Amit Saigal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Amit Saigal

• Amit Saigal belonged to a business family settled in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), Uttar Pradesh.

• After a visit to London during his school days, he got interested in the Western music style. He encouraged like-minded friends to listen to this music style and formed an amateur band.

  

• After his school education, his father wished for him to join the family business and sent him to a printing technology fair in London. Instead of the business-related requirements, he reportedly brought back Western music-related literature.

• Amit Saigal was part of the band, Impact, playing classical rock music.

• In 1993, he and his then-wife Shena Gamat founded India’s first music magazine, Rock Street Journal (RSJ).

• Initially, most of the articles were written by Amit Saigal and gradually a team was formed.

• The magazine’s popularity steadily increased all over India and many bands were introduced and reviewed through it.

• Some music bands that benefitted by featuring on RSJ were Parikrama, Pentagram (of which music composer Vishal Dadlani is a part), and Orange Street.

• He organised various music festivals such as the Great Indian Rock (GIR) Festival, Rocktoberfest, Pub Rock Fest, Global Groove Convention, Jazz Utsav, and India Music Fest.

• After his divorce in 2006, he became a single parent to his only daughter, Aditi Saigal aka Dot, and after his death, she was under the guardianship of his parents.

  

• He was on a vacation in Goa with his friends, when he met with the fatal drowning accident while swimming in the sea. By the time the lifeguards found him, he had passed away. His friends reported to the private beach management officers that he suffered from asthma while swimming.

• Though he worked in the rock music genre, the father of the rock community, he liked listening to all styles of music.

• One year after his death, RSJ organised an event called Fully Funtastic as a tribute to its founder, Amit Saigal.