Interview With Nicholas Of Brazilian Progressive/Tech Death Metal Project SEVEN

1.Hello Nick,What are you listening to these days?

Nicholas: Hello Avinash. Well, I’ve been listening to bands like Alarum, Amorphis, Kreator, Hypocrisy and Opeth but also some other artists like Derek Sherinian, Allan Holdsworth and D’Alma.


2.Cool,would you like to tell a brief story of SEVEN?

Nicholas: At the time, I was into many different styles of music already like Jazz/Fusion, Blues, Instrumental Rock, Classical Music and Metal of course. After a year making songs, I decided to try something different like Progressive Metal due to my earlier influences from groups like Outworld, Dream Theater, Nevermore and etc. A few months after that, while I was still working on the song, I met Gabriel Geraissati in São Paulo where we talked for a while about our music styles and references. It was very interesting for me because Gabriel was into some really heavy/brutal stuff like Nile, into very progressive styles like Planet X and Gentle Giant and some Jazz/Fusion like Pat Metheny. We jammed a few times and it sounded totally badass, even though the Metal thing was very new for me since I was much more a solo shredder jazz/fusion guitarist than anything hahaha. So, I called him from France because I interested on making a very innovative band with a Progressive Metal influence mixed with music elements from Jazz/Fusion to Death Metal. I wanted to apply Death Metal because it was one of the few music styles that could really express all that aggression in the songs, but I didn’t enjoy Death Growls that much and I was also trying to make something different from the standards. So, I started to study and get all the information I could about Death Metal when I found out about Sleep Terror, and that was the beginning of everything for me! After that, I told Gabriel about it and we both agreed about that the project would be 100% instrumental. After an incident where I broke my wrist and I wasn’t able to play for a month, we started recording the first song Agony as a test to see how was that going to sound. I wasn’t very confident about it but Gabriel ended up posting the song on YouTube and he was able to make a massive propaganda due to the fact he had a lot of great contacts in music like T.J. Helmerich, Scott Henderson and etc and the responses we got back about the song were fantastic. A lot of people started contacting us and the song was later playing in a few online radios, the YouTube video got up to 16 honors as one of the most discussed, rated and viewed videos of the month. After that, we realized that Seven was really going to work well, so we decided to keep up with the project.


3.Since how long have you been playing the guitar?You are very young also.I must say your riffs are really amazing.Your music seems to be technical as well as melodic which attracts a lot.What all instruments do you play?Since how long have you been composing?

Nicholas: I started to play acoustic guitar at the age of 10, but only started to take it serious after a year with an electric guitar when I was 12. I started composing after I quitted a local blues/rock band and I started to make my own songs. I would try to incorporate all my influences and make different styles of music all the time, from Doom Metal to Jazz/Fusion and some Classical elements. When I started composing (about 2 years ago), all I had was my guitar and a cheap acoustic to make songs and due to the fact that I couldn’t record the drums I tried to fill that empty space with as many instruments I could. It started with multiple guitar tracks (up to 7 tracks sometimes!), I moved on adding bass, piano and later on I was able to get a Saz/Baglama in Turkey which allowed me to apply my Nile/Orphaned Land influences too, haha. One of the problems I had in the beginning was the music production because I had to record/mix/edit and finally master it alone and I had no idea what was the best way to make all that. But with time I was able to get enough experience with all that recording and producing process. I think all that experiencing allowed me to make music in a very interesting way by mixing technique with melodic patterns.



4.What are your influences/inspirations? Are you aware of Indian Metal bands too?

Nicholas: I could cite up to 5,000 artists in here since everything is an influence for me but I can cite a few bands that inspire me in Seven like Aeon, Aghora, Akercocke, Alarum, Al Di Meola, All Shall Perish, Anata, Anasarca, Amon Amarth, Andre Geraissati, Arch Enemy, Arsis, Sleep Terror, Opeth, Nevermore, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Overkill, Behemoth, Divided Sky, Blotted Science, Nile, Necrophagist, Theory In Practice, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Cathedral, Candlemass, D’Alma, Death, Daylight Dies, Decapitated, Planet X, Illdisposed, Ihsahn, Immortal, Inborn Suffering, Jason Becker, Outworld, Steve Vai, Gonçalo Pereira, Pat Metheny, Joe Pass, Porcupine Tree and finally Yngwie Malmsteen! And yes, I’m actually a big fan of Indian Metal bands but I don’t know a lot of bands yet. But I can say that Amogh Symphony is one of the reasons why I started Seven and that Avial just blew my mind!


5.Is your music instrumental based?Are you planning to keep a proper line-up for live shows?Or changing the line-up like earlier Technical/Progressive Metal bands like Death used to do?

Nicholas: The main idea was to make a Progressive Metal Instrumental band with Jazz/Fusion and Death Metal influences but since I can’t really stick up with one thing I recently recorded some songs with Death Growls and I’m now trying to mix all that with clean vocals too. About the concerts, it’s a complex thing because when Gabriel and I posted the first song (Agony) on YouTube, there was a major positive response that consequently put our video into the most discussed, rated and viewed videos of the month. After that, we got a lot of contacts from radios and managers proposing concerts, and one of them contacted us to play in a festival in Europe called Emergenza but since we didn’t have any other members or songs we had to decline the offer. Since then, I decided to finish all the songs first and release it with a good recording label and then contact musicians for future gigs. Just like in many bands, I believe Seven’s line up will change constantly and I believe that will happen mainly due to the fact that one person composed all the instrument lines like Muhammed on Onset of Putrefaction, Luke Jaegar from Sleep Terror and etc. Although, I still think that I won’t have a lot of problems to get new musicians in the band because my songs are not that technical like Necrophagist’s or Spawn of Possession’s are, haha.


6.What are your views on critics who said- "Technical Metal is all about mechanical playing with no feel and soul in the music".

Nicholas: Well, few months ago when I was pretty ignorant about Death Metal in general I would probably say the same thing but it’s about understanding what the music style message is trying to pass. It’s like judging and condemning its lyrics or blaming gore ideologies/lyrics in Metal for a significant percentage of violence nowadays. In a more Technical style of music like Death Metal or even Technical Death Metal, even some fans of Metal music will say that but again, for me it’s a question of exploring the boundaries and reaching new results with all that structured and well applied technique. Of course, that we don’t only get a misjudged perspective from people who don’t like technical music but also from people that actually make this kind of music. In guitar for example, a lot of people mix things up thinking that it’s about who’s the fastest or who can sweep cleaner at 400 bpm and end up leaving the main purpose of music behind, which is to sound good. For me it is normal to get a negative first impression about Death Metal, Jazz (when some people find it boring) and other similar styles. For instance, about 2 years ago I thought Nile was a mediocre band, nowadays I think it’s one of the greatest bands ever! That for me is what I call being a better musician/listener and being able to fully understand the styles and not being ignorant about it.


7.Any message to your friends and fans especially from India?

Nicholas: I want to thank you first about this great interview, it was a great pleasure for me! I also want to think all my friends from India that I met on Google that gave me a lot of positive feedbacks and responses, and also all the people that have watched Seven’s videos on YouTube and listened to my songs on MySpace too, thanks to you guys I’ve accomplished a lot of my goals already. Special thanks to Ace, André and Gabriel Geraissati for being huge supporters and helping me out throughout these months. I also want to ask you guys to check often my links because I will be posting new things soon and the album might be finished soon. www.myspace.com/sev7ntheband www.youtube.com/seventheband www.youtube.com/NickTup

An Interview With Rajarshi-Guitarist Of Progressive Metallers Apollonian Quest

1.Hello Rajarshi,first of all thanks for taking time for this small interview.What are you listening to these days? >
Rajarshi: No bother at all Avinash. Thanks a lot for considering me for an interview for your amazing webpage. I have been listening to a lot of new progressive bands lately. Opeth, Pain of Salvation, new Meshuggah, new P Tree, Ayreon, Nile, Blackfield, Cynic etc. Other than that I listen to a lot of piano sonatas by Beethoven, Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky. I highly recommend the readers to listen to the kick-ass new Meshuggah album, Obzen and the best Porcupine Tree album yet, Fear of a Black Planet. Obzen is a perfect mixture of sheer brutality and technical marvel and FOABP is a treat in pure British Progressive rock, with beautiful song writing and production. Very inspiring stuff.

2.Would you like to tell a brief story of Apollonian Quest?
Rajarshi: Well we started off pretty much the usual way. Lineup changes, initial scratch compositions, jamming problems, maddening schedules and lack of gigs. Formally the band was conceptualized by Ananda(vox), Arjun(guit), Joshua(keys) and myself in 2006, beginning. However due to shortage of good drummers and bass players, we were pretty much in stagnation until recently. The lineup we of now is:

Ananda: Vocals, Joshua: Keyboards, Raj: Guitars, Hamza: Drums.

Members who have been involved with AQ and have contributed immensely are:

Vikas Reddy: Drums, 06-07, he is working in Schlumberger and is posted in Peru.
Jerson Pinto: He is playing bass for an amazing alternative band, Surface Trauma apart from his solo jazz projects.
Liszel: She guested for female vocals during Livewire 2006. It was a short and a fun spell that she spent in the band.
Abhishek Chatterjee: Bass, Livewire 07, X guitar player of Chennai Death Metallers, Blasphemy.
Vishal Jit Singh(Amogh Symphony), Anubhav Misra(Acrid Semblance) and Rishi(Nirvikalpa): Unmatched guidance in both composition and production. Their help cannot be paralleled.

You can also read the detailed band bio at www.myspace.com/aqindia.

3.Since how long have you been playing the guitar?After listening to the songs many times,i came to know that your solos are very phenomenol.Not many metal bands in India put good shred solos in their music and that's what i really like in Apollonian Quest.Any inspiration?

Rajarshi: Thanks a lot for the kind words Avinash. Although the solos are slightly fast, I am not much into shredding. I have been playing and writing music that falls vaguely in the genre of neo classical since a couple of years now. Although not anymore, I have been heavily influenced by the usual soloists, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Joe Satriani. As of now, I like listening to only tasteful guitar players, not necessarily from any particular genre. I am a huge fan of Larry Carlton, who plays Jazz. I would love to play like Warren(Zero) or Bruce Lee Mani(TAAQ) someday. Both these guys take Indian Guitar playing to a new level by their solos, tones and feel. Inspirationally, I would have to give it totally to John Petrucci and Ron Jarzombeck(Spastic Ink). JP has an insanely controlled technique which allows him to play any technique effortlessly at any tempo, not to mention his soulful solos and his tone. I guess any guitar player, who plays with good feel and has a good tone, would catch my eye.

4.Who write lyrics for Apollonian Quest and who compose the music?

Rajarshi: As of now, AQ is working on a 13 song concept album. Its called Dionysian Fantasia, The Birth and Rise of Nemesis. We have composed most of the music, and the lyrics have been fully written by Ananda. Ananda is influenced heavily by classical literature from the genres of fantasy and mythology. The concept behind the album is an epic fantasy that contains an open ended interpretation about an anti-hero.

5..Would you like to say something about the sudden rise of Progressive and Technical Metal?

Rajarshi: Definitely. Progressive rock and metal is, according to me the future of contemporary music. There have been short spells of extremely shallow and time bound music through the late 80s and the 90s that have made listeners ache for something deeper, more complex and more thought provoking. Progressive music, although has been around since King Crimson, in the 70’s has seen a new boost in the 21st century which I think is just the beginning. New bands which are extremely talented are attracting listeners from all sorts of genres and ages. Bands are doing a lot of rhythmic experimentation (like Meshuggah, Tool, DT), alternative melodies and modes (Opeth, POS, Spastic Ink). Lots of bands are writing brilliant concept albums (The Human Equation – Ayreon, Metropolis Prt 2 – DT, BE – POS). Progressive Music is the music for the experimental an progressive soul, and is definitely a saving grace after the horrendous Grunge and Punk movements. You can read some of my articles on music on www.rajbhatt.wordpress.com.

6.So any future plans of Apollonian Quest?

Rajarshi: Well, AQ was formed solely as a concept band, and I would like to keep it as such. I am working on the next concept album, which has a very different theme than Dionysian Fantasia. We would like to carry out both musical and literary experimentation with the band in the course of our musical journey. I also hope to play more gigs in and around the city for people to know us better, but the central ideology of the band is based on our compositions and lyrics.

7.Thanks for this interview Rajarshi.I hope readers will get to know a little more about Apollonian Quest from this interview.Any message would you like to leave for the listeners and readers?

Rajarshi: Not a problem at all Avinash. I am extremely grateful for including my interview again. I am not much of a preachy person, so I will try to keep this section short and precise. I would like to tell the reader to listen to as many types of music as possible without forming an opinion. There is absolutely nothing constructive in classifying music in genres. In my mind, there are 2 types of music in all. That which is well written, creative and soulful, and that which is shallow and superficial. There are different moods that these different types, none of which is, unconditionally bad. I would also request new bands, to try and write as much original music as possible. Have confidence in your own sound and experience how beautiful it is to write and execute your own songs rather than that written by somebody else, no matter how great it might be.