This time we were loaded with weapons

February 28, 2009 - After a disastrous night at Love Rock, we entered Red Shift Cafe with our weapons: prayer, prayer, prayer and prayer. Young people started flocking in. Capstone Ministry's 'Think Space' - a youth discussion brought people together sharing their opinions on the Ram Sena's moral policing. It was headed by Paul Victor, aka Rock Priest, the founder of Capstone Ministry. 

In the mean time we were all getting set to punk the place. After a small word of prayer we took the spot, plugged in and bang...we hit the power riffs. We played Change our first single and was overwhelming to see people sing the chorus along with us. A complete cafe setup, the people with coffee and sandwiches in their hands, found them tapping their feet wanting to break out jumping and screaming. We still kept the energy levels high and played back to back peppy songs including Life is Good by Stellar Kart. David was on the lead guitars bringing out the punkness within. Lloyd's energy level shot up even his lightening rods didn't help him keep the sound low. In the midst of all this Anant was multi-tasking playing the bass and trying to get all sounds right in place. And that was the first half. 

Ivan, the co-ordinator of Red Shift Cafe shared a brief message. A volunteer of Red Shift shared her testimony and sang a song.

Anant plugged in the accoustic guitar and opened the second half of our show with Spirit by Switchfoot. It was unplanned but fell in place really well. Talk to Jesus was the new song in our bags for the evening. It was followed by Run to the One a different version. We tried something new. After all the slow songs another peppy song was needed to end the show. So, Anant started thumping the bass doing a small solo and moved in to Take a Turn...and we rocked till the end.

Busted!

February 21, 2009 - Our first gig of the year got busted by cops...no..no...neighbors. Christalaya, Koramangala hosted the 3rd LOVE ROCK featuring the bands Souls Kitchen, X Marks the spot and us. The church band headed by Santhosh and Anupa opened the evening with a few praise songs. Songs of love filled the place as the show continued. It was about 8 30 pm and it was our turn to rock. We plugged in and started punkin out with 'Here to Rock' our intro. Unfortunately we had to wind up our act with just two songs (Change and Everdays) that woke the living hell out of the neighbors. 

Change

Everybody wants to see the world change
Watching the chaos on the television
Off the couch, we're still the same
Everyday we plan to make a difference
Stirred up deep inside and hidden
Can I? Should I?

We blame, We Wait
We blame, We wait

Hey! Let's be the change
To see a change
Let's shine His light

Everyday we do a lot of preaching
'Feed the Poor', 'Stop the war'
Outside the walls, it remains a plan
So here we stand with another chance
To remember what Jesus said
'You're the light of the world'

Don't blame, Don't wait
Don't blame, Don't Wait

Hey! Let's be the change
To see a change
Let's shine His light

Change has hit myspace.com

We have completed recording our first studio demo track called 'Change'. 

To listen, please visit myspace.com/sonstroke16

We thank our friends for the prayers and for all the 

support in the band's journey till this moment. We're looking

forward to the new year to do more music and to play more shows

to spread the message of Love and purpose of life that Jesus preached.

Punked the Hall

December 5, 2008... We played at the North East Students festival at Kristu Kripa Church organized by Capstone Ministries, Bangalore. 

We kick started with 'Christmas Ain't about Santa' a punk christmas original ...then moved on to other sonstroke16 songs like Take a turn, Born again, Everdays and Change. Then got back to Christmas groove with 'Angels we heard on High'. We ended our set list with the most familiar christmas carol 'Joy to the World'...but spiced it up with blues riffs, leads and vocals...was a complete jaw dropping moment for the audience. hehe... the show was an awesome experience. Had fun to the core, jumping and sweating out...landing on funny chords and dropping picks(that was me, gladvin)... David, the lead guitarist of 'By His Bleeding Side' played with us and he's still playing with us...guess he likes the band and likes to be a punk guitarist. ;) ...

This evening was a satisfactory experience coz we had planned to go to the northeast to play in Hornbill fest in december. The months went by and didn't seem like anyone could save up money for it... hmmm... we really wanted to go there. When we were given this oppurtunity to play in the northeast fest, we were really glad and we just grabbed it. :) The moment we stepped in the campus we felt like we were somewhere in the northeast. The hall was decorated with shawls and woolen stuff. Total northeast stuff...and the food...Fermented pork and bamboo shoots..out of the world experience. :) the people were pleasant and very welcoming. This was a trailer to what we're gonna see and go in the future. 

-Gladvin Gaius 

Sonstroke16 gets a Son tan

SONTAN camp hosted by WAC (We Amplify Christ). Dates: 12, 13 and 14, September 2008. Venue: Scripture Union Camp site, Mahabalipuram, Chennai.

Shades on my face, Sleep on Lloyd’s and 104 degrees on Anant’s, we left Bangalore on 12th morning for the SONTAN camp. Yeah…Lloyd didn’t sleep well, Anant had high fever and I can’t stand the Chennai heat without shades. I urged my friends to pray for Anant and the band. The 6 hrs journey began at 8.35 AM and ended at 3 PM at Chennai Central. Anant’s fever had completely vanished by God’s grace. Amazing!

So…we were all set to enjoy the camp to the core and get a Son tan…and we did.
The WAC team headed by Colin was filled with fun… it’s in their blood. C’mon after 10 pm the games began…from shaving the balloon to filling the balloons with water and run around to splash it on someone… other activities like sand sculpture, chariot of fire, limbo and so on were organized to keep the excitement going through out the camp. I was happy to meet Praveen my senior from Madras University. He was part of the WAC crew.

But this camp was not all about fun. There was an equal balance of fun and the message. Pr. Shaun from Word of life took the sessions on Purpose of life and the ways to get a SON Tan. The WACKY band lead good worship sessions. The song SON SHINY DAY was the theme song which was modified version a an old hit ‘sun shiny day’. Steeve Vatz also lead worship in one of the sessions. He and Pr. Thomson from Good Samaritan Fellowship shared a brief and powerful word. The WAC team stuck to their vision of ‘reaching the youth’ coz the topics were all relevant to the young generation.

We had such an awesome time getting to know the people and participating with them in all the activities. In just 3 days we made a lot of new friends. They really kept us going as we played on Saturday night at the concert. We could feel their excitement and were overwhelmed with their response and feedbacks. A2J also played that night.

We also remembered the situation in Orissa, thanks to a believer who just returned from Orissa. He shared the stories and the photos. Everyone prayed for him and the people facing persecution. We performed IN HIS NAME for the first time which was written during the communal riots in Bangalore last year. We modified it a little bit in the memory of Orissa persecutions that took place in the last few days.

Getting a Sonstroke (born again experience) is not just enough. Getting a Son tan, i.e carrying God’s love and shinning Jesus on us all the time completes the faith and our purpose of life in this world. This camp really motivated us to continue to do what we are called to do. We are all charged up now.

- Gladvin Gaius