by Suman Gupta
Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker, Opeth, Kodaline, Dreamville Showcase – Earthgang, Cozz, A Hariharan among those to headline the festival this year
Mumbai, August, 2019:- BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender, India’s Happiest Music Festival, conceptualized by OML, celebrates its grand 10-year run this November! India’s largest multi-genre festival has announced its much-awaited line-up of top performing global and Indian artists for Pune, where it will play from November 29 – December 1, 2019.
The festival’s first edition was hosted in Pune way back in 2010 and has since been loved by loyal fans for its eclectic and exciting mix of performing artists across genres. This year, global performers who will enthrall the city of Pune are Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker, Opeth, Kodaline, Dreamville Showcase – Earthgang, Cozz, Garden City Movement and Underside. The Indian line-up includes names such as A. Hariharan performing Soul India, Wadlis, Raja Kumari, Brodha V and Bhayanak Maut.
The 10th edition of the Pune event, from 29 Nov – 1 Dec, follows soon after the Meghalaya edition which will be on November 1-2, 2019. BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender has today become synonymous with giving its fans the happiest weekend of the year with performances on a grand scale, favourite artists, a lot of new music to discover, and a lot of great vibes. Over the last decade, over 800 global and Indian artists have performed at packed venues, making it one of the most awaited music experiences of the year.
“Since our festival’s journey began in 2010, BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender has programmed extraordinary talent for an equally passionate and growing audience of music fans. The festival began as a home for indie musicians to connect with their fans like never before, and over 10 years, it’s been surreal to witness the festival grow in the most organic way – both sonically and as a community. With over 82% of our lineup making their festival debut this year, we hope to see fans, old and new to celebrate this decade of happiness with us.” said Supreet Kaur, Festival Director.
Anshuman Goenka, BACARDÍ Director Marketing, India says, “Ten years ago, BACARDÍ’s passion for music and our inherent legacy of creating immersive experiences, led to a creative partnership with OML, giving India one of its first music festivals ever – BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender. Fondly referred to as India’s Happiest Music festival, our commitment to providing unique experiences and showcasing true talent, remains undeterred. In the last ten years, BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender has successfully brought independent music to mainstream culture and we are confident that in the next ten years, the community will grow bigger and stronger. This year, we look forward to celebrating the festival, our fans and the spirit of always doing what moves us.”
The pre-sale of tickets for both editions, that opened on 1 August, was a great success (with Pune throwback tickets selling out in 3 minutes and pre-sale tickets for both cities selling out in a couple of hours). A limited number of Phase 1 tickets – Season and Under 21 – for Pune are now available on www.NH7.in. Stay tuned to the BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender website for more information on the festival.
A quick glimpse into what’s in store this year:
INTERNATIONAL ACTS:
NICK MURPHY AKA CHET FAKER
In the making of his sophomore album Run Fast Sleep Naked, Nick Murphy, formerly known as Chet Faker, spent four years traveling the world solo with a microphone in his suitcase, recording his vocal tracks in whichever spaces and environments most inspired him. With its penetrating songwriting and kaleidoscopic palette, Run Fast Sleep Naked is a hypnotically candid document of that searching, an album equally informed by constant questioning and steadily arriving at fragments of truth.
Co-produced with Dave Harrington and mixed by Murphy and Phil Weinrobe, Run Fast Sleep Naked is the latest in a series of widely acclaimed releases including Murphy’s 2014 full-length debut Built on Glass—a platinum-selling effort that won him seven ARIA Music Awards including Best Male Artist and Producer of the Year, and lead to him playing sold-out shows on five continents, appearing at major festivals including Coachella and Glastonbury, performing everywhere from The Boiler Room to The Ellen DeGeneres Show to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and seeing his videos receive hundreds of millions of views and more.
OPETH
Swedish progressive metal giants Opeth are no strangers to India. Having performed twice already in over a decade, their much awaited return to the country coincides with the release of their most important record to date with “In Cauda Venenum”. Certainly, fans and critics will have their opinion, but few records in the Swedes oeuvre are as engaging, delicate, panoramic, intense, and musical as Opeth’s lucky thirteenth. Sporting a clever Travis Smith cover—replete with inside jokes and a nod to King Diamond—a masterful Park Studios (The Hellacopters, Graveyard) production, Opeth’s usual five-star musicianship, and lyrics entirely in Swedish, “In Cauda Venenum” raises the bar markedly.
KODALINE
Kodaline formed in Swords, north of Dublin, in 2012, although chief songwriters Steve and Mark had known each other all their lives, and worked together since 2005. As a four piece, they achieved immediate success. All I Want, from their first EP, has clocked up over 46 million views on YouTube. Their 2013 debut album, Perfect World, established them as a highly emotional pop rock band. The follow up, 2015’s Coming Up For Air, gave them their second Irish number one, constant touring confirming their status as a growing force around the world. Recorded at The Vale, the new album titled ‘Politics of Living’ sees Kodaline work with old collaborators (Johnny Mcdaid) alongside a variety of different writers and producers including pop guru Wayne Hector, Jonny Coffer (Beyonce, Emeli Sande, Naughty Boy, Two Inch Punch (Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Sam Smith) and Steve Mac who they worked with on their anthemic new single ‘Follow Your Fire’. With a repertoire of music that makes them fan favourites wherever they go, this is their first time in India, as they make their debut in the country this November at the happiest music festival.
DREAMVILLE RECORDS
Established by Established by Jermaine Cole, better known as J. Cole, the Grammy-nominated artist and producer, Dreamville is renowned record label featuring the likes of artists such as Bas, Omen, Cozz and brilliant producers like Cedric Brown, Ron Gilmore, Elite and more. For BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender 2019, they present – Cozz and Earthgang.
COZZ
Firmly based in West Coast rap, South Central native Cozz was born Cody Osagie, a birth name that also became the title of his calling-card single. Uploaded in early 2014, his introspective cut “Dreams” hit the net hard and impressed rapper J. Cole, who signed Cozz to his Dreamville imprint. The track landed on Cozz’s 2014 debut, Cozz & Effect, which also featured the Meez-produced single “Cody Macc.” His second album ‘Effected’ was released last year, featuring J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. This will be Cozz’s first ever performance in India, with this Dreamville Showcase bringing the world of rap from the US to the stage at BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender, Pune.
EARTHGANG
EARTHGANG is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Atlanta-based rappers Olu (aka Johnny Venus) and WowGr8 (aka Doctur Dot). They are also co-founders of the musical collective Spillage Village, with J.I.D, Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant, 6LACK, and Mereba. Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot formed EarthGang in High School. In 2015, they released “Strays With Rabies” to critical acclaim. After signing to J. Cole’s Dreamville Records, EarthGang released a trilogy of EP’s: Rags, Robots, and Royalty, leading up to their third album, Mirrorland.
PENGSHUi
Comprised of Illaman on vocals (Foreign Beggars, Goldie, Chinese Man, Problem Child), Fatty on bass (Submotion orchestra Alex Clare, Andreya Triana, Newham Generals, Outlook orchestra), and Pravvy Prav on drums (Foreign Beggars, Gentleman’s Dub Club, Jorja Smith, Maverick Sabre, Jehst), PENGshui are an all new raw live band from London. All 3 played with and made music with many of the UK’s finest musicians. They have a mutual love for hard, lively and energetic music, and put on visceral live shows. The music has taken the best of Grime, Rap, Dance, Punk and Metal music based around 140 bpm. Their first 4 track EP named ‘EP:i’ is a fine example forward thinking music made with precision, and is unapologetic from the outset.
KOKOROKO
London has long been a hotbed for experimentation for music from West Africa, and it’s into this global-local story that we can situate London’s newest afrobeat innovators: KOKOROKO. The band’s name is an Orobo – a Nigerian tribe and language – word meaning ‘be strong’. Sonically living up to their name, KOKOROKO are an all star band featuring leading lights from the London jazz community. Powered by seismic horn section (Maurice Grey, saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi, trombonist Richie Seivwright), guitar (Oscar Jerome), keys (Yohan Kebede), drums (Ayo Salawu) and percussion (Onome Edgeworth); Kokoroko are on a mission to fashion new languages using the medium of afrobeat. Their extremely unique sounds adds a flavour to the sounds that fans will get to experience for the first time in Pune this November at the happiest music festival.metal by fans of the genre.
GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT
Tel-Aviv based Garden City Movement is a top notch electronic music project consisting of Joe and Roi formerly part of “Lorena B”. They’ve performed with Disclosure, Bondax, Blonde Redhead and Apparat to name a few. Johnny, the third member, is a well known music journalist, radio DJ and nightlife persona who has played alongside artists such as Floating Points, Koreless, Oneman and many more. Together, the three produce a blend of perfectly beautiful mixes drawn from their diverse cultural worlds. The result ranges from sweet hypnotic beats to ground floor based tracks.
INDIAN ACTS:
A HARIHARAN: SOUL INDIA
Hariharan is a versatile, an established ghazal singer, playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada & Telugu movies and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. In 2004, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India and is a two-time National Award winner. Hariharan, associating with Lesle Lewis, formed Colonial Cousins, a two-member band. Their first album, Colonial Cousins was a fusion album and was the first Indian act to be featured on MTV Unplugged. It won a string of awards including the MTV Indian Viewers’ Choice award and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group. Hariharan represents the best of classical music, playback singing and indi-pop, adding another dimension of musicality to the happiest music festival this November in Pune.
BHAYANAK MAUT
Bhayanak Maut is an Indian Metal band from Mumbai. The band’s name was inspired by a B-Grade Hindi horror movie of the same name, which translates to “Horrific Death”. Since forming in November 2003, they represented the cutting edge sound of the Mumbai metal circuit, and are known as pioneers of the genre within the city. The band was formed and named by Jaison and Sriram who recruited several members including Sera Aman, Ravi Balakrishnan, R. Venkatraman and Rahul Hariharan to join the band. The band released their third full-length album “MAN” on October 31, 2014. Their much-awaited 4th album is scheduled to be released this year, with two singles titled ‘Attack of the Roachsmokers’ and ‘Pindakaas’ already out on all streaming platforms. This marks a return for the band, both to making music and to the happiest music festival.
RAJA KUMARI
Indian-American rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer Raja Kumari is a force of nature. She’s a fearless, charismatic personality and natural-born storyteller whose mission is to create art that blends her Indian roots with her American upbringing. Her music is a sonic bridge between East and West that fuses the rhythms she absorbed as a trained classical Indian dancer with her love for hip-hop. Through singles “Mute,” “City Slums” (featuring Mumbai rapper Divine), “Believe In You,” and her latest “I Did It,” as well as her debut EP, The Come Up (the cover features an image of Kumari with her head draped in both a gold tikka and an American flag), Kumari announces that this is the new face of America.
WADALI’S
Padmashree Ustad Puran Chand Wadali Ji is a well-known musician and a Sufi singer from Guru Ki Wadali. He got trained under famous masters like Pandit Durga Das Ji and the Patiala Gharana’s Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. He had formed a Sufi qawwali duo along with his younger brother-singer Late Ustad Piyare Lal Wadali Ji. The duo performed and was famous as ‘Wadali Brothers’.
Among the leading folk and Sufi singers of his generation, Lakhwinder Wadali has evolved an individual style in his presentation and has gained wide popularity. His style of singing combines a fine blend of classical and contemporary music. Alaaps and Taans are the vital aspects of his music. He has performed with many eminent musicians such as Himesh Reshamiya, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Mika Singh, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal and Mohit Chauhan. Lakhwinder Wadali has performed widely in the country and abroad, and now performs with Padmashree Ustad Puran Chand Wadali Ji. The new duo is called ‘Wadalis’, and they will be making their debut performance at the happiest music festival this year in Pune.
COMPLETE PUNE LINE UP (29TH NOVEMBER TO 1ST DECEMBER 2019)
| Aakash Gupta | Enkore | Opeth | Sumit Saurav |
| Alexander the Comic | Fopchu | Okedo | Saltwater |
| Arunaja | Gutslit | Parvaaz | Shaad Shafi |
| adL x k.ly ft. Dappest | Gully Gang Showcase ft. Aavrutti, D’Evil, DJ Proof, JD, Shah Rule + Guests | Pia Collada | Shreeja Chaturvedi |
| A. Hariharan: Soul India | Garden City Movement | Pavitra Shetty | Sumukhi Suresh |
| Aarifah Rebello | Hanumankind | PENGSHUi | Sejal Bhat |
| Anand Bhaskar Collective | IncInk presents Kaam Bhaari & Spitfire | Prashasti Singh | The Koniac Net |
| Aadar Malik (Sound of Comedy) | Jokes Without Borders ft. Aadar & Kautuk | Prathyush Chaubey | Tape-A-Tale Showcase |
| Black Letters | Job Kurian | Raghav Meattle + Guests | The Soul |
| Bassi | JBABE | Ritviz | Underside |
| BhaDiPa Showcase | Kodaline | Raja Kumari | Urooj Ashfaq |
| Brodha V | Kumail (Live) | Rahul Subramanian | Varun Thakur |
| Bhayanak Maut | KOKOROKO | Ramya Pothuri | Water & Rum |
| Boombay Djembe Folas | Kanan Gill | Rueben Kaduskar | Wadalis |
| Biswa Kalyan Rath | Kenny Sebastian | Raunaq Rajani | Yung.Raj |
| BLOT! (Live) | Kavya x Chaz | Submarine in space | Zakir Khan |
| Cut A Vibe | Lifafa | Sid Sriram | |
| Chrms | Malfnktion ft. Shayan | Shorthand | |
| DJ Ishani | MadStarBase | Swadesi | |
| Devoid | Many Roots Ensemble | Sandunes | |
| Dreamville Showcase | Earthgang | Neeti Palta | Samay Raina | |
| Ditty | Nick Murphy fka Chet Faker | Surbhi Bagga | |
| Dreamville Showcase | Cozz | Neetu Bhardwaj | Supriya Joshi |
