It was around the end of December 2011. Bangalore saw the wrath of a new Old School Death Metal outfit, with a twist. Dhwesha impressed one and all with their original set of mind blasting songs and never looked back again. After a very successful 2012, the band is pitched to play in the inaugural Doom Over Bangalore gig on 22nd of June alongside Kryptos, Dying Embrace and Bevar Sea. We caught up with guitarist Somesha Sridhara for a quick interview:
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! Good to have you on board with us today. How have you been?
Somesha: We’re doing good, thank you.
Eight Octaves: Tell us about the early days of Dhwesha. How did it all start and what made you choose your vernacular language over English?
Somesha: Ajay and I had a band during our Pre University course. Just like a lot of other bands that start at this time, our band lasted for about two years during the course, after which we formed Dhwesha. Well, we just thought we’d try writing a song in our language to see how it sounds and recorded the first version of our song “Yuddhabhumi”. Eventually, on coming up with a few more songs we realized that it fit perfectly well with our sound.
Eight Octaves: Did you ever feel that singing in a vernacular language affected your potential fan base reach somehow? Or have you ever felt that singing in English would have given you more exposure?
Somesha: I think it rarely makes any difference to the listener especially when it comes to Death Metal/Black Metal. As long as the riffs and the overall sound of the band deliver the atmosphere intended and have what it takes to keep the listener hooked on to it, things work. Let’s say, Rippikoulu’s demos, do I understand the lyrics ? No. Do I like the music ? Yes!
Eight Octaves: Tell us about your song-writing process. How do you go about composing a new song? Is it the music that comes first or is the lyrics written first and the song is made on it?
Somesha: Yes, it is the music that comes first. It starts with one riff and eventually the whole song is built around it. Most of our songs so far have a distinct Intro, Verse and Chorus. So I’d say the song writing usually begins with the Intro/Chorus riff. Once this is done, Ajay comes up with the lyrics for the song depending on how it sounds or sometimes we start with the intention of having the song talk about a particular theme.
Eight Octaves: If I’m not wrong, the “pay to play gig” controversy started when a certain event management company asked you to pay to play in their gig. Can you tell us if brief what exactly happened?
Somesha: Nobody asked us to “Pay to Play”. They wanted us to headline the event. On getting to know that other bands at the show have to pay to play, I did not bother about it anymore.
Eight Octaves: Okay, that’s a confusion somewhat sorted out.One thing that surprised many was the fact that you released your debut EP – Yuddhabhoomi on cassette rather than CD or online release. Any particular reason behind that?
Somesha: Well, I like listening to music on tapes and I still keep buying tapes whenever I find them. Most of the bands we listen to have had their demos and earlier albums released on tapes and this is something we wanted to do from a very long time, even before we had a full line up.
Eight Octaves: You’re going on stage with Dying Embrace, Bevar Sea and Kryptos during Doom Over Bangalore and it seems you will be playing an elongated set of 45 minutes. What will be your setlist like? Any new songs to be debuted during the gig?
Somesha: We are really looking forward to Doom Over Bangalore and I think we will be playing almost all of our songs and maybe a cover. We have two songs which are not on the demo and we have played them live only twice till date. So, they are on the setlist for sure.
Eight Octaves: You guys are scheduled to record some new materials. What can we expect from you this time? Any change in sound or maybe experimentations here and there?
Somesha: It will be our first full length which will have all the songs on the demo as well as a few new ones. The biggest change ofcourse is that these will be recorded in a studio as opposed to the home recording we did on our demo. Yes, there will be a few changes in the songs on the demo, mostly with the arrangement, tempo, and the drum patterns.
Eight Octaves: Any plans to tour other cities in the near future? Maybe to support your next release?
Somesha: The first city that comes to my mind is Kolkata. The way the gigs are being done there and all the brilliant bands coming up, I think it’s the perfect place for us to play a show. We will think about where else we would want to play once we’re done with recording. Maybe, Mumbai too.
Eight Octaves: Lastly, in the next 5 years where do you see Dhwesha standing? Maybe try for Wacken?
Somesha: Probably a couple of releases, songs with lyrics in English, outstation gigs, etc. I’m not sure about playing at Wacken. Haha. I’d love to go watch the bands that play there though. I guess we would be more interested in getting to play at shows like Killtown Death Fest.
Dhwesha – Hoy! Sala Live –
