India's Metal Music Is Quickly Gaining A Fan-Base And Here's Why You Should Hop On The Bandwagon
India - the land that has given us Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Parveen Sultana, and many more jewels of music. How is this land doing musically in the 21st century? Clearly things have changed - our tastes, our likes, our trends, they have all changed drastically in the past decade or so.
India - the land that has given us Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Parveen Sultana, and many more jewels of music. How is this land doing musically in the 21st century? Clearly things have changed - our tastes, our likes, our trends, they have all changed drastically in the past decade or so.
Through the changing cadences of Indian music where popular Bollywood songs manage to drown out any tune that is not termed as trendy or catchy, there is emerging a wave of Desi rock/metal bands that are breaking all clich¨¦s and refusing to be defined by genres. Their goal - to make good music, to make music for the sake of music, to carve their own path in the Indian music scene, and have fun while doing it.
Here is why you need to get on the scene right away:
Indian bands are all about great sounding music.
Kraken
"We never think about what gene or style we want to stick to. We all come together and have fun, and it's like a party. Our concerts are like a party on someone's roof top" says Moses, the 24-year-old lead guitarist of Delhi-based band Kraken. This talented six-piece band has two amazing vocalists complementing each other's unique styles on stage. They are all in their early twenties. The band symbolises everything that is different about this new wave of rock coming out of India - they don't want to be confined by tags like Metal or Grunge or Thrash. They want to experiment, make great music, and they want to have fun while doing so.
Anikit Gupta
Shashank, the lead vocalist of 3-year-old Delhi-based band, Soul Inclination, says "We love rock, period. And when we make music we are never thinking that the sound should be like this or that; it's getting too heavy, or too light. It's never that we want to play the best grunge song ever. We just try to make the best music we can make, and we want to have fun while doing it"
These bands love performing live, and they are bloody good at it.
Focus Monk
As the saying goes - 'There is only one thing better than music - live music'. Watching great music being played live is one of the greatest experiences anyone can have. And when it comes to desi metal bands, live music is what they live for. One of Mumbai's most popular progressive metal bands, Goddess Gagged, has been winning competitions and mesmerising crowds across India for half a decade. "The crowds keep getting bigger and bigger", says Aman, the 24-year-old lead guitarist, before stepping on stage. With the Antisocial club in Delhi packed to its limits, their recent gig in the capital represented everything that is amazing about live music.
Dheeraj Rawat
"I started performing live when I was 22, out of college. For me, performing live holds a very special meaning. It's all I can do, all I want to do, all I care to do" Shashank smiles as those last few words come out without any effort. And when he holds the mic and lets out a high-pitched note, the cheers and the raised fists reaffirm that he belongs on that stage.
With them, a song is as much about the lyrics as it is about the sound.
Soul Inclination
"Our music is very lyrically inclined. Lyrics are very important to us" says Soul Inclination's lead guitarist, Puneet . Their bass guitar player, Ashish, adds "A lot of bands have influenced us lyrically. We try to find the meaning, what the song is about, what is it trying to say, and then we work on it."
Goddess Gagged
Krishna, the bass guitarist from Goddess Gagged, resonates with the love for lyrics. "Sure man, there are so many lyrics that make you think about things. One of the biggest reasons I liked old Bollywood music from the 60s and 70s was that they had great sounding lyrics, with a lot of rhythm and meaning to them". The band's singer, Sidharth, has tattooed on his forearm two lines from the song 'Visionary', that he had written.
They do it for the love of music, not the money.
Goddess Gagged
How do you know if someone loves doing something? Well, it's when they do it come what may, not caring about the money or the praise.
Parth Jain
"We make music because we really enjoy doing it, we don't earn from it, we don't really even care if we do. But it's not something we have to earn from. Every single rupee that went into the recording of our album came from the competitions we have won". The five other members of the band Kraken agree when Moses says that. They really do love the music, and you can hear it in the energy and passion they bring to every single song.
Support homegrown independent music, and be blown away by the talent.
Rahul Saha
Moses from Kraken urges people, "Just give Indian independent music a shot, check out a few bands. You will be surprised as to how extremely talented, hardworking, and how good Indian music can be. Be open minded about it"
Ashish from Soul Inclination gives his two cents on the Indie music scene. "I am seeing a lot of amazing talent in Indian bands these days, 15-year-olds who are kicking ass. It's time the crowds in India start giving local bands a chance, and I am sure they won't be disappointed".
"And if you love something, share it," says Puneet.
The Kraken vocalist, Shagun, shows us the simple path towards beginning a journey in the mesmerising world of Indian independent music. "Check out the Blue Tree Facebook page and see the artists on their roster. Or Google Indian independent music. There will be so many out there; that is the beauty of the internet."
Also check out the sound cloud accounts of the three bands interviewed here and if you like the music, share it!