Grunge riffs in the air

l Band wagon

While Bengaluru has been termed as the ‘Metal Capital of India’ and has a thriving EDM scene, grunge artistes are hard to come by. One of the few post-grunge and post-rock bands in the City is ‘1 Fret Away’. With unique sounds, they have withstood the test of time and passing trends.

Says Arwen Magma, rhythms guitarist, lead vocalist, lyricist and composer, “In Bengaluru, the grunge and punk music scene is almost non-existent. There are a few grunge bands in Delhi but here, you hear every house playing ‘Lamb of God’.”

Talking about the kind of music they play, he says, “It’s an aggressive guitar tone, has a harsh tone to the vocals and a ‘grunge-y’ feel. But it can be melodious at the same time.” The members draw inspiration from different artistes and that’s what makes them a unique amalgamation. “We are primarily inspired by ‘Seether’ and its lead singer Shaun Morgan and Kurt Cobain, but every member has a different genre they like.

I like grunge, progressive metal (in fact, all kinds of metal) and rock, Kishan, our drummer, likes progressive metal and bands like ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Dream Theater’. Amogh, our lead guitarist, like punk and British rock, Pradyumna, one of our sessions drummer, likes heavy metal and rock, and Vinay likes bands like ‘Avenge Sevenfold’. Together, we make a grunge band, something that can’t be heard in the City,” says Arwen.
It has been seven years since the band started and they are ready to launch their debut album now. “We started the band in 2007 when I was in college. At first, we called it ‘Insurgence’ because that’s when the rock n’ roll movement was rising.

Then we decided to change our name to ‘1 Fret Away’,” he says. How did they decide on the band name? “It came to me in a dream actually. We were looking for something catchy and different and this popped into my head at 4 am. Not many bands have a numeral in their name and I made sure the name wasn’t taken. It also meant a set in a guitar and getting one step ahead of your fears,” he adds.

Their album is called ‘I Am Not A Metal Band’ and has 10 songs with the additional three singles. From romantic ballads to nonsensical numbers and even a Hindi grunge beat, they have everything a music aficionado needs. According to Arwen, the Hindi number has come out more melodious than the rest as there are some liberties you can’t take with English notes.

The lyricist says, “We write about things we can relate to, something we find in our daily lives. There are some songs about loneliness and sadness, and there are other happy songs. Songs like ‘This Is Not A Metal Song’ make no sense and are just fun to sing.”

The band comprises Kishan G Rao, drummer, Pradyumna Kaushik, session drummer and composer, Vinay Balodi, bass guitarist and session drummer, Amogh Matt, lead guitarist and backing vocals and Chandrima Choudhury, lead vocals.