Mihir: Hi guys! You totally blew the Mumbai crowd away with your performance at the Launchpad gig. How does it feel now that you’ve had your first gig in Mumbai?
Frequency: It was really great playing here in Mumbai. The crowd totally supported us and really enjoyed and appreciated our music. That’s what we wanted from Mumbai. We are now looking forward to play more gigs in Mumbai.

Mihir: How would you define your kind of music?
Frequency: Our music is about describing our emotions and what we feel through our music. If it has to be categorized under some genre, then it will fall under Nu-Age/Electronic/Experimental. Since all the members are from different backgrounds in terms of their individual music tastes, it gives rise to a totally new and original sound.
 
Mihir: Name some of the bands that have influenced you guys.
Frequency: Each member has been influenced by various artists. Although there are many, but to name a few: Dream Theatre, Disturbed, Incubus, Linkin Park, Pentagram, Pleymo, Rush, etc.

Mihir: Let’s talk about your originals. How about you tell us a bit about each of your songs.
Frequency: 

• Another Star: The oldest song of the band having a mixture of soft parts, electronics and also heavy riffs and a catchy chorus. The song was written in the school times even before Frequency was formed.
• Drown: A treat to the head bangers!!! This song is a message to people drowning into drugs and other shit. They want to come out of it but instead are going deeper into it. The track is highly rated and appreciated.
• Sail: A soft ballad, a story, a track with symphony and acoustic touch which changes the mood of the crowd and the band.
• Pay Back Time: A groovy, technical track made for people who are menace to the music world.

We have some more tracks which are under the production stages. To name a few: The Sense and Blue Walls.

Mihir: Excellent. I would have normally asked you this a little before but what the heck!
Tell me about you guys…how’d you get together? How did Frequency form and how’d you choose the name of the band?
Frequency: Akshay, Kushal and Rony knew each other well as they were in the same school and used to play at competitions together. They were later joined in by Abhishek and Noel to complete the line-up. They met Abhishek and Noel during the ECA Trials of the Delhi University and later decided to jam. A new journey started from there and Frequency was formed. There is no story or a history behind the name. We just came up with the name and it sounded cool, so we decided to be called by Frequency. Moreover the name is just to provide an identity to the band, it’s the music that has to happen and carry the name forward.

Mihir: Tell me a bit about the entire Launchpad experience? How was it all for you?
Frequency: Launch pad was one of the greatest experiences for the band as it was a big platform for the band to show its visibility to not only Mumbai but to the people all over India. It was a very big thing for us as Frequency is relatively new in respect to the other selected bands. We guys practiced hard and we also got the results accordingly. But the amount of things we learned is really amazing. Everything was well managed and organized and we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest.

Mihir: You got a lot of flack from the judges about the covers you played. Why’d you choose those songs and the last cover of Creep actually did fall short in my opinion as well. So what was the thought behind that?
Frequency: Before actually deciding our cover, we knew that judges might put up some questions about it but we knew that Mumbai crowd is going to love it and that’s what happened. In spite of some comments from Luke, the crowd absolutely loved us. And our cover of Creep was actually short but we also cannot deny the fact nobody really understood the song and our idea of the song. As everybody has their own perceptions, we also tried to present the song the way we perceive it.

Mihir: I would like to congratulate Kushal (guitarist) by the way. I think he was spectacular. I may even go so far and say that he was possibly one of the best guitarists of the entire competition. Keep him close J but tell me this…with the kind of sound that you have and the songs that you sing…how is it that you chose to have a guitarist with his kind of feel?
Frequency: Well not only the guitarist but everyone has a way different feel from each other but we still stuck together and we think that’s the reason for this unique sound. The guitarist is mainly into classic rock, which is totally different from our sound. But when we incorporate it with electronics, it’s all together an original sound.

 

Mihir: [to Kushal (Guitarist)] What kind of music have you grown up on? How does it feel to work with a band like Frequency?
Kushal: I have grown up listening to bands\artists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, Rush, Dream Theatre, Van Halen, etc. I basically listen to all kind of stuff from classical to metal. It feels great to be a part of Frequency. But on the other hand, it is difficult to play guitars on loops/samples. It needs the correct timing, its challenging. I am happy that our band sounds different from others.

Mihir: How’d it feel to jam with the judges? I think you really blew everyone off with your blues jam at the end. That was brilliant!
Kushal: It felt really nice to jam with them as we all know that they are very good musicians. Mr. Farhad called me on the stage I felt he was calling me to put my guitars on for him but it turned out to be the opposite as he told me to jam a blues song (actually I didn’t know that song). He told me a bit about it and then I was full on as I like blues also. It was one of my best experiences as everyone was cheering me.

 

Mihir: I also liked that you’ve incorporated a very strong electronic element if your band. Firstly tell me…what all do you use? And then tell me why you chose to bring it in.
Frequency: Electronics is something that is new and fresh in the Indian Rock scene at the moment. It’s something original and unique. People here think that by combining rock with electronics, is polluting rock music. We feel that this is not the criteria. It’s up to the artist what he/she wants to do with the sound. At the end of the day its music and it should sound good. So we have been experimenting on our sound with electronics. I guess it diversifies our music and gives a new touch to it. We are using a Music Production Synthesizer combined with a Laptop and a Scratch Pad.

 

Mihir: [to Akshay (keyboards and other electronics)]: I saw that apart from playing all the electronic equipments you were also giving back up vocals. How do you see your role in the band? How important do you feel your sound is for the band’s overall sound?
Akshay:  Being electronics the primary sound of the band, everything revolves around it.
So a lot of hard work goes into making some serious and kickass stuff. ‘Coz that’s sound and it has to be good so that people get closer to our music. So we first do all the electronics stuff and then is followed by a groove and bass line. After all this the guitar parts and the vocals come into place to complete the track so that it is oiled properly. Backup vocals are an important part of any band as they mould the overall vocal pattern. Nowadays many bands have been neglecting this element.  It feels great to be a part of the band. It’s been progressing since the time we formed it and it’s good for us.

Mihir: [(to Noel (drummer)]: Is it easy playing when you have an electronics element to keep in mind? Does that make your job easier or tougher? 
Noel: Well it makes my job more interesting and challenging. I always strive to stay on the top to give my band a solid foundation (timing)…being the skeleton and the backbone of the band. At first, I have to play tight, and consequently the band will be tight. 

Mihir: Who are some of your influences? Have you seen this kind of drumming in someone you really admire?
Noel: My influences are Queen, Rush, Gino Vannelli, Tower Of Power to name a few. Besides learning and listening to funk music, I love reading stuff on various genres. The drummers I am most inspired by are Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, and Reuben Narain (my drum teacher) among others.

Mihir: Do you agree when the judges told you that you need to play harder and have better headphones so you can concentrate on the drumming?
Noel: Yeah, the headphones gave me problems to head-bang (laughs). But on a serious note, it did give me irritation and half my concentration was to avoid its slippage.
As far as the power part is concerned, I believed I was playing quite hard. I'm glad that such a creative suggestion came up and I would definitely work on it in the future.

 

Mihir: [to Abhishek (bassist)] The bassist never gets any questions right? But you know you hold the band together man…so tell me. How do you feel about the band? Are you happy with the overall sound?
Abhishek: Yeah it’s true to some extent that a bass player is always the most de-rated musicians in the whole band but the people who know the amount of difference a bass player can make in the overall sound of the band will always respect him. It’s not easy to find a good bass player in country but I think that the things are definitely going to change in time. For me Frequency has got a hell lot of potential and it can really kick some ass out there. Yes I am happy with this band the way it’s we all are working and I am also satisfied with the overall sound but yeah any kind of improvements is always accepted.

 

Mihir: What’s next for Frequency? Have you guys started recording your material?
Frequency: Well Frequency is always recording material whatever comes to our mind as we have a recording setup of our own. We are looking forward to do more gigs in Delhi and around the country.

- Mihir