Gaurav Joshua Vaz

The Raghu Dixit Project Tribe!

2008-03-29T16:20:57Z

If you are not yet on the Raghu Dixit Project Tribe ... Trust me .. you are missing quite a bit!

Go right now and join the Raghu Dixit Project Tribe!

And if you have bought the album, don't forget to collect your free song!

I am the Indian Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year - 2008!

2008-03-29T04:04:06Z

Last week, I applied for the ‘International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year - 2008‘ conducted by the British Council in India. This is an award that is given to people between 25 and 35 who are doing innovative stuff in the domain of music and entertainment in 10 countries that participate in this event.

I won the India leg of this event yesterday and the magnitude of this is still sinking in slowly! As winner, I get to travel to the UK in June and attend ‘London Calling‘ one of the biggest trade conferences for the global music industry. I also get to add one song from my country into the global IYME compilation. My choice for this is of course going to be ‘Gudugidya’, my favourite song from the Raghu Dixit Project album and one of the songs that I played for on the album.

Read my Acceptance Speech!

We hit mainstream yet?

2008-03-18T20:43:27Z

There has been so much action on the band front and in so many directions, I get dizzy when I try to take stock!! But the latest development made me want to get back and make a post here!

Raghu got a chance to meet the Bachchans and sing to them and they loved the music a lot and have promised to help with promotions and suggestions! Now that is surely mainstream!!

Read more - http://theraghudixitproject.wordpress.com

:)

The partition!

2008-03-10T17:27:46Z

I have finally given it enough thought and made up my mind enough to move from LJ to maintain my blog on my own site at http://gauravvaz.com

LJ was where I started over 5 years back and this blog has been largely a way to keep in touch and announce stuff to some very close people in my life. But then what I realized is that the blog has remained that way and I have never really 'Blogged' much.

I will now move my blogging over to 'My brand new blog' at http://gauravvaz.com/blog. I will continue to have my account here and will post updates and stuff that I want to keep you guys informed about here, but most of my writing will now move over there!

I will not delete anything from here and I have infact moved a few posts from here which I saw fit the new blog.

Do check it out at your convenience and let me know what you think of it.

We launched and we partied!

2008-03-05T06:27:45Z

The last week has been crazy! and I mean ... seriously crazy!!

The band launched its album and the press went crazy and everything was moving in fast forward motion like there was no tomorrow .. Things have settled down a bit but not for long .. the album hits music stores across the country this weekend and from then on .. all hell breaks loose! A few people who did go online and order the album have been raving about it and have only good things to say so we are quite expectant for the mass verdict!

But this is about a little group of friends who traveled from far and wide and came to witness the launch of the album. At the very last minute, I called a bunch of close friends and invited them for the launch and quite a few of them turned up and the rest of them were present in spirit which made the launch one of the most memorable days in my life!

Its not everyday that one gets to launch a music album worldwide and be featured on national TV etc .. and when that day and that moment comes, you want everyone you love to be there ... well as many as can possibly make it atleast ...

A bunch of my friends could and did! and after the brilliant launch, we went to this wonderful place in Bandra called 'The Hawaiian Shack' and partied till they allowed us to! It was the most fun I have had in a long time and is something which won't go out of my mind any time soon ..

Thanks all you guys!! you made it special for me!

Do read Shilpa's take on the launch and the party on her brand new blog which is a super read!! (oh well ... so I am shamelessly promoting ... so what?!?)

The Album is ON SALE!!

2008-03-01T11:21:17Z

The day has finally arrived! the album is on sale! and for those of you who have waited along with us … and now can wait no longer … here it is!!

MusicYogi.com has started stocking and selling the album and everyone … HEAD THERE and get your copy! The first batch will run out soon … so get it NOW!!!

Click here to buy the album

The album is out!

2008-02-29T02:56:23Z

It took a while coming, but its finally out ... The Raghu Dixit Project's first album was launched last week and will be in stores from tomorrow.

Check http://theraghudixitproject.wordpress.com for details ... I will post details about how to buy the album soon!

The album launches tomorrow

2008-02-25T19:04:47Z

The Raghu Dixit Project Album is going to be launched tomorrow at the Bandra Fort Amphitheater at 6.30 PM. If you are in Bombay and would be interested in the music we make, please do come by and I promise you will love it!

The CD has already surfaced and people seem to love it! ;) So wait for it to hit your city and buy it and spread the music!

If you are in Bombay, send me a note and you can come watch the show!

Capital with a capital 'D'

2008-02-20T14:02:05Z

I will be in Delhi over the weekend and as usual there are TONS of things to do! most importantly

1. The Raghu Dixit Project will be playing at the Eastwind Festival on the 22nd of February. We are playing a fun tight set and you should definitely be there if you are anywhere in the vicinity!

2. I will be at Freed.in on Sunday for the lovely conference! for a non-techie like me ... attending a conference and looking forward to it is quite a rare thing! But this looks like a very interesting conference and you would be interested in getting there. Do come by for the RadioVeRVe talk on Sunday and say hi!

If you are interested in RadioVeRVe or Indian Independent music or just Internet Radio, this will be a good place for us to connect!

Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T07:23:39Z

This is from a year back, I was interviewed for a Valentine's Day special about things we love ... and I had to speak about my beloved guitars! This is my part of the article

"Agrees guitarist Gaurav Vaz, who recently spent upwards of a lakh on a new Warwick Streamer guitar. "It's like getting a friend for life. And the personality does affect your music. Because of the way it sounds, and because when you are familiar with a guitar and are comfortable with the string positions and distances and so on, it's easier to improvise because instinctively you know where what goes and what sounds you'll get." Of course, that process of getting accustomed isn't complete until one formally names one's cherished objects. Gaurav's latest guitar, for instance, is called Deborah , after the woman from the U.S. who paid for his guitar with her credit card and shipped it down to him even though she had only met him for three days.

And his first guitar is called Gretchen, which means "little black pearl" in German. The only other necessary thing for most of these men is the wife or girlfriend that understands that she has to share his love with other things in his life or even take a backseat occasionally."

The full article is at http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/02/14/stories/2007021400220100.htm

This a picture of the beauty on duty!

Please note the lovely guitar strap made by the most beautiful of all my beauties ;) the lovely Shilpa Sequeira !!

The Raghu Dixit Project Blog

2008-02-09T20:36:20Z

The final stretch for the band is finally here and I have set out to document the journey from here on religiously! I know I should have done this a year back or so .. but then ... its better late than never!

So without much waiting .. I present to you .. http://theraghudixitproject.wordpress.com

This is where I aim to document the journey of a band that just released its first record internationally, what happens on tour and off, how things proceed etc .. Keep this marked, a LOT of exciting things are expected to happen!

Taking the long way!

2008-01-30T19:29:58Z

Just finished watching the Dixie Chicks documentary "Shut Up and Sing" and I must say its been a LONG LONG time since a movie made me want to pick up my guitar and start making music!

This is a definite must watch for any music lover and if you like the Dixie Chicks music, this just can't be missed!

You must admire the courage and conviction with which they make their music and all those songs I keep humming now have a whole new meaning!

A new year - a fresh start (again!)

2008-01-02T11:25:11Z

The last year held a lot of promise for me on multiple fronts and on most things it lived up to the expectations I had from it. Multiple items did not see closure either but the platform has been set to make this year the most rocking of all!

Like every year, I promise to keep this journal more active and in fact move to my main journal and keep the photoblog active and updated regularly! I really need to invest time in photography and not just let it go to waste like it is now .. Lets see ... I shall put it on the list of things I have to do and then shuffle it around priority wise and hopefully some interesting things should happen on that front.

I slipped into this new year in the most blissful and peaceful manner! and if the popular opinion that the 'you will do for the rest of the year, what you do when the new year dawns', is anything to go by ... I will have a lazy, well rested, sleepy year ahead with lots of lovin' !! ;) But knowing how things work out .. this year will be far from sit back and relax! but it will see a LOT of louvin'!!!

I survived the Bangalore traffic to make it to Ankita's place where we were having our unique new year celebration! it was decided that we will make thin crust pizza and drink a lot of wine (and equivalent beverages) to herald the new year .. so Shilpa and I searched for some recipe's and she went out and got everything that was needed for the pizzas while I went about meeting the liquid requirement.

By the time I arrived on the scene, most of the chopping was done and every little bit of space available had been taken up with the various 'raw' materials we were using for the pizza. The dough was mixed and yeast added for it to 'rise' to a sufficient level before we could go about making the pizza.

Since we din't have an oven, it din't leave us with much choice but to make pan fried pizza's and obviously they were hand tossed! there was some wonderful music playing courtesy the lovely hostess Ankita and the wine was flowing from the makeshift ice bucket we put together and everyone seemed to be in high spirits and hopeful that the pizza's would not disappoint. There was some impromptu dancing and nice conversation as the pizza was being cooked. My blocked nose meant that I could not smell the lovely smell that everyone else was vouching for so for me atleast, tasting was believing!

The Pizza's finally arrived and they just beat all our expectations, they were the most amazing pizza's we had ever tasted, at least, I had ever tasted in my life! Shilpa's culinary skills now were beyond dispute and the first pizza had our jaws on the floor and stomachs rumbling for more! The customary fruit punch was prepared and it set us in the right mood for the rest of the evening :) The original plan was to go party hopping, which Sheila did (and how?!?!) or to have a movie marathon session complete with pop corn and juice! which we never ended up doing because all of us were so full and tired and sleepy.

We polished every little bit of pizza that was left and then just wished each other a hurried Happy New Year and plonked ourselves into bed! I am not so much the party type anyway, and Shilpa was not in her party mood either (I guess it has something to do with the driving around and the crowd, the parties we like are with good friends that we know and in places which are not too crowded) so it was perfect for both of us and for Ankita! I somehow stayed up till midnight, wished a few people who called, and then went to sleep after watching 'Brothers & Sisters' for some time.

All in all, it was a wonderful, short and sweet start to the new year which in many ways will be one of the BIGGEST years of my life! Three cheers of course to the lovely chef of the evening and the hostess! and thanks to Sheela for the lovely company :) I couldn't have asked for more! Here is to many more lovely new years together!

The SAARC bands festival!

2007-12-06T12:31:20Z

We went to Delhi sometime last week, it was our second gig there and we completely rocked the capital ... Yet again!! over 15,000 people singing and dancing to our music after hearing us for the first time! it was an amazing and humbling experience ... there is a lot for me to write and I shall start writing soon .. for now .. as usual .. you will have to do with some pictures!

Christmas time has come!

2007-11-28T07:00:11Z

Everybody seems to be getting into the spirit of the season ... I am adding my bit to it :D

Thanks Mark for the photo and the edit!

Singapura!!

2007-11-17T02:39:54Z

2 days in Singapore and I am loving it !! I will leave out the whole "how clean and how organized" it is because all of you have seen or heard various versions of the same and it is all true ... this place is so well organized, it irritates me quite a bit sometimes! for instance, after two days of crossing the road at the intersections when the light was green for pedestrians etc, today, I just walked like I do in Bangalore and it felt liberating ;)

The show yesterday rocked! the venue is one of the best I've ever played at, the stage equipment was fantastic! and it sounded great ... we were told the audience will pick up today and tomorrow since its the weekend. Will keep you updated ... I've taken tons of pics of course but haven't found the time to put them up yet ... I will do that tonight for sure.

In other things, I went and watched the most amazing production of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in the Esplanade theatre ... what a brilliant experience that was! the cast, crew, production quality, the theatre ... everything was mind blowing! I would totally recommend it to anyone who can get a chance ... there were actors flying about all over stage and the act that took the cake was the car which flew all over stage and into the audience ... there were blank gun shots being fired and everything!

The food here has been another tremendous experience especially for a far eastern food junkie that I am! and I am walking more than enough here to make up for all the food I am eating ;)

A more detailed trip report and tons of pics coming up tonight!

Fly away!

2007-11-14T07:02:05Z

I am off to Singapore tonight to play at the Kalaa Utsavam music festival. We are playing 3 nights at the Esplanade. Details here. I will be back again on Monday to the bustling madness that has become my life of late ;) !!

Meanwhile wish me luck and I will keep updating my blog or the band blog as and when I can. If any of you are in Singapore, do come over and say hi! will be nice fun to catch people we know there..

Shyam - You are assigned the job of being official photographer, please to come and take lots of pics!

PS: 3 years and 8 months and it feels like yesterday!

Update - Our performance at the MTV style awards is finally on Youtube. Watch it and let me know what you think! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcRXLh2fR6U

What a gig!!

2007-11-02T19:52:09Z

What a mind blowing gig it was today! "Hard Co" rocked it at Opus and it was one hell of a show. We did some fantastic songs ... to a fantastic audience and the ambiance just made it magical :)

To top it all ... Sepultura was in the house and watched us play!!

One of those nights when you just din't want to stop playing ... Magical!

Update on the Jagger photo!

2007-10-29T11:59:15Z

Ever since I posted that I met Mick Jagger, I have been having people come and tell me that they won't believe till they see it! so here it is ...

* UPDATE *

I see that feelings of jealousy and envy are very strong around here and some people are giving me more credit than I deserve for my image editing skills!! I don't even want to clarify .. :P

Let me leave you with another picture ... not that it changes anything! but then ... its good to add fuel to the fire!

Start me up!

2007-10-27T17:43:54Z

I just met Mr. Jagger! The man himself.. I shook his hand hugged him and muttered some incomprehensible gibberish after following him around like a little puppy for a photo! And I got it!!

A photo with Mick Jagger of the rolling stones.. And I'm still reeling from the experience.. :)

Feels good to be a star!

2007-10-26T08:27:21Z

What an experience! We just finished playing for the MTV Style awards in Mumbai and this whole experience has been one which will surely stay with me for a long long time!

Right from our arrival in Mumbai to our stay and the show and how it happened has been a brand new experience and a lot has to be said which I can't in one single post... I promise I will write about it in detail when I get back ... but for now .. this is a glimpse of our sound check ..

And all that was just be beginning of the adventure. I am now off to Jodhpur to participate in the Jodhpur International Folk Festival. That should be a whole new experience!

Watch this space :)

PS: Ashwin, I cannot thank you enough for the camera!! and for anyone who is contemplating ... Please go buy a DSLR ... its totally worth it!

Lets get it started! Yea!

2007-10-17T03:48:54Z

"There was no Bass guitar!!!!" .... that was my first reaction when I walked into the 'Black Eyed Peas' concert yesterday. The place was filled with kids 3/4th my age and all of them ready and eager to watch the Peas "rock the party"!

How I got in there is a big round about scam .. I not only got in there but also made some money doing it! So in all, it was a profitable show for me! I mean, it was a concert worth attending if you made some money just going there! So the 6 of us including Sharvari, Jason, Jonty, Sherin and Bunny were ready with our skeptical minds to scrutinize the show to the minutest detail!

So on to the show ... The Black Eyed Peas are a bunch of solo performers and NOT a band! They are decently passable individually but when they get together, you wish there was some way you could just mute the show. They started with a few familiar tunes from their album "Monkey Business", I'll be damned if I remember song names .. :P

When the show started, it was Fergie all the way! everyone's eyes were on her and I guess thats the only reason they got past the first few songs and Fergie was all over the stage flaunting every bit of her surgically altered self and the few crowd shots on the big screen indicated clearly that the first few rows got more than their money's worth!

They had some sort of an intro worked out for each song where they would do some rehearsed script readout thing and from nowhere tie stuff to the title of the next song! and that included a lot of "India is great etc..." to keep the audience cheering all along and forgiving them for those completely pointless and disconnected intros!

Then they went into a few of their 'more popular' numbers which included "My Humps" and others which I don't recollect right now .. More girls joined them on stage for these numbers and it proved the old adage .. "the more the merrier!" .. some cheers got louder and we decided it was time to 'Yenjoy' the show, atleast I did.

The band then launched into some of the solo stuff that the band members are doing including 'GLAMOROUS' and 'London Bridge' (For the uninitiated, it is NOT about the bridge in London) and the lowest low of the night .. Will.I.Am's disgusting "I got it from my mamma!.

They also went through an extended version of 'Where is the love' where they sufficiently pitched Nokia, the event sponsors and thankfully, and unlike their repeated threats, the show ended much before 11.30!

All in all ... it was a good show ONLY if you are a fan, if not, it was not worth the trouble at all! I'd give it a 2.5/5 rating!

Bangalore's "Octoberfest"

2007-10-08T06:02:27Z

I just got back from the 2007 October fest (thankfully held in October itself this time round) and I must say I am quite happy!

I came back from watching MotherJane taking stage in Bangalore after a long long hiatus! The band seemed to be undergoing the standard ‘Indian Rock Band Mid Life Crisis” where the members are either scattered around the country (which is their case) or are too busy with things they do to bring home the bacon and some cheese on some days. The band still held together and rocked the 1500 odd people who had gathered there but they were not the MotherJane they were 3 years or so back when they changed the face of Indian Rock with “Insane Biography”. But its just a matter of them getting together and jamming more often and they will surely get back to the brilliant stage act that they are!

What made me happy as I left the venue was the fact that there were 4 bands that played there today towards the end of the day atleast, which included Bangalorean Extinct Reflections and Slain, Sling Shot from Mallu land and MotherJane. Not one of these bands played a cover. All of them played their own songs and managed to keep a crowd of about 1000 – 2000 interested. A sure sign that Indian Rock has taken many positive strides forward!

I wish these bands went a step or two further and actually spent time and did what was required to be done to get themselves heard beyond their little circles! I get the feeling that they are waiting for someone to come and spot them and take them the distance instead of doing it themselves!

More about that soon .. I am arming myself with some ammunition before I address that issue!

Take me dancing tonight!

2007-09-30T04:13:25Z

NOW I can safely say ... there are very few things that can compare to dancing the night away! and not being bothered how you look and what people think and the fact that you can't even dance!

Who needs booze!?!?! Give me the music I say.

To elaborate a *bit*, it was the first time ever that I went for the annual "Mango Showers" that is held at the Catholic Club and it was a blast! right from retro dance music (jive) to the modern house and hip hop and a whole mix of stuff in between and the mandatory baila number, it was a non-stop jump fest for me! and I was quite surprised that I din't even need to drink anything for that! this jump fest was pure music and adrenalin induced :)

To top it all ... I won a prize for being the guy with the *longest* hair!! something that was unthinkable for me a few years back ;)

What a match!

2007-09-22T19:26:04Z

Sitting in a pub in chennai of all places! And all i have to say is.. What a freaking match!