Around 1993, a newsletter that almost looked like a magazine was doing the rounds in colleges and local bookstores. It suddenly opened up a world that felt accessible and as most things mentioned including pictures of local musicians, one felt a sense of belonging to a community that we could relate and reach out to. It was our magazine called Rock Street Journal. The founder and editor was Amit Saigal. Working out of Allahabad, RSJ's small team led by Amit and his then wife Shena Gamat, were defining the word “cool” that literally shaped the future of independent music in India.

Those who know, know the role of Amit Saigal and how he single handedly built, created, defined everything that we see or know about the independent music scene today. Saigal’s vision through an editorial while creating iconic live music festivals like Great Indian Rock and India Music Week provided great visibility for not only new talent to showcase their music across multiple genres but also connect and successfully become the tastemaker developing new audiences through new music. This brought in a great deal of attention not only nationwide but also from international communities of music business professionals that suddenly saw opportunities in the Indian independent music scenario. 

Unfortuantely, Amit passed away in January 2012 leaving behind a legacy that will live forever. Celebrating his 51^st birthday this year, the independent music community is getting together across cities. Bands like Parikrama, Mad Boy Mink, Zygnema, Undying Inc, Inner Sanctum and many more are coming together to remember the legend. Click here to know more about these events.