Vayu Gets Vocal About Animals!

With soaring vocals and with howling guitars that shred through heavy, slightly psychedelic solos one minute and blues-infused riffs the next, Vayu is classic rock at its best. Influenced by bands like Deep Purple, Rainbow, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Rush, Vayu’s classic rock covers are the next best thing to getting in a time machine and travelling back to the ’70s to hear the originals in person!

Founded by Ravi Iyer (who is a guitar god in the making), Vayu has been rocking the Mumbai music scene with their legendary sound since 1997. Today, the band is more popular than ever, thanks to the chemistry of the latest line-up, which in addition to Ravi includes 2’blu’ (Tirthankar Poddar) on vocals, Schubert D’Souza on bass and keys, and Aatur Soni on drums. Describing themselves as a band that offers “musical virtuosity and soulful artistry that explores the spectrum of human emotions”, Vayu has rocked with the best musicians from the East and West, including Gino Banks, Sheldon Pereira, Clifford Pereira, Jules Fuller, Gary Lawyer, Mattias “IA” Eklund and Jonas Hellborg.

Nowadays, they’re working on a full-length album that will include the campus faves “Tonight”, “Bitch on Heels” and “Wings of a Dream”. Oh, and did we mention that they snagged a PETA India Proggy Award for being progressive and speaking out against cruelty to animals?! And just when we thought that these guys couldn’t be any cooler, Ravi and 2’blu’ made time to chat with us about two of their greatest passions: music and animals. Read on:

petaDishoom: How did you guys get started?

2’blu’: In 1997, Ravi and Chirag went to Independence Rock, where they found that the performances as far as classical rock was concerned were not so good. They felt the need to do something, maybe start a band of their own.

Ravi: We needed a bassist and advertised in Admag, and our current bassist somehow noticed it and called us. Chirag and I used to play for different bands in 1989 and 1990. I’ve been in the rock scene since 1989, when I was in a band called Witch Hammer. We existed till about 1993. We were all over the place. And as you know, as the bands get bigger …. No good band lasts, even abroad.

2’blu’: The only exception to that is Deep Purple.

Ravi: I took a complete sabbatical from music. I was working a white-collar job in advertising. Then, in 1997, I said, “This is it. I can’t go on with what I don’t want to do with life”. And I got back to music. That’s when I met Chirag and we decided to form a band together. But the band was a little stagnant. Chirag went abroad, got married and settled in New Zealand. Our drummer got in an accident, so he stopped playing. I did a couple of my own solo projects too. And then, again, suddenly we woke up, and I and Schubert decided, “OK, man – let’s give it a shot again”. That’s when Schubert told me about 2’blu’ through some common musician friends they had met. And then when we were doing a show at BITS Pilani once, he asked 2’blu’ to come up on stage and maybe jam with us, just to get a feel for his playing, and we simply hit it off.

petaDishoom: Who thought of the name Vayu?

Ravi: In fact, I had named the band Pride. What I meant was the pride of lions. But somehow people did not understand the connotation. So we decided to come up with some name that is Indianised but has that impact, and we came up with the name Vayu.

petaDishoom: Have you been singing for a long time?

2’blu’: Yes, I have been singing for about nine or 10 years.

petaDishoom: We have heard lots of good things about your guitar playing. Tell us about your experience.

Ravi: I started playing in 1985, I guess. I had actually learned the tabla in my childhood. My mom and I both are classical musicians. My mom is into Hindustani, my aunt plays the violin and veena Karnataka-style, South Indian-style. They both taught me the tabla. Later I got into disco music of the likes of Staying Alive and John Travolta. Then I started taking a liking to string instruments. My first choice was the guitar. I took lessons for almost four years.

petaDishoom: Music is about expression. What do you have to say about animals imprisoned in cages, who aren’t even given the chance to express their natural instincts?

Ravi: My son loves animals, so I thought he would be excited to go to a zoo. We went to the Byculla zoo; I was amazed to see the way the animals are kept there. The animals were kept in cramped cages. There was no maintenance whatsoever.

petaDishoom: Since basically all the zoos in India keep animals in such poor conditions, do you think that maybe these zoos are actually teaching kids to be cruel to animals?

Ravi: I think so, because people who go to these zoos tease animals and throw stones at them.

petaDishoom: Do you have any companion animals?

Ravi: We have a cat. I have also had a rabbit, and I once picked up a homeless dog. In fact, in my house, we don’t believe in buying animals.

2’blu’: The only pet my parents ever kept was me.

petaDishoom: Do you think it’s important to treat companion animals as part of the family?

Ravi: Of course! My dog used to sleep with me on the bed.

petaDishoom: Why do you think it’s important to support animal protection?

Ravi: For the simple reason that animals have a life. And they are very expressive – they have feelings, too, but they just can’t speak. But I think animals get hurt too.

petaDishoom: When on the road, have you ever come across an animal who was being mistreated and felt the need to speak up?

Ravi: Once I found a very small pup right in the middle of the road, and there was no one to take care of him. The pup was not well; he had some kind of disease. There is a veterinary hospital in Parel, so I took him there. But they said that they had no space for the pup. I was like, “No! Someone has to do something about this pup”. Luckily, I knew the doctor there, and finally he agreed to take the pup.

petaDishoom: What do you have to say about animals who are forced to perform out of fear of being whipped or beaten, such as animals in circuses?

Ravi: When I was a child, there was a guy who used to come to this area right by my house and do these shows with a monkey and a snake. My aunt and I called the SPCA a couple of times to inform them. I firmly believe that it should be stopped.

2’blu’: Set them free! They should not be used for entertainment.

petaDishoom: What would your advice be to your supporters who want to help animals?

2’blu’: We would direct them to www.petaDishoom.com and www.PETAIndia.com.

petaDishoom: Would you encourage people to contact PETA?

2’blu’: Of course! Vayu is proud to be associated with petaDishoom and encourages young people to log on to www.petaDishoom.com in huge numbers and spread awareness about animal rights issues.