Hoping to carve a niche for themselves with their edgy Hindi rock music, Antariksh, all set to release their debut album Khoj, join us for a chat about what to expect from them. Read on!
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! You’re getting close to launching your debut album Khoj! How excited are you? What are you expecting out of this album?
Antariksh: We are tremendously excited. We hope this album will disrupt the world of Hindi rock, and help us establish a unique identity for hard edgy Hindi rock music.
Eight Octaves: How did you guys first come together as a band?
Antariksh: We (gT, Varun, Mridul) met about a year ago. We knew each other from our previous bands (Feedback, Prestorika, and Decibel) and somehow the time seemed right for a new musical venture. We really wanted to take the Hindi rock route as we felt there was some great work coming out and still a lot that could be done in the space. So we decided to form Antariksh. Vipul, the prodigal drummer joined us later, followed by Raghav on the bass, to complete the band. At present, bass duties are handled by Varun Kapahi.
Eight Octaves: How did Khoj come about? What are the main themes on which it is based?
Antariksh: We hadn’t really taken it up seriously until we released a video for our first single, Dheere Dheere. We were completely overwhelmed by the fantastic response we received, both from the music critics as well as well as common listeners. This is when we started taking the writing process a lot more seriously. It had always been a dream for all of us to put out a coherent piece of work, and as we gained momentum, we decided to push forward on an album.
Khoj is focused on the process of discovering and learning about yourself. The aim of the album is to highlight life situations where we feel strong emotions like doubt, frustration, desire, and guilt, and use those situations to understand ourselves better.
Eight Octaves: Tell us a little about your song writing process.
Antariksh: Very iterative. The band is usually bubbling and full of ideas. Mridul, Varun, or gT come up with an idea/guitar riff/melody; they record a demo and send it across to the entire band.While rehearsing, we all throw forth our ideas which we capture. Mridul then usually gels them together and records a quick demo, which the entire band works on. For the lyrics, Mridul usually writes the first draft after which the band helps in iterating.A lot of cool ideas come actually came and were incorporated while recording the songs (for Khoj).
Eight Octaves: What’s your first single, “Dheere Dheere”, about?
Antariksh: Dheere Dheere is about being trapped. It is about slowly losing your own identity, giving in to peer and societal pressures and becoming one of the million faceless, nameless people out there. It is about forgetting who you are and why your heart beats.
Eight Octaves: You released your second single of the album, “Tum”, a few days ago; tell us about the song. Baiju Dharmajan (ex Motherjane) has played a guitar solo in it – what was it like working with him?
Antariksh: It was fantastic. We were very pleasantly surprised to see how happy and excited he was to play on Tum. We met Baiju at a previous gig where we’d opened for the “Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate” and he was extremely gracious. Tum was the perfect song for him to play something on and we think his solo has taken the song to a whole new level.
Eight Octaves: What was it like working with the other guest artists featuring in the album?
Antariksh: It has all been excellent. Gaurav Chintamani (Advaita) has been a strong force behind the album, giving us a fantastic mix, doing additional production work on Parichay, and Tum, and playing some awesome guitars on Aashayein. Sid Mathur did an awesome job on the bass for the same song. Kartik Dhar (Nasya) helped uplift Tum with some great string sections. We are very grateful to have all these talented people involved in Khoj.
Eight Octaves: You spent a lot of time together for this album – recording, doing photoshoots, etc. How was the experience?
Antariksh: Crazy. First thing, I think none of us realized it would be so much work! Between co-ordinating recording, sitting in the studio and mixing, pushing to get everything done on time, to printing CD’s and designing the album inlays, it has been a rollercoaster ride. But I think we are all very proud of the final output. It just makes everything worth it.
Eight Octaves: Any personal favourites from the album?
Antariksh: Mridul – Dheere Dheere
Varun – Aur and Tum
Vipul – Aur and Na Jaane Kyun
gT – Aisa Hi Hota Hai and Nishabd
Eight Octaves: Who are the musical influences of the band? Are there any Indian artists you look up to?
Antariksh: We love Shankar Ehsaan Loy and AR Rahman. Lots of the new Bollywood music (Vishal and Shekhar, Ram Sampath) etc. is really nice too. Otherwise, most of our influences come from English prog-rock, of the likes of Rush, Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation and Porcupine Tree.
Eight Octaves: What’s next on the cards for Antariksh?
Antariksh: We are playing a launch show at the Blue Frog in Delhi, on the 8th of September. After that, a tour and lots of shows to promote the album!! J
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INTRODUCING THE BAND MEMBERS
Antariksh is:
Mridul Ganesh (Vocals/Guitars) – The front man of the band is renowned for his brilliant singing, guitar playing and music production abilities. A singer with a great vocal range, Mridul can mesmerize you with his singing in English, Hindi and even Spanish. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, with years of experience in Management Consulting, Mridul is also known for his strong work ethic, affinity for ‘chai’, and a sharp sense of humour. Mridul also directed the music for a Bollywood movie, ‘The Bet’, released in 2010.
Varun Rajput (Guitars/Backing Vocals) – Founder and guitar player of the band, he loves to try his hand on various instruments, record and produce music. Varun is best known for his work with progressive rock bands (Feedback, Under Siege) and folk-fusion band Nasya. He also directed the music for the Bollywood movie ‘The Bet’, with Mridul. Other than being a versatile musician, he is also an engineer from DCE, a former Management Consultant, and a state-level hockey player.
Gurtej Singh (Guitars/Backing Vocals) – Guitarist. Composer. Lyricist. With over 10 years of guitar playing under his belt, Gurtej aka gT was primarily linked with the Delhi-based metal band Prestorika. gT has spent the last few years composing and recording tracks for his solo album titled Inertia, before founding Antariksh with Varun and Mridul. gT is also an expert level Flash/Flex developer and an experienced graphic designer.
Vipul Malhotra (Drums) – Though just 20 years of age and the youngest in the band, Vipul has been playing drums avidly for the last 10 years. Self taught, Vipul believes in versatility and focuses on being the groove master and backbone of the band. Although a hard working musician, he ensures that the atmosphere in the band remains pleasant and fun. He is currently pursuing a B.Tech in Computer Science from NSIT Delhi, and is a semi-pro graphic designer.
