With the most commonly sighted, practised and loved ritual of a college student’s day — headphones on and the volume turned up — music has taken over teenagers in the City, and the sight of one grooving to a tune, in a supermarket or on the way to college, is not uncommon.
Considering how the City is holding the title of being one of the most musically sound cities in the country, ‘Metrolife’ finds out what genres of tunes are popular within the gates of colleges, here and why.
Despite a plethora of genres to choose from, from punk, rap, hip-pop and the blues to Bollywood and Sufi music, youngsters in the City have taken dearly to certain specific genres of music and stand by them.
Popular picks among these include R&B and EDM. “I like R&B the most, because it’s soothing and soulful and makes you float.
The vocals are more technical than any other genre of western music, and it’s complexly beautiful.” says Suzanne, a student of communication in Mount Carmel College.
Harsh, a student of JSS College of Engineering, has a taste for dance music instead. “I love EDM and breakstep, because they pump me up.”
Pop has its takers as well, “I really enjoy pop music because of the fact that after a long and stressful day at college, these songs help me cool down and enjoy life, and bring a smile to my face,” says Anirudh, a law student.
Rock and its several branches, however, take the gold medal for being the pick of the youngsters in the City.
“Death metal is the best, because of the crazy speeds of drumming and the insane riffs that are played,” says Sumanth, a student of BMS College.
Lyrical quality seems to touch the hearts of rock lovers the most.
Gayatri, a student of Mount Carmel College, passionately puts in, “Classic and Indie rock are my favourites, because unlike most other kinds of music these days, they have proper lyrics, especially since music started out as an easier way of story-telling. Also, they sing with a sort of passion and the lyrics are written by the artists themselves and not a group of PR people or writers.”
Ask these students if they think the music scene in Bangalore does justice to their favourite genres and mixed responses come through.
“The music scene in Bangalore is not great as people here would rather pay for food, than to watch a good band/ artiste perform. Also, venues don’t pay them very well, either,” Gayatri says.
Sumanth, however, is of a different opinion, “Bangalore is the metal capital of South Asia, so I think metal scene in the city is very cool.”
Suzanne adds, “Bangalore is one of the best cities in India for any western music because of the level of musical appreciation, I feel.
So yes, it’s a good place for R&B, although there are hardly any vocalists that I’ve come across, who can really pull off something like it, that has high technicality.”
With teens putting in serious thought into what tunes go into their iPods, mobiles and MP3 players, and constantly update the same, it’s time to look at your own playlist and determine which fandom you belong to.