How did the band come together? Bevar Sea…
Srikanth Panaman started jamming with a few like-minded people who wanted to play dirty downtempo music, and the seeds of a few songs were planted during those sessions. Most of the initial line up eventually left town for further studies. Around that time, Rahul Chacko had moved to Bangalore, and since he had already been doing some overdubs for the demos while in Chennai, it was an easy transition for him to join the band. After a while, Deepak Raghu returned from his stint at LAMA, and we finally had a drummer again. When Ganesh Krishnaswamy joined the band, he came up with the lyrics and vocal lines for the songs and gave them new character. Avinash Menon was the last piece of the puzzle, and replaced JP, who had decided to focus full-time on another band of his Djinn and Miskatonic.
What genre of music do you play?
Doom metal which is traditionally slow and heavy riff-based music. Stoner doom can get a little more up-tempo, but it’s still firmly rooted in the love of the riff.
What are the challenges for local bands like yourselves?
Thanks to the paucity of good gig opportunities, we mostly rely on the gigs we organise ourselves. Getting the gear we want is also usually a laborious and expensive process, since we either have to ship it from abroad or pay the big mark up while buying it locally. Thankfully, there are a few outlets that are stocking up on some good amps and pedals and offering reasonable prices for them, so it’s not all bad anymore.
What are some of your memorable performances?
The debut gig was a bit disastrous in terms of performance, but it was Ganesh’s experience that really held the show together and helped to win over the crowd. In terms of importance, opening for Orphaned Land on our very first show, and getting a positive reaction from the crowd, that was pretty huge. Strawberry Fields 2011 was our first big stage gig and that was the first time we had to figure out how to work a bigger area than usual. With club gigs, we usually have about enough space to stand in one place and rock out, but big stages offer way more mobility, so it was a learning experience. At Bangalore Open Air 2012 is where we were most confident as a band. Also, it was total fun to play alongside our friends from Albatross, Kryptos and Dying Embrace and not to mention opening for legends like Kreator.
Tell us about the latest EP you are working on.
Well, we don’t really have the EP out yet. The idea was to take a few songs we play that don’t really fit with our normal vibe, like Where There’s Smoke, There’s a Pyre and Astronomy Domine, and put them on an EP, so our second album would feature songs more in usual Bevar Sea territory, like Sleeping Pool. Anyway, we’ll probably record the songs for the EP sometime later this year, and see how it goes then. Our full-length album just came out late last year, and that’s still getting reviewed abroad and getting great response, so I think it’s a little too early for the EP as well.
Listen to their music @ >bevarsea.bandcamp.com/
Founded : 2008
Genre : Heavy Old School Rock / Doom Metal
Current line up : Srikanth Panaman (guitars and compositions); Rahul Chacko (guitars and artwork); Deepak Raghu (drums); Ganesh Krishnaswamy (vocals and lyrics); Avinash Menon (bass)
Biggest moment : Opening for legendary bands like Kreator & Anathema
