Hailing from Bangalore, Djinn & Miskatonic have been around since 2010. Officially starting to perform from 2011, they have gained a steady fan base and created a reputation for themselves in the music circle. Performing in various underground gigs as well as mainstream competitions, Djinn & Miskatonic are all set to kick off the inaugural edition of Echoes From Beneath. We caught up with bassist Jayaprakash and newly joined guitarist Sriram, for a little chat:
Eight Octaves: Tell us about the band a bit. You were formed as a 3-piece band, later changed to a 4-piece outfit. But what started it all?
JP: The desire to make music.
Sriram: And Nyarlathotep, of course.
Eight Octaves: Any specific reason behind the transition from 3-piece to a 4-piece band?
JP: We finally found the right guitarist for the band.
Sriram: It started off as an idea to have me do guest guitars on Djinn & Miskatonic’s track for the Motörhead tribute. As it turned out, before we even jammed on the Motörhead song, I had already started learning 2 of Djinn’s songs. It was just a good fit. We all enjoyed certain preferences in music, literature and movies so it just seemed like a logical step.
Eight Octaves: Coming to your music, tell us a bit about your composing process. How much of it has changed after the transition from a 3-piece to a 4-piece band?
JP: I still compose all the music. Lyrics are by either me or Gautham, the singer. Having an additional member has meant that the final arrangements benefit from more layers and a new set of ideas.
Sriram: For now, it is primarily the process of getting the guitars to fit into existing Djinn material, and well, there’s quite a bit of it. 2 years’ worth of songs, to be precise. Once I have finished adding guitar parts to the current material, we’ll start jamming on some new songs together.
Eight Octaves: If I’m not wrong, your EP is mastered and ready for production and distribution. What can we expect from the EP? Any surprise songs that haven’t been debuted live as of now?
JP: First of all, it’s now going to be a full-length rather than an EP. You can expect around 43 minutes of crushing doom metal. We hope people will enjoy it – we’ve worked hard on capturing definitive performances and Premik’s mix has exceeded our wildest expectations.
Sriram: Yup! The album is ready for release and we will be making announcements regarding the release over the next month or so. What to expect? 40+ minutes of slow, dark, heavy, riff-driven doom metal. And visions of Innsmouth and Cimmeria. We have played all of the songs from the album live at some point but the album versions have a lot of additional layers to them. We are extremely pleased with the way the album sounds. It was great working with someone like Premik who made the effort to understand what the band wanted to sound like. The songs sound quite massive and it’s going to be fun to see what people think of it.
Eight Octaves: Your views on the current rivalry of old school and new school tribes? You have performed with some of the bands tagged under the new school category, so from a musician’s point of view; how much sense does the rivalry make?
JP: Music’s music. I’ll play alongside a samba band if I think I’ll get a good audience, one that will respond to our music. I have a personal preference for older metal, being an old man, but to each his or her own. Scene wars often seem larger than the actual scene. People seem to have all the time in the world for inconsequential rivalries. I suspect it’s all about insecurity and nagging self-doubt.
Sriram: It’s a band’s job to be play music and be good at it. Whatever their music of choice is. I may not like the kind of music another band plays but I don’t hate them for playing it (unless you play jazz. Then fuck you, you wanker.). And hey, the new school bands are bringing the kiddies with money into shows. Hopefully we can convert a few Djent fans into becoming Djinnt fans along the way, haha!
JP: I like jazz.
Eight Octaves: After Echoes From Beneath, you head off to Mumbai to play in the upcoming edition of Metal At the Tavern on 8th of September. Preparations are at full swing then?
JP: We’re undergoing rigorous fitness training by a former Mossad operative. I’m filing my teeth into sharp points. Gautham is building cybernetic torture engines. Sriram and Siddharth have been taking lessons in wine tasting. Everyone’s really excited.
Sriram: We still don’t have a skull for our photoshoot. It’s complete pandemonium out here!
Eight Octaves: Since we are talking about your upcoming show in Mumbai, are there any other cities on your radar as of now? Or any city you guys want to perform in specifically?
JP: We’d like to play in any city that will have us.
Sriram: Sid & I are very keen on playing Amsterdam. For the….uhh, “flower gardens”.
Eight Octaves: Lastly, what are you expecting from the Echoes from Beneath gig?
JP: A massive round of applause and a horde of new fans.
Sriram: A few people singing the words to songs we wrote, throwing hands of doom in the air and shouting praises to Dagon. And Sid is bringing fire dancers, I hear. Going to be a ripper of a show!
Motorhead cover video:
Djinn & Miskatonic are all set to perform in the inaugural edition of Echoes From Beneath. The band will be the first act to perform, kicking off the gig with some slow, sludgy doom metal. Here are some fun facts about the band which most of you wouldn’t know about:
1. Their first gig was at a show called Warp Zone, a month before Trend Slaughter Fest II.
2. The band has been around since 2010, but only started gigging in 2011.
3. Bands they would like to cover include Reverend Bizarre, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Joy Division, The Beatles, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
4. Their drummer has also been a singer and a keyboardist in his previous bands.
5. Jayaprakash also a horror author with short stories published internationally.
6. None of them are psychic 😛
7. Most of them are staunch enemies of stale custard 😀 8. They smile too much.
