Band Interview
By LTGTR
Q. What ’s the story behind the
name Solder?
A: Well one day our guitarist’s cable got screwed, so
we decided to be cheap and innovative and make our own cables instead of buying
good quality ones (you know how it is to be a musician in the beginning, always
a little hard on cash). So we did just that got some cables and SOLDERED the
jack and made a week long functional cable. So that’s like the first thing we
did other than eat and drink with each other. That’s where Solder was formed
Q. AND THE CURRENT LINE-UP OF THE BAND IS ?
A: Siddarth Abraham (Vocalist and Acoustic
Guitar), Sylvester Pradeep (Lead
Guitarist and Backing Vocals), Joel Rozario (Drums/Percussion and Backing
Vocals), Akhilesh Kumar (Rhythm Guitarist and Backing Vocals), Samson Philip (Bass Guitarist)
Q. Where did you guys meet? How
long have you know each other ?
A: Well we’ve known each other for quite a long time
about 2 years together. Akhilesh and Joel used to go to college together;
Sylvester, Philip and Joel have met each other through friends a long time
back. I (Siddarth) met Joel and Akhilesh through some other common friends and
well you get the picture. Bangalore is a small city; you’re bound to meet
everybody sometime.
Q. If you had to pick a genre
for you music, what would it be? Who are your major influences?
A: We consider
out music to be ‘Feel Good’ rock though someone once told us everyone thinks
their music is that so we decided we’ll be a little more technical and so our
genre of music is now-Post alternative Pop Rock.
Our inspirations are very varied. You’ll be surprised,
all of us are from different musical backgrounds but we do have a few common
inspirations like Queen, Dave Mathews Band, The Beatles, Junkyard Groove to
name a few
Q. When did you finally decide
to form a band? What inspires you to make music together?
A: We formed the
band in July 2009. We all got together jammed and realized we pretty much got
along with each other and can work with each other to make some great music.
We’ve all wanted to be on stage and share our music with the world, you could
say that’s our inspiration
Q. How do you go about writing
& composing songs?
A: Well everyone
writes in the band, so someone would come up with a progression of chords, we
all sit and write the lyrics together, we add our respective parts to the song
and jam on it, tweak it and voila a song is composed. In Solder, everyone gets
credit for writing and that’s how we like it.
Q. Are there any main themes to
your songs ?
A: Themes are quite varied, Love songs, Inspirational
ones, slightly political ones as well
Q. Which songs do you perform
most frequently? Do you ever play any covers?
A: Well we have
11 originals and 4 in the pipeline so we constantly play the 11 over and over
again so that people get to hear them. We used to play covers initially when we
just started but as the list of originals got bigger we just decided we don’t
need to play covers anymore. We play just two covers, an Elvis and a Beatles
cover and that only if needed (depending on time that is). Yes, we do have a rough set list which varies
according to the mood of the crowd :D!
Q. HOW DO YOU GUYS REHEARSE AND PRACTICE?
A: We’ve been
lucky that way. Our drummer, Joel has a huge ancient house with an outhouse
which he converted into a Jam room. So we are one of those few lucky bands that
have their own jam space. We practice about 4 times a week for 2-4 hours and sometimes 8 depending on the
need again.
Q. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE AS AN UPCOMING
BAND IN INDIA?
A: Hmmm our
biggest challenge would be getting our music across to places in India. And recording. It is so hard to get a decent
recording done in India as the good ones are really expensive but that’s part
and parcel of being a band in India.
Q. HOW LONG HAVE EACH OF YOU BEEN PLAYING YOUR
RESPECTIVE INSTRUMENTS ( leave the vocalist :P) ?
A: Hey, I resent
the vocalist jibe :D! I’ve been singing since I knew I could sing :D! Well
we’ve all been playing our instruments anywhere between 5-10 years I think.
Q. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE
WESTERN MUSIC SCENE IN INDIA?
A: Hahaha! Well Western Music is slowly getting
some foothold in the country especially Original Music which is a huge move
forward culture wise, though there will always be the occasional hang ups with
different organizations and governments trying to ban something or the other.
But the Scene is good overall and only getting better!
Q. FINDING ONE’S OWN SOUND IS A LONG GONE-BY THING IN
TODAY’S GENRE-PLAGUED SCENE . DO YOU GUYS THINK YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SOUND? WHAT
DOES IT TAKE TO FIND YOUR OWN SOUND?
A: Well we think
we have our own sound though it still is getting refined but again that’s a
matter of personal opinion. We might say that we sound different but other
people would say we sound similar to somebody else just to explain to someone
how we would sound. The fact is sounding similar is not the same as sounding
exactly like another band and that’s where the uniqueness comes in.
Q. ANY LAST WORDS?
A: The journey
has been great so far, has its share of ups and downs, but if you ask us if we
were given a choice to choose something else we would say nothing would ever
stop of us from taking this road over and over again :D!
