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History tells us that one of the most lasting ways of keeping someone from fading from memory, is writing a song about them. After the demise of Delhi-based bass guitarist Clarence Gonsalves recently, metal band Blind Image decided to pay tribute in a slightly different way. They recorded and released a popular song made with his band Joint Family, called Juggernaut.
Says Srikrishna Natesan, drummer of Blind Image, “I remember listening to Juggernaut way back in 2008, when it came out.” He adds, “It was one of those songs that we would listen to five times a day.” After Clarence passed away post a long battle with cancer in April, it seemed fitting to remember him by reliving the music he made. Ironically, the only member of Blind Image that ever had met Clarence is their vocalist Noble Luke who hails from Delhi. He recalls, “We used to have a band called Artillerie and the first time we met Clarence, he was actually judging a competition we were participating.” When Blind Image was recording the song, Luke reveals he was hoping he would be able to do justice to the song and make it count.
Some bandmates go a step higher and form entire tribute bands to keep the candle burning for their late mate. When Handel Jim, one of Chennai’s best loved bassists died in a road accident last year, his friends and bandmates formed a jam band called the Handel Acoustic Experience (HAE) “Handel lived for music,” smiles ex-bandmate and friend Christopher Stanley. “So we couldn’t think of a better way to remember him than by forming a jam band in his memory.” HAE performs all the songs that they had jammed with Handel, while in college. David Simon, another friend and vocalist of the band Jack, Johnny and the Old Monk went a step further and composed a song called Can You Handel This?. There are no soft sad notes, David reveals. “It’s pumping hard rock and a testimony to his life and all the good times we had.” Asked what Handel might have thought about all of this, had he been watching, Christopher pauses and answers, “I think he would have probably laughed,” he smiles. “And he would’ve been proud of us.”
The commonest way to keep a bandmate and friend in memory is to hold tribute concerts every year. And that’s exactly what friends of Arjun Vasudev have been doing. Ever since RJ, as he was fondly called, died in a road accident in 2009, three concerts have been held by his old band. Bandmate Harish Swaminathan of TWKC (Thundu beedi Water packet Kuchi ice Curd Rice) explains, “Every time we play a concert for Arjun, we make sure it has all his favourite artistes – Pink Floyd, Metallica, Eric Clapton....”
Remembering a musician isn’t as simple as playing Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and singing along. It’s much more than that, and Chennai’s musicians are singing their hearts out in tribute.
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