Rock Street Journal or RSJ is a monthly magazine covering the rock scene in India and South Asia. It was started in January 1993 in Allahabad by Amit Saigal and Shena Gamat Saigal after they realized the lack of support system for Indian rock musicians. The magazine has grown in popularity ever since and is now published from Delhi. It organizes the yearly Great Indian Rock Festival (GIR) to promote original music of new and upcoming rock bands in India.
Rock Street Journal is India’s first independent music magazine. Published since 1993, it has heralded the independent music movement in India and thus, enjoys the rabid following of a loyal audience. It is the preferred cultural disseminator for opinion and trends in independent music and has been a part of every counter-culture music lover’s tryst with such a scene.
Breaking Boundaries is a compilation CD that is distributed free with the magazine and features exciting talent from India and across the world. From metal and rock to drum ‘n bass and guitar-only compilations, the Breaking Boundaries CD dabbles in different kinds of sounds, making it a collector’s item.
The Breaking Boundaries CDs have hosted the likes of Torch besides artists such as Freak Kitchen, American Dollar, Infected Mushroom, Noisia and Jeff Lang.
Amit Saigal and Sam Eric Lal used to perform in a band called Impact in the 1980s. They realized that there was no support system in place for new and upcoming rock musicians and bands in India. They only had college fests as platforms. According to Sam, "The community was large and strong but very fragmented at the same time. When we thought about this, we decided to come up with RSJ which would provide news about rock music anywhere in the country." And thus RSJ was born to bring a sense of community among these struggling musicians, the first issue published from Allahabad in January 1993. It was initially planned as subscription-only magazine. Amit promoted the magazine in college festivals but only sold a handful of subscriptions at that time. The magazine has grown substantially since then, and has a circulation of 1, 42,000 copies per issue.
