RUDRA (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for taking the time. What’s the band currently up to?
Vinod: Hi, greetings from Rudra. We’re currently preparing for an upcoming local show and at the same time we’re working on a new album.
– First off, I hope you don’t mind to start making some history of RUDRA
Vinod: Rudra was formed way back in 1992. Started off as a 3 piece band and eventually a 4th member filling is as 2nd guitarist was introduced. Since then the band had a couple of line up changes but that didn’t stop us from releasing 6 albums to date. Now, we can proudly say we’re the pioneers of Vedic Metal.
– Why the name “Rudra”?
Vinod: Rudra is the name of a Vedic god of destruction. Having such a name, symbolises the aggressive music we play and also the lyrical theme we write
about.
– And what are the band’s main musical influences?
Vinod: Our influences are quite diverse. In terms of western bands, we’re inspired by Slayer, Death, Carcass, etc and in terms of Eastern, we’re influenced by indian traditional music.
– Your latest effort was «Brahmavidya: Immortal I»; how did it go its feedback?
Vinod: Surprsisingly the response had been positive so far. The fans seem to enjoy the simplicity of the song arrangements and straight forwardness.
– And how could you describe this album? As your sound has many influences and variations.
Vinod: One of our trademark is the ‘drone’ technique, played on the guitars which gives a sitar kind of sounding. With that, we explore various indian scales and use them in our songs. And also the ancient Indian philosophies we write about. In that sense, we created a unique style to metal.
– Were you sure you could ever finished Brahmavidya’s trilogy when you started in 2005 its first part? Has been hard to release
these 3 albums?
Vinod: We knew we will pull it off no matter what obstacles comes in our way. Our minds were focused to get the concept and the trilogy done. And we did. There were some minor obstacles we faced. There had been some replacement in the guitars department. However astoundingly, each time we faced such obstacle, the band got cohesive and bonded. With such a family-like relationship we have in the band, each of us are able to contribute and deliver our parts at a whole new level.
– And after finishing this trilogy, do you already know what are you going to do next?
Vinod: After the Immortal I álbum was released, we had set out to do a Brahmavidya Tour to promote the trilogy álbum reléase. Our Brahmavidya tour period is from 2011 – 2012. We’ve already done several shows in Asia and North Americal. And we’re targetting a European tour for 2012.
– To all those who aren’t familiar with this trilogy, could you please shed some light on it?
Vinod: There is a theme for each of the álbum in the trilogy. The trilogy concept would be apt because traditionally the knowledge of Brahmavidya which is an ancient wisdom is based on three important bodies of Vedic
Sanskrit literature. They were the Upanishads, Smrti & Brahma Sutra. The first part of the trilogy released was Primodial I. And that was written on the ‘Upanishads’ Upanishads are the methaphysical texts of the vedic tradition. 10 popular ones were used in the álbum. 2nd part of the trilogy is the Transcendental I album, based on Smrti texts. These texts discuss on the means of knowing the all pervading and eternal self of all beings. And finally the last chapter of the trilogy, Immortal I, which is on Brahma Sutra which defines the logical aspects of things.
– And tell us about the lyrical content and also explain a bit what the vedic themes are.
Vinod: We’ve written on a lot of stuffs from the vedic philosophy. Some of which are about the Vedic gods and goddesses like Kali, Shiva etc. . Rudrapatni and Ancient One are fine examples. The third album Kurukshetra was named after the ancient epic war of Mahabharata.
– How did you get interested for this subjects? And why to write about them? I mean, is it easy connecting them with your music
and expressing these kind of themes with your compositions?
Vinod: The interest set in for me years ago. I went through some difficult times and started reading some books. The knowledged gained had spiritually made me a stronger person. And the rest of the guys in Rudra share the same ideology. So instead of writing made-up things on that may seem cool, brutal and fierce to some but may seem cheesy to others, we decided to write on something that is close and true to us. That is the vedic philosophy.
– And due to this I would like to know how the songwriting process tends to be like in RUDRA.
Vinod: The first important rule in Rudra is, we must have fun and feel good whenever we work together. Usually we would bring into the jamming studio some riffs or ideas and from there we would work on the structure of the song. Or Kathir would introduce a chant he intends to use and from there we work around it. We usually have a lot of fun with our songwriting sessions.
– You even shoot a video for «Hymns of the Immortal Self», how did everything go?
Vinod: It was for the song “Now, Therefore…” from the Immortal I álbum. It went really good. The director and camera man, Arvind and Alvin did an amazing job. We had lots of fun filming it. We we involved with the post production and we’re pleased with the outcome. I won’t comment much on it and will let the video speak for itself. The official releace date is on the 2nd September.
– Since your 2001 album, «The Aryan Crusade», all your albums have been release each two years; is there any concrete reason for this or this is just how tings flow?
Vinod: It was never really intentional, but i guess we enjoy working together on new materials and instead of putting good songs to waste, we would decide we should use them for the next álbum.
– Your later albums haven been released by different record labels; why these changes? And are you know happy with Agni Productions?
Vinod: There was no reasons in particular for the label change. It was a matter of end of contact and we had requests from other labels. Yes, in fact we’re really pleased with Agni Productions. We saw the layout and contents of the limited addition vinyls and it looks really awesome.
– Your music has been evolving constantly; do you think you will ever get to a point where you have lost your identity?
Vinod: Losing our identity will be the last thing that can ever happen in
Rudra. We will definitely evolve and try new things, but we will always keep our vedic style & philosophy in our songs.
– It seems to be an urge for Metal in Asia; what bands could you suggest from you continent? And from your country?
Vinod: One band that has been creating its wave here is ‘Wormrot’.
– I guess there aren’t that many Metal bands in Singapore, is this a handicap for you as a Metal band?
Vinod: There are many bands currently in existence. Some of them have already released a few albums.However the lifestyle in Singapore has been hard for anyone to sustain a band with heavy work commitments and National Service for the males.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
Vinod: More shows, more tours. We’re now planning to do some shows in Europe in 2012 as part of the Brahmavidya Tour. And lately, we have started working on a new álbum which we may target to reléase in 2013.
– That’s all, thanks again. Now feel free to add some final words.
Vinod: Thank you so much for the interview. It had been great! To all the
metal listeners out there, do give us a listen, buy our albums to support us or at least like us on facebook and say ‘hi’. It’s always nice to meet another fellow metalhead around the world.
