Blog: Inside The Institute (part 6)

Neelesh Vasistha returns to talk about his experiences on the Guitar Higher Diploma course at The Institute, and this time he's been recording at a legendary rock studio and jetting off to Mumbai.

For the last few years TG has sponsored a scholarship at The Institute (formerly ICMP and The Guitar Institute), one of the leading contemporary music schools in the country. In his sixth blog, our 2011/2012 scholarship student Neelesh tells us what he's been up to of late.

Hello all. At the start of the month I was privileged enough to record an EP at Rockfieldstudios near Monmouth, the most prestigious UK studio after (of course) Abbey Road. I would say it's a place that needs no introduction, but considering I hadn't heard about it previously it's prudent to mention that it's hosted plenty of 'A-list' artists through its illustrious history - most notably Queen, Oasis and Coldplay.

Throughout the years I like to think I've paid my dues in some of the worst looking and more importantly, sounding 'studios' in the capital. So it was a f**king awesome experience to record in the same room where Bohemian Rhapsody was created, a large live room with original vintage equipment and peppered with shimmering microphones more valuable than my life. Sonically, even listening to the raw mix in the control room sounded infinitely better than most 'mixed n' mastered' tracks I've ever made. I'll be sure to let you guys know as soon as I have the finished product.

By the time you'll read this article I'll be in Mumbai. It will be hot, I will inevitably get the runs and I will or come very close to being scammed for everything I own. But impending hardships aside, I'm looking forward to seeing firsthand the apparently burgeoning Indian rock scene.

With rock music recently seeping into Bollywood (thus by extension, mainstream culture) with cryptic film titles such as Rockstar and Rock On, it should be very interesting to see how my ethnic brethren have chosen to embrace the rock n' roll ideology thousands of miles away from both the UK or America.

Promising still is the rumour I've heard that in Mumbai exists skanky rock dives to rival the dredges of Camden or the Sunset Strip. Just my kinda' scene - watch this space!