The rising music scene in Hyderabad over the past few years has helped the city become a hot spot for international music festivals. So when one of the country’s most popular music festivals, NH7 Weekender, decided to pitch tent in Hyderabad this year in November, local musicians were ecstatic.
The festival, which will be organising its seventh edition this year, brings artistes — both Indian and international — from across genres, to perform at various venues in the country.
However, the initial excitement has been dampened by the announced line-up of performers showing a clear lack of local artistes. “It’s the first time they’re coming to Hyderabad, they need as much support as possible from the local scene as well — and it’s hard to do that without hiring any local acts,” says Abbas Razvi, who plays with Hyderabad-based bands Skrypt and Godless, adding, “The talent here is on par with the rest of the country. There are so many pop-rock and alternative rock acts coming up.”
Their frustration led to a petition being started by musicians from the city and indie music promoters Mad Parrot. The petition was forwarded to the festival’s organisers, Only Much Louder (OML), but Mad Parrot founder Pranati Khanna says they were told that slots for this year’s festival were all booked. “It’s not fair, because what’s the point of promoting music in the country then? It’s the first time they’re coming to Hyderabad, they should have made the effort to know about the bands here and have a few of them play,” adds Pranati, who also plays for the band The Ragamuffins.
Hyderabadi DJ Murthovic, the only local representing the city at the festival, says that while he can’t change the line-up, he does think that bringing the festival to Hyderabad itself will help the local scene. “I can’t challenge their choices, but it would be great on a personal level to have as many local people... if they want to. There is surely a lot of talent here, but everything starts small and maybe in a few years things will get better for artistes here too. It’s a process — you need to earn your place,” he says.
OML, for their part, say that the festival is looking at the Hyderabad edition for the long term. Festival Manager Anuj Gupta says, “We’ve always got our ears on the ground. Our team is always listening to new artistes online and getting tips from locals. From what we see, the local music scene in Hyderabad is on the verge of an explosion. We can’t wait to discover the next artist that we can proudly define as an NH7 ambassador to be from the city.”
