How did the band start?
The band started off as a two-man studio project by Varun Raj and Munz in 2008, called “Ultimatyum”. After roping in Sushin , Prayag (drums), Rinoy (guitars), and Shaib (bass), The Down Troddence, as a full-fledged band, became a reality. Due to the departure of Shaib because of personal reasons, Nezer came in to take over bass duties. Following the release of their first single ‘Death Vanity’, Prayag was replaced by Ganesh on the drums.
The band got its first big boost with the release of the music video for their single ‘Shiva’. The video received the Best Music Video award at the IndieGo South Asian Music Awards 2011 besides Best Vocalist for Munz and Best Instrumentalist for Ortniavis. After a while, the band went had a short hiatus during which time the various band members shifted base to other cities. Rinoy also quit the band and was replaced by Advaith (of Chennai-based band Iterate), who is also based in Bangalore.
Why did you choose this name for your band?
Even while jamming out our very first song, we were pretty clear about what we wanted to talk about through our music. The world and all of its machinations, when seen through the eyes of anyone who has ever felt oppressed and hemmed in by the restrictions and obstacles this world pits against you. And we wanted to be their voice and hence the name.
Tell me about the genre of music you play.
It is important for any band to have a unique identity in terms of its sound and overall presentation. At present what we feel best describes our music is an in-your-face thrash metal sound layered with folk music elements specific to Kerala. Music related to Folk art forms such as Theyyamwere was the earliest form of musical education that we received and we wanted to stick to those roots, while maintaining a progressive attitude towards composition.
Influences…
Musically, everyone in the band has their own tastes and style of playing. But all of us take care not to be bogged down by one particular genre. We like to think of the vast body of music out there as a perennial pool to draw inspiration from, whether it’s stuff like Cannonball Adderley, Pandit Ravi Shankar, or Lamb of God. Our song writing process revolves around mutual collaboration and understanding. Ideas are pooled and we make a conscious effort to pick the best ones without any bias.
Tell us about your performances.
Our most important performance till now would be opening for Cypher 16 in the Bangalore leg of their Indian tour. Besides, we have played shows in almost all the major South Indian cities — Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and many in Kerala. We have even been lucky enough to play in remote locations in Kerala. Getting close to 500 people to come watch your music is nothing short of amazing for a band of our size right now. Our aim for the next few years is to play more shows up North.
Coming up…
We are working on our debut album which has been our dream. We decided that we had to get Keshav of Skyharbor to produce it. All of us took a month off in October to prepare for the album. We wrapped up the entire recording process in six days. The CD should be out in a couple of months.
Listen to the band @ >reverbnation.com/downtroddence
