 BAND: EXILED SANITY
MUSICIAN: DEEPTAROOP BASU COUNTRY: INDIA GENRE: PROG / EXPERIMENTAL METAL 1. How long has Exiled Sanity been going and how did the band form? The band has been around 6 -7 months (formed in 2011) I was playing for another blackened death Metal band which i left, so these guys who have been playing under a similar name, but they left soon and asked me to play, so i checked them out. It was initially like a class, where I was guiding them how to focus on a new sound, then about 6-7 months ago we started playing officially and we released 2 self-produced original compositions 'Twisted Route to Salvation', and 'Redesigning Humans'! 2. How big has the Indian metal scene become and who are the most notable bands? India has been doing alright, but not that great, because I want to see Indian bands go on world tours, there are numerous great talented bands such as Scribe and Undying Inc. But I guess some negotiations are to be done with international gig organisers and tour coordinators, for making not only the old bands which are big already outside India but also emerging bands like ours and our buddy bands such as What Escapes Me or Yonsample from Kolkata 3. Are there any problems playing Metal in India and what is the media press like? Yeah Metal is still considered taboo here in a lot of places; people tend to think it's a bunch of crazy guys, banging their heads like they have gone bad to music, where the words are not understandable. The press and media level is getting better as there are a few online websites coming up but there is metal being talked about in the daily newspapers, only reviews of international acts are presented sometimes, that's about it. 4. Do you feel with bands like Demonic Resurrection getting signed to Candlelight, that this has opened the gateway for Indian Metal to be globally recognised? Yeah Demonic Resurrection has been in the circuit for over a decade now and the band has helped in spreading Indian metal to a certain extent as it's the only band which has a fair amount of international gig experiences and a few tours. 5. Out of the metal genres, is Black Metal shunned upon in India due to religion? I have doubts because I haven't yet come across any black metal bands from India who are doing it spiritually, I mean if you are comparing black metal bands from Norway, then India is very far behind. I guess the music needs to be spread and understood more because the concepts are deep and everyone cannot change their lifestyle due to these kinds of music, only feeling this kind of music to a great extent will encourage the person to play black metal religiously. 6. Does Exiled Sanity have any plans for 2012? Yeah we are planning to release our self produced EP, we will be coming out with a new song probably end of January or in the 1st week of February, the EP would be in the late end of mid 2012 hopefully before 21st December 2012. 7. Finally do you have any tips for musicians looking to improve skills and/or get into a band? What do you have to say to the global metal scene? Ahh.. II have always wanted to play an instrument so as to channel my emotions, I play heavy music so as to get my aggression out of me as its immature to act randomly when you are angry so music is the best way to channel emotions, therefore I would like everyone in this world to play an instrument because it helps you take out whatever you are feeling and music does a lot of things to you. Which beginners will get to know better as they start learning music and the global metal scene is doing good, new bands with newer sounds are coming up, and music is evolving; now people have more choice of listening to whatever kind of music they want to listen to. RHYS STEVENSON
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 So here we have a phone-interview with Zandro Santiago (vocals) of Swedish Metalcore / Pop Metal band Dead By April.
RHYS STEVENSON  BAND: SONATA ARCTICA
MUSICIAN: HENRIK KLINGENBERG COUNTRY: FINLAND GENRE: POWER / PROG METAL SONATA ARCTICA INTERVIEW WITH HENRIK KLINGENBERG (Vocals / Keyboard) I spoke to Henrik Klingenberg of Finnish Power / Prog Metallers Sonata Arctica, to catch up on goings on and some past topics, read and enjoy: 1. How did you guys form and could you explain how the band name cameabout? Well, I wasn't there but I guess it's pretty much the same with every band, you want to play, find some guys and start hammering it out. No idea about the original name either, sorry. I think the story can be found in our bio on our homepage or something... 2. In Finland is there any encouragement for people to learn an instrument whatever the instrument is? No I wouldn't say there's any special enouragement to get into music or sports or anything else for that matter. Of course if you want to do something in particular there is usually some help available. 3. Would you consider your music to be part of the genre 'Winter Metal' along with Wintersun? Hmm, that's a bit confusing, no I don't consider us Winter Metal, I didn't even know there was a genre called that. 4. Your currently working on your seventh album, what details can you give? I.e. album title, release date? The name is still a secret but the album will be released in April-May 2012. I don't want to try to describe the music too much but it's once again something new for us as a band. 5. Out of all the cover songs you have done, which is your most and least favourite, why is this? We did a cover of Roy Orbison, you got it with one of my other bands, Silent Voices, like 10years ago and that was pretty horrible. The best cover would probably be the Gary Moore one we did with SA, called 'Out In The Fields'....that song is so good, even we couldn't mess it up and I got to learn Gary Moores guitar solo note for note which was fun. 6. Sonata Artica is now 15 years old, quite an achievement isn't it? What is your highlights (both best and worst) of the band's existence? Probably the worst time was during the recording of Unia when all these issues with Jani started to unfold, it was a very disturbing time in the history of the band. Whenever we're on tour or recording , those are the highlights for me. There's so much other things we have to do, like business stuff etc. so when we finally get to actually focus on the music, that's the best part and the only reason to keep on doing this. 7. Tony Kakko, what is the best advice can you give to those wishing to sing in the Power Metal style of vocals? Sorry, can't help you there....actually to be able to sing well, one really important thing is to take good care of your body because that's your instrument, meaning, no smoking (unless you're David Coverdale or Lemmy) and take it easy with the booze. Any sport will also help. 8. Tommy, Elias, Marko, Henrik, what advice can you give to musicians wishing to improve their skills on bass, guitar, keyboard / keytar and drums? There's a lot of stuff online to help you out with your playing skill no matter what your instrument is, however nothing can beat a good teacher, so find someone who plays the way you want to play and ask them to teach you....and of course practise your ass off.....and while doing this remember that it's supposed to be fun, if it's not fun when you're starting out, I'll tell you, it won't be fun later on either. 9. Out of all of the releases, which is your favourite and why and what song of all time in Sonata Arctica is your favourite? This changes every day and it's impossible to answer while we're working on a new album because of course that's your favourite (if it isn't then maybe we should rewrite some stuff, right?)...of the previous ones I really like Reckoning Night since it was my first album with the band and the recording experience was really interesting. 'Don't Say A Word' is probably our best song, somehow we found a balance with that one. 10. Have you ever considered recording a cover for a Christmas song? Personally speaking no, I don't know if Tony ever thought about it....but I hope we don't do that, rather write our own christmas song. 11. Do you plan to tour the UK sometime in 2012, if not what festivals are you looking to play at in Europe? We'll be touring all over Europe in the fall so I'm sure we'll hit UK at some point if not already during the festival season. I have no idea about the festivals yet, I think a couple of ones are online now on our site but apart from that I have no clue. 12. As Metal is very popular in Finland, would you consider it a major export, before and after Lordi's famous Eurovision win? Metal is probably the most exported music style from Finland but there's no way to compete when compared to other branches of exports (outside of the music industry).... I don't think the Eurovision thing had too much to do with this, after all metal people don't need to watch that kind of TV crap to find out about new music. I guess Lordi got new fans but for other bands it didn't make make that much of an impact, and why should it? 13. Over the 15 years, how has the band's sound changed and what differences can you notably hear? We've become more progressive to some extent and more mature I guess, I think the sound has changed on every album, sometimes more and sometimes less. What the changes are, is something everyone has to figure out themselves, if I tell you how my keyboard sounds changed from album to album that's not gonna be really helpful now is it? We will continue to change and explore new things with every album, I think that's the only way to do it for us, and I'm sure you all will hear the difference when the new album comes out; or not, who knows? 14. What can we expect from Sonata Arctica in 2012 and in the future? We just released our 2nd DVD 'Live in Finland' which basically tells the story of the 'Days of Grays world tour', and right now we're in the studio recording our next album. It will be out in spring and then it's time to tour for 1 and a half to 2 years again. Right now that's all we have planned...so if we make it alive through this cycle we'll be back in the studio after that making more music, let's cross our fingers :) Cheers, beers & thanks, Henrik/Sonata Arctica RHYS STEVENSON |
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