Think of a giant boy in the sky, with just one cyclopean eye for a head, surrounded by clouds and looking at a lighthouse by the sea. If that’s taking you on a trip, you might as well have some music to go with it, specifically progressive/alternative/avant-garde metal band Orchid.
The band, comprising vocalist Kaushal L.S., guitarist Vinay Prasad, drummer Mayur Nanda and bassist Rahil Ahmed, completes two years this September, having won over the entire Bangalore metal scene for music that’s not just technical, not just dense, but exceptionally unique.
You guys play music because
“The idea is this.. Constance, Evolution, Expansion, Creation, Adaptation,” says Ahmed, while adding that the band doesn’t prefer to compartmentalize itself into progressive rock or metal.
You’ll still remember the time when
Orchid opened for Australian alternative/progressive rock band Dead Letter Circus at the latter’s first India show at BITS Pilani in November last year. Ahmed says the experience of being there was just as important as the gig they played. The bassist also throws in the spoils from their victories in and around the college band competition circuit, including National Law School’s Strawberry Fields 2012. “Something about playing to Bangalore audiences. You don't know what to expect. It's crazy, sometimes agitating but loads of fun. But it all ended up well. Kaushal being the best vocalist and all..”
Toughest part of being a young band
Says Ahmed: “When you first start out, you don't know how people will take your music. When you start getting somewhere, there are bound to be already established corn-holers out there who'd put you down without even giving you a fair listen.
It's a vicious cycle, but it's a fun vicious cycle when you get people to shut up and embrace music on a higher realm.”
Story behind the name
Ahmed invokes Mystic Flower, prog metal band Opeth's first album, and the Dragon Slaying sword in the Eragon series, before giving up. “I don't know you guys pick a reason for us,” he says.
Musicians that inspire you
Opeth, Gojira, Tool, Necrophagist, Decapitated, Animals as Leaders, Oceansize, Maybeshewill, The Contortionist, Between the Buried and Me, among at least 50 other bands.
Compositions over covers
Says Ahmed: “All of us have covered a lot of those bands, individually. But as a band, it's a little difficult to come to conclusions as to what to cover on stage. Also, it's time consuming.
We'd rather be writing something new than covering something. I only cover stuff to get an idea of what and how the artist plays, not because I might be in love with the song. When you create something and someone else likes it? THAT is an achievement.”
Follow Orchid on >www.facebook.com/Orchidin
