The Superfuzz
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| The Superfuzz | |
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 The Superfuzz
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| Background information | |
| Origin | New Delhi, India |
| Genre(s) | Garage rock Punk blues Indie rock Alternative Rock |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Label(s) | Unsigned |
| Website | www.thesuperfuzz.com |
| Members | |
| Sanchal Malhar Nikhil Rufus Aditya Paharia |
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The Superfuzz are a rock & roll band from New Delhi, India, whose members are Sanchal Malhar, Nikhil Rufus, and Aditya Paharia. They initially found fame playing pubs & college fests in & around New Delhi, India.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Sanchal and Nikhil met at St. Columba's School, New Delhi, sometime around 2000. In high school, they would go on to form a 6-piece pop-rock cover band called Red Edge, with Nikhil playing guitar & Sanchal on vocals, which remained restricted to the jamroom. Later, Sanchal, who only sang until now, picked up the guitar, with Nikhil & Benjamin showing him the ropes. Early influences included Nirvana, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin.
[edit] The Copperstoned Era: 2003 - August 2004
Copperstoned was a working name thrown around for the band in its early days. The band, who were schoolboys then, landed up at NSIT's annual rock competition, and on being questioned by the event volunteer as to which band they played for, Sanchal mumbled "Copperstoned" & the name stuck for a while. Copperstoned played a few battle of the bands & were runners-up at Pepsi Storm 2003 and Samsung digi-witz 2003. The lineup during this time was: Sanchal Malhar (vocals), Nikhil Rufus (bass), Damian Sousa (guitars), Shannon Peter (drums). Other friends, like Amos Dennison & Benjamin Samte, also played guitar for the band at a few school festivals.
[edit] The Superfuzz Bigmuff Era: September 2004 - January 2006
After graduating from high school, Sanchal played a few gigs with Sumit (drums, Messiah) opening for local bands like Killer Tomatoes & Nakshatra. Later, on being contacted by organizers for gigs & without a proper band name as yet, Sanchal came up with Superfuzz Bigmuff, after the Mudhoney record. The band have said that they didn't give much thought to the name, believing that eventually it would "cease to matter", beyond the purpose of identification.
This incarnation of the band comprised Sanchal Malhar (guitars, vocals), Nikhil Rufus (bass), and Aman Gulati (drums). The band would go on to compete at the nationwide battle of the bands 'Campus Rock Idols' in 2004, where they were placed second. Soon, academic pursuits beckoned Aman to Ontario, Canada, and the band was without a drummer for a while. An acquaintance, Ankit Jena, would introduce them to their current drummer, Aditya Paharia. The band, with this lineup, would go on to win the 2005 edition of Campus Rock Idols.
[edit] The Superfuzz: January 2006 - present
Soon after their CRI victory, the band would shorten their name to The Superfuzz, as they thought it sounded more simple and catchy. Copyright infringement, with reference to the Mudhoney album, was also a passing thought.
Their first performance as The Superfuzz was at the Great Indian Rock festival 2006, which they went on to win, and brought them nationwide attention among the underground rock scene & built the foundations for a fan-base.
To this day, the band exists with this lineup and name.
[edit] Hiatus: October 2006 - May 2007
In October of 2006, Sanchal moved to London to pursue a course in Guitar & Vocal Production at the London Centre of Contemporary Music, and the band didn't play any gigs during this period.
[edit] Comeback: May 2007
After Sanchal's return, the band resumed touring, with their victory at the Channel [V] Launchpad 2007 adding another feather to their cap. During August & September of 2007, they played dates in all major Indian cities, as part of RSJ Pubrockfest 2007.
[edit] Music & Performances
While the band refrains from defining their music as anything less generic than rock & roll, listeners have detected traces of garage rock, indie rock, & punk, with grunge being a seminal influence during their early days.
The band cites the following artists as influential in their musical pursuits: The Beatles, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Strokes, The Stooges, The White Stripes, The Mars Volta.
[edit] Audience Reception
The Superfuzz are known to win over audiences wherever they've played, and enjoy a high degree of admiration & respect among audiences, and their musical peers alike.
[edit] Criticism
There have been allegations that some of The Superfuzz's early compositions sound too similar to Nirvana. One listener noted that the riff of School, one of the band's earliest songs, which they wrote as 16 year olds, is ripped off from a riff played by Kurt Cobain, which can be seen in backstage footage from Nirvana's Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! video. Another fan noted that the song-structure & drumming patterns of What I Really Think, were similar to Nirvana's Drain You.
It's a well-known fact that Nirvana were Sanchal's boyhood heroes & one of his earliest musical influences. In response to the allegations of plagiarism, Sanchal stated:
I hadn't heard of it till after I wrote 'School'. To be fair, its a pretty common chord progression (B, A , G, E). Though, having seen the clip, I can understand why you think you have a case for calling it a pinched riff, but I'd say that's a - for want of a better word - misleading way of looking at plagiarism in rock guitar riffs. There are dozens of riffs out there which sound similar. You can't know if they're pinched or not, unless the writer says it himself, like Cobain admitting he got the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' riff from a Boston song. But 'More Than A Feeling' and 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' are totally different songs. Because the vocal melody IS the song, not the riff. Because if it were not so, then all 12 bar blues would be ripoffs.
– (Sanchal)
[edit] Personal life
Sanchal dropped out of his English Literature (Hons.) course from Delhi University after a few semesters, to move to LCCM. Nikhil graduated this summer, from DU, with a degree in Political Science. Both of them were students of Delhi College of Arts & Commerce. Aditya graduated this summer, with a degree in Commerce from Sri Ram College of Commerce and is now working.
Onstage flamboyance aside, Sanchal is known to be camera-shy, introverted, & modest, commonly leaving Nikhil to handle interviews.
[edit] Future
The band now pursue music full-time & have completed recording a 4-track demo at Grey Studio (Anupam Roy's home studio), which can be heard on their Myspace page. They are playing regular gigs in India, and are scheduled to perform at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City, in early 2008. A tour of the UK is also being planned, as part of the deal they won on their GIR victory.
[edit] Equipment used
[edit] Sanchal Malhar
[edit] Guitars
Fender Standard Telecaster (in Arctic White) (The Superfuzz c. 2007)
Washburn HB30 (The Superfuzz c. 2006)
Givson GS1000 (in Copperstone & during the early days of Superfuzz Bigmuff)
[edit] Pedals
The following pedals have been spotted in his pedalboard at various times.
MXR Microamp
Electroharmonix Big Muff Pi
Electroharmonix Holy Grail Reverb
Electroharmonix Deluxe Memory Man
Electroharmonix Small Stone Phaser
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Boss DS-1 Distortion
Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer
Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
Dunlop Crybaby GCB95F Classic Wah
Fulltone Supa-Trem
[edit] Amplifiers
Marshall MG50DFX (only used at home/jams, The Superfuzz c. 2005-2007)
Orange AD30R (The Superfuzz, c. 2007)
[edit] Nikhil Rufus
Nikhil Rufus plays a Fender Standard Jazz Bass through a Tech 21 Sansamp Bass Driver DI.
[edit] Band Members
- Sanchal Malhar - vocals, guitar
- Nikhil Rufus - bass, backing vocals
- Aditya Paharia - drums
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
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