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Sledging its way to success
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One of the best rock bands in the State, `Sledge' is planning to bring out an album by year-end.
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POWER OF FOUR: Sledge brought the true essence of heavy metal to the forefront.
ANYBODY WHO had visited or were near One Flight Down, the pubOWN , recently, would probably have had a hard time coming to terms with the presence of guys clad in black. It looked like a vampire convention minus the blood sucking. `Tremors' was the name of the show and the seismograph went crazy in the anticipation and the consequent havoc wreaked by Sledge.
One of Hyderabad's premiere rock bands, Sledge brought to the forefront the true essence of rock's evil twin, metal music. Starting with a song by Sepultura, the undisputed fathers of heavy metal, Sledge had the crowd in a rabid state of hyperactivity. "This is a very serious hobby for us," says Avinash, the singer of the band.
Formed in June of 1998, Sledge has Avinash on the vocals, Anjan on bass guitar, Suman on the drums and Prabhu on the lead guitar. They draw their influences from the likes of Sepultura, Slayer who happen to be the gods of speed, metal and Rage Against The Machine (RATM). Avinash says that the songs that they sing and write are all about the messed society that we live in. "We're just not happy with the system," he explains. The idea is simple: everywhere you look, you meet two-faced people with hypocrisy being their staple diet. "On the other hand, it's really nice to see so many rock bands coming up," says Avinash. Being the runners-up at the rock fest at IIT Delhi and NSIT, Sledge also holds the distinction of being the only band from the State to play at the Death Fest in Mumbai last year, where only eight bands from all over the country get to play.
In a country where heavy metal is buried under the eternal oceans of pop music and boy/girl bands, eking a living out of it is something, which is a tad bit difficult. Avinash works in a call centre, Anjan is a managing head at HCL, Prabhu runs a music school and Suman is pursuing his MBA.
Serious work to pay for a very serious hobby seems to be the modus operandi for Sledge. When asked where he saw the band heading, Avinash said that they had recorded the demos of four songs and were planning an album by the end of this year. Throatlatch, the recording company that brought to the shelves the album by Metakix, another metal band of considerable standing, will be in-charge of Sledge's entry into the big leagues. "If we get the record deal, then this hobby becomes our profession," is Sledge's bottom line.
"I don't get no satisfaction," said Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones once upon a time. Well, satisfaction was handed out in truckloads recently and the best part of it was that it was absolutely free.
KASHIF ALI
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Metro Plus
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