Interviews
Interviews (53)
IMR: Hello "SCEPTRE”! I finally managed to find you guys and I am really happy to be doing this interview with you because I found "NOW OR NEVER" to be very impressive. Let me start by congratulating you for the recent launch of your full-length album. So, tell us what does the name of the album "NOW OR NEVER" signifies and what types of comparisons are you guys hearing?
Teemeer: Thanx a lot for enjoying our music.. It sure was high time for us to come out with a full length album.. it was NOW OR NEVER… lol!!
Although on a serious note the title also suggests doing things sooner then later and standing up for your rights and fighting for what you feel is right and not getting suppressed or bogged down by authority or any power trying to curb down.. An ode to RDB (Rang de basanti) and also the anti-reservation stand by students all over the country against the educational system!!
Aniket : The album stands for not taking shit from people and act fast.
IMR: You guys must be quite happy to have finally released your first full-length album "NOW OR NEVER". Why did we have to wait for so many years in order to hear your band's latest musical proposal, even after spending time drastically in the studios?
Teemeer: In the last nine years the band has seen and undergone lots of line-up changes, personal problems, changes in music scene, shortage and lack of venues. We always had a problem with the second guitar player. Ajay, the first one left after 2 years when we just got set as a band. Vispy(ex-PDV) then filled in for almost another 1 and half year but we had to discontinue with him due to musical problems. Amar Negi stayed with us for almost 3 years and then we were on a cover playing spree and ended up covering almost all the top speed-thrash metal songs any metal band could dream of.
We released an EP a year after winning I-rock which was a huge accomplishment for the band. We parted ways amicably with Amar mostly due to musical differences. Then Gilroy (ex-Naked Earth and ex-Earthclan) came in and we got our rhythm back and that's when we got serious about writing stuff and started reworking on the old songs as well as some new ones.
We did wait for quite too long just to ensure that were in the right hands, with the right kind of producers and engineers who would do complete justice to what we wanted to achieve. Our expectations for a great sounding album were too high and we are quite content with the results that you shall hear in 'Now or Never'. Of course the fact that we worked with the topmost and busiest sound engineers Fali Damania ensured that the studio work though slow was steady and tight. The band did spend some time pondering over the Cd inlay work and lot of covers were scrapped and our cover artist Pratik Kamat (whose designed album cover arts for most metal albums in Mumbai) was hell busy with his new job so things did get quite difficult in the middle. A few months before Janus our bassy from day 1 quit the band and left for the US to handle his family business and for better prospects.. The album may have just been …..NEVER!! lol!!
IMR: When did you begin working on "NOW OR NEVER"? Did you have anything specific in mind prior before starting the process of composing your songs?
Teemeer: Considering the limited time we had at our disposal in the studios almost all the songs were properly well planned before we started recording. Though instrumental songs like Oceans of dreams and Circles of Silence were last minute inclusions.
IMR: Could you honestly claim that the songs on "NOW OR NEVER" represent that type of "SCEPTRE" for you personally that you have always wanted to do most as far as the songs musical ingredients are concerned? How does the process of writing new songs, or even a complete album, work for you? What can the fans expect from the songs in the new album?
Aniket : The album definitely represents the band’s aggression to the core. As one can see, it’s a perfect blend of different sounds.
Teemeer: Now or never is like a complete musical journey for a band that has seen the ups and downs and the highs and lows of the rock scene.. there are mixed emotions lyrically.. there is angst, sadness.. happiness.. a sense of celebration….pity.. sympathy… almost everything human and musically we’ve touched almost all sub-genres of heavy metal right from total acoustic to slow ballad to heavy thrash to speed!!!
I guess there is something for all kinds of listeners and rock fans in the album although the essence of a metal band at work is quite evident… there are lotsa riffs going around.. infact majority of the songs are riff based. That’s the kind of song writing we’ve always believed in.
IMR: Ok, let’s continue a bit seriously now. The album is officially released recently, what kind of expectations do you have about your album concerning how it will be received amongst "SCEPTRE" fans and are you satisfied wit the current results so far?
Teemeer: Considering the low-key launch and publicity for the album I guess its doing great and there is a great amount of word of mouth publicity happening for the album which is quite healthy. Everyone is talking highly of the production quality which we really worked hard upon.
In the coming days with the help of our fans and street team members and of course our producers and managers we hopefully get to play a lotta gigs around the country and help promote the album.
Guys do watch out for us at the next gig!!
Frank: I am also receiving calls from people from all over India namely from Hyderabad, Calcutta, Bangalore, Delhi to name a few wherein people want our album and they are eager to be part of the street team. That feels awesome.
IMR: Did you have to do any compromises for "NOW OR NEVER" as far as your music is concerned? What do you think about the album now from the objective point of view?
Teemeer: There were no compromises as far as the music is concerned.. There were no guidelines given to us from our producers as to what they expected from us. We sure had a free hand in the studio.
The whole band is pretty much satisfied from the outcome and I guess we all are very proud to be associated with NOW OR NEVER!!!
IMR::Now if we return back to "NOW OR NEVER", have you already possibly noticed that there are some song on this album which pleases you more compared to other songs, can you find any reasons why it is so?
Teemeer: I GUESS that is quite subjective… depending on person to person and different moods.. I meet different people who have different opinions about different songs.. Most people are quite fond of the CHARRED riff.. …. Some guys are drooling over the title track and surprisingly the ballad SEARCH and the acoustic song CIRCLES OF SILENCE is loved by one and all ( the people I’ve spoken to) considering we are an out and out thrash metal band.
Frank : Obviously Charred was the most favorite song of mine but since I Joined the band and since I heard the first riff of Revolution, it has become my favorite song. I crave to perform this song during live shows. Takes you down memory lane of old school thrash metal.
Aniket: For every band, once their album is out, every song holds a special place or memory in their heart. We’re no different! For me songs like ‘ Nuclear’, ‘Charred’, ‘Enemy’ will remain my all-time favs. And each of them has a special reason why.
IMR: It’s all about marketing process today; the more promotion a certain release gets, the more it gets focused among the listeners. How is your relationship with "Counter Culture Records”, are you still happy to be working with them? So, do you see this collaboration between "SCEPTRE" and "Counter Culture Records" continuing in the recent future?
Teemeer: As I said earlier we were given a free hand to record which any artist would love.. and I’m sure they have a lotta things planned up for the future to promote album sales.. since its off season and since regular rock joints like RAZZ ‘s been shut we sure had a problem to do a decent launch gig.
IMR: Do you feel that any of the songs that are featured in "NOW OR NEVER" have what it takes to be treated as "SCEPTRE" classics one day?
Teemeer: Of course.. We’ve worked our balls out for this production and most of the songs are catching up with the youth today.. but of course I leave it to the audience and our listeners to decide.. or we shall see @ the next SCEPTRE gig!!!
IMR: I want to thank you "SCEPTRE" for talking IMR, so thanks a lot again for this great chat. It was my pleasure to talk to you guys really!
Teemeer: The pleasure was ours… you guys doing a great job.. keep it up!!!
Do check our website for more details : http://www.sceptrezone.com/
PravinPrajapati(LordMessiah)
IMR: Hails “ARTILLERIE”! I must admit that after listening to your E.P "NEW OFFENSIVE" for the very first time, I was really perplexed to believe that you are a "Delhi" based metal band because it took me only few minutes to realize the spirit of the album and I was completely fascinated with the quality of the sound. How does this sound to you guys?
Artillerie: Well thanks a lot IMR for liking and appreciating our stuff. You see the metal scene in Delhi has been constantly progressing over the years. There are some promising metal acts that have come from here, like “UNDYING INC.”, “3rd SOVEREIGN”, “NARSIL”, “ACRID SEMBLANCE”, etc. The rising scene here eventually led to a handful of guys seriously taking on the art of recording and producing metal music. We worked with Anupam Roy on our recordings and production. This greatly worked to our benefit, considering what even you earlier commented about being “completely fascinated with the quality of the sound”!
We are really excited about the growing metal scene not just in New Delhi, but all over India. This may sound like a crazy dream, but we feel that the trajectory on which the Indian metal scene is right now will soon catapult it to global recognition. We would just really love to be around when that happens!
IMR: Describe the E.P "NEW OFFENSIVE" in brief? Any of your personal favorites from the debut release that one should look out for?
Artillerie: This EP holds an incomparable relevance to all of us in the band. Firstly, considering this is our first EP ever! And secondly this EP is something like our initiation into a newer and greater level of creativity in terms of making music and purposeful songwriting. Personally we like all the songs on the EP, but I guess we have somewhat of a special connection with Song of the Trodden and New Offensive. Both these songs demanded quite a bit of our time both in terms of music and conceptualization. If you hear these two songs in succession, you will actually see that New Offensive is like a sequel to the Song of the Trodden.
Song of the Trodden deals with the subject of an individual losing his identity to the one that the world created for him by telling him what he should be like, and what he should do to ‘make’ it in life. In the end, he just finds himself broken, lost and completely confused about his identity and the purpose of his very existence. New Offensive, on the other hand, calls for individuals, like the one in the Song of the Trodden, to rise up and take a stand for themselves and reclaim their identity and find the purpose for which they were originally created.
IMR: Nearly, every composition in the E.P is quite catchy with heavy guitar riffs accompanied with painful vocals, but presented in a boisterous manner. Is there any message behind the title of the E.P or any vision that you had for this debut release, and how much of that did you manage to achieve?
Artillerie: Well thank you very much once again! Yeah that is true that the vocals of Luke are so “painful” that even our neighbors get pretty emotional and join the chorus when we jam! LOL. Jokes apart, we did envision a message behind our EP. The title New Offensive is really about a call to our generation today to rise up and take a stand for themselves, and find their individuality, their potential and realize the uniqueness in which they were created, as opposed to the fake, manipulative doctrines and ideologies the world offers. It is like a new kind of rebellion, a new offensive which rests on the whole idea of logic and reason.
We wanted this EP to be a form of a new beginning for all of us in terms of music and song writing, and while we are definitely satisfied with the way the EP has turned out, we don’t consider this to be the end of the line. We are sure that we are still going to evolve further as musicians, and we are more than bloody excited about the way ahead!
IMR: How much time did you guys spent in the studio, and which are your best memories while recording the E.P? Could you list down some of the bands that have influenced and inspired you to create your personal sound?
Artillerie: We spent roughly 14 sittings of 3 hours each over a span of 3 months. This was mainly because all of us are working with "respectable jobs" and so we had to make that extra effort to come to studio after a long day of work. Besides, it was also another issue to get dates in the studio (That is of course, as you are already aware, because of the lack of “competitive studios” in our country which can produce metal albums!) We however cherish every moment and fondly remember them for some good laughs now and then.
As a band, our style is influenced by bands which we like both collectively and individually. This allows us to work in tandem but at the same time bring something new to the jam room based on our personal influences and inspirations. The bands that we however consider as some of our major influences collectively are Megadeth, Testament, Pantera, Lamb of God, etc.
IMR: While writing down the original anthems, do you compose them considering the fact that how will they eventually sound on a live sage? Let us know, which are the elements that our readers can find in bands debut released E.P "NEW OFFENSIVE"?
Artillerie: Well yeah, in a way, we do write our songs with the live performances in mind. I mean we make songs that we enjoy. If we get all kicked up about a song in the jam room, and go all out crazy playing it, then that's it, that's our song. As for the elements that our songs contain, we really sincerely appeal to the readers of IMR to listen to them and let us know what they find!
IMR::What was the most challenging thing for"ARTILLERIE" during the making of the E.P "NEW OFFENSIVE"?
Artillerie: Hmmm... in retrospect we feel that we have gone through the same complications that most struggling bands go through: juggling the music as well as regular full time jobs, family obligations, and an attempt at a social life; saving up the money needed to log time in a studio; and finally even getting into the studio at times. But in the end of course it's all worth it when you hear the finished product come to life.
IMR: the recording of the release is quite appreciative both on speakers as well as on the headphones, which we hardly find with any of the Indian bands. Which is the record label that you have tied up with and are you planning to continue with the same in the near future? Any compromises as far as your music is concerned with the label?
Artillerie: Well we are indie at the moment, so no questions about a record label prodding our creative controls! However we are not unnecessarily skeptical about anything, and would love to consider working with a record label which would respect our music and be genuinely inclined towards the promotion of independent music.
IMR: Thanks for the interview; we will keep our ears open to have a splitting blast with your killer music in the near future. Now the space is all yours, any message to the bands fan base?
Artillerie: No problem! And we're as grateful to you for interviewing us and showing us your support, it means a lot to us. To all those who have heard our music and liked it, we're really thankful for your support. We'd really like to hear from you. You can drop in a line on our recently set up myspace page (www.myspace.com/artillerie) if you wish to give us your feedback or simply get to know us better. We're working on putting up a website soon, but it's not up just yet. Oh, and also, please buy our CD whenever it comes out or we'll all probably starve to death, LOL!
* Good luck!!!
Pravin Prajapati(LordMessiah)
IMR: Hello "BLOOD'N' IRON"! It's nice to be able to talk to you guys. I have heard much about your self-titled debut album ,but didn't had the pleasure to listen to it. So, tell us something about the album what it's all about?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) : The album is a concept album - meaning, there's a theme or storyline behind every song. As far as the music is concerned it's primarily heavy metal with orchestral and progressive elements thrown in. As for the storyline - it's about a Soviet soldier exposed to the brutality of WW2 against Nazu Germany with a few twists thrown in.
IMR: Describe the inception of the band and how did you guys manage to find like-minded bandmates, as each one of you has varied influences?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :The band was formed, in theory, in Feb 2005 by a drummer called Krishna and me (Ashish), but we actually got down to work only by the end of that year cause finding the right people is the hardest thing for any band. We've always had a problem with drummers lol. Our present drummer (Manu) is the 4th we've had but definitely the best. The music community in Chennai is pretty small but Blood & Iron had the good fortune of getting some of the finest talent to complement every facet of our music.
IMR: Any secret formula's that you guys use in order to create OC's? Could you let us know the concept behind the debut album and the main idea behind the creation of the debut album?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :We've always been about live shows and OC's... We'd do about one or two covers maximum if you gave us a show to play for an hour - but our hearts are into creating and playing our own music. No specific formulas or anything when it comes to compositions, if Vivin (the keyboardist) or I have some intreresting pieces we just jam with the band and see where it goes.
As for the concept of our debut album - as I mentioned it's about a Soviet soldier thrown into battle. We had a few songs which our singer thought could be extended into a proper story so we got down to that. As it happened we're the first metal band from Chennai to release a full length album.
IMR: As far as music is concerned, it is understandable that most people would focus on the music being played onstage. But, when I went through your lyrics they are pretty capturing, inspiring and very fascinating. Which is your major Indian/Foreign influences concerning both music and lyrics?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :Yeah, Music is obviously very important - but you can't pass of crappy lyrics just because the finer nuances might be lost upon the audience in a show. Truely great lyricists make a mark which is unique and timeless - and we're just hoping to humbly follow these truely great musicians and song writers.
Each member of the band has his own favourites and influences, Iron Maiden (ofcourse \m/), Queensryche, Dream Theater, Manowar, Kreator, Death, etc. As you can see that list spans quite a few sub-genres, but i think these varied influences just helps us break free of the traditional moulds of any one particular sub-genre.
IMR : Does the credit for the debut album "BLOOD 'N' IRON" goes to the whole band or any person behind this success story and how happy are you with the overall response for the album? How much time have you spent in the studio in order produce the album to life and how would you describe the overall experience? Even let us know about your CD sales in the rest of the zones compared to the southern zone?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :It's always a band effort - each and every one of the members put in their fair share of hard work and contributed to the final result. Overall response has been very encouraging, cause, as a metal band from India and more specifically the South, we were breaking new ground. We recorded the album in entirety in a home studio and did every bit of mixing and mastering ourselves without any professional help. It was very very enlightening to us because recording in a studio and playing live are two totally different ball games. As is always the case, if we were to do the recording of the first album today with the same equipment we could've done a better job production-wise. But at that time it was the best we could do and that is all that one can expect of any given situation. CD sales obviously were strong in Chennai - but for the sake of exposure in other zones we gave out quite a few free cds whenever we played there (Calcutta, Cochin, Hyderabad, etc)
IMR: What do you feel, your debut full length album will act as a stepping stone for the "musical career" of the band? What about the artwork on the self titled debut album? Did you have an idea about how you wanted it to look?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :The first album definitely helped the band a great deal. We got very wide press coverage and recognition. The artwork was done by Mr. Gaurav Basu (The vox of Inner Sanctum) and me. Each one in the band had his own idea of how the album should be presented - but since i ended up doing most of the artwork that was pretty irrelevant lol.
IMR: No doubt, music videos are expensive to make, but many bands tend to use them as another method of promoting their music to a wider audience. Have you guys considered making a video for your debut album and if yes, which is the chosen song for that purpose?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :We did try making a music video once and had to go through 3 days without sleep since we shot at night in the studio and had to work/go to college during the day.. at the end of it all the director just disappeared :S Haven't heard a word from him since. Either way we picked a song called "My Last Prayer" cos it was the only one mixed at that time. Right now, however, if given the choice of making a music video we'd pick a song called "Dynamite World" - a new composition of ours.
IMR: I have never had the pleasure of attending a "BLOOD & IRON" gig before, so I will leave it up to you to describe what one should expect to get from your live performance?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :It's metal in it's purest form - and we love playing live. It's pure fun and it's an escape. Expect over the top stage antics and music which does more than just inspire headbanging... We want to make people think - and any song which succeeds in doing that is a worthy piece of music
IMR: Do you feel pleased by the fact that "BLOOD 'N' IRON" is a respected band amongst the metal circles? Which are those goals that you would like to achieve as a band in the recent years?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :B&I has come a long way, and it's an humbling experience everytime we see musicians playing heart-felt music on stage knowing that they're making the same if not bigger sacrifices than us while sharing our dreams and goals. We've never let egos enter the equation in any of our dealings with fans or other bands and I think people appreciate that. Our goal, from early on, has remained unchanged - to play our music in the international scene. That would require us to get signed up by a label first and that what we're aiming for. We're gonna be recording an EP with 5 of our new songs - and hopefully this will be ready before the end of August. We hope that this effort will be sufficient to get us signed by a reputed label. The new songs are superior by far and we're recording in a professional studio in B'lore.
IMR: Do you find it difficult as a Heavy Metal outfit in expressing your music to the core? Which, in your opinion, are those inherent characteristics in your compositions that one should expect to find only in a "BLOOD 'N' IRON" album?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :Not at all, in fact I wouldn't be able to express some of our ideas in any other genre of music. Metal is extremely versatile and anyone disputing that is badly off the mark. We discuss quite a few social issues in our songs, but like European bands and unlike most American bands we have no aversion to writing songs dealing with fantasy.
IMR:"BLOOD 'N' IRON", is pretty famous band in the local circuit, do you get recognized in the street very often? Any funny/weird moments that you would love to share?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :Yeah, running into someone who's seen us play before or has seen us in the papers occurs at times - but as the question implies - it's still in the local circuit and probably in some parts of India. We're yet to make inroads into Mumbai and Delhi (just for the lack of opportunity) and that just proves how much further we need to go. There're several weird moments - we run into junkies sometimes and occassionally into some guys who're best described as totally unwelcome male groupies .
IMR: Is the band thinking about experimenting in new directions or you will wait how things come your way?
Blood 'N' Iron(Ashish) :Experimenting - yes... but it's still gonna be distinctly and unmistakeably \M/etal - no two ways about it. As mentioned, our EP is gonna be coming out soon and I can promise you it's gonna take quite a few metalheads by storm.
* Thank you and I do hope you enjoyed this interview very much!!! Good luck for the future from Team IMR.
Pravin Prajapati(LordMessiah)
IMR: Hi "ACRID SEMBLANCE”! Before we start the interview, can we have a brief introduction about your band history for our readers?
AS (Anubhav): Hello everyone!
It’s been a good 5 or so years that we have been together. The longest stable lineup has been as:
Drums: Ashim, Bass: Chiranjeev, Guitars: Vikas and Kshitish, Vocals/Keyboards: Anubhav
After Kshitish and Ashim moved to Ahmedabad for higher studies, the current lineup is now:
Drums: Tushar, Bass: Chiranjeev, Guitars: Vikas and Vaibhav, Vocals/Keyboards: Anubhav
A few of guest musicians have also played with us. Vicky (III Sovereign/ Narsil), Akhsat (Descant and AVR), Yasmin (Myndsnare) and Akshay.
IMR: How did things come your way and you people emerged as "ACRID SEMBLANCE”? What does “ACRID SEMBLANCE" means, describe it in your own words?
AS (Anubhav): Things have been good. Challenging and fun.
Acrid Semblance is a harsh form, a form that we see when we aren’t balanced.
IMR: Who writes /composes the lyrics /music respectively? What do you try to speak through
your lyrical themes?
AS (Anubhav): Everyone in the band contributes in this section. However, Vikas seems to compose music faster than most of us and I seem to write lyrics more than others.
Our lyrical themes are mostly personal.
IMR: What made you choose Melodic Death Metal as your genre? How important is keyboard to add melody in your genre?
AS (Anubhav): We didn’t really choose anything. It just happened. I think it must be our influences.
Keyboard is an important element to us in terms of finishing the song.
IMR: What is unique about your music, describe it in brief? Apart from "ACRID SEMBLANCE"
musical genre which are the bands that have influenced you a lot and which other genres in
metal do you respect?
AS (Anubhav): I don’t know. Uniqueness is something we have never set out to achieve. We
are looking to progress as much as we can with every song.
Bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Megadeth have been influences. Children of Bodom,
In Flames, SoilWork and Death are also very exciting to us.
IMR: Tell us something about the schedule how frequently do you people manage to jam
together? What according to you is important for a band when they step up on the stage?
AS (Anubhav): Well, most of us are working professionals. And time is a critical constraint. However, we do manage to get together once in a week for practice and record.
One of the most important things to us when we go on stage is confidence in my band mates.
Everything else is different every time we play.
IMR : What would you like to say about the talent hunt shows like "Campus Rock" ,"Channel
V Launch pad" etc , do you really think they search for talented bands or just an another
money making shows ?
AS (Anubhav): I think it is about perspective. You are either a band or an organizer or both. As a band, I only look at it as a platform to play. I would not like to concern myself with money aspect. It is about realizing your professional place. My place is to play and not worry about money they make of it.
IMR : ACRID SEMBLANCE" is always know for their aggressive and tight performance in the
gig, let us know what steps do you guys take to make it so easy ?Any remarkable gig in which you guys shared the stage with any of the mainstream Indian band until now?
AS (Anubhav): Well, I guess the music must be really easy to play! Heh!
The GIR experiences have been good in terms of sharing stage with senior musicians.
IMR: Why didn’t you people go with some of the major record labels, as it would boost your
promotion level for the album?
AS (Anubhav): I think we went with the label that matched our experience level.
IMR: What would be the next level where you would like to see "Acrid Semblance" as a band?
AS (Anubhav): We would like to see ourselves playing to bigger audiences. Also we would like to play at diverse locations. Make more records and then would be the time to die.
IMR: Why do you feel people in India get limited to some of the mainstream bands like Iron
Maiden, Sepultura, CC, AC - DC, Megadeth etc? Who is responsible according to you media or
the listeners themselves?
AS (Anubhav): I don’t know about this really. So I am not the right person to comment.
IMR: According to you at present, list out some of the Indian bands which can make up to an international level?
AS (Anubhav): I don’t know.
IMR: What is the reason that most of the bands in India go out to be an English spitting bands? Why not regional languages or Hindi, isn’t that possible?
AS (Anubhav): It must be the influences. It is hard to tell a concrete cause.
IMR: Any message that you would like to forward to all your fans and any suggestions to team IMR?
AS (Anubhav): Nah! I am not a politician. Thanks for asking anyways . Cheers!
* Good luck and thank you for giving your precious time to team IMR. Hell Yeah!!!
Pravin Prajapati (LordMessiah)
IMR: Hello "STON'D”! It's a real pleasure talking to you guys. What would you say, if I ask you to start this interview by presenting the band to our readers? When and how did "STON'D" get together?
STON'D : Ston'd is a metal band hailing from Bangalore. Its story starts in the summer of 2005 when Anoop (bass) and Abijith (vocals) met Aditya (guitars) for the first time in a mutual friend's jam room. No one had a clear idea about what they wanted their band to sound like. There was a huge difference in influences ranging from Lamb of God to Korn to the Scorpions. Nothing really came out of that first meeting. Aditya got an offer from another band. Abijith went on to do vocals for a nu-metal act. However, after a couple of months, and a couple of chance meetings with the future guitarists of Ston'd, the band was finally formed at the end of 2006. The original line up consisted of Abijith on vocals, Hitesh and Sudhir on guitars, Anoop on bass and Karthik on drums. Debuting in the “Unwind Underground” gig/competition, the band saw a line up change with Aditya, who had met Abijith and Anoop during the conceptual stage of the band, replacing Hitesh on guitars.
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IMR :Personally, I would like to ask you guys, what are the goals that you guys have set for the recent years to come(I think everybody is a student, am I right)?
STON'D :Our goal, from the very beginning of the band, was to emerge with a new sound, yet maintain that heavy, aggressive, in your face kind of punch to the music. We think we have reached that. If you look at the metal scene today, most bands have your typical semi-growl type vocals and very rarely do they experiment musically either. We think we have burst that bubble. Our vocals have more of a grind core feel, interspersed with penetrating screeches rather than an almost exact impersonation of major international bands. We’ve also always wanted to play originals more than covers because, let’s face it; it’s a lot more fun when your audience moshes to your own music. Having more or less achieved these goals, our main aim is to reach out to a greater audience now; and maybe a full length album.
IMR: Your music has quite a fiercest touch to it. How much important role does your musical influence play in bringing up your music to perfection? List down the same?
STON'D :All of us in the band listen to a whole range of music from the Scorpions to Ronnie Becker to Good Charlotte and Cannibal Corpse; to more mainstream metal bands like Lamb of God, Mastodon, Textures, etc. there are a lot of different bands that we listen to. Having said that, we try not to let these bands influence our music directly. As we mentioned earlier, the band always wanted a different sound and the emphasis was always on originals than covers. So while we do listen to these bands, we hope we don’t sound like them like most other mainstream metal bands in India do.
IMR: What made you choose your band to be named as "STON'D", what does that signify? What’s the most memorable moment for you in the history of the band?
STON'D : When we started this band, we just wanted to relax, have fun and get stoned on music. Even today, there are times when we just hang out in our Jam Room. That’s the basic idea behind how the name came about. So if you are looking for a deep, introspective meaning behind the band name here, you’re not going to find it. Because all said and done we play this music to let loose, and have fun. The most memorable moment in the history of the band is probably playing in shows like IIT Chennai’s Saarang ’08 where the band placed second, and Manipal Institue of Technology’s Revels ’06. Both these places had a fantastic crowd response.
IMR: Do you have any E.P, Releases etc coming up in recent times to watch out for?
STON'D :We already have a 3 song EP out called Disaster Area. This EP was recorded completely in our Jam Room with no professional help. You can check out http://www.myspace.com/stondbangalore to hear the songs. Be sure to watch out for a full length album by the end of this year!
IMR: How do you describe the music of "STON'D"? And, what are the grounds in which you lag as a metal band and would like to overcome?
STON'D :Like we mentioned before, the aim of this band was to create a new sound. What we have achieved is a heavy, aggressive sound interspersed with moments of melody. We have a lot of double bass work, quite a lot of riffing, and our bassist provides a pretty solid bass line. Our vocals have a hint of grind core/death metal influence, mixed with piercing screeches. We think it’s mostly the area of consistency in which we lag. We have had awesome shows, but on the flip side, we’ve sometimes disappointed ourselves by not delivering up to the mark. And you can blame the sound guys, and the equipment or whatever, but we take it as a sign that we have got to push ourselves harder. We look forward to having a blistering set every time we get on stage.
IMR: Could you let our readers know in short about the songwriting mechanism for "STON'D”? Any writers or other artists/bands that influence you lyrically? What kind of listeners do you think that your music targets?
STON'D :A song usually begins with either one of our guitarists bringing in half a riff, or a whole riff, half a song, or sometime a whole song into the Jam Room and work begins from there. One thing which sets us apart from most bands is probably the fact that the vocals begin are put over the riff as the drums are being laid out. So by the end of the riff, we already know how the completed product or that particular part of the song is going to sound. Then we decide if we need to tweak the arrangement or structure of the song. The lyrics, leads and overdubs are usually put down after everything else is finished.
Our lyrical writing style is mainly influenced by Death, and Tool. We’re also influenced by a host of movies like Charlie Wilson’s War, American History X, A Mighty Heart, Schindler’s List, Blood Diamond, etc. Some of the writers that have influenced us in the past are Thomas Harris (Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal), Marianne Pearl (A Mighty Heart), William Blake (The Red Dragon, and the Woman Clothed in Sun). The fucked up political clime in India and abroad, and human suffering as a result of the same, play a major part in the messages behind our lyrics.
IMR: You guys are from "Bangalore"(Karnataka). What is the underground scene like up there is it supportive? Is there any place you've particularly enjoyed or enjoyed playing? Share any one of your memorable gig experiences.
STON'D :You can’t really call us an underground band but yes, a metal fan would enjoy our music the most. The scene in Bangalore is amazing. The bands and the audience are awesome. After all, it is the Metal Mecca of India :P. The scene here has been extremely supportive of us. We have always welcomed criticism, suggestions, and a couple of death threats (Laughs). But yes, the audience here has always been good to us.
We always enjoy Bangalore gigs. But apart from that IIT Chennai and Manipal Institute of Technology were great shows. What we enjoyed most there was the audience: they were extremely responsive.
One of the most memorable gig experiences for the band was this weekend back in November 2007. It was insane and fun, and very surreal. We got to personally meet Sepultura, and because they were a major influence of us initially, this was a big deal; bigger than it would have been otherwise. We also played three shows in two days, one of which was in an all girls’ school! Another one was the Bangalore Finals of Campus Rock Idols where we played one of our tightest sets ever in front of a huge crowd. So that weekend was probably the most fun we have had together us a band.
IMR: How important do you feel, is it for underground bands to have appearance on music related website? What do you think plays the biggest role in getting your music heard, who would you like to give the credits for the same?
STON'D :Like we said before you can’t really label us an underground band, but we are not everyone’s cup of tea either. We think it is vitally important that metal bands in India have enough exposure to the public, apart from the small number of people constituting the metal audience that is there in India. Websites, such as you, are an excellent way of breaking the barrier preventing metal bands from reaching a wider range of audiences. We hope that this extends to the radio, and even maybe television. Maybe this will lead to an indigenous metal label being born. Unless this happens, it will be very difficult for members of a metal band to make their living through music in India.
Our friends and audience have played the biggest role in getting us heard. There have been so many people who have helped us sell CDs and who have supported us from the very beginning. We would like to thank our friends from the Jam Room, Abandoned Agony, Theorized, Corrode, Spitfire, Audiophile, Venator. Also the organizers of Sunday Jam, a free music festival held monthly in Bangalore, and everyone else who has come out and supported us.
IMR: Where do you picture yourself and the band in the coming years? Do you guys have a gut feeling that, you will cross into mainstream flavor because you do possess some of those elements?
STON'D :We know that whatever happens, we will continue playing as long as we enjoy our music. We just want to push ourselves to keep sounding better. And it really doesn’t matter if we move into the mainstream or not. This band was conceived to have fun and make good music and that’s what we intend to do, come hell or high water. If we do cross over into the mainstream, it will only be with us playing the kind of music we love. We do not want to cater to whatever the trend in metal is. We just want to sound good and heavy.
IMR: How do you feel, when people do not recognize your hard work behind your music just because you are an underground band, is it frustrating?
STON'D : (Laughs) An incident comes to mind. This was the first show with our new line up. We were playing a show where an RJ and a bassist of a well known Indian band were on the judge’s panel. After the set, the RJ asked us (quote) “What’s all the violence about?” And we also heard the other judge say that “Growling turns me off”. Back then, yes, it irritated us and frustrated us. But we think we have matured since then. If people don’t recognize the work that goes behind this band then, well, there is nothing much we can do about it. And even if heavy metal has been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned by the masses in India, it sure as hell isn’t going to stop us from playing this kind of music.
IMR: So blasphemers, is there anything you would like to forward to all your fans?
STON'D :Thanks for all the support so far. Stay heavy. Please stop piracy. Listen to original Indian metal, screw the covers. Indian metal will one day see a change, so bring it on!
* Thanking you “Team IMR” !!!
Pravin Prajapati(LordMessiah)