Meet Gary Galaxi Lee.

Gary is our Tour Manager Extraordinaire, our Front of House (FOH) Engineer, for some of the gigs we’re playing, he is also chief of production. He is our resident music expert, has worked with everyone and I mean EVERYONE in the touring circuit, gets us the best gear at the cheapest rates, is a master chef, one who cracks the whip, drives us to each venue and makes sure we reach on time, sound good and get off stage in one piece.

There are many more roles he has not yes started to play when on tour with us, but one quality of Gary that stands out from all of this is that he is the MOST practical person I have ever met. EVER.

He has practical advice for any situation. There is nothing you can tell him that he wouldn’t know how to do. Right from what mic to use for an amp, to where you should go for the best sushi (in different parts of the world mind you) to how to remove your tonsils (this is a story for another day), he is the man with the plan!

And now, in an exclusive feature on our website, Gary has kindly consented to give his advice out to many of our fans who are faced with situations where they need a new perspective and some great practical tips.

If you have a situation where you think you would need some advice, post it in the comments section and I will pick the best questions and get Gary to answer them in a video reply. Your time starts …. NOW!

Each tour brings with itself a whole bunch of “firsts” for the band. And at the Larmer tree festival, it was the first time we had to play 3 gigs in a day, and believe it or not, the first time we played a proper acoustic show in a LONG LONG time!

Driving to the festival itself was an experience as we went out of the concrete jungle that London is to the beautiful English countryside and past the Stonehenge as well, though we did not have the time to go up to it and see it up close. I think most of the band just caught up on sleep for the rest of the tour and each of us was up to his own thing waking up once in a while in the middle, while Gary, our tour manager was awake through it all driving us to the venue ensuring we manage to make it in time for the show. At the end of the tour, I’m sure he is just going to sleep for a week! or knowing Gary, just take on a bunch of work :p

We arrived at the Larmer Tree festival just an hour before we were scheduled to be on stage and the organizers were going into a mild panic attack, but seeing us on site seemed to calm everyone down and we did our set up and line check in record time! With that done, there was just about enough time to get back to green room, change and get back on stage for the first set of the day!

The Larmer Tree festival has been running for 20 years now and over the years, I was told it has become an institution this side of the UK and it gets hardcore regulars who come out and camp for all days of the fest. We even met food store owners who really look forward to being part of this festival, so it was a brilliant festival to be part of!

Unlike many of the afternoon slots we’ve played at different festivals, this time round, the crowd was already lounging around on the grass in front of the main stage, that made it a little easier for us because we just had to get them up to their feet ;) - And we did and how! The first song we did got a whole bunch of people up to the front of the stage joining along with us, but once we launched into ‘Mysore Se Aayi’ I think we broke the ice :)

The nice thing about playing at such a fun festival is that the audience we get are here to truly have fun and you need to just cater to their fun loving side and they will jump at the chance. Its a skill we’ve learnt through many festivals. Once we got everyone involved, the rest of the set was pure joy. The interaction with the crowd was great, the setting beautiful and Gary on the sound was really milking that PA to make sure that people were “feeling” the music ;)

We got some great feedback post the gig and it was time to grab a nice lunch before we headed to Raghu’s 2nd gig of the day - a One on One with a bunch of fans at ‘Folk in a Box’. The idea for folk in a box is as simple as it is unique. Its the world’s smallest festival - one artist, one fan in a closed box. Pitch Dark, and the most intimate musical experience you will ever have!

So we put Raghu into the box and a bunch of fans went in one by one to listen to Raghu serenade them. We have no idea what it sounded like inside, but the people who were in there were overwhelmed. A short video about the whole thing is coming up very soon! Raghu loved it and it was, according to him, one of the best gigs he has done! and he had just finished quite a smashing gig right before that :)

Once we finished Folk in a Box, it was time to get some shut eye and rest before we went out to do the last gig of the day, an acoustic set in a tent at the festival. Now, this was another first for the band, not having done a proper acoustic set before and also, for Willy, it was the first time with a Cajón. So that was always going to be interesting.

To just spice it up a bit more, we had a packed house even before we got on stage for a quick sound check / line check and while that was flattering, it meant that we couldn’t take long to set the sound and also had to get it all done very quietly, without giving away too much before the gig started. But it was another of those ‘take it as it comes moments’ and before you knew it, it was time to get going.

Raghu started with a solo version of ‘Soruthihudu Maneya Maligi’ and the rest of the band joined him on stage in parts, first Vijay for Hey Bhagwan, the duo version and then Karthick and Vijay doing ‘Ambar’ with Raghu before everyone was on stage doing a punchy acoustic version of Mysore Se Aayi, Gudugudiya and Har Saans Mein.

We then headed to the artist tent for a signing, sold out all the CDs we had carried (and we carried quite a few) - it was heartening to see everyone stand in line to meet us! so we went out and broke the line ourselves, walking up and down the line talking to them as they waited to purchase our CDs. It was also the time when the “Incident” happened with Gaurav, so it was a Rock and Roll day in all.

I know I say this quite often with the gigs we are doing here, but yet again, Larmer Tree was a festival we wont forget in a hurry! and we certainly hope to be back next year :)

See all the photos we took at the Larmer Tree festival here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=195599&id=22220507136

Its been a long long time since we did this! and in fact, this is the first time we ever did it in London and it was only apt that we did it gently! 2 shows in one day, one at Bracknell and the other at Eastleigh, both a couple of hours away from each other on a nice sunny Sunday!

The twist in the tale was the previous night when we finished playing at the Wattsfest in Devon, and decided to head back to London and then drive all the way back to Bracknell, but that would just work against us, so we let better sense prevail and booked ourselves into a hotel close to Bracknell for the night and for some much needed rest for everyone!

A short drive to Bracknell in the morning and we found ourselves at the Fusion Asia Festival where things were still being set up and like a true India festival, it was all getting started, the stalls were just being opened, the stage set up and there were a couple of kids playing cricket! But a quick set up and sound check happened and we were ready to get the party started.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon crowd that were clearly not sure of what was to come, but then once we got them up on their feet and right up in front, it was a whole different game! The crowd was a true mix of people right from kids in their cradles to some senior citizens soaking up the festival in the park. Moreover, it was a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic melting pot which was just perfect for our music.

The show was done in an eventful fun filled hour and then we headed to the big red and yellow tent for a workshop with the audience where Raghu sang his first English song for the tour and then got them all to sing along on Lokada Kalaji. If you haven’t already, please go check the video of Raghu taking a Kannada master class here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHB4J2PtmrQ

We did not have much time to spend at Bracknell because we had to head to gig number 2 in Eastleigh for the Eastleigh Mela. The festival site for the Eastleigh Mela was mostly a HUGE tent in which there was a really nice sound system rig set up and a brilliant stage with some really nice lighting! After our drive from Bracknell, we just about managed to make it to the venue with an hour to spare and it was just enough time for us to look at everything there and take some of these photographs :p

We got on stage after a really nice Kenyan band and after sound check, we were most happy with the sound on stage and were ready to rock and roll! Since our set here was much later in the evening, we had a lot of people all eagerly waiting for us to get started and there were a bunch of Kannadigas in the audience as well which made the interaction that much more fun especially the little jokes that are mentioned in passing ;)

An energetic set followed and it felt like the point when we were on stage was the hottest the UK has ever been even through the recent heatwave that was on here! We came off stage huffing and puffing with all the sweat and met a whole bunch of people who we managed to convert to being fans of the band. It was perfect, talking with all these guys about life in the UK and the music that they like over some really nice Indian food that was set up at the stalls in the venue.

But like a true band on tour, it was time to move on, and go back for a short, well deserved break in London where we sit and work on our music before the rest of the shows in the UK - http://raghudixit.com/tour

In May, we played the Great Escape Festival in Brighton and little did we know that the organizers of Watts Fest, Devon were among the people paying close attention to us, and we got booked to headline the Outdoor stage at Watts fest right there!

Like many festivals in the country side of the UK, we drove for miles and miles and there was no sign that there was a festival happening but then we turned on small corner and there we saw it, hundreds of cars parked with trailers and camping tents and what not with a crazy bunch of fun people just walking around chilling out and having loads of fun!

Watch this video for a tour of the fest - 18 mins long, but very fun!

We had sometime to kill before we got out to play, so we went out and took a tour of the whole place, sampled the freshly cooked food and then just chilled out watching some really eclectic music including a 2 piece blues band that really rocked it and a beat boxing hip hop rap duo who were joined on stage by one of the lovely organizers as well. We met Bob Watts, the man who owns the entire farm on which the festival is held, and he just loved the whole concept of having a festival on his property as well as our show, which he told me later on after our set!

By the time we were on stage, everyone was ready and warmed up and it took little time to get them all going. From these videos you can see how they were quite kicked about the set and were having a crazy fun time! It was one of those sets where we really wished we were on stage longer, but for the time that it lasted, it was brilliant.

Like we do at all our shows, it was time to teach them some Kannada, and by the looks of it, that went well too! Well, I am fully loving the new flip cam that I got myself, was shooting from on stage when Raghu was getting started!

We absolutely loved the festival and we’re told, they loved us too :) so we’re certainly looking forward to playing there again next year round.

Catch some of the photos we took of Watts Fest here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=194018&id=22220507136

There wasn’t much time to rest as we had to head out immediately for a long long drive back to London before we set out to play 2 gigs on Sunday. That and more coming up in future updates … watch this space!

BTW - are you a friend of the band on Facebook yet? If not, http://facebook.com/theraghudixitproject - do it right now!

As a musician in London, one of the fun things to do is the “Black Cab Sessions” where you get into a traditional black cab and while it drives you around the streets of London, you sing songs in it! Making this even more special is an awesome film crew that films you doing just this and then puts it up on their website - The Black Cab Sessions

For those of you who have met us, you will know that with all our instruments, there is no possible way to fit all of us into a black cab and while I appreciate that the cabs have so much more room than our Autos back home, it was just a feat we did not want to attempt!

So Raghu and Karthick got into the cab while I stood outside and took photos of the whole thing, except for the driving around London part where, fit as I am, it was too much to ask ;)

But before you write me off for not capturing those ‘moments’, take a look at the picture below which is the expression on the face of the people recording the minute Raghu belted his first note!

The video should be out soon and when it is, we will personally let you know, in the meanwhile, check out other videos at http://blackcabsessions.com

Download Link - July 2010 Calendar

The July Calendar is here! From the lovely London where we are right now - pass this on to everyone you know in the UK and tell them to head to http://raghudixit.com/tour and get to the show closest to them (or the furthest!) and come watch us for sure!

Calendar designed by - Prasad Bhat (http://graphicurry.com)

Photograph by - Shiv Ahuja (http://shivahuja.com)

We’d never think we would ever say this, but its actually now part of our lingo when we say, “Back in London …” because we’ve been here that often in the recent past! In fact, yesterday, I caught myself giving directions to a tourist on how to reach a particular place in London and that was quite something!

All along, when we are in London, its always been a little too cold for our comfort, and many times, the day starts off okay but then just the drop in temperature is massive! but this time round, things have been more than pleasant! it reminds us so much of Bangalore’s weather. Its bright, sunny, there is a little chill in the air, and it isn’t raining as often. Londoners consider this heavenly weather and you can see how everyone wants to be out all the time :)

We landed here in London early this week and headed straight to Charlsbury, Oxfordshire for the Cornbury Festival, touted to be a fun festival for the family. And it was all that it promised to be and more. The whole place was so colourful and bright and there was so much happening all the time, right from the puppet shows to the crazy rides to the food stalls to the soap bubbles, everyone was having a belter of a time.

We played at the Riverside stage as evening broke into night and a first for us, we had the audience seated on bales of hay! a true festival in the fields this was, but that was not for long. As is customary when we get on stage, the audience was up on their feet ready to shake things up a little along with us.

It was a quick set up thanks to Gary and Ron who picked up from where we left off in May with their awesome work and in no time, we were all set to get on with our set. We chose to go with the traditional “Hey Bhagwan” as the opener and just as that prayer to the good Lord above ended, as if s/he had heard us, there was a nice little drizzle acknowledging the acceptance of that prayer and just as the drizzle started, it faded away. Thankfully, we had gotten most of the audience off the hay by now and more people were running towards our stage as we proceeded to run through the rest of the set.

We debuted our brand new T-shirts at the fest and also sold a bunch of CDs and met loads of people who loved the show! reviews are still coming in and we’d love to hear from you if you were there at the festival! Do give is a shout.

A nice long drive on the way back nicely broken down into pre-dinner and post dinner at a Indian food joint in Southall and much to Gary’s dismay, harmonius snores in the tour van throughout the evening rounded off what was a brilliant way to start a tour.

Thanks to the folks at the Cornbury fest and we will surely be back next time round :)

Catch more photos from the festival here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=453303&id=522175007

Download Link - June 2010 Calendar

The June Calendar is out! Please hang it on your desktops and every time you see it, think about us and tell one new friend about us! :)

Calendar designed by - Prasad Bhat (http://graphicurry.com)

Photograph by - Shiv Ahuja (http://shivahuja.com)

We do music because we believe in it, its what keeps us going, and sometimes, a situation arises that requires you to really really question your belief and then jump .. and fly!

As nice as things sound and as great as it is to follow your passions and other good stuff that comes with it, all of us know that for every one that makes it in the music business, there are a million in the wings, ready to jump in! But you can never stop believing that you will be that one and relentlessly pursue the dream till one day, your reality was one day your dream!

When we went on tour to the UK last time, it was a series of fortunate accidents that magically fell together. When we sit back and think about it, its right out of a fairy tale how things worked out. The tour though led to great things including a longer tour this year and most importantly, our relationship with the Jenral Group and Sound Advice. It was through them that we planned this tour and put together a plan to break into the UK market. The great thing for us was that it involved us doing a lot of what we do best - go out on stage and have a blast!

A fitting opener to the tour was our gig in Caceres, Spain, a place we din’t even know existed! and it was for the biggest world music festival, WOMAD where we were essentially headlining the 2nd stage! Nothing could excite us more and as if to test just that, our Schengen visas took till the last day to arrive and involved me going to Bombay and waiting at the embassy just hours before we were to take off, getting the visas, heading back to Bangalore and heading out to Europe, all in less than 24 hours! But then, anything less would not be as much fun!

Following Spain we headed back to London where we met our tour manager Gary and our Tech on Tour, Ron. Two people that made this whole trip completely stress free as far as getting up on stage and playing went. More about them later and you must definitely get to know them. You will be hearing a lot about them from here on methinks :)

The first leg of the tour was mainly to drive some press our way and get the band’s name heard in the music circles and so it involved a lot of showcases and meetings with people and impromptu jams and acoustic performances and the result of all that effort was quite phenomenal. We couldn’t have expected a better reception, and right at the bottom of this post are some testimonials for you to see what we mean!

The shows we played in the last couple of weeks have been special ones for us, right from the small showcases, to the ones where we ended up on stage without a PA, to the show for the Kannadiga community in the UK to everything in between. Each of them have stories I can tell you for hours on end! but I will not drag this on for much longer.

This was a quick update to let you know that we have taken our biggest leap of faith yet, and we are hoping to land on solid ground!

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Following are some excerpts of feedback we received for our shows in the UK so far

Feedback following the gig at City Showcase (09/05/10)

“I thought that the band were fantastic.” – Nanette Rigg (City Showcase)

“Raghu was amazing.” – Jon Graves

Feedback following the gig at the Nehru Centre (10/05/10)

“Really impressed by Raghu, such a powerful voice.” – Alex Lloyd (Mainstream Artists)
“Just wanted to say good work on tonight - thought you did really well and thought Raghu - as always - was excellent and the Q&A was great.” – Andy Edwards (Connected Artists)

On Twitter: “Raghu Dixit was pretty amazing, great singer blending Hindu folk with western instrumentation. Biggest selling non Bollywood star in India.” – Neil McCormick (Freelance journalist)

“Thanks again for a great show last night. Jakomi and I are listening to Raghu’s CD in the Music Void office right now.” – Chris McLellan (The Music Void)
“Cheers for the invite last night mate! Really enjoyed it.” – Jules Parker (PRS)
“What a huge voice Raghu has!

As you know we don’t have artist interviews per se in the magazine, but perhaps there’s an angle for a music export-type story, or given Gurrumul’s success, perhaps a Sound Advice catch up piece with Raghu as the latest overseas project you’re backing.” – Greg Parmley (IQ Magazine)

“I thought Raghu was incredible … absolutely incredible.

I can see this perfectly - even though I may not have understood what he was singing,  it worked for me melodically and dynamically. The cross-over opportunities must be endless and there will be a cue of UK based artists wanting to work with him, no doubt.

Jools Holland / Mark Cooper will love him.

Congratulations on discovering such a phenomenal talent.” – Myles Keller (PRS)

“Thank you for inviting me to see Raghu Dixit last night.
I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and would love to see him with his full band. – Carrie Davies (The Half Moon Putney)
“Thanks for the invitation to a wonderful evening, found the music very fresh and different. I would like to write a blog about event.” – Rita Payne (Commonwealth Journalists Association (UK))

“Very much enjoyed seeing Raghu and best of luck in your endeavours with him….talent and great songs even if I hadn’t a clue what he was singing about!”  - Julian Wall (BPI)

“Thank you for a great night at the Nehru Centre. Raghu Dixit is an exceptional talent and a very engaging person too.” – Paul Bay (Citizen Sound)

“Thanks for the event last night, the musicians were really good, what a voice that guy has!  And brilliant guitar too.” – Sarah Wraight

“He’s a great personality and will no doubt be very successful. The evening was very enjoyable.” – Nick Cooper

“Great voice and would love to see him with the band at Bush Hall on Friday.” – Jeremy Gawade (Lee and Thompson)

“Great gig last night. Raghu is rather good, loved the second song and what a great guitarist he had.” – Harry Cowell (Mission Group)

“It was great to see you on Monday thanks once again for the invitation. We were both blown away by Raghu, what a voice. If there is anything we can do to be of service it would be a pleasure.” - Ross Gautreau (ASCAP)

“I checked him out on line prior to accepting and he is really incredible.” – Marc Marot (SEG)
“He is very talented and different so have no doubt that enough exposure will get him picked up.” – Affe Adel Demon

“Really enjoyed the show last night.” – Sonia Diwan (Sound Advice Legal)

“We met at the band’s event at The Indian High Commission on Monday night. I was impressed.” – Dennis Muirhead (Muirhead Management)

“Great night last night by the way - Raghu is awesome.” – Nick Keynes (Goldust Productions)

“Great seeing you last night and of course finally experiencing Raghu live. I can see him going down really well at festivals, together with the band.” – Anke Links (Coda Agency)

Feedback following the gig at the Water Rats (11/05/10)

“Really enjoyed the show on Tuesday.” – Dennis Collopy (Menace Music Management)

“It was a great night at the Indian High Commission. Thanks. A friend of mine, Dennis Collopy, said he went down to the Water Rats last night and enjoyed the acts. See you at the Great Escape. I will send you some Troy bar dates tomorrow for Raghu.” – Alex Kerr-Wilson (Discovery Talent)

“Sick gig last night… I have incredible footage of the hype from the front row.” – Terry Mardi (Desi Circus)

Feedback following the gig at the Great Escape (13/05/10)

“Sadly our phone system is kaput! We can’t do phoners.

I did catch a bit of the gig last night though and LOVED IT!!!” – Jo Youle (Brighton Festival Radio 87.7fm)

“Billy and I went to see Raghu at the Great Escape last week and LOVED it! So pleased to be having him [perform at Wattsfest].” – Nuala Honan (Wattsfest)

“That is one of the best performances that we’ve ever seen at The Great Escape!” – Martn Elbourne (The Great Escape)

“I heard Martin [Martin Elbourne] was raving about Raghu. Hopefully that bodes well for Glastonbury next year.” – Rob Challice (Coda Agency)

“Great to see you last week in Brighton and to see Raghu too, the whole band were awesome, we all really enjoyed it.” – Mark Debenham (Sunshine HQ)

“Great to see you. I am a huge fan, you should be very proud.” – Myles Keller (PRS)

Press article:
http://www.themusicvoid.com/2010/05/event-report-the-great-escape-brighton-uk/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=event-report-the-great-escape-brighton-uk

Feedback following the gig at Bush Hall (14/05/10)

Press article:

http://www.justonestar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=59317&sid=5cda76dfca287d383d0f9e7ea9d456dc

Our gig at the Nehru Center was the most important one of the entire tour! This is where we had invited a whole bunch of people from the music industry and we were officially going to show London’s music biz that the Raghu Dixit Project had arrived! With our tour manager and tech, Gary and Ron, we have already worked out the entire flow of events for the day we have a gig. We land up at the venue, separately, since we don’t stay together. Quickly run through the set up, sound check, chill and then the show!

This day was not much different, we pulled up at the Nehru Center, loaded in and then to our horror found that there was no PA system! So it was time to pull out our best contingency plan! Gary set up the amps we had and everything that was available to him there, and managed to put together some decent sound. The band on the other hand, took a swift decision and we were going to go on stage with only Raghu, Vijay and Karthick and doing an acoustic set.

The reception was fun, the Indian food served was the first traces of good Indian food we had in a week, so I think all of us devoured it! We then headed up quick to get ready for the big showcase.

Its a very different feeling when you know that the entire audience is there to critically look at your performance, the room is filled with nervous energy and that got to Paul Knowles, our manager who officially gave the cutest intro ever! :p

Raghu came on next, started with a solo rendition of Sorutihudu Maneya Maligi, then moved on to Hey Bhagwan with Vijay on acoustic guitars, followed by acoustic versions of other songs with Karthick and Vijay alternating through the set and closing the short set with a nice energetic version of Mysore se Aayi.

Following the show was a short interview with Neil McCormick which was targeted at getting the audience to learn about Raghu and his story so far. That was a fun short interview that brought out some really interesting stories that I will get Raghu to blog about someday!

After the interview it was time for us to wait for feedback and here is some of it