Soul & Faith :: Why the North-East Keeps Rockin!!!!

Here's some Dope on two of the best bands from the North-East. Trust me Guys, these folks are folks are pros. My Region may be called behind the times and stuff, but when it come to music, we know what we're talkin about. Its like in our blood or somethin. Anyways, Read on ::

SOULMATE:

Lineup::
Rudy Wallang - Guitar
Tipriti "Tips" Kharbangar- Vocals/guitar
Session Players

Inspired by the roots and groove sounds of the Blues, Blues-rock, Soul, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Funk and R&B, SOULMATE came together in Shillong, in February 2003 playing their first concert at the ‘Roots’ Festival at the Water Sports Complex in Umiam. Since then the band has performed many concerts all over The Northeast as well as in different parts of India.They have also performed at the International Jazzmandu Festival in Kathmandu for two consecutive years..2004 and 2005.
Anyone with an interest in the western music scene in India, will recognize singer/songwriter Rudy Wallang, who leads this tight knit musical unit. Born into music, he grew up listening to his father Toto Wallang making music and himself started singing and playing the ukulele at a very tender age eventually graduating to the guitar. Today, Rudy is one of the foremost singer / songwriter / blues guitar players in the country with a long musical history having been part of the well known blues rock acts, Great Society & Mojo.
Vocalist and rythmn guitarist of SOULMATE is Tipriti Kharbangar who has earned a name as one of the finest female performers to have emerged out of Shillong. If there is one thing Tipriti is happy doing it is singing and reflecting this, she vocalizes with a joy and exuberance that is unmatched and original. She started out singing gospel songs at the local church choir and is now drawn to the Blues, Soul, Jazz and likes and listens to Aretha Franklin, Billy Holliday, Etta James, Nina Simone and B.B.King. SOULMATE also hires the services of different session musicians like Manas Chowdhury(Bass),Sam Shullai(Drums),Ferdy Dkhar(BAss) and Sean Morehead(Drums). VH1 recently aired their first Video (about six months back, didnt get much airplay though). They've also released their first album aptly titled, SHILLONG.

FAITH:
Lineup::
Deepu - bass/vocals
joshua - vocals
tarik - guitars
krishna - guitars
pom pom - drums
raja - keyboards

Here goes the Story …. Dec 2002 …. For the first time a band from Assam called PSYX which was rising to great heights in the North East in a very short period of time, went to Mumbai and turned finalists at the IIT Mumbai Rock Competition “Livewire” and pretty much stamped it’s mark in the city when they covered 3 Megadeth Numbers and a well received self composition. Unfortunately, fate played a big part and due to the lead guitarist’s string snapping in the first Satch number itself, they were disqualified from the competition as they could not make it within the allotted time slot, but what happened was that they won the heart of the crowd. However, just after that show the first guitarist Bijit had to quit due to personal reasons which was a setback at the time as he was integral to the band and was handling vocals as well. However, egged on by the success of the event and hence , growing in self confidence, Deepak (better and affectionately known as Deepu) the bass guitarist the soul centre knew that great things were bound to happen if he could just rekindle the fire and keep it burning. Hence “FAITH” was formed in Aug 2003 where a select few budding and fine musicians were carefully assembled and rose as a family with great confidence. The new line-up of Faith came to prominence when they bagged the FIRST RUNNERS UP AWARD at rock-o-phonics, the rock contest at IIT Guwahati on jan 2005,along with THE BEST VOCALIST,BEST DRUMMER (his 2nd ),BEST ORGINALCOMPOSITION award The current lineup consists of members of various other bands who got together for the love of music and followed it up with a driven passion. All band members are extremely open to all forms of music and are secure in the knowledge that they give every ounce into what they do. Famous in the North-East already, they signed up for the great “CAMPUS ROCK IDOLS 2005” competition and became all India runners-up (out of 220 bands across the country). FAITH would not stop at that and there is no reason that they should either with a name like that. The greatest achievement was winning the “XXI Independence Rock competition” at Mumbai on 26th August 2006, where they became the rage with a huge gathering of rock fans. Their Classic Rock set was mesmerizing to say the least and their self compositions were amazing with outstanding vocals, bass and guitar work …. So for Faith …this is not the end of the journey, but the kick start to even greater things to come. They are also about to release their first Assamese Rock album shortly and their fans can hardly wait.