MUMBAI: Upcoming bands that are looking at getting more audiences hooked to their songs got a boost with MTV India’s partnership with Rayban on a nationwide contest called MTV Rayban Never Hide Sounds. Five best bands across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata got a chance to get mentorship from renowned musicians like Raghu Dixit, Benny Dayal, UdayBenegal, Harshdeep Kaur and Shilpa Rao.

Genres such as sufi, rock, folk and pop were included in the contest. The five bands - Parvaaz, Rang, Frisky, Pints, Life and Nasya got a chance to collaborate on their mentors’ best tracks. The end result was a gig in each city of the bands with their mentors on their original tracks as well.

Shilpa Rao performing live at the gig

Speaking about the initiative, MTV India EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said, “Every young musician needs a mentor to go to the next level and this initiative does just that. Bringing together talent from two different generations has been an incredible experience and I look forward to this becoming a calendar event on the Indian music scene. It's been an absolute pleasure working hand in hand with Ray Ban in building new talent and giving them a platform to take their music to the people.”

Ray-Ban emerging markets business manager Shirley Gong said, “Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds is an initiative to put forth upcoming talent.  This year we were set out to search the most unique and talented voices across various genres of Music. I am delighted to see that this approach has brought a brand new dimension to the latest edition and we have successfully completed this musical journey.”

The Mumbai leg of the tour was on 30 November at Hard Rock Café in Andheri.