Indie music gig celebrates original writing and fresh talent

Aarifah Rebello

It is difficult for a musician to get a platform for a debut performance, and when they get their first gig, playing before an audience hardly looking forward to new numbers is not easy either. It is this struggle of young musicians that led Vagabond, a city-based events venture, to organise Pen and Paper Sessions whose inaugural gig will be performed this Saturday.


Ramya Pothuri

Each session aims to provide a platform to musicians who write their own music and lyrics, and free entry to the audience. Shanon Fernandes, the founder of Vagabond, says, "It is an attempt to promote original music in the city. Performers with great original music often have to play covers or already popular music on audience demand." He says that it was possible for them to keep the entry free as the musicians agreed to perform pro bono for the inaugural session when the concept of the event was explained to them. "Qtube Cafe, the venue, has also helped us keep the expenditure to a minimum," he adds.


Ronak Sarkar

Aarifah Rebello, an aspiring singer-songwriter and drummer from Mumbai, who will be performing at the event says, "This initiative will be a great help in creating awareness about the independent music scene in the city. Very few people know that there are so many singer-songwriters in Mumbai who are creating original work," she says. Rebello will open her performance with a few lines explaining her lyrics because people pay little attention to the lyrics of a song. "If the organisers want, we can also have a discussion on the kind of music we play," she says. The other performers are Ronit Sarkar, who goes by the name Awkward Bong, Ramya Pothuri and Tanya Shah.


Tanya Shah