{"id":4343,"date":"2014-08-21T10:14:12","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T17:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/Interviews\/?p=4343"},"modified":"2014-08-21T10:14:27","modified_gmt":"2014-08-21T17:14:27","slug":"albatross-bassist-talks-about-three-guitar-lineup-next-album-lots-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/Interviews\/2014\/08\/21\/albatross-bassist-talks-about-three-guitar-lineup-next-album-lots-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Albatross Bassist Talks About Three-Guitar Lineup, Next Album & Lots More"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aniruddh ‘Andrew’ Bansal<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hailing from Mumbai, India, Albatross is a horror-themed traditional heavy metal band that’s released two EPs ‘Dinner Is You’ and ‘The Kissing Flies’ in their 5-year existence so far, and have been featured on this site plenty of times in the past as they truly stand out amongst an ever-growing plethora of Indian bands in a fledgling metal scene. Having completed their first ever tour of Australia and expanded their wings within India to newer pastures in the past year, Albatross are ready with material for their next release ‘Fear From The Skies’ and with the addition of a third guitarist, are presenting themselves in a whole new incarnation. Yesterday on August 20th 2014, I caught up with bassist and principal songwriter\/lyric writer Riju Dasgupta a.k.a. Dr. Hex to talk all things Albatross. Enjoy the conversation below.<\/p>\n

First of all, it\u2019s been more than two-and-a-half years since you released \u2018The Kissing Flies\u2019 EP. What\u2019s the current state of Albatross\u2019 new material?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Andrew. It\u2019s great to catch up with you after such a long time. I remember you headbanging in the front row at Chennai and Bangalore, when the last album was released. We\u2019ve written some of the best songs of our career-span for \u2018Fear From The Skies\u2019, but unfortunately the album\u2019s kept getting delayed because of our schedules and that of our producer. I think it\u2019s safe to say that the album will take another year for release. The songs are not as straightforward and concise as \u2018Dinner is You\u2019, but neither are they as long and meandering as \u2018The Kissing Flies\u2019. However, we do not wish to give you the impression that we\u2019ve ventured into \u2018safe\u2019 territory. If anything, they\u2019re more eccentric than ever before. Much like a good horror story or a Venus Fly Trap, we give you the impression that all\u2019s going well, and then, as Rob Halford would say you\u2019ve got another thing coming!<\/p>\n

Since the last time I saw Albatross play a show (March 2013), some of the members have joined or started other bands, but the biggest change in Albatross is the switch to becoming a three-guitar band and the addition of Varun Singh as the third guitarist. How did you arrive at that decision and what was the inspiration behind it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, while Demonic Resurrection, the other band our guitarist Nishith plays for, was on tour in Europe, we were invited to headline the Thunderstorm Festival in Thane. Even though Nishith would have been back and kicking ass by the day of the gig, we realized that we\u2019d played the same set in Thane twice already, in 2014 alone. So we decided to whip up something special for the festival, and our guitarist Vignesh suggested that we cover Iron Maiden\u2019s \u2018Dance of Death\u2019. Now Nishith is a shredder par excellence, and to get someone at his level to fill in would be no mean feat. \u00a0Both Vignesh and Nishith suggested Varun as a replacement. Not only did we immediately connect with him when he walked into the jamroom, his natural classic metal style was a great contrast to Nishith\u2019s fury and Vignesh\u2019s progressive leanings. Shortly after the brilliant Thunderstorm gig, I suggested that Varun come on board full time to lend another dimension to the music. Thankfully, everyone in the band was in agreement! He\u2019s an immensely likeable fellow and a naturally talented musician, so we\u2019re all excited at the many gateways to shredxellance that have opened up.<\/p>\n

This came as a surprise to me I must say, because I thought you always avoided crowds and six-member bands. How are you going to deal with being a part of one from now on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, if three\u2019s a crowd, then six members result in two crowds. But then two\u2019s not a crowd\u2026 so I\u2019ll manage.<\/p>\n

How has this impacted the material that was already written for the next Albatross release before Varun joined the band? Are you going to rework any of those compositions to fit a three-guitar setup?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not really. He\u2019s going to be playing a few solos on the album, but the compositions remain as they are. Ideally, when an Albatross album is recorded, we record 4 rhythm guitar tracks. So with 3 guitars, the songs might sound closer to the album sound.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I see so many 2, 3, 4 and 5-member bands using backing tracks while playing live and even on studio albums, and I wonder, why not just add another human being to play those parts? Do you think becoming a more \u2018live\u2019 or \u2018real\u2019 band is (in general, not just in Albatross\u2019 case) a fair tradeoff for having to deal with an extra member, and do you empathize at all with bands that take the shortcut instead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s about what works, honestly. I\u2019m not opposed to having backing tracks playing with the song, but in our case since we go all guns blazing in the lead guitar department, this is also an added visual treat for the audience. I guess you have to use a metronome on stage to sync with the background tracks, and our drummer Jay\u2019s natural fluid style might, in fact, be hampered if he plays with a metronome. Let me put it like this- the third guitar is not to make up for any shortcomings in the live act, but it is an enhancement of our overall sound. I think bands such as King Diamond and Jag Panzer make brilliant use of background tracks though!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve followed your activity on social media over the past one year or so, and you\u2019ve delved into quite a few newer territories within India itself. Do you see enough potential and interest for your music in those cities for us to finally say that metal in India can some day be a truly nationwide thing and not just limited to Mumbai, Bangalore and the North-East?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Very good question. I think because of the internet, there are metalheads in every city, and the ones in smaller cities are more starved for metal than the ones in which gigs happen on a regular basis. We shared the stage with Coshish, a very talented Hindi prog rock band and another fusion band in the city of Surat in late 2013, and the audience comprised of entire families\u2026 women decked in saris with children. As we closed the show, little by little, the audience cleared and all that was left were a handful of metalheads in Albatross t-shirts raising the horns. Similarly, Nasik the year before was a memorable show as well kids actually invited their parents to invite us to add them as their friends on Facebook. We also headlined a college show in Goa, a city definitely NOT known for metal, and that was probably the largest crowd we\u2019ve ever played to. They say metal is the music of the outcasts and the slightly weird, and we exist all across the country.<\/p>\n

You also toured Australia last year. What was that experience like and what did you think of the atmosphere down there at metal gigs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the Australian Tour remains the best weekend of my life. We played Melbourne and Sydney on the same day as Behemoth and Limp Bizkit (in separate shows) and still got packed houses in both cities. Our tour manager, Andy Dowling (bassist for Aussie legends Lord) said that the overall reaction to our music was- \u2018Where the hell did you find these guys?\u2019. The people were some of the warmest and friendliest metalheads that I\u2019ve come across, and as a fan of traditional and old-school metal, it was a treat to share the stage with Vanishing Point, Darker Half, Hobbs\u2019 Angel of Death, Crimsonfire, Alaskan Thunder and the rest of the bands. The reception was so good, that I remember being torn between a desire to speak to the metalheads who came up to congratulate us for a good set, and missing the next band up on stage!<\/p>\n