Rhythmic spell

Krishna of Blind Image, who endorses for Soultone Cymbals and Sonor, is all set to take metal music to new heights. B. Siva traces the drummer's musical journey.

August 03, 2011 04:13 pm | Updated 04:17 pm IST

Krishna, drummer, Blind Image.Photo: Special arrangement.

Krishna, drummer, Blind Image.Photo: Special arrangement.

In a conservative city like Chennai, not all dreamers get to fulfil their dreams. Very few are passionate enough to chase their dreams and even fewer who take on deadlines from office alongside their dreams. Meet Krishna, the drummer of Blind Image, who is living his dream.

What inspired you to become a drummer?

I guess I was an angry kid. Too many things were happening around me when I was a kid/teen at home, so I needed some distraction and channelling. My mom who has been my mentor told me that I need to channel my anger productively. For some reason I was able to do that with drums. She made me learn the mridangam for over six years. I am glad of that since it made drumming so much easier.

The first inspiration actually came from Lars Ulrich of Metallica. The song Dyers eve has phenomenal drumming and I loved watching him live and liked his energy and presence. My grandfather got me my first kit. That's where it all began. I dedicate all my achievements to him.

“You are making too much noise!” Every drummer would have grown up hearing that. How did you manage?

Ha ha! I get that all the time. I used to jam with my band in a room right next to my grandmother's pooja room. My granddad used to pull out the fuse to cut the power, so that I'd stop playing. But, when I started earning, I actually converted half of our balcony in to a small room and soundproofed it. Nothing flashy but it serves the purpose. This is where Blind Image wrote both our albums and where we are currently writing our third.

Major influences?

Nick Menza, Martin Lopez, Portnoy, Dave Weckl, Gavin Harisson, Carter Beauford, Michael Struggis, Chris Adler, Joey Jordison, John Blackwell, Benny Greb, Steve Gad, Richard Christie, Ian Paice, Vinnie Colaiuta and Jojo Mayer. Every guy in this list is so unique and has personally inspired me so much at different levels with different things.

A professional employee during day and a musician at night. How juggle the two ?

Dedication, sacrifice and perseverance. Honestly I love balancing both; I have been doing this from my college days. You have what you want and you have what your folks want from you; I chose to do both. It was hard initially but it taught me time management.

Why did you choose Soultone Cymbals?

This I can explain only when you hear these awesome sounding cymbals. I am not over rating them. They are all handpicked and handmade... and the people in Soultone, my artist manager Mya, are all very supportive and caring about their artists. They never delay anything either. I don't see myself playing any other cymbals other than Soultone.

You now endorse Sonor...

All credit goes to my buddy Shailendra of Shruti Musicals. He worked on this so hard for so long with proper follow up. Also thanks to Onstage for supporting me with the same. And what you can expect from this is my awesome new drum kit, which will be arriving soon. I am getting the Sonor SQ2 custom made drum system. I get to hand pick everything in this feature. Right from the wood choice, the finish, the heads and even every bolt and nut. I can't wait to get my hand on this hottie.

With the Endorsements in hand, what kind of setup are you looking at?

I am actually getting the SONOR SQ2 - custom made drum system. I get to hand pick everything in this feature. Right from the wood choice, the finish, the heads and even every bolt and nut. I am going to be having an all beech wood kit - with vintage shell and Remo ambassador coated head and a emperor clear resonator head on my 10 inch tom, 12 inch tom and 14 and 16 inch floor tom. With Benny Greb - 13 inch signature snare as my main snare and a 10 inch pop as well. My kick drum is going to be 22 inch with power stroke batter head and emperor resonator. The kit is going to be a walnut root finish. I have proposed few other options as well. Let's see. I cant wait to get my hand on this hotty.

You met another Sonor endorsee recently; the legendary Benny Greb himself. How was that experience?

Awesome; one of the best moments of life. Benny Greb is so down-to-earth. I talked to him for more than half an hour on different techniques. It was a mind blowing learning experience.

What kind of changes can we expect in your drumming?

I play what is required for the music and I like to make the drum lines sound contemporary and to add my signature to it. I am a big fan of jazz although I can't do jazz drumming much. But I always like to incorporate that in the heavy music that we play. I don't force it in. If it feels right, I will do it. One thing you can expect for sure is better live drums sound during live gigs and in studio.

What's next in your list of ‘things to be done'?

More practice hours. Do justice to my sponsors by promoting them. Take Blind Image to the next level. Trying to implement some nice business concepts of mine at work. Buy another bike, high end may be. Travel a lot. Live a life!

What's in store for Blind Image this year?

Great right now. We were the first Asian band to be signed by the Flaming Arts Agency, Europe. Our new manager Jon Knight is doing a great job. We have concrete plans for 2011 with a new album to record; our first International tour, which we will be announcing shortly; of course we play more music.

Favourite playlist

Holy wars by Megadeth; The four horsemen by Metallica; Dreams of our fathers by Dave Mathews; Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai; and Wonderful slippery thing by Guthrie Govan. Of late I've been tripping on samba rhythms and improvisations that I keep playing between songs during jam. This irritates my bandmates. But they are good guys, they will put up with it.

Siva is an Engineering graduate and a freelance writer.

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