With A Loud Boom

By ALLAN MOSES RODRICKS

The Hindu Coming Home With their debut album. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Junk Rock band Boomarang talk about their dreams, music and making it big in the music scene

Some dreams are meant to come true and for Junk Rock band Boomarang, the dream of making it big came true recently. The Mizoram-based four-member band was recently selected by Universal Music for the Contra Bands Project and given a platform to spread their music to the world.

Preceded by their first single ‘Stellar’, the video of which premiered on VH1, Boomarang’s debut album, Home is scheduled to be released later this month supported by a multi-city tour across the country. The band was in the city recently to perform at the Hard Rock Café.

Comprising Atea on vocals, Boom on the guitars, Joshua on the bass and RS on the drums, the four-piece band has its roots in good old rock music infused with jazz, funk and punk with a hint of reggae.

“This is a dream come true for us. Everyone needs good Rock ‘N Roll everywhere and we are here to deliver just that,” says Atea before getting on stage for the gig.

Though relatively new on the mainstream music scene, Boomarang is no stranger to laurels, having won several national awards in addition to performing at international festivals.

They have played alongside international acts such as Korn, Lamb of God, Aurora Jane, Fire house, Tribal Tech, Enslaved, Intron out and Scott Kinsey Band. Besides this, they were also named ‘Top Ten Bands to watch out for’ by the Rolling Stone magazine in India.

Bangalore is not a new for Boomarang. “We have played several times in all the major music venues across the city. The music scene is pretty good in Bangalore,” says Atea.

Excited about their debut album, Atea gives a sneak peek into its collection. “Boomarang has been around for a while. We started in 2005 and the songs in the album have been around with us ever since we started. The album is more about our journey. It doesn’t specifically have a theme. These are songs that have our ideas, dreams and beliefs translated into music. The songs in Home are also mean to inspire people to find a new meaning in life, to serve some purpose in this lifetime and always know that when it all ends, we can finally go Home.”

The band, which started with a humble union from different bands in 2005 and doing covers of Rage Against the Machine, has now become an enterprising symbol of the new genre Boomarang loves to promote. “We don’t like to stick to one particular genre. Though its good old rock we play on stage, we like to call it ‘Junk’ so we can play whatever we want,” shares Atea.

Drawing inspiration from Rage Against the Machine, Incubus, Jimmy Hendrix and Led Zeppelin among others, Boomarang has become comfortable doing their own songs which have a niche following already.

“When we started playing, we sounded a lot like Rage Against the Machine. Over the years, we’ve played and travelled a lot and developed some sort of originality infusing our own signature into our sounds,” Atea explains.

All their songs are purpose-driven, he says. “Boomarang makes songs that are simple but are meant to be heard and enjoyed.” On future plans, Atea says the deal with Universal was the best thing that ever happened to them. “This is what we have been waiting for. We were good and successful but never really made it anywhere. This is the perfect platform for us to go places we have only dreamt about. It’s a new beginning for us and we are looking forward to where Universal takes us.” To upcoming bands , Atea says dreams do not come true overnight. “It’s a rough journey and nothing happens instantly. You need to work hard and believe in what you do. There are a lot of troubles and sacrifices. I even quit my government job to play with the band. But that is the beauty of what we do. We are passionate about our music and believe in it. ,” he says.