By Aniruddh ‘Andrew’ Bansal
Despite being die-hard supporters of classic heavy metal, we at Metal Assault also keep in touch with the relatively modern styles of metal, and bands that play such style always bring a different perspective which makes for an interesting listening experience. Bangalore-based extreme progressive metal band Escher’s Knot is one such group. Besides their solid music they are known for their high-octane live shows, as I witnessed for myself when I saw them open for the mighty Lamb Of God in Bangalore last year. Since then, I’ve kept an eye on their updates and was looking for an opportunity to feature them on the site. It has finally arrived, and yesterday I caught up with vocalist Abijith Rao to discuss all things Escher’s Knot. Read the in-depth, honest conversation below, visit the band on their facebook, twitter and reverbnation pages, and people in Chennai can catch them live at the Star Rock this Friday.
I believe you’ll be playing some new material at your Chennai gig this Friday. How much of this new material do you already have and what has the writing process been like?
Hey Aniruddh, First of all thanks a lot for featuring us on Metal Assault. Just 2 days to go and hell yeah! Really kicked about the Chennai gig. It’s going to be our first gig of 2013 and also in Chennai – our home turf. We’re planning to play two new songs and in total we have like 6 new songs. Writing process has been a little slow as of now with Anshuman working now in Delhi. But lot of writing has been happening online, and it’s going to be our first gig as 4 piece with siddarth and Anshuman.
The band is based in Bangalore now, but you guys started out in Chennai. Can you tell me about that transition and how different you found the two cities to be in terms of the metal?
I really don’t know what to call it now, Bangalore or Chennai. as two of us are in Bangalore and two of them in Chennai and Anshuman in Delhi (laughs). All of it is slow, but yeah as long as it’s happening, no worries. Chennai and Bangalore are totally different in every possible way. Metal scene in Chennai is really starting to pick up now. Bangalore lacks venues. Chennai people are accepting all genres of metal than being selective like Bangalore folks is what I feel.
I saw you guys open for Lamb Of God last year, and I was impressed by the high levels of energy demonstrated on stage, particularly by you. Has that always been an important aspect of your musicianship or did it come to you gradually gig after gig?
Thanks a lot Mr. Bansal. Since the beginning it’s been like that. I mean, playing live can be the best ever feeling one can experience. That too being a front man of a metal band, I would want to make use of that opportunity to the maximum. The whole rush, those energy levels just liberate me. Being in this scene for over 8 years now, It’s always been this way, Intense.
The music itself is experimental. Exactly how experimental do you allow it to go while writing? Is there an underlying idea or theme, or just about anything goes?
Our music is complex and simple at the same time. I mean we just try to fiddle around people’s mind with the straight forward stuff (laughs). There is no extra fancy shit involved. But with a drummer like Manu and guitarist Anshuman, the inputs have always been out of the box, and yeah, you call ‘THAT’ experimental.
You released the ‘Tessellations’ EP in 2010. When are you planning for the next release?
We’re almost there, we ARE taking our own sweet time. 2 more new songs and probably Late this year is what we’ve planned for the album . We’re looking at March for our release of a single which would actually determine our sound which is a little bit different from the EP.
Experimental, djent, progressive, whatever you want to call it, has become quite popular in India and lots of international bands of this genre are coming down to perform in our country. Do you see that as the ideal opportunity and platform to launch your music in front of more and more people?
I hate classifying our music into subgenres. Well metal it is. And to be frank. I don’t know how well people have accepted the music we play. We’ve always got mixed reviews. And being a metal band in this country it doesn’t matter whether the genre helps thouroughly. If you get a venue to play, that itself is like a jackpot.
Talking of international gigs, you were supposed to play the Indian Metal Festival last December and open for Gojira, right? I wasn’t there but I heard it turned into a bit of a nightmare for the Indian bands involved. Can you talk about what exactly happened?
We were all geared up and set for one awesome evening with none other than the mighty Gojira. But we were treated like shit and weren’t allowed to play because of some permit issues by the organizers ‘Sweet Leaves Entertainment’. The whole scene could’ve been dealt with us in a better and a professional way. But fuck that, Gojira killed it and it did made our day. I hope when the organizers are doing a gig of this scale, they better think of all the cons and be prepared for a spontaneous damage control.
Upon reaching the venue, were told that we cant play because of some time issues that were supposed to be sorted at least a few days before the show. I understand why we couldn’t play, the same coud happen to me as an organizer, but instead of apologizing and owning up to their mistake, their attitude was more like “this is my show, I do what I want”. After begging and pleading and chasing them, we got our artist tags that allowed us to keep our gear backstage. I was shocked most of all when an ignorant member of their team asked us Indians not to eat the food that was meant for “foreign bands only” but was kept in the common green room, By the way, this happened in their presence. There was no arrangement for food for Indian Bands. Overall it was a real amateur effort by the organizers and everything went wrong.
Have you had any similar bad experiences in the past, or was this a one-off?
Fortunately we haven’t experienced any such treatment in the past.
On the other side of the spectrum, what are some of the most memorable gigs you’ve played?
We’ve had some really good gigs in the last couple of years.
- Opening for Lamb Of God
- All the Pub gigs in Chennai , we literally brought the roof down with Cypher 16. (Laughs) I’m not kidding.
- Opening for Dark Tranquillity at Hyderabad
- IIT saarang, opening for ‘ Hammerfall’.
- Also the Pub gig scene at Hyderabad alongside good buddies Skrypt and Eccentric Pendulum have been the most Epic-est.
Escher’s Knot started out in 2009, but metal shows took place in India before that too, albeit sporadically. When you went to such shows purely as a fan and a member of the audience, at that time did any of you imagine starting a band of your own?
Like I said, I’ve been in the scene from like early 2004-05, I had a band back in Bangalore. So Maiden’s tour in 2007 was like the turning point for the whole shift up in the graph for the local scene as well.
Higher education, day jobs and families are three common challenges all Indian bands face, because there simply isn’t enough scope to do a band full time in a country like ours. How is Escher’s Knot coping up with these challenges and what keeps you motivated to continue?
I’m guessing, No ‘ METAL’ band in India are making their living out just playing ‘Metal’. We’re finding it a little hard just like any other band with all of us staying away from each other. The only key for a bands’ success is to just stick together come whatever may and that’s what we’re doing. Hanging in there, taking things slowly and going with the flow and still writing music.
In terms of gigs, what plans do you have for 2013?
As of now Chennai is first on the map. Something might be happening in Bangalore in March and we’re still awaiting confirmation. We’re really looking forward for the album which is in progress and It’ll be out this year for sure. Thanks a lot for featuring us on Metal Assault. Cheers!