ood news, people of India! The system works! If my last column made you nervous about the state of alternative music in India, then this should bring you much cheer: a homegrown band managed to fill a popular music venue in Mumbai on a Tuesday night. Granted, that statement may not sound impressive, but let me explain.

Dischordian is an acoustic, semi-orchestral indie rock act from Mumbai. Their music is reminiscent of Nick Drake and orchestral folk rockers like Beirut, with a pronounced Goan tinge. The band has been playing gigs in the city since 2008, and over that time honing a live set that showcases their music in a way they're comfortable with. Regular gigging at a variety of venues has helped this cause. The band has no big-name members. Frontman Garreth D'Mello is also the lead singer of alternative rock act Split, which is at best a mid-level band that has been inching up the Indian rock popularity ladder for the better part of the last decade. The Tuesday night gig at the Frog served as the album launch for the band's debut record The Feni Farm Riot (worthy of a check out, if only for the incredible album art). The gig had no mainstream publicity. Heck, even the Blue Frog's promotion of it was restricted to an emailer. Yet, the venue was packed on the night by punters who'd turned up to celebrate the band's album release – a sentiment borne out of enjoying the band's music, rather than some misplaced sense of "supporting" the scene or the artist.

Tuesdays are particularly hard days for bands. Expecting fans to turn up for gigs in the middle of the work week, with gigs ending at close to, and sometimes even past midnight, is a tough ask. I've been to the Frog on many a Tuesday only to attend gigs where the sparse audience is riveted to the antipasti platter rather than the action on stage. In fact, a UK band called The Juice once performed at the venue on a Tuesday night to an audience comprised of the band's three family members, Indiecision contributing editor Amit Gurbaxani, the Blue Frog's catering staff and myself. So to see the club packed with legitimate fans this week was, to put it lightly, reassuring.

ow I'm not saying that Dischordian can go on to headline major festivals and begin a world-conquering streak of platinum-selling albums and cocaine-snorting groupies (or as Charlie Sheen likes to call it, winning). But they've slowly and surely fashioned their own effective DIY ethic; one that, given their unique brand of music and their workman-like drive to keep playing as many gigs as possible, will undoubtedly pay dividends in the coming years. The only material the band had released prior to the gig was a couple of demos on local compilation albums. Yet, the contingent of fans at the venue knew the words to almost all of the 18 songs (including a popular parody of 'La Bamba' called 'Mera Sabse Lamba') performed on the night, singing back with feni-powered (the band handed out free shots of the popular Goan hooch) vigour and vociferously demanding an extended encore.

I will concede that Dischordian's success is hard to replicate. The band has inconspicuously established a consistently growing fan base without ostentatious band members, hardcore marketing or even a more orthodox brand of music. But given the unique way the Indian independent music scene is developing, D'Mello and Co have managed to carve out their own distinctive space in it, one I expect only to grow bigger and bigger if the band pursues this method further. Young bands around the country can take heart in the fact that our scene does reward patience and effort; a reward that will only become more lucrative in the coming few years.

I left the Blue Frog on Tuesday night beaming.