1833 AD Frontman Talks About Bangalore Open Air, Past Experiences & Future Plans

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal

New Delhi-based black metal outfit 1833 AD are ready to destroy the masses at the Bangalore Open Air festival, set to take place on June 16th at the Acharya Institute Of Technology Grounds. Every band on the bill brings something different to the table in terms of musical style, and 1833 AD will do exactly that with their brand of intense, atmospheric and relentless black metal. They will be launching their debut album “My Dark Symphony” which will be on sale at the show, and of course, they’ll be performing tunes from it on stage. In a series of interviews I’m doing to promote this great festival, I caught up with 1833 AD vocalist/guitarist Nishant Abraham Varghese a few days ago to talk about Bangalore Open Air among various other things, including the band’s struggles as an unsigned group, past gigs, and future plans. Read the conversation below, and make sure to check them out at Bangalore Open Air.

First of all, how are you feeling being a part of the Bangalore Open Air lineup?

It feels great. It is an honor to be sharing the stage with bands like Kreator. Even the line-up of Indian bands is badass; with Albatross, who have been creating ripples since their EP was out. Bevar Sea, easily my latest favourite Indian band. I saw them a couple of months ago and immediately fell in love with their music. Dying Embrace and Kryptos need no introduction! All in all, a mad line-up and I feel blessed to be part of it.

You’re headlining the Wacken Metal Battle India North Zone gig this Tuesday, so that must be a great way to warm up. Other than that, what are you doing to prepare for the big show?

Definitely! Also quite a few months had passed since we last played in Delhi, so this gig is a bonus. We are playing a couple of more shows in Delhi before we head to Bangalore, so I feel we will already be in action mode!

I read that you were supposed to release physical copies of your debut album “My Dark Symphony” at the Summer Blaze Festival this month, but obviously that gig was cancelled due to Nile’s visa issues. Was that a big setback to your album launch?

For sure. We had been delaying this enough to deal with another setback, but shit happens. You can’t help it. Anyway, the album is out on the 16th of June and will be available at BOA. Allow me to quote Mr. Stan Lee, “nuff said!”

When did you guys start writing the material for this debut album, and how long have you worked on it?

I think the song writing happened somewhere between 2008 and 2009. Which is why our album was expected to be out by 2010. Now I feel that the delay was a blessing in disguise. If it weren’t for the delay, we couldn’t re-design the album into what it is today. It would have been just another album. I’m sure our fans will feel that the wait was worth it.

As an unsigned band, was it challenging for you to take care of the recording and production for the album?

Yes, of course. It is never easy. We started off when we were all in college. We have struggled a lot. With barely enough money to pay jam pads for practice, one day we found an empty room on the 13th floor of a half abandoned building with no elevator and started using it for practice. Due to the lack of security, we couldn’t leave our stuff there so we used to carry all instruments, amps and other equipment which included a full drum kit up and down the stairs each time we had to practice. To get all the stuff, each of us had to do 2 rounds of the whole 13 floors. To add to that, during rainy seasons we had to walk in to the building with all that stuff with dirty water up to our knees. From a time like that to releasing an album along with merchandise on our own is a huge deal for us. We have struggled patiently. People wonder why we took so long to release our debut album. Well to put it simply, we didn’t have any money!

You portray yourself as ‘True Indian black metal’. How important is it for you to maintain an “Indianness” in your overall image and music, and not be an exact copy of the Norwegian black metal bands?

When we write music or play live, we don’t even think on those lines. Rahul and I have written all songs on the album. We never stop to consider the Indian or the Norwegian element in our music. We kept writing freely and ended up with what we have today. Having studied Indian mythology well, my lyrics do take that direction a bit, but again, it is so because I want to do it. That is what I am comfortable with. Not to purposely seem non-Norwegian. The Indian element however comes about because of the concept and lyrics primarily. Even if at the end of the day we are compared to a Norwegian band, I would take huge pride in that!

For those who are unfamiliar with your band, could you tell me about the inspiration behind the band’s logo?

I was writing some material revolving around Lord Shiva. Can’t tell you why without revealing a lot about the concept but this was shared with Reuben, our art guy. That’s all we know, the next thing we saw was this killer logo. Well you see, another example of how “Indian-ness” creeps in somehow (laughs).

I feel that the best thing about your music is the atmosphere it creates. Would you say you give more importance to that aspect, as opposed to the lyrical themes?

I personally don’t, because I wrote all the lyrics. So both are equally important for me. Those who do not understand the lyrics, for obvious reasons, I can understand why they would feel that way. Honestly, I don’t mind, as long as they are appreciating the music.

After BOA, you are going to perform in Nepal, opening for Decapitated. It must be exciting for you to get that kind of opportunity, isn’t it?

Definitely. It is a shame the Nile gig got canned else opening for all these bands in the same year was really exciting for us. Well, it still is!

Other than these two gigs, what are your plans for promoting the album?

We are planning 3 shows in Delhi, and one each in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. BOA would count as the Bangalore leg of our tour. We are planning to add more cities. If a promoter is reading this, please email us at 1833ad@gmail.com. Sorry for the free advert in there (laughs).

You played in Sri Lanka in the past. That’s one place you never hear of when you talk about metal shows. Tell me about that gig. What was it like and how did it compare to the shows you’ve played in India?

We were pleasantly surprised at the turn out. Also those guys are crazy about extreme metal, especially Black Metal. The festival that we headlined had 13 bands excluding us. The majority were black metal bands. I don’t think we have that many live Black Metal bands here, a country that’s over 50 times in size as Sri lanka. I really don’t want to compare, every gig I play is special to me. Would just like to say that the people over there are really nice and humble who love their metal. I would love to go back there.

In your opinion, what are the prospects of black metal in India? Do you think there are bands in the country that are willing to take up this musical style?

We already have few bands that came up and I’m sure there are more lurking around in jungles or villages or terraces of abandoned buildings apart from the big cities of course. My vision is another five years and we should have more bands and a much better reception for Black Metal than what we have today.

1833 AD Facebook | Bangalore Open Air tickets

Comments

comments