Who are Eastern Dark?
"Old Wine in New Bottle" - This old English proverb goes rather well with the Eastern Dark. The name EASTERN DARK might sound new but the guys involved are seasoned veterans. The 4 guys in charge of strings and drums are from the erstwhile Phoenix/Phynyx, nationally acclaimed band from Imphal. The front man is a uniquely versatile vocalist having enormous experience of giving praiseworthy performances as a solo artist/guest vocalist throughout Maharastra, parts of southern India and the home state Manipur.
The Band was first conceived in the year 1996 with the same name. The line up has completely changed since then save for the vocalist. They unleashed a rather unconventional sound in their first album "the monkey Lies" in 1997. Due to the objectionable nature of their lyrics and music, the first album was banned before reaching the ears of the masses. This stopped the members from any future ventures. All lost enthusiasm and the band was eventually disbanded.
The front man nurtured the idea of having a different sound of rock in Manipur. 21st Century brought a new phase to his ideologies and dreams. He revived the band after a meeting with the like-minded veterans. Soon the new band started planning for a new album. This time the approach was much compromised and the music as such was carefully crafted. They made sure that the new sound doesn't sound too difficult/alien for the common music hearing masses of Manipur. Much consultations, arguments, compromises, considerations went into making of "Kangdroom - The monkey truth".
The second album could have seen the light of the day much earlier had it not been for the many gigs that the band undertook. One of these gigs took the band out of the country. On invitation, they had performed in Sylhet, Bangladesh at a grand mega concert on 23rd May 2003. The performance was received with a roaring success. Another performance is in fact in the offing in Sylhet and Dhaka where Eastern dark will perform with the biggest names in the country's rock scene.
Back at home, the band members musical upbringing has been on a staple diet of English songs which soon transforms them into English language rockers, singing covers of popular American and European bands. Manipur, as such, is thriving on popular music culture in the Meteilon medium. Any rock group or performer faces stiff competition from the Hindustani/Manipuri pops genre, which is much more popular in Manipur. The band members of Eastern Dark are each a noted musician having specialized in the English Medium rock type of music for a long time. They found it uneasy to adapt themselves to the Manipuri medium for their performances. Having overcome those initial hurdles, they now feel completely at home with the Meiteilon language rock.
This ability to perform in both English medium as well as Meiteilon medium makes the band rather unique giving them a two edged ability. They could cater to hard-core Meiteilon language audience as well as Rock enthusiasts. The singing style and the music are new and have a "nice-to-hear" air about it. Their music style has the abilities to set a new trend with their new approach to music and ability to shift smoothly between the two language mediums (Meiteilon & English).
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