Image courtesy: Consolidate

Independent record labels and DIY culture have made it possible for many artists across the globe to get their music to a wide section of listeners. While it may not necessarily be a profit making venture at first, there is something hugely rewarding and futuristic about the ability to nurture fresh talent without jeopordising creative freedom; a huge contrast to the former model where big record labels called the shots. There are a number of small and active record labels all over South Asia who are supporting artists and consistently releasing good music. We compiled a list of labels based in South Asia that reflect the beauty of a DIY approach.

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Image courtesy of Felix Deufel

Felix Deufel doesn’t look at music the way most of us do.

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Image credit: Florian Dre

23-year-old Aniruddh Menon is a creative entity to say the least. His transition into music production was initiated by his experience as a drummer and fuelled by his love for sampling. He made his mark with Machli, a Bangalore band which turned heads with their ‘Obtuse + Divine’ EP. Finally, Menon has put out his debut full length solo album, ‘Lovesongs‘. …

If you Google Colour Haze you’ll find options to buy their music, chords for nearly all of their songs and one reoccurring press image of them standing on the stairs of a subway station. There are hardly any articles, interviews or reviews. But in the ones you find (beginning on Google page 5) it is clear that they are regarded as legends and “leading lights of the European stoner rock scene”.

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As part of the Over&Out Festival taking place 11-13 March – Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore are presenting an interactive session on music production and DJing using turnatables with German DJ Orson Wells. The workshop will take place on 11 March at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore and will be hosted by Pawas.

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In its third year, Magnetic Fields Festival takes the leap from local player to international powerhouse.

When I first came to Alsisar Mahal, the site of Magnetic Fields Festival, there was no tent village. There were no brightly coloured festival freaks in all manners of fantastical attire. There was just a lovely palace in a small town about half of the way down the road from Delhi to Bikaner. …

Restoring faith in the cumulative effort of cultivating a universal cultural expression, music has enabled many of those who wished to explore and re-discover reality through varied perspectives. Displaying a continuum of human spirit at the core of a strong artistic identity, Chaithanya Jade’s musical exploration is a synchronous merge of poetry and philosophy. “To create something good, you need to have a strong sense of identity. And that stems from how someone’s thinking, which is influenced by philosophy. I guess all great musicians would make excellent philosophers,” said the Bangalore-based musician whose foray into the world of post rock, experimental and electronica with Superflow and Until We Last has enabled him to deepen his understanding of the different realms of intangible musical expression. …

Pawas Gupta

An idea, an initiative, sometimes serious and sometimes fun. These are words I find most apt to describe the recently concluded second edition of the “Intelligent Dance Music” workshop hosted by the Bangalore Goethe Institut at Max Muller Bhavan. The brainchild of veteran Indian DJ and producer, Pawas Gupta association with Indivibe, it was a step in the right direction. This was the second edition of the workshop featuring Brendan Gregoriy who is known around the world for his brand of melodic, sophisticated house and techno under the alias ‘Chymera’. …

Bangalore has always been a breeding ground for nascent concepts and ideas. The city, blessed with its fair share of accomplished musicians and exciting new talent is widely recognised as one of India’s most exciting musical hubs. Embracing the out-of-the-ordinary has long been a feature of this city’s music-loving aficionados. A bevy of such concepts find wings to take flight in namma Bengaluru, and one such concept is ‘Consolidate’, a community where fringe electronica thrives. …

It’s war out there, in the clubs, the house parties. If your nights out are punctuated by weeks spent in, it’s likely that you suffer from the delusion that THIS night, will be a good one. Once you decide to brave the small-talk and give yourself up to the greater cause of dance, nothing matters. …