Antariksh launched their new single ‘Dheere Dheere’ to much applause. Eight Octaves gets a chance to see how life post the video has been.
EO: When did the band form? How did it start?
Antariksh: We formed Antariksh in the October of 2012. Mridul and I played together for a progressive rock band called Feedback during their college days. while GT (Gurtej Singh) was rocking it out with Prestorika. Fans of similar kind of music, we’d been contemplating forming a band for a while. So when Mridul came back from the US late last year, we started writing music, jamming, and thus formed Antariksh!
Vipul turned up a year later through a common friend–he liked the direction we were taking. We gelled really well, and voila – we had a drummer! We are still in the process of auditioning a few bass players as this interview is happening—should hopefully have one soon.
EO: Why form a band now?
Antariksh: Well right timing, I suppose, Everyone was motivated and excited to do it now so now was the best time!
EO: What made you choose the genre you did?
Antariksh: Well we really wanted to incorporate Hindi music into our progressive rock style as this was an unexplored style. Also, hindi music is more accessible, so we really wanted to see if we could maintain our style as well as create accessible music; music that we as well as our listeners will love.
EO: What do you guys enjoy doing in your free time?
Antariksh: GT and Vipul enjoy online gaming, coding in Flash/Flex and designing. I am a semi-pro hockey player and Mridul likes practicing karate.
EO: How much has life changed since recording ‘Dheere Dheere’?
Antariksh: Well things have become exciting. It is great to see the response that the song has received. It shows us that we can tread the line between mainstream and experimental music. We have learnt about the good effects a video can have for your song! Hopefully, we’ll be out with a few new ones soon.
EO: Where does the band see itself in 5 years?
Antariksh: Well, we really want to get out there and give our music to the world. There are endless possibilities and options.
“For now, we really want to focus on creating more music, gigging as much as possible, and reaching out to as many people as we can! Let’s see, maybe we’ll be playing across the world in 5 years. Fingers crossed.”
EO: Your idols?
GT: Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Clapton.
Vipul: Tool, King Crimson, Periphery, Dream Theater, Led Zeppelin.
Mridul : Dream Theater, Imogen Heap, Pain of Salvation, The Dear Hunter
Varun: Pain of Salvation, Dream Theater, Queen, Coke Studio
Antariksh is:
Mridul Ganesh: Vocals
Varun Rajput: Guitars/Backing Vocals
Gurtej Singh: Guitars/Backing Vocals
