Proving their 'metal'

lnspired trio

They are men of few words but one of the loudest bands when they come together. Fans flock to ‘Shepherd’, the sludge metal band, which bleats a crusty sound with heavy guitar riffs.

Comprising Namit on guitars, Michael on bass and Deepak on drums; the three-member troupe focusses more on loud, guitar tones and less on their vocals.

They are a raucous lot with their ‘on-the-face’ T- shirts, loud, grunge-like tones and hardcore punk music fused in between their booming sonics.

    However, the magic of ‘Shepherd’ is that they are not a fast-paced band. Their slow, hypnotic beats in between such snarls and gnarls, calls for a trance-like experience.

The three came together in college thanks to their similar musical tastes and when they realised that they could write songs. It has been four years since the trio decided to jam and Deepak recalls that the experience has been a killerso far. Their name itself, grabs eyeballs. They just wanted one word that was catchy and powerful and it has worked!

“Sludge metal has a great audience in the City. It’s metal, firstly. That itself garners a huge fan-base here. There are also a lot of fans from cross-over genres like rock and indie too,” says Deepak.

   They are full of the music that they grew up listening to ‘Black Sabbath’, ‘Nirvana’ and ‘Sound Garden’.

Their songs like ‘Crook’ and ‘Turdspeak’ are some of the feathers in their hat. Deepak says, “We don’t jam very often. We come together only when we decide to write songs. Our band is into composing interesting melodies and our lyrics comprise of ideas that move us. We try to translate what we write into loud music.”

   The members of ‘Shepherd’ are part of other bands as well and bring their influences in music to this one. Arranging harmonies is not a challenge though the band comprises only three members.

  “The biggest advantage is that we can all sing. There is always someone to pick up the vocals if one of us gets stuck. We are trying out different harmonies now,” Deepak adds.
  A full-time musician, he says that the lack of a structured, touring circuit poses a threat to upcoming musicians.

   “A reason for this could be politics and bureaucracy. I am not sure though,” he is quick to add. “But whatever it is, I hope that it changes soon.”
  The band is looking forward to a music video that will come out next year.