Music events have always been an integral part of Oasis. Gurukul, dubbed as The Department of Music, is responsible for managing three such events during the fest, namely Free Jam, Drums Duel and Axetacy. The team also participates in Tarang, the Indian fusion band competition. Ekansh Jain, the co-ordinator of Gurukul, spoke in great detail about the club’s contribution to the fest.
Gurukul has been participating in Tarang for the last 5 years. In the competition, each band is given 20 minutes of stage-time that includes time for both setup and the performance. “Every member of the team needs to be proactive and alert on stage.”, says Ekansh, in view of the time constraints and logistics of the performance.
Keeping with the tradition of covering technically challenging songs, the Tarang team plans to perform three songs and have been practising daily since the end of the Diwali holidays. However, due to the delayed schedule of the semester, and the last minute imposition of conducting the Alumni Nite for the 1967 batch, the team has not been able to practise to its full potential. “We will increase our practice hours after the Alumni Nite on 27th October.”, says Ekansh. The coordinator himself shall be singing in all three songs.
Apart from practising for Tarang, Gurukul also organises Free Jam. Set up in M-Lawns, it is an open-mic for the musicians among the Oasis crowd. According to Ekansh, the turnout for Free Jam in 2016 was overwhelming, and he wishes to make it grander this year. “We plan to have more equipment, and also set up an LED screen behind the stage, which has never been done before.”, he commented.
As the name suggests, Drums Duel is an individual competition, between drummers. Likewise, Axetacy is a competition for solo guitarists. Both these events test the technical and improvisational skills of the musicians. Every year, these two events have seen an enormous amount of talent from the participants. Ekansh hopes that this year remains the same in this respect.