ALISHA
I take a deep breath before entering the Dome Plaza, which is where I’m meeting the managers of BOMBAYROCKS with my band. They are the largest community for producing famous music in Bombay. If everything goes right, my band can also be like BEAlive, who are currently ruling Bombay’s music industry with their trendy pop culture.
But as my dad always says we are a tiny band with bearable music and we will stay tiny because only legendary bands have ever ruled over Bombay music industry. I’m here to prove him wrong. I’m going to be the next legend.
I have confidence that I can because one of our mashups of Labyrinth x Ishq hai went viral on Instagram, which helped us manage to get some recognition here.
I see my guitarist, Sakshi, near the stage gate, who is also my best friend. Aaryan, Rahil and Titus are already in.
“Now, rockstar, it’s time for you to rock.” She says guiding me to the center of the Dome’s stage.
I walk in and see the managers sitting in the front row.
“Hello, I’m Alisha Mirza, the leader of band 2AM.”
“Hello, Alisha. We would like to start with some questions which would help us know more about you.” The lady sitting on in the center of the first row says.
“Yes, sure ma’am.” I touch the lily tattoo on my arm for support, I got it when mom passed away.
“How did your band come in existence and why name it 2AM?”
“Ma’am, all the current four band members are my school friends, we loved to sing and all of us had mastery in at least one musical instrument, hence we went ahead and formed a band. The first couple of songs we created were all country music genre inspired by Taylor Swift. Our songs gave out the 2AM emotional support aesthetics hence we named it 2AM. We started from pubs and road concerts to singing in weddings and performing actual small scale performances. We are currently attending Mumbai Music Institute.
The lady nods in approval. I take a deep breath, You got it, Lish.
“What are your band’s aims and how do you plan achieving them?” An elderly man asks from beside the lady.
“My band’s aims lie in becoming the greatest band of Bombay Music Industry and provide people with relatable jams to feel, express. We plan to release new albums every 6 months or less, fresh music always attracts people, we also think collaborating with a celebrity face and having them in Music Videos will help attract more fame.”
They nod and discuss something I can’t make out.
After some time the lady speaks again, “We see the potential in you, we would like for you to present the song you were working on, the remake of Piano Man, to us. If it turns out to be truly extraordinary, we will be more than happy to invest in your band’s management. And we will also help you with the celeb collaboration project.”
“Thank you so much ma’am. We can present our song to you after 15 days.”
“I look forward to you. Now, please excuse us.”
I give a slight nod.
As soon as their out the Dome, I burst out laugh-crying.
“We did it.” Sakshi says, and all of my band members come to hug me.
I sniffle, “We have to make the best of our work, and believe in ourselves and trust each other and achieve.”
“It’s 2AM!” Titus whoops.
We all laugh.
"All we need to focus on right now is finding our token to success, a celebrity face."
