http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2011/01/indian_press_spotlights_midnig.php
Indian Press Spotlights Midnight Radio's 'Dalit Diva'
By Gabriel San Roman, Fri., Jan. 7 2011 @ 6:36AM
http://www.myspace.com/mymidnightradio
Raised in Westminster, Thenmozhi Soundararajan has grown to become a
multifaceted creative force. After completing high school in OC, she
traveled north to the Bay Area to become executive director of Third
World Majority. Soundararajan later returned to Southern California
and enrolled in film school at USC. Her latest creative outlet,
Midnight Radio, is a neo-noir rock band formed in the sound department
of that university. Soundararajan's onstage persona, "Dalit Diva," has
attracted international press, including a profile in India's The
Sunday Guardian earlier this week.
The article (written by Bhaskar Pant) focuses on the music of Midnight
Radio--Soundararajan, lead guitarist Cesar Arvizo, drummer Chevy Chen,
bassist David Huber and guitarist Hans--but not before delving into
how their lead singer is positively reclaiming an ancestral Indian
caste identity. Dalits have historically been discriminated against as
"untouchables," exploited for their labor and shunned by large
segments of society. In Soundararajan's view, however, her being a
second-generation Indian Dalit raised in OC conveys much more than
that, and it informs her musical pursuits.
As she explains in The Sunday Guardian's write-up:
"My first name, Thenmozhi, is a conventional Tamil name that means
'a voice like honey'. While Dalit has a negative connotation for many
people, I connect it with the history and tradition of resistance and
musicianship that is over 2,000 years old. My ancestors played drums
in funeral processions, and I have a rich musical and political legacy
to follow."
Returning to Orange County with her musical vision in tow,
Soundararajan enlisted Midnight Radio in a Battle of the Bands hosted
at Bernie's Bar in Fullerton in October 2009. Despite being a very
early performance of the group, they displayed a disciplined
multigenre approach, mixing rock, funk and ska sensibilities. The
Dalit Diva's stage persona, meanwhile, communicated a penchant for the
pure fun of playing music, including an interactive cover of TLC's
'90s anthem "Waterfalls."
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