http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1223743
People may not pay much attention to the Hindi songs like Yunhi chala chal raahi, Kitni haseen hai ye duniya from the film Swades or for that matter, Kaale megha kaale megha paani to barsao from the movie Lagaan if they hear it playing anywhere so many years after the release of these movies. But on the day of the Mumbai Marathon, huge crowds were captivated by the performance of these songs. The reason -- a New York based rock band of firangs--Solar Punch who serenaded the crowds with their perfect Hindi accent. DNA The eco-friendly musicians: (L-R) Andrew Mattina, Frank Marino James Dean Conklin and Alan Bigelow. Andrew Mattina (base player), Alan Bigelow (guitar and vocals), Frank Marino (drums) and James Dean Conklin (lead vocals and guitar) comprise this group who are currently undertaking their first tour in the country. But what really sets this band apart is the fact that they are very environmentally conscious and power their musical instruments only through solar power that they specially harness for this purpose. "The sun is all we need to play our music," smiles singer Conklin. Their genre of music is termed as 'environment rock and roll' and they play only those songs which have an environmental message in them. "Before coming to India we decided to practise some Hindi songs because we thought it would be the best way to bond with the people here. We specifically picked songs from movies such as Swades and Lagaan as they have a connection with environmental themes that we wanted to highlight," says Conklin. After five continuous months of practice, Solar Punch now brings to the table a fluent flow of words in a perfected Hindi accent. For those interested in catching the bands next performance, they will be performing in city on January 24 and 25 at the Tech-fest at IIT Mumbai. Warm Regards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vinayak theregoesanotherday.blogspot.com
