“I don’t think anyone is truly original”
Impressive. Stuti
Like your take on originality. Go for it guys!! You rock! Snuck
Kastadyne interview on tempostand.com
Kastadyne's song Raise your hand emerged as the winner of the "Maa tujhe salaam" Independence Day Song contest conducted by tempostand.com.
Dr. Palash Sen, the judge (of Euphoria), said: "Kastadyne is the winner by a mile. Really good composition, great music and awesome lyrics. Good song writing after all. My regards and respect to the band."
Kastadyne's TJ and Sheldon were interviewed by the indie music website. The interview is reproduced below:
1. Your take on “Maa Tujhe Salaam” ?
TJ: I think it was an awesome platform for showcasing artists. The contest came up with fabulous songs in all genres, ranging from rock to indian classical - even Tamil! It was organised very well. For us, it was a great experience to compose “Raise Your Hand” for the occasion.
Sheldon: A very innovative contest. It encouraged artists to compose new originals & at the same time inculcated a spirit of patriotism within the artists & as well as the listeners. Nice.
2. Time and again you have said in interviews that you guys decided on the name ‘Kastadyne’ because its sounds cool, but it doesn’t mean anything. If you were to give ‘Kastadyne’ a meaning, what would you?
TJ: Our friend who used to play piano with us, came up with the name saying he sat with the dictionary and combined random words. In fact, very few people know that for some time the original name of our band was Goldfish. For us, I think, Kastadyne stands for doing anything totally different.
Sheldon: If Kastadyne were to be given a meaning it would be defined as a new genre of music, because of our distinct sound. Imagine someone someday saying “man, thats more Kastadyne than rock” :)
3. How do you define originality? How important is originality for you guys?
TJ: I don’t think anyone is truly original. i mean, any new creation has its roots grounded in some sort of influence that maybe even the creator is not aware of. We have been very heavily influenced by Tool, Rage Against The Machine, Nirvana, Porcupine Tree, etc. but none of our songs sound like them. Originality is very important for us. If we feel we’re going too close to someone else’s sound, we scrap the song immediately.
Sheldon: For us originality is of great importance because we aim to entertain. Change is what the world seeks. So while we are influenced by other bands our end result is completely different… as i said, Kastadyne should be a genre someday,not just another band.
4. What music do both of you listen to? Favourite band of all time?
TJ: We listen to Tool, Rage, Nirvana, Bad Plus, Audioslave, Porcupine Tree, A Perfect Circle, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Muse, Massive Attack, Beta Band, RHCP, CrazyTown, Cream, Beatles, The Who, Yes, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Liquid Tension Experiment, Dream Theatre and many more that i can’t remember right now. LOL. For me, it’s Tool.
Sheldon: We listen to all sorts of music ranging from alternative rock to heavy metal to jazz to pop to rap to trance to progressive etc etc etc. As musicians it’s important to keep an open mind… my favourite all time band is Limp Bizkit.
5. Was it the idea since the beginning or by default that Kastadyne came about to be a studio project? How different is it vis-a-vis being a live band?
TJ: When we made the band, we just wanted jam together and have fun. We didn’t think about playing live or being a studio band. We did try our hand at playing live for about a year or so, but stopped that to continue recording. We loved our live shows. In fact the most recent gig of ours happened in Shillong. It was an unplugged gig. We got a great response. Our problem is because we have such heavily processed sounds, it’s quite tough to replicate them. We are very comfortable with our studio setup and we do believe that online is the way to go to promote music all over the world.
Sheldon: Being a studio band is much better. It’s more flexible. Detailed changes can be made to songs all the time. The quality & the final outcome is just brilliant. Playing live is a different feel altogether. It’s more exciting & energetic.
6. How difficult and important is it for a band to find its unique “sound”? How would you define your music (sound)?
TJ: It’s real tough. Many good bands in India today sound very alike. Just like people recognise you on the street when they see your face, one should recognise a band when they hear their sound. It’s what keeps that band alive. The kind of sound we have is something even we don’t fully understand. But it’s absolutely important we have OUR own sound.
Sheldon: It’s very important for a band to find its distinct sound, or else it will be difficult for them to stand out. It took us 3 years to find our sound.. our first album Eleven Complaints reflects that.
7. You guys shot to fame in 2007 with ‘Eleven Complaints’. But how and when did Kastadyne come into being?
TJ: 9th standard school camp, that’s where it began. Sheldon was running through the train looking for someone who could play the guitar. He found me. We even made one song during that camp. When we came back home, we started jamming together and we even slowly built a small name for ourselves at school as ‘ that band ‘ since there was no other band from school.
Sheldon: Kastadyne came into being in 2003. TJ & me were in the 9th standard. I used to rap & i wanted to form a rap rock band. Then one day at summer camp i discovered that TJ could play the guitar damn well.. we’ve been jamming ever since.
8. I am told that as early as 2005, you guys used to define yourself as a rock and rap band! Shed some more light on this.
TJ: Our experimental beginnings led us to believe that we were a rap rock band because Sheldon liked Limp Bizkit and I liked Rage Against The Machine. But later we found that was too constricting as a genre since we we were capable of much more than just rap rock. That’s why we still don’t know what our genre is :)
Sheldon: True, we first set out as a rock rap band. Even Eleven Complaints reflects this in a small way with songs like Victim of my Anger & some of the other songs which have small rap verses… we slowly progressed beyond that and think we’ve found a sound uniquely ours.
9. What was ‘Simply Complex’? An underground project?
TJ: Haha, i am surprised you guys even found that out. To my recollection, there’s only one or two places on the net where that name is used with reference to us. Simply Complex was the original name for our first album, which later became Eleven Complaints. We liked Simply Complex because it perfectly described our perception of life then.
Sheldon: We came to know that some band or some album in America already had the same name. We obviously scrapped it.
10. What was the idea behind ‘Eleven Complaints’?
TJ: Oh, very simple, there was none! Every song is different. Any new song we started sounded different. Because once we did a song in one style we wanted a new style for the next song. So that album is really a mix of every single idea we had in the 3 year period it took us to make it.
Sheldon: Maybe the common link is that they are all complaints! Eleven Complaints is an album filled with rebellion. It reflected our angry teenage days and the forces that controlled & affected us.
ELEVEN COMPLAINTS - HOW TO BUY
11. Tell us about the music video you guys shot.
TJ: We shot a music video for the song, ” Victim of my Anger “. It had come No.1 in the internet rankings in the alternative category out of 113,000 songs on www.soundclick.com. To further promote that song, we shot the video. It was shot on a friend’s farm in Karjat and Pune.
Sheldon: The video depicts isolation & subtle expressions of rage, reflecting the feel of the album. We plan to shoot some more vids for the second album…
12. Which Indian band changed the way rock is perceived in India ?
TJ: Zero and TAAQ (Thermal and a Quarter)
Sheldon: Zero ….. their sound is extremely unique & enjoyable.
13. In your opinion, do you think it’s better to remain independent, or to get signed on with a label?
TJ: In India, getting signed with a label only means a marketing contract to sell the cds. But what most bands need is a recording-cum-marketing deal. Production quality sucks these days in Indian rock music. Very few bands manage to get a good CD cut for them. But i think since the scene for taking on indian rock bands by any big company hasn’t really taken off yet, it’s better to stay independent.
Sheldon: We think it’s better to remain independent… there’s no pressure that way. We can work freely. We don’t have to make songs in order to gain profits, but make songs for the joy of making them… & we ourselves can control every aspect of it.
14. What are your upcoming projects and future plans?
TJ: The second album is what’s hanging on our minds right now. Don’t even have a name for it yet.
Sheldon: We’re looking forward to releasing our second album… & be one of the most prominent bands not only in India but also on an international level.
15. Your views on the Creative Commons movement and the growing popularity of the re-mix culture over the permission culture?
TJ: Overall positive. The song finally reaches a wider audience because of this. That’s good for the artists as well as listeners.
Sheldon: The quality of re-mixes are not always good. Hope nobody mauls Kastadyne’s songs :) But in principle this is a good thing happening. It sets the song free and allows it to get shaped the way an audience may like it. I have no problems with that.
16. On an ending note, any message you’d like to give for TempoStand, its listeners and of course all your fans.
TJ: Thank you so much for supporting us! It is platforms like Tempostand that makes indie music possible and enjoyable - for both artists and fans. And equal thanks to all the Tempostand-ers who make it a point to check out good indie music and decide to support it. Keep doing that, guys!!
Sheldon: It is you who makes us… your support & appreciation is what drives us every single day to make the songs you enjoy… thank you for your support & we promise you Kastadyne will entertain you forever. Peace.
Sheldon: “If Kastadyne were to be given a meaning it would be defined as a new genre of music, because of our distinct sound. Imagine someone someday saying ‘man, that’s more Kastadyne than just rock’ :)”
TJ: “I don’t think anyone is truly original. I mean, any new creation has its roots grounded in some sort of influence that maybe even the creator is not aware of.”
TJ: “Just like people recognise you on the street when they see your face, one should recognise a band when they hear their sound. It’s what keeps that band alive. The kind of sound we have is something even we don’t fully understand. But it’s absolutely important we have OUR own sound.”
TJ: “The second album is what’s hanging on our minds right now. Don’t even have a name for it yet.”
Sheldon: “We’re looking forward to releasing our second album… & be one of the most prominent bands not only in India but also on an international level.”
TJ: “[Eleven Complaints] Every song is different. Any new song we started sounded different. Because once we did a song in one style we wanted a new style for the next song.”
Sheldon: “Maybe the common link is that they are all complaints! Eleven Complaints is an album filled with rebellion.”
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