Pump up the weekend

Reggae Rajahs, the five-member band who claim to be the pioneers of reggae music in India, feel music festivals help independent bands widen their audience. “Today, it has become important for bands to participate at music festivals because they get to perform for an audience they haven’t performed for before. At music festivals, there are a lot of music lovers who get a chance to listen to the bands they haven’t heard earlier. So, bands have more chance of widening their audience at music festivals,” says Raghav Dang aka Diggy Dang. 

Besides Raghav, the band, which created India’s first Jamaican sound system, comprises Zorawar Shukla, Mohammed Abood, Rahul Gairola and Bader Esafi. They describe reggae as spiritual, uplifting and socially conscious. They came together in 2009, and introduced reggae in India when probably no one was working on it. The positivity and spirituality of reggae inspired them to work on the genre, says Raghav. 

The band is now all set to perform in the capital today as part of Baleno Wicked Weekends (BWW) at Raasta in Hauz Khas Village. “As a band, the five of us are coming together on the same stage after a really long time. We look forward to interacting with the audience and entertaining them,” adds Raghav. 

BWW, a multi-city urban nightlife campaign, aims to redefine and reinvigorate nightlife in India. The campaign has previously featured artistes like Raghu Dixit, Donn Bhat, Anish Sood, Mojo Jojo, Gurbax and Sartek amongst many others. 

“The project gives space to artistes to try out something different and innovative. It has a very Caribbean vibe to it and we are excited to present that to the Delhi audience,” says Raghav, adding that such music projects help introduce new genres in the country. 

Commenting on the music culture of Delhi, he says, “Much of the music scene in Delhi is centred around the bar culture. People like going to clubs, eating and having drinks, and listening to music on the side. We hope that live music is given more importance so that the independent music scene grows at a faster pace.”