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Euphoria
were the first to cut a Hindi rock album. Now, they are leading
on the path of releasing singles and they are pleased as hell
about it! Think single and think Euphoria!
 The
questions were supposed to be asked by me, but Polly wants
his Qs answered first!
"Tell me, have you heard our single
"Mantra"? Have you put it in the mag? Have you reviewed
it?"
Polly, the mouthpiece of the band--and
he talks nonstop-is maha excited about "Mantra".
"This is the first time it has happened
in India. It has been happening abroad for a long time. There,
the trend has always been to release a single. People get
to sample your music. See, right now an album sells for 55
to 60 bucks. But if more people come into this, then the prices
will come down and albums will be available for much less
money. A single is more feasible, yaar."
Oh yes, he is thinking of the fans all
the time. And how to get more in! So, now we are on to why
they thought there should be a single...
"The idea was that we will take
up one song now and then another two months later and so on.
Well, our company was happy to do this, it meant investing
less money and they could concentrate on promoting just one
song. And I think that the purpose was served because people
have liked the song. See, when people caught the video of
"Maaeri" and "Dhoom Pichuck" they were
singing just those songs. That is very sad, actually, because
we have worked very hard on all the twelve songs. Hum log
kitni mehnat karte hain, yaar! Now we are going to write our
next album and already we are having sleepless nights!"
DJ, Rikki, Gary, Chris, (Benny was in
Goa), are nodding their heads in full agreement and looking
very serious and this is when Polly launches into explaining
how "Mantra" is the kind of song that Euphoria actually
wants to do.
"Dikshant Sehrahwat, a new boy,
and I, wrote the song. "Mantra" has very prominent
Indian and Western influences. I was content writing about
unrequited love, but "Mantra" is a song about the
attitude to life and it was a difficult song to write. How
does one define the attitude to life? We are very proud of
this song. It has broken Euphoria's image, it has broken our
sound and our songwriting style in a positive way. This was
the way Euphoria used to sound-guitars and drums and bass-before
we discovered "Dhoom Pichuck" and discovered a whole
new world without drums and guitars!"
 A
huge grin appears on Polly's face when asked how this mantra
which is on everyone's kissers right now was conceived.
"We were coming back from Jaipur
and I was humming this tune. Now, the lyrics at that point
of time were very different, which I will not divulge (laughs).
We were thinking what to do next to the song when somebody
asked me what is our mantra for success. I started to think
about that and I thought, 'Yes, the band is successful. Even
though we are not the richest people in the country and definitely
not the most famous people in the country. People don't go
wild about us, but still...' And that is when it struck me,
"Bas jaan lo hai pyar kya... hai yeh mera mantra."
You have to realize what love is-and I am not talking only
of romantic love. This song has a totally different point
of view. It talks about your philosophy of life and that,
for us, is love.
By this time "Mantra" has
taken absolute control of everything, nothing else matters.
So we talk about the video.
"I think it is brilliant,"
says Polly. "It is talking about this one wish that everybody
has that you can fulfill in a moment. It is all those people
living that one emotion, one wish, in one moment."
By this point in time a full-fledged
discussion is happening on how we need more bands like Euphoria,
and there are smiles all around, until Polly exclaims-
"Do you know how small the pop industry
in India is? Film music is bigger here, pop does not account
for even ten percent of the music. Look at Junoon, they have
been playing since maybe '87-88, that is 13 years already;
we came out with our first album two-and-a-half-years ago!
I don't think any band besides us, Silk Route and Indian Ocean
is doing anything good. It is not feasible until you come
up with something original. Bands have not given the companies
any option."
From rock music the focus shifted to
Punjabi pop and how it is giving them a run for their money.
Palash goes into defence mode.
"People are dancing to our music,
too, but not on that scale, man! We have had to work harder
than anyone else in this country, yaar. You have to educate
people that there is more to music than bhangra. That there
are not just DAT playing artistes, but live playing artistes,
too, to phir aao live artistes ko dekho. These artistes go
on stage with six girls and the guys are happy, girls be damned.
Plus, we have a company that is a dedicated card company.
It is not a record label... then there are no other bands
like us. It has taken us two years to reach where we are.
We have actually created a market for this kind of music."
Phew! I had run out of tape by this
time and Palash was very happy until I switched to side B
to continue! So, what is next from Euphoria?
"What we are planning now is part
three of what I call the Dhoom trilogy. So let's see what
comes out of it. I have plotted and planned as to what course
the band is going to take, what we are going to be perceived
as. We want people to think that we are like them. We want
them to associate with us."
And how do the six of them associate?
"Just the other day Gary was saying
that the good thing about us is that the six of us get together
and laugh a lot. We try to stay as simple as possible. In
a world which is so cut-throat, where people are chasing money
and dreams, that six people can get together and just laugh
is great."
Does that mean that Euphoria is not
chasing dreams and money?
"I feel very content with what I've
got. My dreams have come true, so I don't dream anymore. Unlike
Rikki who dreams of getting married to Claudia Schiffer!"
At this point all
of them burst out laughing and telling Rikki that Ms Schiffer
has broken up with her bf, so he stands a chance!
I
have experienced the mantra these guys live by. At first look
it appears very complex but when you look deeper it is simply
about loving it and living it.
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