L os Angeles progressive metal group Intronaut were just about breaking into the American and European scene when they got an unlikely call. It was 2009, and the Great Indian Rock festival (GIR), curated by Rock Street Journal , was reaching its peak.
The next year, they would bring down UK djentsters Tesseract and Swedish metal giants Meshuggah. But GIR’s first move was to bring down the hottest names in the circuit to India, and Intronaut was one of them. Performing in New Delhi and Kolkata, the band rode in high on their two albums – Void and Prehistoricisms .
Following their India shows, the band – comprising frontman Sacha Dunable, bassist Joe Lester, drummer Danny Walker and guitarist Dave Timnick – continued its upward climb.
Their brand of sludgy, dense and climactic progressive metal on albums such as Valley of Smoke and Habitual Levitations led them to open for the genre’s greatest – from Tool to Cynic to Animals As Leaders over the years.
Now, on the back of their 2015 release The Direction of Last Things and nearly eight years since their last visit, Intronaut returns to India to perform at the Indian Institute of Science’s annual festival Pravega. Ahead of their performance, we spoke to Sacha Dunable. Excerpts:
What was your last experience being in India like?
Very cool! I remember feeling honoured and lucky that we were able to go play our music for people in a place literally on the other side of the world from where we lived.
The festival shows and everyone involved were great to work with.
Were there any kind of misconceptions or preconceptions about India you had that were either immediately shattered or reinforced when you played here?
I think the same can be said about every part of the world we have been to, that you realise people aren’t that different anywhere you go, and especially when you are in the context of a music culture, nothing is really that foreign. We were hanging out with other musicians and music fans and when you have that, there is no cultural disconnect, you are just among your people. But India as a whole from what we saw was obviously quite different than the US. Really cool place.
A lot has changed for the band since 2009, in terms of success, fans and critical acclaim. How do you feel the band handles things like increased fame?
I think we have it pretty under control. We are all pretty level headed and appreciate the fact that we have fans at all and are still here to have fun.
What are your plans this time around in India?
We are just doing the one show at Pravega in Bangalore. I think we won’t be in the country for much more than 24 hours, unfortunately.
What was it like touring with/as Cloudkicker? The live album, of course, sounds incredible, but what was it like going into each show and playing that material that had never been played live before?
Ben (Sharp, Cloudkicker) makes some of my favourite music and it was super fun to be his band! There was a lot of excitement around that tour, and it was nice to mix it up a bit and tour with the same dudes but play as a different band.
Would it happen again, are there any talks between Ben and the band about doing another tour?
We always sort of talk about it but there are no plans right now. I could see it happening again some time for sure.
For a band that has shared tour billings with the likes of Tool and Mastodon, are there any more bands on your wishlist whom you would consider for a ‘dream tour’?
I am still holding out for a couple others, but it is pretty cool that we have been able to tour with so many of my favourite heavy bands.
What is the most annoying thing about touring?
All the down time when there is nothing to do.
And what is the best thing about touring?
Playing music! And seeing new places too.
What else is coming up or in the works for 2017?
We have some US shows and we are planning on having a new record out by the fall.
