Unsigned Entertainment

 

Band Profile

 THE BAND:

 The Galeej Gurus are a band that believes in exploring music and also to have as much fun as possible doing it. It would be a bare-faced lie to say that we don't care about the money, or the fame, but that aside, We have been on the circuit since 2001, and have watched several bands rise, and disappear too, and are determined not to let that happen to us – even if it means we’re full time employees during the day – and crazy rockers at night. Our music is never easy to categorize, worst of all by ourselves, but circumstances have forced us to come up with a genre by which it can be classified (something no band likes to do for sure!) – so we’ve settled on Progressive Funk – or more recently – Progressive Blue Funk. Being from such disparate backgrounds only adds to the colour in the music rather than take away from it. One can see shades of artistes as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Clapton, Steve Vai and Deep Purple in Galeej music, with the occasional Indian classical tint stepping in for effect. The band has, is, and always will, continue to push the boundaries of our understanding of music – and our limitations to find the perfect expression of five individual souls thrumming in harmony.

 

THE BOYS:

 Nathan Harris:

The voice of the band, Nathan was the Galeej Gurus’ original drummer. After juggling between the sticks and his vocal chords for nearly six years, he made the decision to drop the drums and concentrate on singing, and fronting the band – since a frontman was often missed on stage. He says he does not regret having chosen to quit beating the skins, but given a choice, he would still prefer the drums over singing – but as his luck would have it, good vocalists are harder to find than anything else – so he is now the vocalist of the band – as well as being the premier lyricist.

  

Matthew Harris:

Nathan’s twin and thoroughly experimental bassist, Matthew has been teasing the lower octaves for around 10 years now, and is the backbone of the band. Being a fan of modern guitar funk, most of the Galeej riffs and runs originate from him and his constant concern is finding new ways to present Galeej compositions.

  

Ananth Menon:

Along with Nathan and Matthew, Ananth is the band’s third founding member. He has been playing the six strings for more than 8 years, and is particularly fascinated with the blues. He considers himself a student of Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan – Ekalavya style. Possibly the most retro of all the band members, he has to frequently be reminded that we live in the 21st Century. He listens to all sorts of music, and has even been involved with commercial cinema music, albeit briefly. He has decided that for him, where he is heading with the Galeej is more fulfilling than commercial music.

 

 

Naveen Thomas:

Generally acknowledged as the most technically proficient and savvy musician in the band, Naveen has played with the popular Chennai band Molotov Cocktail and Bangalore- based Parousia. He was Ananth’s replacement when Ananth took a break from the band to pursue commercial film music, and is the other guitarist in the band now. He has taken the Galeej sound to harder territory, and has brought in a sense of discipline in the band thanks to his rigorous approach to his instrument.

 

Kishan Balaji:

 

         "Kishen has been on the music scene for roughly 3 1/2 years and has progressed and grown as a drummer. He is one of the most recognised drummers in the city and adds an explosive touch to 'Galeej Gurus'. He has been part of local acts like 'Caesar's Palace' 'Extinct reflections' and 'Soup for the Day'. His influences primarily stem from contemporary Jazz with his favourite artists being Pat Metheny, Shaun Rhineheart, John Mcloughlin and L.Shankar."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE STORY:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone on this earth is on a journey – whether they know it or not is quite irrelevant. Usually, an analysis of the average person’s journey – be it for material things, or for “enlightenment” – will reveal that it is essentially a quest for perfection (usually disguised as the ever-ambiguous “happiness”). We consider Galeej, and Gurus to be two ends of the spectrum of this journey and therefore consider the band name to be symbolic of The Journey that Everyman must make in their lives. It is not in any measure a statement of us being either “Galeej “(dirty – in Kannada and Tamil) or “Gurus”(teacher)  – not by a long shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MUSIC

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the beginning, Galeej compositions were always born out of a jam session – some of which would go on for three hours continuously, sometimes generously aided by Lord Bacchus. The idea that songs could be lift-off points for improvisation, popularised by Cream, was a convenient one for us to adopt at that point. As time went by however, there was a need to consolidate the approach – of course coming up with songs purely from jamming was always an option – but it was time-consuming and took far too long to solidify into a good coherent song – usually over the span of several gigs. In memory of those days however – the guitar solos remain impromptu, and it is possibly this factor that makes a Galeej song easily listenable – it is always fresh for us – so it is always fresh to the audience. Cover songs that used to dominate the set list have given way to more of our own compositions and we firmly believe that unless the audience begins to support, or even demand that bands play their own compositions, rock music in is doomed.

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to leave a Comment