Who let the girls out

Priyanko Sarkar / TNN / Mar 2, 2008, 01:07 IST

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Contrary to the general image of female rockers, members of this all-girl rock group are not rebels.

When the three girls picked up their instruments and began to sing, the waiters at Mocha caf�� in South Mumbai stood rooted to survey the "chicks".
For close to 20 agonising minutes, the trio belted out a song each from Nirvana (Greed), Def Leppard (Two Steps Behind) and Evanescence (Lithium) while profusely apologising to the audience in between because they were, "new to the music scene".
One of them sang Linger, a Cranberries song with her eyes closed. When it was finally over, Shiksha Bali, a short petite member of the band whose hairstyle will impress a prospective mother-in-law than a label agent, said, "Let��s get out of here. I saw people laughing at our faces."
It might not have been the perfect start to a rock career but then who has. The girls call themselves S.O.U.L which stands for, "Skippin Off Underestimated Life." It must mean something, of course.

Dhaara Thacker and Sonal Surve, the two other members of S.O.U.L, were earlier part of another female rock group called Flexors but the band disintegrated last November, just a month after it was formed. Sonal then called her friend Shiksha who lived in the same residential complex as she. Then they roped in Dhaara. S.O.U.L was formed. All the three girls are under 19. Dhaara is a second year literature student; Shiksha is doing her first year in biotech while Sonal is pursing an MBBS degree.

Sonal, who manages lead vocals and guitars, says they are often underestimated because they��re new. That��s why they decided to put the word in the band��s name. Dhaara, the bassist and back-up vocalist says, "Everyone believes we��re fools. We don��t know anything. Guys come up to us and adopt a sympathetic approach while reviewing our performance instead of bluntly saying we suck if we do. Guys are supposed to get rushes of adrenaline, so people associate only guys with rock music. We, too, have adrenaline."
Shiksha, who learnt how to play the drums from Gino Banks, a popular drummer in Mumbai, warns her future boyfriend to be a rock lover or else, "he��ll be whacked with my drum sticks." S.O.U.L wants to keep its USP of being an all-female band intact. "Maybe we can allow a really talented guy as a guest member or join an alternative band with guys," she says.
It is inevitable that they are asked why girl bands almost always split. "Maybe girls don��t prioritise their music," says Dhaara. "They lose focus. Ego issues and the fact that some members fall for the same guy are other reasons why female rock bands find it difficult to survive. I tend to lose concentration fast. Sonal and Shiksha always have to bring me back to our music. Also, we��ve had some ego issues but so far we��ve managed to let music be our priority."
The girls, however, do talk about make-up and guys. They even refer to their guitars as guys to motivate themselves at times. "You��re not playing your guy" and "Do your guy properly" are the common ribs the band resorts to while jamming. They are learning music on their own, with a bit of help from Google.
Contrary to the general image of female rockers, these girls are not rebels. They are even planning to lie low for a while and study for the impending exams. "Right now music is our second priority," Dhaara says. They are quite happy not being rebels.
There are other female-band attributes that they resist. Like wearing kaajal and black nail polish, staying away from pink and smoking.
"We��ve seen bands who smoke and dope in the name of music. You can be clean, like the Eagles and still be rockstars," they say. They feel most rebels "are really soft from inside. They are just hypocrites."
Curiously, their ambitions are limited.
"We just want to play with bigger bands as of now. We want to learn new songs and better ourselves," one of them says.
With a far-off gleam in her eye, Dhaara says, "It would be wonderful if our kids continue keeping S.O.U.L alive after we retire."
Will they still be underestimated then? "Hopefully, no." Will the band��s name then change? "Yeah, all the dots will go. It��ll be called just SOUL then." That, too, must mean something.
priyanko.sarkar@timesgroup.com

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