Band Aid

Remember what Brian Epstein did for the Beatles? Or,what Andrew Loog Oldham did for The Rolling Stones? Music might make the band,but often,it’s the manager who makes a band’s fortune. As the music band epidemic spreads to India,the unconventional career of band management too is on the rise. “You have to be your band’s biggest fan and biggest critic. You have to love the music they create. It’s compulsory,” says Dev Bhatia,co-founder of Jalebee Management,the company that handles electronic band Jalebee Cartel. Bhatia dedicates 12 hours of the day to his team and the remaining time he spends as a senior producer for 98.3 FM.

“Being in the music industry helps me understand my job better and build contacts too,” he explains. Handling more than one band also seems to be a trend these days. “It is a manager’s duty to take up responsibility for the band’s identity. It doesn’t matter if it’s one,two or five—you have to relate to their music,” says Dhruv Jagasia,who handles Indian Ocean and MIDIval Punditz. When he is not managing bands,he doubles as an actor and theatre producer. Of late,however,most of his time has been dedicated to the bands. “When I started off,I was one of the very few to manage bands. But now it’s become more competitive. Both my bands have a varied audience. While MIDIval Punditz may get a nightclub grooving,Indian Ocean has a more subdued audience. Most of my time is spent dealing with property owners and arranging shows and concerts,” says Jagasia. However,the role of a manager goes beyond just procuring gigs and maintaining label relations. They also have to manage the band’s tours,business deals,recording contracts and endorsements. Apart from these,the managers have an uphill task of keeping their bands always in public memory,and need to work hard on the publicity. “Managing a band means taking care of every aspect of their life,while allowing them to concentrate only on musical creativity,” says Vijay Nair. He manages Pentagram,Swarathma,Them Clones,The Raghu Dixit Project and Indigo Children under his company—Only Much Louder. While popular bands have anywhere around five to 20 shows a month,the more popular ones like Indian Ocean have to juggle upto 80 shows a month.

While those with an inclination to music make good managers,many established Indian musicians too are chipping in as talent managers. One such instance would be the rock band Parikrama that has a total of 26 bands under its label. “Being a musician helps understand the music genre better and any last minute glitches at a show can be managed better,” feels Subir Malik,keyboardist of Parikrama who manages Bandish and Jazz Connection.