1998...THE YEAR WE DHOOM!
This
is the year when everything happens.
January 4, 1998: A record company wants to meet with me. They seem very keen to sign us up but their contract makes me cringe. They want us to pay 30% of all our earnings for the next 3 years! (This, by the way, seems to be more a rule than exception with most record companies in India.)
January 6, 1998: A friend in Mumbai asks me to call Anil Moolchandani at Archies Music. I am 20 minutes late to the meeting and he is in a hurry. So he wastes no time in sringing the sweet surprise to me, "We want to release you debut album. Record it immediately... here's a cheque for _________! We trust you. Just one more thing--do a good job." I sit in stunned silence. Whaaa...? The band just can't believe this! Someone actually wants to release our album, our music, our way, with their money!!!
Inexplicably, Barnali chooses just that moment to leave. She has got her reasons. We wish her well. Swati comes to the rescue. In a week she learns the numbers, even though its the middle of her exams. We could never tire saying our thanks to her.
A week before the recording, I write a folk-hind-rock song. The band doesn't know how to react to it. Well, its different. D.J. and Amit love it. I name it "DHOOM PICHUCK" and the rest is history :) I feel a certain part of the song has to be sung by Shubha Mudgal. She agrees and its just magic!
We record the album at Studio Synthesis, in Delhi, in 11 days (10 hours each). The mix down is another 5 days. In just 16 days our album is ready!! AN ALBUM!!! FINALLY!! Phew! We think we still could have done a better job! But what artist is ever completely satisfied with their work?
Amit can't be a part of DHOOM anymore. The reasons are too complicated to explain. Lets just say, it was a break up waiting to happen.
DHOOM PICHUCK's video was to be shot at PVR, Delhi. Amitabh Bhttacharya (the asst. director) suggests Varanasi as the location. Oh Yes! Pradeep da chooses red, the colour of passion. The result a magnificient video. We released the teasers on the 15th of September, 1998. Masterminded by Euphoria, Praveen (GM Archies Music) under huge media hype, we release the video on the 17th of September. What a dhoom it creates!
October 10, 1998: The album DHOOM is released. It immediately becomes the top selling album. A flood of new indian albums sweep the market. But we are still the only one of our kind.
The next video is SHA. Just before the video is to be shot, Gussy calls it quits. He wants to spend more time establishing himself as a music producer. Our thanks to him for all his contributions, will never be enough.
We shoot this one in beautiful Mauritius. Pradeep da chooses blue as the theme colour, the colour of the sky and the sea. Even if the idea sailed over a few heads, we don't give a pichuck 'cause our fans loved it.
November 27, 1998: Chistopher "Kitty" Powell joins us after our stop gap drummer Mayukh Hazarika finds the skins too hot to handle with us. Kitty's the guy we have been looking for all this time. He straight-forward, sincere and a phenomenal drummer. Gary comes back to the fold as well.
Finally all the birds are coming back to flock together.
MARK INFINITY: BENNY, CHRIS, D.J., GARY, POLLY, RIKKI
