Interview with Sahil Makhija of Demonic Resurrection - Bloodstock Open Air

I caught up with Sahil Makhija, vocalist and guitarist of renowned Indian Metal band Demonic Resurrection about their scheduled performance at Bloodstock Open Air 2012 this year, this is what was said.

1. Is this Demonic Resurrection's first time playing in England?

Yes this will be the first time that we play in the UK.

2. What are your anticipations about this performance, do you feel it will open the global metal scene up further?

We're really looking forward to it and it seems we have some really passionate followers of the band there so we're dying to come play for them and hopefully introduce a whole bunch of new folks to our demonic brand of metal. I'm not really sure how and if it does anything for the global metal scene but sure hope it does at least get us some more offers to come back

3. You'll be performing amongst some of Metal's heavyweights such as Evile and Anaal Nathrakh, are you nervous about it or excited or both?

Not nervous about playing alongside anyone really, because it's not a contest we're just happy to be on such an impressive bill and more than that I'm looking forward to watching and meeting my idols Nile, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Testament etc.

4. What are you most looking forward to besides playing and meeting your idols?

We'll be working on some club dates and we're really looking forward to those additional shows. Not to mention the whole experience of touring in a van, carrying your backline around and all that stuff. In India we're pretty much flown around, got cards and drivers provided by the promoters, along with stay backline etc. So we'll rough it out in the UK that should to be fun.Not to mention I'm going to go crazy with the food find some good meat and wolf it down.

5. How would you sum up Bloodstock Open Air in general?

Metal As Fuck! \m/ Can't wait for it!

6. Do you feel that festivals like Bloodstock bring a community together and is there any big festivals in India or Asia alone?

Considering I've never been to Bloodstock I can't say what it does but I'm pretty sure most metal festivals bring people together, it's a whole bunch of metal heads in 1 place. In India we have Independence Rock the longest running festival in Mumbai, 26 years and counting, Great Indian Rock Festival about 17 years running and the more recently NH7 Weekender Festival. So these definitely do bring people together, build a sense of community and I'm sure Bloodstock does the same.

7. If there is something you wish to take away from playing at Bloodstock, what would it be?

As cheesy as it sounds I'm going to take away hopefully some great memories of playing a kickass show, meeting amazing musicians and watching amazing bands and most importantly getting to meet all the wonderful people in the UK who have been supporting Demonic Resurrection.

Interviewed conducted by RHYS STEVENSON