THE BANGALORE MEN (CHOIR GROUP)

#localturnon: What is the history of the band – how did it come into being, members, its journey (in brief) and what does the name of your band signify?

#thebangaloremen: The Bangalore Men was formed in January 2016, and what all unites us is that we have a love for western classical choir music, and feel a responsibility to promote that music and to guard the heritage it carries.When we started off, we were 9 members, now we are 16 guys, all very passionate about the art form we represent! In the short span the choir has been active, we have performed for enthusiastic and supporting music lovers in Bangalore, Pondicherry, Goa, Hyderabad and Mysore. The name of the gang? Well, we are a male choir from Bangalore – hence The Bangalore Men seemed very suitable!

#localturnon: So who are your favourites/ Icons/ Role Modelsin the field of music? #thebangaloremen: Well, we are inspired by various musicians, and our style ideal come from the male choirs found in Scandinavia and England, with a pure yet powerful sound, combined with a lot of focus on interpretation. Some inspirations are The King’s Singers, Orphei Drängar and The Tallis Scholars, all well-established male choirs with an excellent clarity of sound

#localturnon: How do rejuvenate your creative insights / get the adrenalin going?

#thebangaloremen: A great source of inspiration is of course internet, to find repertoire, to listen to other choirs and to generally discover and explore more and more about the human voice and what we can do with it if used in the right way!

#localturnon: Do your songs carry a message / a theme or a story? If so can you share more on it?

#thebangaloremen: Since all the songs we sing are already written, by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Purcell etc, and with texts from poems or various books, it is our responsibility to interpret the music and to make sure our audience feel emotionally connected to the pieces we perform.

#localturnon: Of all the songs you’ve created, which is your favourite one and why?

#thebangaloremen: We don’t create our own music as I said, but one of our favourite composers are Franz Schubert, whose music are compelling to the heart, easy to relate to and brings real emotions through the music.

#localturnon: Of all the performances the band has given which one is the most memorable and why?

#thebangaloremen: Performing at the century-old Jaganmohan Palace in Mysore was quite an experience, feeling the historical importance of the venue and the regal feeling of the surroundings. Another memorable performance was the recent performance in Goa, where we were met with standing ovations from a very enthusiastic audience.

#localturnon: How has the musical journey been so far for you / your band and what are you looking forward to?

#thebangaloremen: So far the musical journey has been amazing. Through hard work by all of the guys, we have been able to reach very good musical results, and have performed to rave reviews cross south India. We now look forward to our Christmas concerts, Carols in The City on December 10th at Bangalore School of Music,

and also to strengthen our collaboration with The Toit Foundation for the Arts!

#localturnon: Do you have any words of advice for youngsters who want to form their own bands or are thinking of getting into this line?

#thebangaloremen: Keep in mind never to compromise with quality. Only hard work will take you towards your dreams and ambitions, not talent alone! Be disciplined, work hard but HAVE FUN doing so.

You can book THE BANGALORE MEN for your events, gigs,

performances at www.localturnon.com/bookings