BHOPALI DEATH METALLERS ELEMENTAL TO PLAY WACKEN OPEN AIR 2016!

Bhopali four-piece death metal band Elemental will be playing in Germany after winning the prestigious Wacken Metal Battle India competition finals in Bengaluru on Saturday, 9th July. They will be visiting Wacken Open Air in Germany, one of the biggest heavy metal music festival in the world held from 4th - 6th August 2016.

Elemental was the only band from central India to travel to Bengaluru and play against finalists from different parts of the country including Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and more. There were no eliminations held in Bhopal, so the band had to travel to Mumbai to compete. The band landed up in the finals after the Mumbai leg of the competition got cancelled.

L to R: Divyaraj Bhatnagar (drummer), Aman 'Ricky' Sharma (guitar), Anchal Bhargava (vocals)

After playing against bands like Godless, Gaia’s Throne, Vidyut, etc., Elemental were announced winners of the final round held at Vapour in Bengaluru just one day before Bangalore Open Air. Started in India by Salman U Syed, the Wacken Metal Battle is a competition in association with the international festival Wacken Open Air in Germany, where bands from across the country compete and the winner gets a chance to play against national finalists from around 30 other countries worldwide.

“This is a huge opportunity for us! We want to make a mark and make India shine.” said the band’s vocalist Anchal Bhargava.

Big Indian metal music bands like Eccentric Pendulum, Zygnema, Plague Throat and more have played at the Wacken Metal Battle finals in the past. The Department of Arts and Culture in Meghalaya supported Shillong’s death metal band Plague Throat last year, so they could compete in the international finale.

The Wacken Metal Battle has been in India for the past five years along with the festival Bangalore Open Air that has seen many international performances in the country since the first edition. Big heavy metal music bands like Kreator, Vader, Animals as Leaders and more visited the festival in the past few years.

This is the first time a band from an unexpected city has made it so big. Salman U Syed, organizer of the Wacken Metal Battle and Bangalore Open Air said, " I never expected a band from Bhopal to win this competition. It looks like the metal music community has also reached the smaller cities! Hope the band wins this year at Wacken."

We wish Elemental all the best and I'm personally extremely proud of them. Wave that Indian flag, motherfuckers!!





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About Elemental:
Elemental is a four-piece Bhopali death metal band from India. The band was founded in September 2012 by members Anchal Bhargava on vocals, Aman 'Ricky' Sharma on guitars and Divyaraj Bhatnagar on drums. Their blend of straight-up, no nonsense death metal makes them one of India's finest exports in this genre. The band will be supporting Polish metal giants Behemoth in India this September. They have headlined college festivals, won over 40 competitions, and played at big music festivals like BIG69, Shillong metal rock, toured with death metallers IIIrd Sovereign and Indian grind pioneers Gutslit, and much more.
The band's music general revolves around fighting against corruption, racism, violence and man-made disasters, uplifting the weak and underprivileged. Disturbed by the environs of central India, Elemental's debut album 'Creation of the Damned' is the voice of those who suffered in the tragic Bhopal gas tragedy a few decades ago. Be assured to be in for a treat.


About Wacken Open Air:
Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) is a summer open-air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. With 80,000 festival visitors, and including personnel a total of roughly 86,000 attendees in 2011, it attracts various kinds of metal and hard rock music fans.
The festival was first held in 1990 as a small event for local German bands. W:O:A is usually held at the beginning of August and lasts now four days. It is currently considered the biggest heavy metal festival in the world. The festival ends traditionally on the first Sunday of August and on Monday 0:00 o'clock, ticket sales open for the next year. Remarkably, all 75,000 tickets were sold out within 43 hours in 2014, within 12 hours in 2015 and 23 hours in 2016, despite the fact that the lineup (with the exception of rumors or headliners) had not been announced, which is probably unique for a music festival of any kind.

INTERVIEW WITH ELEMENTAL (INDIA) + BAD BLOOD (LIVE VIDEO)

Elemental is a four-piece extreme metal band from Bhopal/Indore. Their music is about a serious picture of war between good and evil. Popularly known for always playing a tight set, intense drumming and groovy catchy riffs blended with a variety of metal vocal styles, this band is definitely something to look out for!

I met and watched these guys live for the first time at 'Dawn of the Legion' in Pune, but I'd heard a LOT about them before. They played at Entombed Metal fest in Mumbai a while ago. They're upcoming and well, coming up fast is all I can say! :P Here's a small interview I did with them. They're going to be busy, come this weekend. Read to find out more!

Elemental is Ankit 'Igor' Kujur (bass), Anchal Bhargava (vocals), Aman 'Ricky' Sharma (guitars) and Divyaraj Bhatnagar (drums)

Favourite food?
Chicken , sea food, and some green plants.

You have a lot of shows lined up of late. Can you tell us what and where? 
Yep, we have some upcoming gigs;
17th August - Harley Davidson presents 'The Doomsday', Indore
23rd August - IIT Kanpur Elims, Bhopal
31st August - Night Wrath Broadway, Mumbai
5th September - Cresendo, Indore
9th September - Abomination Vol. 2, Kolkata

Tell us a brief history about the band; how you formed, initial lineups, etc..
We started our journey in September 2012. Our vocalist met our drummer and they decided to jam. Later, we happened to meet our shredder Ricky who was in town for a month and the three of us started jamming. It all went well. We had a talk about the future and it was all fun, we must say. We enjoy what we do and that is what keeps us going! We all wanted to be in a band and play music we like, and we're doing it because we love it.

People didn't think there were metal bands in Bhopal/Indore. What do you have to say about that? 
Aahhh! Central India has an amazing scene! Bands like Demonic Resurrection, Zygnema, Devoid, Noiseware, Abraxas, Blakc, Motherjane, Indian Ocean and many more have played here many times before so that gives everyone a glimpse of the scene. Also there are almost two gigs every month where you will find a decent crowd of around 300 dedicated metalheads flying around everywhere. So this is what the other side of the story is. Most people aren't aware of the metal janta in our land!

Here's a video of Elemental playing their song 'Bad Blood'. I recorded this at Dawn of the Legion, Pune.
Sorry, thought the song was over and missed the breakdown :P 

Have your parents been supportive of your taste in music and supporting you as musicians?
So far so good! They've been very supportive, but there's no guarantee of what the future holds!

What's coming up for the band in terms of songwriting/releases? 
Yes! We are all set to release our first album 'Creation of the Damned'. We are being produced at Refractor Studios, Pune.

Kya aapko pataa hai muscle kahaan se aata hai? 
Ganja peene se.

Your favourite Indian bands
Undying Inc, Zygnema, Devoid, Inner Sanctum, Plague Throat, Gutslit.

Your favourite International bands
Behemoth, Dying Fetus, Origin, Decapitated, Suffocation, Meshuggah, Cattle Decapitation, Beyond Creation, Whitechapel, Amon Amarth, Katakylsm.

Message to all your fans
We don’t want any fans. We want brothers for a lifetime. Thanks for all the love and support you have shown so far. We assure to make your ears bleed to the end of days!

Elemental on:
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

For bookings, contact Metalsphere on Facebook or call me!


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HIGHLIGHTS: CONTROL ALT DELETE METAL #SURVIVEDTHIS

Do understand that in spite of taking the effort to think, there was no 'best band' here. Every band got onstage and played some of the tightest sets yet witnessed by us. There were gangs of people from the most unexpected places, Indore and Sangli, plus our amazing Nashik ka public, Pune, Delhi boys and many more.

The gig was no less of a broken shoulder, sprained legs, a guy in the men's washroom taking a selfie of his blood-stained face (don't ask me how I know that), and then blood and sweat, hair everywhere, shirtless ranti fuckers, blood clot bruises (something I don't go home without), and so much that I can't describe.

 Outside Blue Frog, 5.30pm

(Photo courtesy: Roydon Bangera)

The gig began with Reptilian Death. Not their tightest gig yet, but it was good. Nishith Hegde did a great job with Reptilian Death yesterday, maybe the tightest I've seen him play so far. It was great to see so many people even for a first band with a gig that started in BLUE FROG at 5.30pm! Sunday brunch was cancelled so that soundchecks could be accommodated throughout the day.  There were so many musicians worth praising because even after standing for 6+ hours, it was disappointing to even think of sitting down when anyone was playing. 

Many people watched and even heard Grammy Winning Effort for the first time, and it was indeed a great experience. With Anupam Roy making them sound ideal, I totally dig the band after this show. They had this badass Sick of it All meets some groovy breakdowns vibe and were pumped as fuck. Great band. We'll be looking forward to seeing more of them sooner. 

Gutslit hit the spot. This is when all the wounds officially began. Those were some of the most brutal vocals I've seen live. Barve fails to disappoint onstage. Prateek was spot on too. Every pinch. Special mention to Aaron for having murdered the drumkit with Gutslit and Providence!

CHECK THIS OUT FOR A BRUTAL MOSHPIT DURING GUTSLIT'S SET

Noiseware's new material was sounding great, along with some great hair and synchronized headbanging. This 8-stringed powerhouse needs to release something real soon! 

Providence completely tore the place down. I feel like it's the tightest I've seen them play yet! So much power. Vivek has finally blended with the band as a vocalist and a frontman. Vinay Venkatesh (Bhayanak Maut, Reptilian Death), Shawn Pereira (Blakc) and ex-vocalist Karan Pote joined in on vocals for Slipknot, while Shawn also sang Pantera's Cowboys from Hell with them. I'm walking around proud today with 'Bleed Motherfucker' written on my back! :D It was also Kanti's last gig with the band, unless they do land up playing somewhere before he leaves for Musician's Institute, Los Angeles! Congratulations fucker! 

"We live in Mumbai. I've grown up in Mumbai and we know what shit goes on around us everyday. We have every fucking reason to be pissed off!"

- Shezan

Devoid was insane, one of their best sets yet too! Arun had a lot of inspiring things to say as well, and much respect to him. :) Also, Frank (ex-Devoid bass player) joined Devoid onstage for 'Possessed'!

Undying Inc slaughtered the venue. They are one of my favourite bands in India and they're also consistently one of the tightest bands I've seen, playing as a single murderous unit live. It was great to see them so soon again after I last did at Inferno Metal fest, Delhi. I absolutely love these guys. Shashank's effortless vocals backed by that insane motherfucking drummer Nishant! Oh my fucking God! SOOOOO tight broooo!

The sound for Zygnema was the best, and as usual, they played a great set. The stage dive during Scarface was another moment most of us who were there will remember.

Following all of this was a chilled after-party, courtesy Shikhar Manchanda (guitar player, Reverrse Polarity). I can assure you, I survived this and many others did too. It was a struggle, but was one totally worth it. \m/

A big shout out to Himanshu Vaswani, Shadaab Kadri, Rishu Singh, Nikhil Udupa and everyone involved who made this gig a grand success and something to look out for!

A few pictures of what went down.

Hosts for the evening - Shezan and P-man

Grammy Winning Effort

Gutslit

Noiseware and a packed venue

Providence

Undying Inc

After-party DJ scenes. Go Pritesh! :P

The Money Shot from 42fps on Vimeo.

Next up: The Ultimate Rolling Stone Metal Awards playlist.

Stay tuned!

\m/

GUITAR PLAYER WEEK: SIDHARTH KADADI (ZYGNEMA)

I've known Zygnema since I began attending gigs. My first metal gig was at Musician's Mall and these guys were playing. From then on, I knew there was something so powerful and insane about them. I've known Kadads from then too, and besides being a skilled guitar player, he's an awesome person. You better be there for Control Alt Delete: Metal or you'll miss out on some major groove riffage! An interview with none other than Zygnema's Sidharth Kadadi.

wala wala lai

Full name and age.
Sidharth Sudhir Kadadi. I am not that old. I will be turning 29 soon. (psssst! guitar picks, strings, accessories are welcome as birthday gifts)


What is your favourite dish/cuisine?
Indian, of course. Favourite dish has to be PAANI PURI. No wait, Pav bhaji. Both share the same place I guess. Hot Gulab Jamun with Vanila ice cream deserves a special mention and a place in the hall of fame.


Kindly tell us about all your precious gear! (guitars, processors, software)
Dean Dime shadow ML with DiMarzio D activators on the bridge.
Ibanez RG2EX1 with Seymour Duncan Invaders on the bridge.
Pod X3 bean, Dunlop GCB-95 wah wah, Digitech Whammy DT
Use Line6 UX1 as my audio Interface, Cubase for recording. Got shit loads of VST plugins for guitars, bass and drums.


How long have you been playing guitar?
Started when I was 18. I've been playing for 10 years.


What got you into playing guitar?
I genuinely can't remember, but a friend of mine was learning guitar and I loved the sound of an acoustic guitar. So I started off learning a few basic chords and scales from him and then enrolled for proper guitar lessons.


Have you learned to read music as well, or do you just play by ear?
I graduated from Musicians Institute in 2008 and also appeared for Trinity Grade 8. So it is mandatory to know more than basic music reading to get into any music school or to give any exams affiliated with international institutions. My teachers always taught me music theory and application. They also insisted on reading rhythms regularly if not melodies/pieces. Small ideas help A LOT and I still find time to practice sight reading. I am not GREAT at reading, but I can manage.
I do use my ear too but when you know your basic harmonizing theory, it becomes a lot easier to transcribe or to write your own stuff.


Electric vs. acoustic. What do you prefer?
Sigh! Tough call. It's guitar in the end. Love them all. But yes, acoustic guitar sounds beautiful.
I've been spending most of my time with my classical and acoustic guitar.

What thought goes into riff construction/is there any particular pattern you follow to make riffs?
Zilch. It just flows. I don't follow a particular pattern as such. But it's very important to understand the sound of that particular riff or a song. You can't just push in any chords anywhere you feel like just because it's metal music. You have to understand the voicing and tonality of a song. I also emphasize a lot on groovy riffs. Brain-drilling riffs are not my style.

What music projects are you currently a part of, besides ?
I have been trying to work on my Rock trio project for a while now, along with Aditya Kadam and Pratik Kulgod. Very mid 80s instrumental prog rock vibe like Racer X, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore, Van Halen, etc,. We have two tracks and a lot more ideas flowing. We're also hoping to put out an EP this year once I am done with Zygnema's album.
The other one is purely a studio project along with Reuben from Undying Inc. We keep writing and exchanging ideas. We too have two solid tracks and they require a bit of polishing. We have no clue who will track vocals and drums on it. For now I program drums and record stuff at home and mail it to Reuben. A lot of ideas are exchanged and we restructure the parts. I'm hoping for a proper band rehearsal before we finalize and put our material out. I honestly don't know WHEN this will release, but it will happen.


Do you have a day job? What is it that you do?
I have been working with BAJAAO since 2008 as a Guitar product specialist. I also teach guitars, so yep!

Two jobs to pay the bills and to survive as a musician in this third world country.

Your favorite musicians (Indian)

Guitar: Prashant Shah
Bass: Reuben Bhattacharya
Drums: Nishant Hagjer, Mayank, Rahul, Viru etc.
Vocals: Sunneith Revankar, Bruce Mckoy


Your favourite musicians (international)

Guitar: DIMEBAG DARREL. Mattias IA Eklundh, Vogg, Paul Gilbert, Van Halen, Vinnie Moore,
Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Guthrie Govan, Alex Skolnick, James Hetfield.
Bass: Rex Brown, Stu Ham, Steve Harris, Dick Lovgren, Les Claypool, Alex Webster, Chris Beatie, Michael Anthony
Drums: Vinnie Paul, Tomas Haake, Dave Lombardo, Vitek, Sean Reinert, Gene Hoglan, Bjorn Fryklund, Morgan Agren
Vocals: Phil Anselmo, James Hetfield, Max Cavalera, Jamey Jasta, Jens Kidman, Chuck Schuldiner, Chuck Billy, Tom Araya, Corey Taylor, Sammy Hagar, Glen Benton, Robb Flynn


Can we expect a release from your band(s) any time soon?
Zygnema's 2nd album and ROKKK trio EP hopefully by December 2014.


Whom do you look up to, as a musician and a band?
There are too many musicians and bands that inspire me. It doesn't matter if the band is established or still struggling, they all have great qualities which we learn from. I really really love, respect and look up to Mattias Eklundh simply because he is a living legend and he has no clue how crazy he is. But more importantly, he is a great and humble human being, an ideal Guru and a crazy Swedish viking with zero tolerance towards seriousness. The happiest guitar player on this planet.


A message to all your fans (hello ladies!)
Hey I am no Val Venis. The towel move thing is a little cheesy though. Skip that bit, but yes HELLO LADIES. Howdy doody!
A message to all my browskis and homies. Believe in what you do and never give up.

Catch Zygnema on Facebook or Reverbnation

Zygnema

GUITAR PLAYER WEEK: ADHIRAJ SINGH (NOISEWARE)

This trollface is guitar player of Pune progressive band Noiseware, Mr. Adhiraj Singh. I've been seeing Noiseware for a few years now and I'm proud to say I grew up with this generation of evolving musicians. Also producer and all those/this/that titles at Refractor studios (Refractor being the name of his solo project as well) Adhiraj is a good guitar player/composer/videographer and all that.

I love this interview for the honest and detailed answers. He's a kind and interesting musician.

Noiseware will be playing alongside other metal giants at the Metal Ctrl Alt Del, so make sure to catch them if you are in Bombay.

Full name and age. :) 
Adhiraj Singh, 23


What is your favourite dish/cuisine?
I’ll go with cuisine and for me, nothing like some well made spicy North Indian food!


Kindly tell us about all your precious gear! (guitars, processors, software)
I’ll go in part –

Guitar: Schecter C8 Hellraiser. I still have my old B.C Rich 6 String Warlock lying around, but I haven’t taken it out in forever and it probably has fungus growing on the fretboard, haha.

Processors: Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II & Line 6 Pod XT Live. I primarily use the Axe-Fx both in studio as well as live, but me switching to the Pod XT live when carrying the Axe-Fx doesn’t make logistical sense. Eitherway, I also use the XTL as a MIDI controller for the Axe-Fx, so it’s a keeper.

Software/Others: This could be a fairly long-boring list, since I have a studio setup, so I’ll mention some main stuff I use – Cubase, sE Munro Eggs, stuff from Shure, RME, Behringer, Beyerdynamic, AKG.


How long have you been playing guitar?
I started tinkering with it when I was about 14, so that’s collectively about 9-10 years. However, I started playing a little more seriously only when I was about 17-18 or so.


What got you into playing guitar?
That’s a tough one. I was always enamored by any musical instrument for as long as I remember. I started with some silly Casio mini keyboard when I was really young. Then, I had a short stint with the flute when I was a little older. Then it was drums, which started with pencils on the school desks and ended at playing a single show in school, haha. My parents refused to get me a kit, because they thought it was too big and it would make a ton of noise(they were right, weren’t they?), so guitar it was!


Have you learned to read music as well, or do you just play by ear?
Nah, all by ear it is. When I started learning guitar, I went to classes for about a month and there was a lotta theory being taught, but I just wanted to play; so I quit and just learnt on my own. I think both approaches are great and people should go wherever they are most comfortable.


Electric vs. acoustic. What do you prefer?
Both in absolute equality. I think I spend pretty much equal time with both instruments. Just the context changes.

What thought goes into riff construction/is there any particular pattern you follow to make riffs? 
None at all. I think a lot of my ideas(for Noiseware), start with drums unfortunately(since I’m a failed drummer). I’ll mostly be trying to write some grooves I like. The other times, it’ll start with something super basic as a chord shape or a sound that I like and build from there. Since I don’t know theory, I keep trying out new/random shapes on the guitar, or some interesting sounds on the computer and try to replicate stuff in my head. But it’s always something very basic which kicks it off.


What music projects are you currently a part of, besides Noiseware?
All the projects I’ve produced! Haha kidding. I’m involved as a bass player for Lotus, co-write some of Anand Bhaskar’s music, write stuff which is commercially inclined(jingles/sound design etc) and when I’m bored, I make random solo music under Refractor.


Do you have a day job? What is it that you do? 
I have a company called Refractor and we are sort of a small production house. We produce audio as well as visual content for all kinds of mediums(you name it!). I guess if you had to put a title to what I do, it’d be Audio Engineer/Producer/Videographer. We also do some small other things here and there as well..whatever sparks any active interest.


Your favourite musicians (Indian)
This entire section will be off the top of my head.
Guitar: Pra & Akshay, Keshav Dhar, Devesh & Arman, Biz, Nikhil Singh, Dhruv Vishvanath

Bass: Reuben Bhattacharya, Krishna Jhaveri, Rushad Mistry, Mohini Dey

Drums: Nishant Hagjer, Gautam, Rahul Hariharan, Gino Banks, Mayank, Jai Row Kavi

Vocals: Shashank, Vishwesh, Siddharth Basrur, Sunny

Any other instrument: My broducer bros – Anupam, Keshav, Kuber, Nikhil. That apart, Dualist Inquiry, Ox7gen.


Your favourite musicians (international)

Guitar: Wes Borland, Tom DeLonge, Andy Mckee, Jon Gomm, Cloudkicker (Ben Sharp), Misha Mansoor, John Butler, Tosin Abasi, Drew Goddard, Ben Weinman

Bass: Jon Stockman, Nolly(prolly for his guitar skills as well!), Mark Hoppus, Amos Williams

Drums: Steve Judd, Thomas Haake, Matt Halpern, Travis Barker, Jay Postones, John Otto

Vocals: Ian Kenny, Phil Bozeman, Spencer Sotelo, Corey Taylor, Myles Kennedy

Any other instrument: This would be a long list haha! Lotta engineers/producers/Film Composers –
Tycho, Seven Lions, The Album Leaf/Jimmy LaValle, Telefon Tel Aviv, Mychael Danna, Ramin Djawadi, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, BT, Nolly, Mark Lewis, Andy Sneap, Chris Lord Alge, Rick Rubin, Ross Robinson, Forrester Savell, Taylor Larson, David Bendeth……..okay I’m gonna stop. This list list will never end hahaha!


Can we expect a release from your band(s) any time soon?
I prefer to avoid awkward questions like these. Haha! On serious note, this year. Yes. I know we’ve been saying that every year. This year.


Whom do you look up to, as a musician and a band? 
I guess I’ll speak for myself. All the people I mentioned above! I’m inspired a lot by lot of people related to film making as well, who are truly inspiring in every sense – Roger Deakins, Wally Pfister, Salomon Lighthelm, Chris Nolan, Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Vince Gilligan, Charly friedrichs.


A message to all your fans (hello ladies!)
The album is happening. I promise. Thank you for sticking by!

Ladies? Hi Pratika. Kashi ahes Manasi Tai(Am I saying it right?). Okay bye.

Photo credits: Vijay Kate

Visit Noiseware on Facebook and Soundcloud

Visit the Refractor Studios page. 

If you haven't checked this out yet, please do. Fucking insane! 

GUITAR PLAYER WEEK: PRASHANT SHAH (SCRIBE)

Prashant Shah, popularly known as 'Pra' is the guitar player of Scribe. Having played in bands like Demonic Resurrection and Exhumation in the past, this guy is a riff attack. With bright pants & shirts in Goa feels and a colourful personality, Pra is easily one of the best riffers around. This interview is meant for everyone to get to know him better as a person and not only the jolly jumper you see on stage. He just got married, btw. Congratulations!

Also to notify you, there's a Scribe gig happening this evening (8th May, 2013) along with Vice Versa at Hard Rock Cafe, Andheri (W), Mumbai, India.

Photo courtesy: Prashant Agarwal

Full name and age
Prashant Shah, 32 years old.


What is your favourite dish/cuisine?
All vegetarian: Indian Street Food/Gujarati(non-sweet)/Rajasthani/Chinese/Japanese/ Mexican.
I love all food with exception of maybe things that your head perceives should be non sweet and it turns out to be exactly the opposite; Puran Poli, for example. I like cooking Italian food, since it's the easiest to conjure and the only cuisine I can cook and make myself believe that I'm as good as Gennaro Contaldo.


Kindly tell us about all your precious gear! (guitars, processors, etc.,.)
Primarily I only use extended range guitars (7 or 8). I've been playing them almost 12 years.

Guitars:
Ibanez Prestige RG1527 w EMG 707 (bridge)
Ibanez Prestige RGD 2127 w Dactivator 7 (bridge)
Ibanez Prestige RG 2228 w EMG's
ESP 6 string modded with EMG 81 (bridge) 85 (Neck), (I have this one only for sentimental reasons.)

Strings: D'addario XL 120-7 (.54 to .09)

Processing:
Axe-Fx II for the last one year on record and live. I feel it's the most convenient option if you play live. It's all the amps and stomps you ever wanted in a box, that you can carry easily on the road and plug into any setup.
I do love the sound of a real amp, however lugging around a head on a flight is very cumbersome and at times a waste of money if you land up paying for baggage.

Amps
I have a defunct Kustom (Kansas) 250 tuck and roll Head and a 4x12 cab to go with it. I've been meaning to get that repaired.  The clean channel on that amp is ethereal! I also use a Laney 1x12 practice amp at home (very rarely though).


How long have you been playing guitar?
I've been playing for almost 16 years. I picked up my first guitar, a Givson in 1998. It was sparkling red in color. Josh, The drummer in Severus (RIP), burnt it down.


What got you into playing guitar?
Metallica. Metallica. Metallica. Metallica. Metallica.
Siddharth Khare, a friend from school introduced me to the instrument, he used to play in a band with his dad. We'd listen to Metallica, Guns 'n Roses, Van Halen, Aerosmith and Bon Jovi.  He taught me my first riff, 'Enter Sandman'. All I wanted to do from that day on was just play the guitar. From then on, everything else in my life became secondary.


Have you learned to read music as well, or do you just play by ear?
Sheet music always has eluded me. Regular tablatures were just fine when I started.
However as the years passed, I started shifting more toward playing by ear.  I developed an interest in sheet music and theory somewhere down the line but somehow never got around to doing it. I study arrangements of a song I really like. Songs and structure are far more gratifying than just sticking random riffs together.


Electric vs. acoustic. What do you prefer?
Thats like comparing a sword and a knife, both are deadly if used correctly. My weapon of choice is the electric though.


What thought goes into riff construction/is there any particular pattern you follow to make riffs?
No pattern in particular. Whatever comes out with the flow. I tend to write a song idea in one go. I record a scratch single guitar take with whatever flows naturally. Sometimes I'll go on for 15 minutes at a stretch. I'll hear it back a few times to see whether I can connect with the music. If not, I scrap it and rearrange/re-record. Other times I go part by part. There's no formula.

Photo courtesy: Kunal Kakodkar

What music projects are you currently a part of, besides Scribe?
None as of now. Once I get some time, I've been meaning to do another extreme metal project, I've got a few scratch tracks done. I'll talk about it more when the time comes, as of now I have no name no members, just the direction I want to go in musically.


Do you have a day job? What is it that you do?
Yes very much so, that's what pays the bills. I'm a 3D Team leader at RedChillies VFX.  We do visual effects for films, To simplify it, we create anything and everything that you can't shoot physically. Working on a dream Hollywood project, I can't reveal which one because that would lead to genocide. I love it as much as I love playing the guitar.

I love the freedom of being able to visually recreate anything I can dream of.

Your favourite musicians (Indian)
Apart from my own band members, there are singular musicians from bands that inspire me, Indian and international, but personally, I prefer bands over individual musicians.
Indian bands I really like are Skyharbor, Bhayanak Maut, Gutslit, Undying Inc, Devoid, Extinct Reflections (RIP). So many upcoming bands! There's a whole bunch of young and killer bands in the North East of India. I keep hearing demos or singles and it's so unfortunate that there is such a huge disconnect from that part of the country.

Guitar: Warren Mendonsa, Sidharth Kadadi, Dhruv Ghanekar, Zorran Mendonsa
Bass: Rushad, Krishna Jhaveri, P-Man (Rohit Pereira)
Drums: Rahul Hariharan, Jai Row Kavi, Sid Coutto, Mayank Sharma
Vocals: Siddharth Basrur, Sid Coutto,
Any other instrument:
I respect classical musicians like Zakir Hussain, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan. I grew up listening to them, my parents would drag me to Rang Bhavan and Dynasty Club shows to watch these guys play. The kind of dedication they have towards their craft is inspiring. I was a huge Remo fan as a kid, way before he got commercial.


Your favourite musicians (international)
Bands like Sikth, Emperor, Textures, old-Soilwork, Cannibal Corpse, Soreption, Morbid Angel, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Aeon, Devin Townshend, Meshuggah, Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, Periphery, The contortionist, The Faceless, too many to name really, I hate this question it's so annoying.


Can we expect a release from your band(s) any time soon?
Yes Scribe, will release something this year for sure, if we don't we'll just disband. I don't think even we have the patience anymore for a record we've been working on for almost 3 years.


Whom do you look up to, as a musician and a band?
Refer to question 12 and 13. Life-altering bands were Sikth, Emperor,Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Fear Factory. I love orchestral music and soundtracks a lot as well. Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Goldman. There is so much to learn about arrangment, orchestration, layering, timing, rhythm from the smallest piece.


A message to all your fans (hello ladies!)
Thank you, Cheers and Stay chromatic.

Photo courtesy: Kunal Kakodkar

To listen to Scribe, visit their Soundcloud and Facebook. 

More interviews coming up this week! 

STUDY MUSIC FOR HEAVY LISTENERS

Studies claim that listening to more of instrumental and classical music helps, especially after the discovery of the 'Mozart Effect', saying listen to Mozart improves your mental performance. Well honestly, I've tried listen to Mozart and Beethoven, and I kept reducing the volume because it didn't seem so helpful after having listened to so much progressive and heavy music for months together.

Some people prefer going into that 'No, I can't listen or watch anything during exams, it's very distracting!' trip, but most of us need something. You will be in different moods, so I hope this helps keep up with your changing moods. It's my last semester, and I'm relying on this.

Few tips:
1. Don't let the music be too loud. it gets distracting. Keep it at a moderate/low volume because you're not playing the song to listen to it. It's more like music creating an ambience/background music.
2. Don't listen to heavy/extreme music, you'll either get mindfucked or tear pages and break stuff, considering no one absolutely loves studying.
3. Instrumentation is important. Beautiful note selection and sweet progressions keep you in the mood.
4. People recommend listening to waves and waterfalls and crickets. Dude, just don't. You'll land up somewhere else if you're high. Ambient music, however, helps.
5. I do not advise people to do this, but I drink when I'm studying sometimes.  It isn't a necessity. Moderate drinking, 2-3 pegs max. :P
6. If you do not care about any of the above suggestions, it's cool. Maybe you'd prefer listening to music that you've been accustomed to for a very long time.

Progressive music is a boon to this time of the year. With many lengthy songs, making a playlist is less time-consuming and there's variety. I do recommend a few instrumental bands, and a few kinda heavy bands.

These are the bands I normally listen to. There's also a list of instrumentals that I listen to below this list.

1. Porcupine Tree

This is one of my favourite bands when I'm studying, and otherwise too! Instrumentation is ace, I need not say more. I can't particularly select an album, but yeah, I could be more specific. If you want a long trip, Voyage 34 is at your service!
Albums: The Incident, Fear of a Blank Planet (whole album), In Absentia
Songs: Anesthetize and the title track (FOABP), Dark Matter (Signify),  Blackest Eyes and Drown with Me (In Absentia), Arriving Somewhere but not here and Lazarus (Deadwing), The Blind House and The Incident (The Incident).
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2. Opeth

Very enjoyable, plus there's variety.
Albums: Damnation, Watershed, Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries
Songs: Atonement, Isolation Years and Hours of Wealth (Ghost Reveries), The whole 'Damnation' album, Folklore (Heritage), Bleak (my all-time favourite Opeth song), Harvest, Drapery Falls (Blackwater Park), the whole 'Watershed' album.
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3. Karnivool 

Karnivool is not what I regularly listen to, but when I do, it feels awesome. Make sure you don't listen to Persona though :P I've been a fan of the first two albums and I haven't got the hang of Asymmetry yet. Maybe in a few months, let's see.
Albums: Sound Awake, Themata
Songs: Cote, Lifelike, Scarabs, Shutterspeed, title track (Themata), Deadman to Change 1 and 2 (Sound Awake), We Are, Sky Machine (Asymmetry)
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4. Deftones

I can't explain how awesome I feel when listening to this band! This is more on the heavier side. I mostly listen to Deftones in breaks or before going to bed, or the first thing in the morning. It doesn't exactly calm me from any stress, but it keeps me awake and motivated :P
Albums: Around the Fur, White Pony, Self-titled album, Diamond Eyes, Koi No Yokan
Songs: Mostly everything. Okay fine, here are some! My Own Summer, Be Quiet and Drive, Lotion, title track (Around the Fur), Digital Bath, Knife Party, (White Pony), When girls telephone boys, Battle Axe (Deftones), CMND CTRL, Rocket Skates, Sextape (Diamond Eyes), Swerve City, Leathers, Poltergeist, Graphic Nature (Koi No Yokan)
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5. Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails sets a very different mood. I'm pumped more than anything.
Albums: Broken, Downward Spiral, The Fragile, With Teeth, (Ghosts I-IV and The Slip are secondary)
Songs: Wish, Happiness in Slavery, Gave up (Broken), Closer, The Becoming, Reptile (The Downward Spiral), The Wretched, No you don't, The Great Below (The Fragile-Left), The Hand that Feeds, Only, Right Where it Belongs (With Teeth), Came Back Haunted, Copy of A (Hesitation Marks)
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Some songs that set the mood completely:
1. Textures: Storm Warning, Awake
2. Alter Bridge: Metalingus
3. Tesseract: Concealing Fate
4. Pantera: Psycho Holiday, War Nerve
5. Despised Icon: MVP
6. Fell Silent: Erase Begin, Immerse
7. Gojira: A Sight to Behold
8. Judas Priest: Painkiller
9. Iron Maiden: Aces High
10. Lamb of God: Ruin
11. Slipknot: Vermillion II
12. Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song

I've also been listening to Indian bands Blakc and Paradigm Shift.

You may listen to other bands like Devin Townsend, Isis, Intronaut, some even listen to Tool. If you feel like listening to Slipknot also, I feel you. The frustration gets you there sometimes. Alter Bridge and Soundgarden also work well in the study leave, but not while studying.


Here are a list of a few instrumental bands:

1. Exivious

Discography: Exivious, Liminal 

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2. Animals as Leaders

Discography: Self-titled, Weightless, The Joy of Motion

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3. Cloudkicker

Discography: myspace​.​com​/​musicistight, The Discovery, The Map is Not the Territory, Portmanteau, ]​]​]​[​[​[, Beacons, Loop, Let Yourself be Huge, Fade, Hello, Cloudkicker - The warmth of the daytime seemed like a dream now. (t16 remix), Subsume

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All the best! 

SHASHANK SUNDAY: AN INTERVIEW WITH UNDYING INC VOCALIST

This man is a powerhouse of some badass vocals. He is vocalist of 'Undying Inc', a band that makes me fucking angry and makes me fucking happy at the same time! FUCK! So yeah man, I had a talk with Mr. Shashank Bhatnagar, who has given some of the most brilliant answers.

This guy is interesting and a great person to know! Check out what he had to say on a lot of things here.

I: Favourite food?
SHASHANK: Primarily anything baked, sauteed, boiled, or grilled.
I'm allergic to sea food & the likes though..

What do you do for a living?
I am a Cafe/Restaurant owner, Vocalist for "Undying Inc", Freelance Jingle Singer/Composer, & a Property Manager.

You had a drop in the middle, when you were no longer part of the band, and now you're back. 
What happened back then?
Musically, I started working on 3 projects simultaneously.
Dropped 2 by the time I joined UI back. Still working on that one project. Details will be out soon.

Your most brutal fight/moment of RAGE!?
All I can remember of it is, my body/clothes being red with blood, blue/black with several bruises, one big 12 stitch scar on my head because of a sealed soda bottle, & a hurt lower back due to which I was bed ridden for 2 months.
Pretty much the same, or worse for those 5 boys, yeah.

What do you have to say about getting 23948765934 good pictures after every gig you play?
Thank you to those awesome photographers. Without you guys, we are just ear candies. :P

Women love you. Do you love them?
A Big Fuckin Yes!

All time favorite quotes and words to live by.
"Live life stronger than hate & death" - Zakk Wylde
"I will fuck you up before I break your face" - Me to a random batch-mate in college :P

Idols/people you look up to.
I'll name 5 : Philip Anselmo, Tom Araya, Devin Townsend, Zakk Wylde, & Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Favouritestest bands?
5 Again;
International: Slayer, Pantera, Meshuggah, Iron Maiden, Behemoth
Indian: Bhayanak Maut, Scribe, Zygnema, The Circus, Fuzz Culture

Favourite Indian musicians, or people you've loved jamming with
Guitar: Biswarup Gupta, Keshav Dhar, Adil Manuel, Arsh Sharma, Prashant Shah, Akshay Raj Purohit, Venkat Raman, Amidstya, Sidharth Kadadi, Takar Nabam.
Bass: Reuben Bhattacharya, Ravi Satpute, Lt. Clarence Gonsalves, Shakti Singh, Krishna Jhaveri.
Drums: Yuvraj Sengupta, Nishant Hagjer, Mayank Sharma, Reuben Pachuau, Varun Sood, Rahul Hariharan, Virender Kaith, Shardul Mehta, Srijan Mahajan
Keyboard: Akshat Taneja, Anubhav Misra
Vocals: Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy, Girish Pradhan, Jimmy Bhore, Sunneith Revankar, Noble Luke, Ryngkat Jyrwa

How was the gig the day before?
It was awesome. I could see a lot of dust, hands & horns up in the air, breaking barricades, kids stomping grounds, kids flying & beating the shit out of each other.
Ah! A sweet sight indeed.

Do you think our country/ the metal 'scene' lacks anything in particular? (for example: unity, supporting bands and attending gigs)
I'll just want to give more positive inputs, rather than telling you what is wrong.
Things are getting better with time, staying positive & focused is a promise "being a musician" comes with. The day this industry will have fans who would like to support their favorite bands on a monetary front, things will be different.
The best that can happen as of now for the scene, which might happen eventually;
1) Buy your favorite band's CD/merchandise, cause if you won't, nobody else will. This is the only way they can keep working on their music & stick around.
2) GIVE INDIAN BANDS AN EAR BEFORE JUDGING THEM BY GENRE : This happens so often, people actually judge bands based on their genres rather than actually listening to them. They would listen to, & LOVE/RESPECT international bands from across genres, but when they hear about Indian bands from different genres, it gets more dramatic than stupid soap operas on TV.
An ear lost is a potential fan lost. You never know what music hits you when, be a little more open-minded when it comes to Indian bands.
3) Go to your favorite band's LIVE shows. Gate fee adds vital value to your favorite band's presence. Every time a person isn't willing to pay gate fee to enter venues to see their "favorite" bands, the band suffers. Even though that band has enormous number of fans online/offline, but this is where they fail and venues don't want to bring them back (one of the reasons) cause they have no monetary value.
4) Push your favorite bands for festivals you deem fit. Get in touch with your local organizers & educate them about bands, if required.

Your most amazing moment on stage:
Being onstage is the single most amazing thing in my life.

What should we expect from Undying Inc this year? 
An "Ironclad" EP with 3 songs, & 1 massive surprise.

Listen to single 'I R O N C L A D' released last year.



Undying Inc on FACEBOOK and SOUNDCLOUD

\m/ MAAAANIMAAAAAAAALLLLL \m/

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

EXTREME ENDS: ALBATROSS IN VASAI AND PARADIGM SHIFT IN SOBO!

Vasai greeted Mumbai metal band Albatross and the other competitions bands very well! The other two metal bands playing the competition also had a mostpit and some headbanging, as you can see in this Narkasur video below:

Albatross and friends were pretty killer. The special shout-out no. 1 goes to Dinosaur Rajan, as aptly titled by my buddy Anshuman. Trust me, you'd Bark at the Moon after hearing this version with growling vocals. Sorry, I was too amazed to take a video!

But then, we also had the lovely voice of Sid Raveendran on 'Holy Diver' (Dio cover)



This video ahead was a random moment at the end of 'Night Crawler' (Judas Priest cover) with Sahil on vocals and all the friends jumping around on stage.

I didn't know Sushan of Cosmic Infusion could sing man!

And the one moment no one could forget was the crowd shouting 'Sahil Sahil Sahil!' and then an equally powerful 'Makhija Makhija', asking for the demonman to come on stage!

All in all, the gig was great fun and the crowd went mad!

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Mumbai's six-piece fusion/rock/progressive band Paradigm Shift judged the band competition at Grant Medical College's festival 'Astitva 2014' and had an opening band 'Tatva' before they set the stage on fire with a heavy performance. Of course, my favourites were played so I was happy.

The Sobo peeps really don't get it haan? Basically, after vocalist Kaushik made them realise their set doesn't involve ghazal listeners sitting in the back, a few scared and obedient kids got up from their seats and went ahead. :P

The gig ended with a good 40-50min set including their incredible cover of 'Roja'.

.
Tomorrow, gig update and band interview!

\m/

SOBO: South Bombay

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRAKHAR: A TALK WITH HALAHKUH'S STUD

I would like to wish Prakhar Soni, vocalist and bass guitar player of four-piece thrash death band Halahkuh from Pune a very very Happy Birthday! He turns 22 today (LADIES!) and is lucky enough to play a gig today at DA-IICT in Gujarat, the dry state, along with Mumbai bosses Devoid, Wired Anxiety and Winter Gate.

Halahkuh would like to say, "We wish our muchchad frontman and Kayden Kross lover Prakhar a very Happy Birthday."

And as guitar player Chinmay Bokil would appropriately call him today:

Halahkuh now has a new booking agent, Mr. Roydon Bangera, Devoid's manager.

I asked Prakhar a few questions about himself and the band. Here's our telecon.

I: Hey dude, Happy Birthday man!
PrakhSoni: Hey! Thank you thank you.

I: So ya, what's your favourite cuisine? (because hey, food's important)
PrakhSoni: Italian

I: How was the Delhi trip, Inferno and the whole Delhi experience for Halahkuh?
PrakhSoni: It was surprising that we got an opportunity to play Inferno Metal festival with a mammoth lineup of international and Indian bands because it was quite unexpected. Subhrajyoti (guitar player) and I just thought we'd register and see what happens, and on checking at one point, we were 200 votes ahead of the other bands, which felt great! We'd all wanted to play in a different city. I'd kept telling these guys about Delhi, which is my home town, and praised the weather which was perfect on our visit. I played a gig in front of my parents for the first time! It was a case of brilliant timing as Megadeth was playing MTV Xtreme the next day too. RSJ (Rock Street Journal) took great care of us and did a good job with the gig as well. We were very happy.

I: What in the world does DA-IICT stand for?
PrakhSoni: Dhirubhai Ambani... Institute of Information and Computer Technology

I: Okaayy.. When did you start playing bass and doing vocals?
PrakhSoni: I started playing bass in the 8th standard (8th grade) which was in 2006 and vocals after our previous vocalist Rahul left, which was in 2011. The band had only played a few competitions back then.

I: What is special about Halahkuh? What keeps you guys together as a band?
PrakhSoni: I think even though we do not listen to the same bands, we somehow manage to come together to make the same music. As members of a band, we have that certain chemistry, a common goal that we want to achieve through our music and try to jam as much as we can. As people, we try to enjoy the simple things in life like watch Hindi movies, drink tapri ka chai and not hide anything from each other. Before I'd met the other three guys, it was good to know that they also had the same mindset as I did.

I: Would you like to make music your career?
PrakhSoni: It depends on how everything goes. I love the thought. Although, when it comes to surviving as a metal band in India as of now, a day job is still a compulsion and it comes with a lot of sacrifices. With Halahkuh, we are sure that even when we do get jobs, we will always set enough time aside for the band.

I: Since you are in Gujarat, the dry state, I must ask... Found any alcohol yet?
PrakhSoni: Ermmhaha..No. But I do hope some arrangements are made for tonight!

I: Do you have any message for ladies (if any) who read my blog, and everyone else?
PrakhSoni: Yes. And you have to quote this. "Pratika is one of the most humble people I have met who goes out of her way to help individuals, and as I mention again, we wouldn't have got our tickets to Inferno if it wasn't for her."
To all our fans, look out for us and a big thank you for believing in us the way you've always done. Please read this blog, or WE WON'T THRASH YOU ANYMORE!

This is a video of Halahkuh live at Inferno Metal Festival:


Halahkuh will be playing in Mumbai at Atharva College's 'Show No Mercy' on the 5th of March 2014 along with Primitiv. The entry is FREE.

Find Halahkuh on Facebook and listen to their music on ReverbNation. For bookings, contact Roydon Bangera.

P.S: Do not miss the dreadlocked hottie in the band. ;)

Cheers!