How crowdsourcing gives power back to the audience and the artist. I just got back from a crazy festival in a remote little village Ziro,in Arunachal Pradesh. It was three days of absolute madness and I managed to catch all the acts that I wanted to especially Frisky Pints from Mizoram and the high-energy Street Stories from Shillong. The young boys have that indie-punk vibe about them cool tees and emo-haircuts complete with loud guitar riffs and stage antics that put the metal-crazy audience at peace. The legendary Lou Majaw closed the festival singing popular Dylan covers. Lou,who used to play in the immensely popular The Great Society,is well into his sixties and still has endless stage energy and,apparently,the body to match. Overheard a female singer: He has a tight body! The next day,after the dust had settled,I met Lou before he boarded his bus back to Shillong. He had a grouse. He wanted meaningful bands to play at the festival. I like Frank Zappa. But I am not going to go for a Frank Zappa concert every day,if you know what I mean, he smiled and disappeared into the bus. To be honest,I did not know what he meant. If Zappa was alive and playing gigs every day,I would go just to watch him push the boundaries musically and otherwise. This is a recurring feature with the indie scene in India. Everyone wants good boys,the role models,those who get good grades in school,the ones who obey their parents; they will play the guitar but eventually find an alternative career and settle down.the same ones who have something meaningful to add to society. Whatever happened to rebellion against this sort of conformism and peer pressure? That metalhead whos losing the plot and screaming himself hoarse in the mosh pit will go back home,gargle with warm water his mother has ready for him and get down to his GATE prep. Dont worry about him. Worry about this demand for conformism,not just from sponsors but even veteran rockers. I have always believed in giving the power to both the artist and the audience. Thankfully,that power is now slowly assuming shape with the concept of crowdsourcing becoming more acceptable. Ctrl ALT Delete is a regular Mumbai event thats been promoting fresh acts like Blakc and The Light Years Explode. Run by a bunch of old-timers,the year-old concept is to give the power back to the audience by allowing them to finance the acts. Through a website called wishberry.in created exclusively for crowdsourcing,Ctrl ALT Delete sells tickets depending on ones enthusiasm and wallet. For Rs 200,you get an invite and mention on their social media presence and for Rs 35,000,you get the band to play in your living room! I have mentioned crowdsourcing in the Indian context before,with Demonic Resurrection raising money for their music video shoot and offering guest appearances in the video to the generous. But the best part is that crowdsourcing doesnt have to be just about the money. It could be artwork a classic case being designer Lance Thackerays Mau5head or Deadmau5 created on talenthouse.com (an open website for art submissions) that made the cover of Rolling Stone earlier this year. Or it could be a video,the eerily brilliant YouTube video of Radioheads Paranoid android being covered by 35 fans. Sure,crowdsourcing is an easy affair when there is a crowd to begin with. But in India,where the numbers are just about coming together,is it worth it? Yes. I think this is the perfect time to start preparing this growing audience for the concept. This is when artists and fans should be connecting far more closely than ever whether to raise money or to dip into collective creative energies to come up with a video,a poster,an album cover or merchandise. The scene is big enough for artists to push boundaries by experimenting with new sounds and small enough to reduce the needless separation between the fans and the artists. Got a band? Start indulging your fans by involving them in the creative process. Got an artist you like? Send them an artwork or offer your services as a photographer or pay what you can for their CD. This is what makes a movement,and many years from now,youll be proud to have been part of it in whatever little way. I just got myself the new Tame Impala album Lonerism thats been leaked on the internet. Its brilliant and I will buy the CD when it eventually comes out. That will be my meaningful contribution this month.
