Introduce the band: / Introductions:
Akhilesh: Bunch of fun, energetic, completely awesome guys playing awesome fun, energetic and feel good music!
Joel: We are Solder: experience feel good rock at its best!!
Sylvester: Hi, we are Solder.
Philip: Well, we’re a bunch of like-minded people put together, who feel making music is one of the most awesome things to do… and we love playing it live n loud!!
Siddarth: Joel Rozario (drums and backing vocals), Sylvester Pradeep (lead guitarist and backing vocals), Akhilesh Kumar (rhythm guitarist and backing vocals), Samson Philip (bass guitarist) and I’m the lead vocalist and play the acoustic guitar. Someone has to introduce the band so people know whose who!
How did your Band come to be? / Your beginnings?
Akhilesh: Brought together by the power and drive to create music that anyone and everyone will listen to…Solder came together.
Siddarth: Akhi is quite the drama king, so you can ignore him at times. Solder was formed by a bunch of like-minded guys who want to make the world a happy place through music.
Joel: We are a bunch of guys brought together by music, each having his individual musical likes and inspirations but united by the fact that we collectively are here to make some good music. Some of us are college-mates and some of us played in rival bands but at the end of the day: WE ARE SOLDER!
Sylvester: a mix and match of different incidents from the past so many years, all of them collectively brought us together.
Philip: we all had mutual friends and well fate somehow got us together.
What are your influences? / Your influences?
Akhilesh: Queen, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Poison, Petra, Ritchie Sambora, Mr. Big, the Beatles, Dave Matthews Band, and a lot more.
Siddarth: More like inspirations as our music isn’t really influenced by anybody in particular. We all have varied tastes. I in particular grew up on Elvis, the Beatles, Jim Reeves, AC/DC, and then moved on to listening to Dave Matthews and Audioslave.
Joel: No influences, but inspirations include Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Dave Matthews Band, the Kooks, the Fleet Foxes, and the Killers.
Sylvester: As a guitarist, my influences starts from the roots of contemporary music, the Blues. I have been truly inspired by Jimi Hendrix and also motivated by several other guitarists like Slash, Joe Satriani, Edge, Derek Trucks, John Mayer, and many others. Some good guitarists from our own backyard too – Bruce [Springsteen], Warren [Haynes], and many others.
Philip: Queen, Dave Matthews Band, Mr. Big, and a bit of classic rock.
Tell us about your Favourite Original. How did you go about composing it?
Akhilesh: NO such thing as a favourite original; we love all our songs, just wanna play them all, all the time!
Siddarth: These are those times when you can listen to Akhi! As he rightfully put it, we don’t have a favourite original. Each one is somewhat different from the other and is meant to touch anybody and everybody.
Joel: We love all our originals as if they were our children, just as any parent with more than one child will tell you: we love them all equally and unconditionally!
Sylvester: Hate to be redundant but I just have to agree with the rest.
Philip: First of all, we like all our originals! And we sit together and write our music.
How do you manage work and music?
Akhilesh: I work around my music; right now I have a guitar school and that helps in more ways than one.
Siddarth: I teach kick-boxing three times a week, which gives me plenty of time to concentrate on music. Music is given first priority and everything comes after that, so when that is clear you just make time.
Joel: Where there is a will there is a way!
Sylvester: Managing work and music is quite a struggle, I must say, as I own a small company which deals with all kinds of fine arts and visual arts. It sometimes becomes hard to give time for both, since both these forms are equally satisfying but soon I will become a full time musician and run my company successfully.
Philip: Well, music is always a priority since I freelance as an audio engineer!! So it kind of works out.
Your philosophy on music?
Akhilesh: Music is something that I need to feel before I can play it. In all our songs, there is a lot of feel and its awesome because it not only helps me play them in the best possible way I can, but it also let’s me see the crowd and fans respond and that gives me an immense kick. And playing it with my friends who share the same passion: well, that’s a bonus.
Siddarth: Music is a language that everyone understands and that I strongly believe no matter what you play or what kind of genre. If you love what you play, others will too (eventually)!
Joel: Simple philosophy: music is something you should feel as a musician and you know you are a good musician when you’re able to make the crowd feel what you do!
Sylvester: I strongly believe music has to be taken seriously. Though it is fun to play it must not lose its essence: music is a strong element that can be used to communicate, converse, reach out, reach in, heal, and sometimes even hurt. It can evoke different emotions in different people. We are lucky to be able to understand music and be a part of one of the strongest forms of nature. We should just be thankful and give our best to learn more and give back to music.
Philip: Music means everything to me: right from the time I wake up, everything I do revolves around music. And I teach music too… So, yeah.
A message to your fans and other bands?
Akhilesh: The response we get from people is amazing. A big thank you to all our fans who’ve supported us through our journey so far and have helped us in someway or the other!! As for other bands: guys, keep doing what you’re doing, and if u believe in it enough to fight for it, you’ll go places.
Siddarth: Other than for ourselves, we play for the fans and anybody who just wants to feel happy and alive, and who loves good music! I’d really like to thank all those who’ve been with us so far, and who will be joining us in the future because, hey, the journey is the most fun part. To the other bands: it isn’t the easiest road to take but it definitely is the most fun and the most happening one. Do what you love and keep at it, and you will see things work out.
Joel: At our fans: WE LOVE YOU!! Thanks for all the support. At other bands all over India: LET’S GIG TOGETHER!!
Sylvester: We love you and thanks for the support. Learn all kinds of music to better understand the sound you are looking for. Appreciating all forms of music is the best way to get better.
Philip: Just do what you like doing. Never give up! It’s all worth it!!
Also check out:
http://www.facebook.com/SolderMusic
http://www.reverbnation.com/solder
http://www.youtube.com/siddarthabraham
http://soundcloud.com/siddarthabraham
And coming really soon
