I was listening to “Firestarter” under the guise of ‘research’ for my interview with Keith Flint from The Prodigy. A song that was released in the 90's, one cannot help but appreciate these men who made music which was ahead of their time. I was nervous, but who wouldn't be before speaking with someone who looks like a cousin of the Adams Family. But turns out, telephonically at least, Keith is as happy as a clam.
The Prodigy, whose line up includes Liam Howlett, Maxim and Keith were one of the pioneers in electronic dance music. What is better is that, The Prodigy is in India for their first ever tour of the country, courtesy The Eristoff Invasion Festival. And the icing on the cake, I got to speak with Keith Flint, the vocalist of the band, about their forthcoming concert in the city.
What made you choose India, and why has it taken so long?
We love to go as many places as we can and have been talking about coming to India for as long as five years now. But it takes time for things like this to work out. We needed a promoter, someone we could work with and the infrastructure to be in place. Now, it has all come together for us and we are so excited about this concert.
There have been rumours that this is going to be the biggest sound and light set up in the country…
This show is definitely going to be something India has never experienced before. Every show of our's brings with it a loud sound; besides live shows are always about a loud, strong and very good sound. I honestly don't know how wide our fan base is in India, but we are there to put up a killer show.
Will there be any collaboration with musicians in India?
I really don't know anything about that at the moment. The funny thing is that we have used Indian samples in our music and so it is not completely alien to us. We are familiar with the rhythm and the beat because we work with it. But about collaboration I think Liam would know more about it.
There is a lot of anger in your music…
I don't think so, it is just the energy of the song, and there is a lot of energy in our music.
Aggression does not mean violent, it is this drive to do exciting things and get your adrenaline rushing – driving fast for example. We have always been our own band and have had an independent sound. It is the freedom of expressing our music.
Has your music matured over the years?
Ummm…. I don't know, we sure have learned a lot over the years. Our sound has gotten stronger and bolder, but it has not changed. Actually, it cannot change. Pop acts change, we don't – we stay true to our sound.
Will there be any new material at the concert, from album number six perhaps?
There will be new versions of our old songs. Songs that have been rewritten and remixed. And about our new album, we are still throwing in ideas together and the process has started. Don't have more than that, except that we are very upbeat about it.
