pakistan can have Junoon and other bands,we too should have at least four or five great bands to write home about,” he says.

And for this,he will traverse 15,000 kms of hard ground and perform songs from different labums,including his latest Chauraha. “The 12 songs of the album (written by Prashant Hingole from Pune) narrate the story of a guy who makes the wrong decision and thus chooses the wrong path. By the time he realises his folly and turns back,he has lost all his loved ones. I haven’t heard storytelling in this form and hope it will connect with the audience,” he says. Though his performances will be free of cost,Nitish is hoping to sell some CDs. “See,I’ve done jingles for telly ads and made money,but I’m keeping it all aside for three months and devoting that time to this cause. So my earning will only be through my CDs or then donations of even a few rupees!” he quips. Nitin will be accompanied by his friend Mithun who is an artist and a fan of rock music. “We believe in the same things. Basically,a change is needed. See,my first two albums didn’t reach out to enough people because of a lack of publicity. So,I want to create a stage for Indian performers and encourage younger bands. Plus people need to go beyond Bollywood music too,” he says.

(Nitish Pires will reach Pune and kick off his tour on August 20)