How did “Limit Zero” happen? Any significance about your band name?
Limit Zero initially started off as a solo project, but over the last 3 years, it’s evolved into much more. The name ‘Limit Zero’ came to me when i was sitting in a math class in the 11th grade. It sounded awesome and carried off the sci-fi/space theme of the band so it was definitely a keeper. I had a few other names for this project pre-Limit Zero but those were quite silly, haha.
You guys fall under the ‘progressive’ metal’ genre. Any inspirations? How do you think your music is different from the others?
‘Progressive Metal’ would be the closest sub-genre that you can associate us with. Although i’m horrible with genres. There’s just too many these days. I liked it better when there was just ‘Metal’,’Jazz’,’Rock’ etc! It’s very confusing keeping track of these new genres. We draw a lot of inspiration from bands in this genre, yes, but the funny thing is we’ve all been brought up listening to different music, and most of those bands weren’t part of this genre. For example, i was a huge melodic death metal fan. I used to idolize bands like In Flames, Arch Enemy. I’ve also had a huge fascination for Jazz and Post-Rock. Arjun has always been the more ‘metal’ of us two. He’s a huge Meshuggah, Nevermore fan. And Vatsa draws his influences from the simpler things in life like ponies, chocolate and the colour pink. So you can see how all these influences act like ingredients to what’s cooking in the Limit Zero mixing pot (minus the pony. We don’t believe in animal cruelty) and this is what makes our music different, because when we write music, we aren’t limiting ourselves to one single genre, or one single sound. We’ll go wherever the music wants to go.
What was your first concert experience? Do you remember how you felt once the concert was over?
We haven’t really played at a ‘concert’ sized venue. Last year we played 5-6 pub-gigs and those shows were some of the best experiences for all of us. Our first gig was in Bangalore, at one of Obliquity India’s shows. We gave it our best, and the crowd enjoyed it. That’s all that matters! It was quite a frightening experience though. People had only listened to our music online/cds etc and it was finally time to prove our worth. It all went off well and we were thrilled!
What is the kind of gear you use on stage and for recording?
I use an Ibanez RG1527 with Bareknuckle pickups. I ran that through a Line6 Pod X3 Pro with the occasional Boss GE7 and ISP Decimator in the signal chain. That’s about it for me. We generally use the PA system at the venue instead of plugging into the venue’s ampliers. Arjun also uses an Ibanez RG1527 with a Line6 Pod X3. Vatsa uses Pearl Demondrive pedals, and a bunch of cymbals from various brands. That’s our stage setup. As for recording: Keshav Dhar used an Axe Fx for all our guitar tones on the album. The ambient parts were all done on the Pod X3 Pro. And we used my guitar to track the entire album!
Did you grow up wanting to play music, or when did the whole making albums thing come about and how? Can you tell us about your upcoming album?
No, i wasn’t a big music-child growing up. I rarely listened to music until i was in the 5th /6th grade. My brother used to listen to a lot of 80’s rock/metal and I remember him watching a video of Van Halen playing Eruption and i was inspired! I had to be that badass someday. So my first ever taste of music came from 80s rock/metal/hair metal-era. I still enjoy listening to a lot of bands from that era like SkidRow, Van Halen, Europe etc. After that i picked up the guitar, practised, and formed quite a few bands in school/college until Limit Zero was finally created.
Our album “Gravestone Constellations” is out now. You can stream it for free on our soundcloud page or buy it on our bandcamp (digital). If anybody wants to buy the CD, send a mail to [email protected] and we’ll get in touch with you.
I’m not going to talk much about the album, as it’s already out and available to anyone who wants to hear it! But one thing is for sure, working on this album has been a blast. We’ve worked with such fantastic musicians like Sunneith Revankar, Trevor Marks, Siddharth Basrur and even Keshav Dhar had his hand in this album. It’s been nothing short of amazing and we can only hope that our fans enjoy it as much as we have!
What inspires and influences you the most while making music?
Our main inspiration is the music itself. At the end of the day, it’s the music that keeps us going, so i think it’s safe to say the the music is what inspires us the most. As for our influences, we’ve got a underlying sci-fi/space theme going on in all of our tracks. We’re all big sci-fi fans so we love the whole space theme and our lyrics will tell the same story. The music reflects the same idea, we’ve got moments of bliss and moments of in-your-face-rage, which reflects perfectly on life.
What according to you determines a band’s success? What do you think your ‘success’ moment as a band was until now?
To me a band is successful when they’ve finally reached that point in their carreers when they can think to themselves, “We’ve done good!”. Success is not getting your face plastered on a billboard, or getting Pitbull (or any other canine) to do a guest spot on your album. It’s much more than that. Success is that moment when you’re happy with what you’ve done, and when you’re sure you’ve given it you’re best shot. So i think every band has been successful, sometime or the other.
What can we expect from ‘Limit Zero’ in the near future?
You can expect a lot more music from us this year as well as live shows. We are itching to play this album live. So if you want us to perform at a venue, get in touch with us now!
