Greetings, fellow metalheads!

Today, we have Agrath with us and I will be asking them

some pretty awesome questions and I'm quite sure they have some pretty good answers
too. Yeah, guys?
- YO! Shoot the questions already man.. (laughs) [who laughs]

So let the party begin! Firstly, a pretty obvious question, why the name Agrath? It rings your
ears when you hear it you know, very catchy! How did this name come into being?
Well we wanted a name which should sound Indian but kick-ass globally, so with this in
mind we decided on the name Agrath (pronounced as Agr-aaath) which means leadership
in Sanskrit language. Prithvi(the drummer) had studied some sanskrit back in high school
and he was just rethinking all he had learnt and then just said this word Agrath and it just
clicked and we finalized it instantly without searching for any other heavier but common
names.

Okay wow that's great! Never knew before what it meant! How did you guys come
together? Were you friends before the formation of the band?
Well, Sankalp was already in music from a long time back and had been performing from the
class of 6 and when he was in 12th he met with Prithvi and encouraged him to pick up
drums. And together they joined the same college and we just stuck after that. We were so
into forming-a-band that I guess nature just favoured and by luck we met Kanav( Vocalist )
in our hostel room as a roommate.

Aah! So Sankalp, you're the one who should be credited for the primary success huh? Good
good! Tell me something which is different about your band. We hear new metal bands
every other day. What is it that makes Agrath come into the limelight? I mean, how does it
leave all the others behind?
We had a lot of line-up changes whilst deciding on our genre, but we were never happy with
any and always wanted to do something out-of-the box (but we had to have some
metalcore and djent into it cause theyre too irrestible). So, when Kanav (our vocalist) joined
us in August 2012, we tapped his unique beat boxing skills and channelized it and decided
on a totally new genre which today we proudly call Lab Metal. And this is what makes us
different. We love what we do and are passionate about it. So we guess thats what brought
us into the limelight.

LAB METAL! Wow. So you are not just musicians, you are pioneers too! Can you tell us about
all your members? A bit about everyone?
Sankalp Singha ( Guitarist ) - Sankalp has been a musician/guitarist for a lot many years and
is a trained Sound Engineer from Ahmedabad. He has been recording for a lot of bands and
yes definitely for Agrath as well. He is also a computer freak and loves programming
specially web development.
Prithvi Raj Tikku (Drummer) He is a really fast learner and has picked up playing the drums
from a novice to a pro in just a year. He has always been a studious guy and is into proper
Mechanical Engineering, recently with Teja ( the manager of the band ) they made their
own Go-Kart which they take out for regular spin with the other members.
Kanav Bharadwaj(Vocalist/Beat-Boxer) He has been always beat-boxing towards glory.
Earlier in his school time, he used to follow Hip-Hop and the other genres other than metal
but his outlook changed when he realized that he could growl and found his new love in
Metal. And well, he has always maintained his job as the front man of the band well.
Kaushik Madhab Das(Bassist) He is a movie freak sits on his ass and watches movies and
he is a hopeless romantic too, but other than that he has been a great support to the band
right from the beginning and always made sure that he plays perfect in the stage. Also a
very good cook, he makes sure that he makes awesome chicken for the band!!

Okay. So, has this always been Agrath's line up or has it ever changed? If yes, who and why?
Yes, we have had lineup changes in the beginning twice but it has always been because of
the constant need for a change in the tone and the tightness of the band. We were earlier a
5 piece band but the current genre required us to change the lineup.

What is your band's genre?
Being a metal band, people usually think we listen to only heavy stuff, but thats wrong. We
listen to anything and everything(provided we like it). So naturally, our influences are varied.
Well, we call our genre Lab Metal cause it mashes up metal , rock,pop, funk , beatbox and
what not, so we were not aware of any other band which does so. When Kanav joined in
with his unique talents, we experimented a lot and in the end came up with a new genre
LAB METAL !!

Tell us some of the most memorable gigs/concerts you've performed in since the band's
formation. What made them so memorable?
Mind Rocks at Le Meridian for obvious reasons, and the show at XIMB cause of their culture
called JLT(Just Like That) which is basically an all night dance and party. All truth be told, all
the shows that we attend to are our favourite / memorable gigs because we always learn
something or the other from every concert.

Who are the main minds and innovators when it comes to songwriting and composition in
the band? Or does everyone chip in to make a perfect team-successful song?
Its actually the Riffs first, Drums second and then the Vocals. The bass line fits in the end.
And then usually Kanav or Prithvi sit down to write the lyrics.

Okay. Which of your songs are the "people's choice"?
We would say Trauma. Once during a regular jam session, Kanav dropped by and jammed
along, and we came up with something weird but amazing at the same time(actually thats
when we took Kanav in the band). So we sat together, racked our brains till we were
traumatized and Trauma was born in 3 days. And funnily it has become a song that we are
mostly reckoned with.
The other peoples favorite is Dreammaker. Personally it is our favorite.

So I hear you guys are doing your engineering from LPU. How tough is to maintain your
passion for music while focussing on being successful in your careers in whichever subjects
you are studying in college?
Its just that we have to always remind us our priorities and always remember what do we
want to do ahead. When that is cleared, it gets kinda easy. All you need to do is work
towards that goal. And thanks to our supportive parents we have been able to focus on both
the aspects music and studies.

Any tips for our viewers, most of whom are young and aspiring musicians, on how to
balance between one's passion and academics?
Its really difficult to manage both the things. Living in India we have been taught to study,
and land up a good job and have a family. And this cycle should not be disrupted by music,
but luckily we all have extremely understanding and supportive parents who help us in
every way possible and we dont feel lost or confused.

We all know that Agrath recently won at NIT Jalandhar Battle Of The Bands, three times in a
row. Share with us your experience in this particular event.
Performing at NIT Jalandhar is an awesome experience everytime. And it is just amazing to
now even see the crowd singing to our songs with us. The people out there are awesome
and amazingly supportive for the bands that come there to perform and really know how to
Head Bang, that includes the girls as well
So seeing such an enthusiastic crowd we did our best and ended up winning in the Battle Of
Bands three times in a row.

What is the ONE dream festival or event you guys wanna play in? For which you can do
ANYTHING to get to play.
DOWNLOAD fest!! DOWNLOAD fest!! DOWNLOAD fest!! And even Wacken Open Air metal
festival!

Hahahaha, I'm sure 'Download' is something everyone would want to perform in. Right,
viewers? Anyway, so other than the music, how would you rate your band's stage presence
as a whole on a scale from 1 to 10? 10 being the best.
This is a trick question is it? (Laughs)
Cause, we love performing each time when we are up on the stage and so for us we would
rate us on the basis of how we felt playing. Other than that is is up to the audience to decide
our stage presence. We think we do good.

So, 10 on 10? Everyone has those few bands he/she worships and always has on the play
list. For you, which bands give justice to the aforementioned statement?
We were heavily influenced by a metalcore outfit from Delhi Phobia, they kicked some
serious ass when they had come to our university for a Battle of Bands in which even we
were competing (our first show ever btw), we never got to meet them but they influenced
us a lot. And we respect a lot of the other bands such as What Escapes Me from Kolkata
who have become really good friends of the band as well and they definitely influenced us a
lot as well. And every good musician is an inspiration to us, because you can learn so much
from one. The bands we absolutely love are August Burns Red, Periphery, Skyharbor,
Meshuggah, Lamb of God, Vildhjarta, Threat Signal, After the Burial, Veil of Maya and
Cloudkicker.

We just have two more questions to go now. I can't hold myself from asking this. Every band
has those hilarious moments both on and off stage which tickle your funny bone (for you it
will be funny METAL bone eh? :P) for the rest of your lives. Has anything of that sort
happened to you guys? If yes, please share them with our viewers so that they have
something to laugh about too!
When we had some guys in the crowd doing bhangra to our songs and one guy just
suddenly grabs the vocalist for a photo with him in the middle of the song. And there were
times when Sankalp tried singing cleans with the lyrics What you meant! but because of
the really weird sound system it was sounding like Chumma chumma de de.. . It was
hilarious when we heard the recording.

Hahahaha, now that's hilarious! Last but not the least, do you have anything to say to your
fans and the readers of Muzeption Underground?
Love Music, Keep supporting cause music has no barriers. And yeah, remember to attend
our shows when we come to your city!!
Cheers!!

You heard it guys, KEEP UP THE LOVE FOR MUSIC! Without music, there's no life, is there?
Thanks again guys for giving us your precious time! I, on behalf of Muzeption Underground,
wish you all the best for your future endeavors.
-STAY METAL, STAY RAW!

Over and out.