An interview with HAVEN Band members

1)*What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name? Have you changed the band's name before?


HAVEN

We just needed a name :D in the beginning, it really didn't matter what it was...
Lionel came up with HAVEN after a bunch of silly propositions. He probably read it on some Housing gate while he was crossing the road for all you know.
We wanted a name that didn't sound silly or slow to catch with a simple tinge to it.
I like HAVEN because of what it means, sheltering place... dwelling.. refuge

2)*Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member.


Lenin Pinto (ago 25) Plays guitar and Lionel Pinto (age 23) plays bass.
Both started music in St. Mary's Mt. Abu (a boarding school on a hill station in Rajasthan)
We used to play for the Chapel singing and during the church services.
Then we continued onwards in Junior College at St. Xaviers, where the music was quite competitive
After that it was degree college during engineering. Between then and now we played independently in different bands till we finally worked out on starting our own.

Savio D'silva (20) Plays the Lead Guitar in the Band.
He's nearly done with his MBA studies. He's been in IC Colony, Borivili all along, where there is a huge magnitude of talent almost in every corner of that place.
I think most of his guitar styles and progress has been self taught. He's been playing for a lot of bands too before he got together with us.

Ferguson Fernandes (22) plays percussion.
He's from St. Michaels/Victoria Parish Mahim. He also happens to be cousin for Ansel Fernandes who is another brilliant drummer. So what can I say then, I guess it runs well in the blood.

3)*What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?

Well, most of us come from a music background that is not from one particular area. We're definite about certain bits of our potential which is not limited to particular genre. There is quite a bit that our music has to offer more in the terms of song writing and artistic nature of it. Most of which can't be performed in complete figures in fancy bars or festivals. There's a certain degree of seriousness placed into many of those works which are recorded and hopefully will be on display and to listen in sometime when the opportunity arrives.
Till then, we're writing and performing the not so serious stuff and covers that come from the days which inspired hundreds of iconic artists themselves over the decades.

In short, if you come to hear us at blue frog, or at Jazz by the bay or may be hard rock café, you will hear us perform fast and rock n roll numbers, Blues and Close harmony.


4)*How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
Over a couple of years. Lionel and I met Ferguson through Shannon, who appears to be doing brilliantly with his own band called 'The works'. We were to start a rock n roll band in 2006 but then the bad monsoons that year got most gigs cancelled and later we got busy with engineering exams and that sort of headache. The band got the least priority then because of the all the other things, choirs, concert tours, travel etc. apart from looking for a job and completing the engineering degree. I've known Savio on and off thanks to Crystal, his sister. I played with her in the Focolare band back in 2002 before she moved to Canada.


5)*When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
The band was finally formed in 2010. I'm not really sure if we worked desperately to get us together it just happened on its own. There have a few people walking in and out of the band before we even gave it a name. We tried a lot of things. We were fortunate that Ferguson was quite comfortable playing our style of music, which is a rare thing. Most people play a far more eccentric genre of music just to entertain themselves and some of them even make of mess of things. Ferguson just wanted to play, and some how things clicked. But later, with just the 3 of us, it started to get a little stressful with me playing rhythm and lead and singing. So we figured we've got to get another singer or another lead guitarist or both.

In May, 2009 I happened to go with some of my friends at work to Goa for over a weekend. We had some disagreements there and I left that group to be by myself. That's when I ran into Dean and his friends from Orlem. They are an extremely talented lot of fellows, and were really good with their acapella sort of music. Together we did a couple of musicals, like the Witness but we really never got the chance to jam. We spent nights in Goa singing and playing and he knew almost every Beatle song, just like us and we wondered how did we miss this out all along. We figured we got to get together a do some music and he got excited about the idea. When we returned to Mumbai, It was really tough on him with his night shifts at the call center. I guess we all lost on our commitment there to keep the band going and it stiffened out a bit. Dean couldn't make it anymore for the little practices that we had, with the choir and other things going on plus the night shifts.

Crystal returned from Canada for a short while and she invited us over for dinner. That's when we began fooling around with some guitars at her place, and so this brought Savio into the picture. This was not the only time we seen Savio play, sometimes we did manage to find him on the stages of IC or in Andrews audi accompanying Vinson and his crew. He seemed delightful about the idea of playing in the band, and has been committed ever since.

At some places things started to fall apart even before putting it together. Ferguson left the band and his job and went to Goa. He figured he'd be getting far more gigs out there than we ever could in Mumbai. This was when we started to experiment with new drummers. One of the drummers who would be in place of Ferguson was Hironori Hara. He was going to be our Japanese drummer. I met him first when I was doing the Rolf's solo during the sound of music produced and played by the Bombay Chamber Orchestra. Hara was the percussionist back then, with the timpani. None can doubt the capabilities and the discipline of the Japanese. A short while later when in need of a drummer, I ran into him during the MLTR concert where I asked him if he was okay to play with the band. He was thrilled about the idea and we would have to do some pink floyed with him, since he was such a huge fan of them. Somehow, we never got to rehearse together. He had to go back to Japan and when he returned I was travelling around to Moscow and then Up north to Ladhak and Kashmir.

Right in the middle of this confusion, Ferguson returned back to Mumbai. Something happened there that we aren't really sure about. But we were glad that he returned. We did a bit of recordings and prepared for some auditions and presented ourselves in front of Jazz by the Bay and Blue frog. Then it finally Began and there was no turning back.

6)*Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
Not of anything that's commercial.

7)*What can you tell me about your instruments? (i.e., Are you subject to brand loyalty or will you play with whatever's available? What made you choose the instruments you have now? Was it cost or was it a style/model/brand/color preference?

We just play with anything that goes with our instincts at the moment.

8)*Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
We got chances to play in the popular places like Blue frog, Jazz by the Bay and Hard Rock café. We've not done open air shows, but if we get the chance we would take it up.
We have gigs lined up for next week.

9)*Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
As mentioned previously, if you walk into a pub while we're playing you will most definitely hear some rock n roll songs. We might not always do the same songs the same way. It changes with respect to factors which I feel is a good thing.

10)*Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
Lionel and I write songs for the moment. One of things you will observe from our music that none of our songs sound like the other. They're all on varied topics.
For example, one of our newly written and recorded song 'Keep the Door Open' is about present generation of well to do and intelligent Indians hoping to leave the country for better prospects.

11)*Could you briefly describe the music-making process?
It's not always the same. We do a lot of things, and sometimes we do nothing.
The music making extends to even writing classical music at times, which is quite unconventional in most cases.I usually write the lyrics down first and make up the music for it, which was quite different from the way we used to do it earlier, where we get the music and then put in the words.

12)*What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
I would say its more Spontaneous. We'd normally do 2 rehearsals on a Sunday for example, when everyone can make it just before a gig.

13)*How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
What can I say? It's still evolving, and may be it continues to do so. Sometimes just for the heck of it, we get back to where we started. It all depends on what people like. Most people like simple music, something that they can easily sing to. We'd like to give them just that, apart from do our own creative things that only we might understand.

14)*What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
A million of them.
Time for one. It's not something that pays for our life, at least not yet. It's all about managing time. How we do it? Sometimes we get lucky, sometimes we don't.


15)*What's your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune?
This is a tough question. We really don't know what we're looking for. For the moment we just want to play. We would be the happiest if we get signed by good record company and we can be established song writers for life. The biggest dream would be if a million of our songs are bought and sold every year. Anything along with this is welcome.

16)*What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
"Don't just pick up an instrument and play in your bedroom. It's no good just having it on You tube either. You need to play in public and people need to start talking about your band."
That was the advice Joe Walsh gave me when we spoke in Blue frog a couple of months ago. Mine would be the same.

17)*How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
Yes we have most of our music recorded and placed on Youtube.

Youtube links:
Band covers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnUJrovS7uQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAgzboztLSo&feature=related
Originals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpUrL4CUyn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6skcGfxwY8U

The Table of Triads C major

Lets take the Example of the C Major Scale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C
M m m M M m D M

Where M is Major and m is Minor , D is dimished

So the Chords would Follow as below

C Dm Em F G7 Am Bdim C