Similar is the story of Ishan Kumar, lead vocalist with The Alibi, a four-member band.
"We are in the same college. Initially, we started jamming at college fests. Last year we thought of widening our horizons," he said, adding that the Internet came in handy.
"We got lucky online. We posted our videos on the Internet and got many hits. Then we read about Hard Rock Cafe's online competition. We sent them our videos and got selected and performed there," Ishan Kumar added.
"I feel websites like YouTube help promote music. There's great scope for new bands. People listen to them and like them. Some of them like Agnee, Indian Ocean and Euphoria have even got a chance in Bollywood."
Ishan Kumar, who plans to move abroad to study music, said his band has so far performed at fests and at a few pubs.
Various genres of music are infused to make thes gigs interesting.
College student-cum-musician Pranav Diwedi, lead vocalist with one-year-old band Swarantar, said: "We play Indo-fusion rock. We are a band of seven people who have varied music influences. Like our guitarist, who is from Assam, is a diehard fan of Metallica.
"I have learned classical music; so I mostly listen to Zakir Hussain and Pandit Ravi Shankar. Our keyboardist is from Kerala and he learned music from his grandmother, who is a singer. So we play varied genres. And that's the reason we get choosy when we play because we expect sensible audiences."
