Dorothy and The Munchkins

Apollo’s Second Coming

Team Name: The Old Monks

Institute Name: MDI Gurgaon
Name Phone No Email Id
Narayanan N 9540002643 ravi.narasimhan@gmail.com
Gautam Jadhav 9711191223 gautam.jadhav1@gmail.com
Rahul Maddipatla 9540002606 mrahul86@gmail.com
 Dorothy and the Munchkins – Origin and Conceptualization
May 2008: Sachin, the lead guitarist and Sid Thomas, the drummer were back up acts for several years
at the Razz pub in Mumbai. They had played together with several of India’s best bands and as such were
technically at par with them and use to help them when their band members were unable to play concerts.
Dec 2008: They were both college buddies who left mainstream jobs to pursue their right to music
exploration and realized their purpose as to change the face of Indian rock and roll scene , to be an
influence to youngsters like their masters, Pink Floyd who were their single biggest source of inspiration
Dec 2008: Sid heard about the pub Razz closing down and they both decided that this is the ray of light
they were looking for, to break the monotony of their current roles and to go on the path of creating
Alternative Rock music to enthrall the audiences. They knew the path was long and winding.
Jan 2009: Sachin told Sid that he recently heard about the disbanding of another Alt Rock Band,
Brahmarandhra. Sachin recommended asking the bassist of the band, Gomie, also a good friend of them if
he would be interested. Gomie’s natural rhythm would be the perfect sync with their own music.
Feb 2009: Gomie agreed and brought with him a wealth of contacts. They jammed together trying to
create a new sound and penning down abstractly profound lyrics, The Floyd Way. They called for
auditions for a vocalist publicizing through pubs, RSJ online and Gigpad.com
Mar 2009: The yet unnamed band found to their surprise a couple of female vocalists were also present
at the auditions. Nina chose to sing “The Great Gig in the Sky” through which she mesmerized the band.
They briefly thought about the negative impact of a female vocalist on their range of music genres.
But the concern was put to rest by Nina’s adept handling of male dominated music genres. Her unique
renditions of Pearl Jam’s “Do the Evolution” and Audioslave’s “I am the Highway” connected with the rest
of the band’s idea of Alternative Rock music which they wished to explore. The Band was Formed.
 Essence of the Band, Name and Tagline
The members of the band had different influences in addition to Pink Floyd. The lead guitarist was
influenced by the mastery of dire straits, the bassist by RHCP and RATM, the vocalist by Pearl Jam and
Chris Cornell (the voice of the soul) and the drummer by Pantera, Tommy lee Jones and Slipknot.
They believed by bringing their varied tastes together the music created would be new and the sound,
different. This was reflected in their jamming sessions which left each craving for more. Sid and Sachin
brought their old lyrics and Nina modified them with the much needed feminine touch.
The band was still unnamed. They put forth several ideas, but none of them captured the true essence of
the group of people and the music they created. The essence lied in the fusion of Alternative Rock and
the mix of ancient and contemporary Indian energy.
Sachin remembered a concept. THE concept. When you start the movie “The Wizard of OZ” and Floyd’s
“Dark Side of the Moon” Album at the same time and let the album run 2.5 times, the movie perfectly lip
syncs the songs in the album. Nobody has ever comprehended the mystery behind this.
The characters in the movie were also similar to the band – one female lead and three other main
characters. The band agreed to name it after the movie. The Munchkins was the name of the music group
in the movie. In a moment of clarity it came to them – “Dorothy and the Munchkins”
The tagline for the band was decided as “Apollo’s second Calling” as in Greek mythology, Apollo was the
God of Music. So the tagline is meant to signify that Apollo resurrection to today’s world through the
music of Dorothy and the Munchkins
Nina was personified with Dorothy. The band hoped the female presence will attract more crowds into
the arena of Indian Rock Music. But they ensured through the music, the strength of the songs was not
regarded as feminine and that the music would be associated with the Alt Rock Category
 Essence of the Dorothian Music – Technical and Emotional
The music was kept to the established characteristics of Alt Rock with a high emphasis on
bass and the prominence of vocals with interspersing guitar riffs. The sound of the band
was also given some dark overlays, by the drummer’s style of playing.

The influence of Pink Floyd was intentionally meant to be seen in their music. It is that
which attracted the huge chunk of Floyd fans. The other influences of the band members
gave it an extra edge which made it relevant to the Alternative Rock genre.

To initially gain popularity, the band decided to play to the galleries and include covers in
their repertoire. Their most popular cover versions reflected the varying tastes and
capabilities of the individual band members.

Once the band began to get recognition in the live circuit, they included more of their
original compositions in their playlist. ‘Murder on the Yellow Brick Road’, ‘The Blue Shade of
Green’, ‘The Purple Light Saber’ began to gain frequent demands from live audiences.

Once the band had enough original material to release an album, they decided to approach
record labels that promoted Indian Rock such as DogmaTone, Demonstealer Records, etc. In
this way, ‘The Wicked Witches’ was released on DogmaTone, reaching sales of a few
thousands in a year, a decent figure for an Indian rock band.
 Band Target Listeners – Consumer Behavior

Listener’s Characteristics and Demographic Segmentation

Age Phase of Rock Behavior to the music Influences to listen % of ppl
Group Music leaving
Listening
16 Initiation Exploratory, Fun, Cool Sense of “cool”, peer 30 – 35%
pressure, learning an
instrument, Curiosity
17 – 18 Depth or Select a genre and explore Interest, rebelliousness, Depth – 0%
Expansion more or explore many genres other culture influences, Expansion –
relationships, peer 30 %
pressure
19 – 20 Continued Soulful interest, Way of life, Affiliation, Sense of Cont Depth
Depth or Affiliation to bands, fan clubs, Expertness about the – 0%, Exp –
Expansion or concert goers genre, Relationships, 60 %, Fav
Favorite Genre Concert or Pub Experience Genre – 5 %
21 – 25 Revision, For those who are loyalists to a Part of Life, feeling like Rev – App –
Appreciation, genre they experience a feeling one of the members of the 0 %,
Confusion of appreciation to the music band, Collection of songs, Confusion -
and revise all that they have relaxation. Work life 50 %
listened to. Others due to increases the number of
exploratory listening face a ppl stopping to listen.
little confusion.
Transforming Listening Influences into Communication Imperatives

Listening Influence Communication Ideas and Value Creation for Listeners

The music of the band is a darker than normal Alt Rock. This
Age 16, 18 - Coolness difference in the music and the band members being
youngsters give the band a sense of coolness
Rebelliousness in the Indian context comes from the support
Age 18, 19 - Rebel for anti establishment campaigns like Jaago Re and supporting
such causes or playing for them would affiliate the band.
Performing repeatedly at same venues gives a sense of Affiliation to the
Age 20 - Affiliation visitors. Also communication in the form of online communities and social
networking sites can help listeners to affiliate themselves to the band
The band can communicate to their listeners the date and
Age 20 – 23 – Concert, venues of their performances. They can play in imp pubs and
Pub Experience also open for famous bands to garner wider audience.

Age 20 – 24 – People in this age group frequent pubs and are concert goers.
Appreciation, Revision Target them at such locations.

Age 20 – 25 – Way of This audience segment consists of people who listen to rock music on a
regular basis. Hence, to reach this audience, radio shows and distribution
Life
of content in popular music stores and also on the internet can be done.
 Communication Ideas to Marketing Strategies
Live Performances: Initially, the band should perform to audiences at college festivals, competitions, etc. to
gain popularity in the live audiences. Then on, spots at gigs like Channel V LaunchPad, I-Rock, GIR, should be
obtained to gain more popularity.
Online Media: The band should have a functional and continuously updated website with their songs
available for download. However, they can also upload some of their cover versions to attract new listeners to
their style of playing. Band Profiles on websites like gigpad.com should contain links to the band’s website
Distribution of Material: The content should be made readily available free for download on their website so
as to gain recognition. Also, the band can constantly update their website with their cover versions. This will
attract web traffic as people will like to listen to their favorite songs covered by a different band in their style.
Associations: The band can associate themselves with youth-centric organizations like Students Working
Against Tobacco (SWAT), Fight-Back and other such agencies. Playing at shows organized for such causes will
spread the band’s popularity amongst the youth.

Merchandise: In Urban centre concerts, provide free merchandise, and also sell merchandise in select
cities through stores selling exclusive rock apparel and merchandise

Fan Interaction: The band can interact with their fans in an informal way at live shows, or organize cult
festivals on the lines of The Shillong Guitar Project. The idea is to let fans who play instruments play
with the band, thus increasing popularity and fan following.
Category Association: Be Selective when opening for other bands to select only Alternative Rock
Bands. This would ensure that the band is associated with the Alternative Rock Music Category and
would garner the support of the loyalists of that genre
 Marketing Strategies (Contd.)
Presence on Tele Space: Can lend their music to popular TV shows like Roadies in return for publicity on
the show like short live performances or design a task around the band.
Surrogate Marketing: A number of artists in the past have become popular by creating the title tracks
for popular sporting events (eg: Ricky Martin). The Band create a theme song for sporting events in
India like the IPL or the common wealth games
Unplugged Versions: Perform mild unplugged versions of original tracks in coffee bars, music stores,
book stores like landmark providing band merchandise and free copies of the album in the initial stages
Musical Mentoring: Mentor up and coming artists and learners of instruments, tutoring them on the
nuances of the trade. This would enable build a brand of loyalists and would also create a “School of
Music” named after the band which would provide ample publicity. Eg: Joe Satriani’s School of Guitar
Gimmicks: Most famous international rock bands have gimmicks. The band can design a gimmick which
portrays the true essence of the band. For instance, the band members can perform in costumes that are
similar to characters from ‘Wizard of Oz’ to increase memory retention of the band among the audience
Road Trip: To garner publicity, the band can set out on a road trip across the country, producing a video
involving fans, their performances and their life on the road trip. This will also help generating an
audience for their live performances across the country and the involvement of fans in the videos will
increase the affinity for the band among the fans.
Concept Rebound: The band can work on the concept they named the band after on by making a video
spoof of various popular Hindi movie scenes and characters which may appear to be lip synched with
the song, whose lyrics will be about the apathy of the Bollywood industry. Spoof videos have audience
appeal irrespective of music preferences, thus they can attract new potential followers for the band.