Musical Axe-tortion

The GUIDE spoke to guitar band Axe-tortion about their unconventional name and the band that inspired them Forget extortion, a city-based guitar band has coined a brand new term to call themselves. Mumbai-based guitarist Chandresh Kudwa was the one who came up with the name Axe-tortion and it stuck. It represents the coming together of top-notch guitar players from across the country. It also marks a first in the Indian musical circuit as guitar players get centrestage at these performances. Their upcoming event is called Axe-tortion -Where Guitars Sing. It's inspired by G3 started by guitar legend Joe Satriani, who handpicks guitarists for performances, says Chandresh. The band promises that their guitar instrumentals will blow you away. Explaining the logic behind their name, Chandresh says, The terms 'axe' and 'tortion' are part of guitar terminology. We started off in June this year and have performed in Mumbai, Bangalore and now we are in Pune. Along the way we collaborated with 9 guitarists for these gigs.u00a0 The Axe-tortion night will see each guitarist perform original compositions backed by a bassist and a drummer, culminating in a jam on instrumental versions of popular tracks. Besides, each guitarist has a unique sound, style and composition, which helps create an exceptional sonic experience.Guitar players who have performed alongside Chandresh at Axe-tortion include Mahesh Tinaikar (ex Indus Creed), Paresh Kamath (Kailasa, Hipnotribe), Ravi Iyer (Para Vayu), Floyd Fernandes , Claver Menezes (Zedde), Milind Deora (Lok Sabha MP) and Pozy Dhar (Tough on Tobacco) to name a few. But for the upcoming event, the line-up will include Chandresh Kudwa (guitar/ukulele), Sanjay Joseph from Shibumi (guitars), Claver Menezes from Zedde (guitars), Naina Kundu (bass) and Hamza Kazi (drums).According to Chandresh, We do things differently. It will be a totally instrumental performance but it will be our take on it. Each guitar player will personalise the composition and we will include songs that are not guitar-based. Considering the band managed to perform a punk version of Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry and made Shakira's Waka Waka sound different, expect the unexpected. On October 22, 8.30pm onwardsAt High Spirits, Koregaon Park.