De’SaT is an Experimental Progressive Metal Band from Bangalore. When asked about the name of the band, they said De’SaT is just the short form of the word De-saturation written in a fancy way!! Haha!! They released their Demo CD’s somewhere in July 2011 which opened up the doors for De’SaT. Read further to celebrate Metal Mayhem and know more about De’SAT!
Eight Octaves: How did you guys come together?
De’SAT : Victor and Srikiran got together and randomly started jamming after Victor’s return from ‘MTV Rock On’ first edition. Later Naveen joined the band that actually got the Metal essence into the band. So De’SaT was officially born during September 2010. And later Avinash (Necro) our growler vocalist joined the band which actually made our sound heavier. Rohan joined the band sometime in 2011. That actually improvised our unique sound. The old bassist Avinash Kaushik had to leave the band since he had to pursue his education. Hence Nithin joined the band that had simple yet matured bass playing skills. And from then on we’ve had this lineup.
Eight Octaves: Where do you draw your influences from? In your opinion which ‘Metal’ Band really started the genre?
De’SAT: Our band has different tastes depending on each Individual musician.
Victor is more into the old school era. Haha !! But he likes new stuff as well. His is inspired by Guitar players like Steve Morse, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Van Helen, Kirk Hammet, Slash, Alexi Lahio etc. Naveen is inspired by guitar players like James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Chuck Schuldiner, Alexi Lahio, Muhammed Suicmez and Pat O’brien and so on. And he is more into the Technical Death Metal side when it comes to musical interest.
Avinash draws his inspiration from Vocalists like Randy Blythe, Corey Taylor, Bruce dickinson, Alexi Lahio, Nergal. He too is more into Technical Death Metal side when it comes to musical interests. And he also listens and trips on some Dubstep and Trance music. Hahaha!!
Nithin is more into the blues/funky types and Old school metal but listens to all kinds of music though. He is inspired by Bassists like Cliff Burton, Steve Harris, Evan Brewer, Jason Newsted, Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Prakash KN (TAAQ).
Rohan is a diehard Children of Bodom fan. Haha!! His musical interests are more into Melodic Death/Power Metal side. He draws his inspirations from keyboard players like Janne Wirman, Tuomas Holopainen, Jordan Rudess, Jens Johansson, Vivaldi etc.
Srikiran listens to a lot Melodic and progressive Metal. His Drumming inspirations are Mike portnoy, Chris Adler, Dave lombardo, Jo Jo mayer, Joey Jordison, George Kollias, Tomas Haake etc.
So as a band of musicians from different musical backgrounds we experiment a lot with our sound with metal as the basic layer, hence the genre Experimental Progressive Metal.
And yeah according to me bands like Black Sabbath, Queen, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc started Heavy Metal. If I have to give one name then it is Black Sabbath.
Eight Octaves: What are your favorite heavy metal bands and why? If you were to evolve heavy metal, how would you do so?
De’SAT : Like mentioned earlier each one of us have different tastes when it comes to music. But as a band we like Lamb of God, Opeth, Symhony-X, As I Lay Dying, Nightwish, Firewind, Cynic, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, Within Temptation, Meshuggah etc and also Indian bands like Demonic Resurrection, Undying Inc, Skyharbor, Bhayanak Maut etc. Sometimes we even do covers from Bodom, as I lay Dying and Lamb of God but of course with our own touch to it. Well Heavy Metal is pretty much evolving day by day with a lot of bands coming up with their own unique sub-genre of Metal. What makes De’SaT different is we experiment and we also have a Hindustani touch to a few of our songs. Mr. Sunil Pariyar who currently resides in Nepal helped us with that Magical touch with his amazing skills on the flute. You will probably get to know about this when our Album is out. And we are pretty much known for our intense head banging and On-stage energy during our live shows. No matter if there is 1 person or 10,000 people in the crowd we still give our best. We are probably the first metal band to come out with a Patriotic song which covers the under-rated beauty of our Nation. Here is the link to the Music Video:
And also a Live gig:
Eight Octaves: can you tell us a little bit about the gear you use. Could you also give us few tips for budding musicians out the trying to get better acoustics?
De’SAT : Victor uses a Cort X-6 Viper Guitar, Boss GT10 digital processor, Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah Pedal, Line 6 Wireless, Fender Cables and Marshall Amplification.
Naveen uses a custom made and a Jackson DT10 Dinky guitars, Floor Pod plus digital processor, Fender Cables, Marshall Amplification.
Nithin uses an Ibanez SR-350 5 string Bass live and a fender 75 Jazz Bass for recording sessions. He also uses a Korg AX-1500 guitar processor as a compressor, Hartke Amplification.
Rohan uses Casio CTK 5000, Yamaha PSR 225 keyboards, Hercules two tier double x stand with a lot of his own customizations, Peavey/Hartke Amplification.
Srikiran uses Pearl Eliminators double bass pedals, Pro mark Sticks, Zildjian and Wuhan Cymbals.
Both Avinash and Victor use standard Shure SM58 microphones.
Be nice to the Sound Engineer and know his name. Haha!! Tune the Guitars before going on stage. If you are using any wireless gadgets make sure you Change the batteries regularly and always have a spare with you. Check if the cables are proper. Check you sound individually and once everything is set check together as a band. Cut down on the sound frequencies if you have feedbacks. Well all the basic stuff.
Eight Octaves: You have won some major competitions across the country including the famous Wildfire at IIT Kharagpur.You have also performed alongside international bands. How different have these performances been?
De’SAT: The win at IIT KGP was a breakthrough for us. I guess it was pretty much the first gig we won with the new line up. And the struggles we faced throughout that journey were miserable right from paying triple the amount to confirm 3 seats for 6 people in train with all our gadgets and luggage to paying all our money to the registration fee at IIT and left with no money for food and we were literally thrown in a small dome as accommodation with other bands. Hahaha!! That pretty much built up a strong bond between all the band members though. Well like they say Hard work always pays off. We also got an Album recording deal at Groove studios Delhi. We also went on to win competitions like Till Deaf do we part – 2012 at BITS Pilani Hyderabad where we got to play alongside Thurisaz from Belgium. The best part was we got a standing appreciation from these dudes who were the judges and amazing compliments back stage. It was also an amazing experience to play alongside some solid Metal/Rock bands from the Country like Sycorax, Turnkey and The Family Cheese. That pretty much opened up our Name outside Bangalore. From then on we’ve won almost all the competitions we have played. And the biggest victory would be Channel [V] Launchpad – 2013. And we’ve got to share stages with some amazing International bands such as Dhishti (Srilanka), Amplifier (Manchester, UK), Xanadoo (Singapore). We were also on the running to open for Slayer in that voting competition. That pretty much gave us good publicity.
Eight Octaves: What does De’saT have in store for this year?
De’SAT: Well we are currently working on our Debut Album ‘WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING’ which is scheduled to be released somewhere by the end of 2013 hopefully. All the recording parts are done except the vocals which is on hold due to a few technical glitches. We should kick start that very soon. We will also be releasing another Music video for our song ‘NOSTALGIA’ before the album launch. We have a lot of college Headliners and music festivals lined up including THE M.A.D FESTIVAL, OOTY. So yeah we have a busy schedule ahead.
Eight Octaves: If you had to convince somebody to buy your album/music, which would be your main argument?
De’SAT: Well like I said we have a very unique sound. The plan is our album will be divided into two parts with one part consisting of all the Heavy songs and the other which would be a mix of Heavy, soft stuff and a bit of Indian Music. So basically the buyer would get to please his ears with a variety of genres in a single album. Also we have some killer artworks done for us from Mr. Danish R.D from Rockology designs. So why not buy it when you get everything in one Album and support the band and the scene?
Eight Octaves: What according to you is the image ‘metal’ music carries in India at present?
De’SAT: Metal music in India is ‘RISING’. Indian Metal bands are hitting the International shores. Many International bands are touring India. The year 2012 was a Breakthrough for Indian Metal with more than 5 or 6 Big International bands playing at different places in India. So that pretty much says what the scene is. Only thing that we lack is unity among Indian Metal Bands. The irritating part is the old school new school fights. Many big musicians piss on upcoming bands which is a sad part. But apart from that I guess every upcoming band has learnt that “If you have to survive as a band, you need to stick together, tag along with musicians of similar genre, make you own fucking scene”.
Eight Octaves: As a band, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
De’SAT: We would have probably released 2 more studio Albums. See more people buying our merchandises. Hit the International scenes and tour with well know bands. Reach out to people all around the globe with our Experimental Music. Playing more live shows with the same Intensity and power we have right now. And still kick some serious Metal Asses.Members of the Band:
Avinash (Necro) – Vocals
Victor Charles – Guitars/Vocals
Naveen Prasad – Guitars
Nithin Iyer – Bass
Rohan SM – Keyboard
Srikiran Gosangi – Drums
