The Score Magazine - Archive July 2016 issue! | Page 33

SHREYA BOSE
How did the band come into existence? How would you characterise your music?
Puneet: Soul Inclination has been around for almost 3 years, active
since January 2014. Initially it was meant to be a home recording
project, sticking to only a few online platforms. I have been supporting
Grunge and music of that era for a few years now and have improvised
a few songs to share online and have been playing live too, but the urge
to relive the energy and sound of one of my favourite eras, pushed
me to take this project live and record. When Soul Inclination started
I was Lead vocalist and Lead guitarist and the band had a different
line up. Unfortunately, that line up could not go further and the band
was split with 2 singles released. Shashank and me have talked about
collaborating on a Rock project for a long time and after the split he
joined Soul Inclination. We have a dual vocal concept now and that
adds to our distinct sound. The line up was completed after Nishant
joined us on Drums and Ashish on Bass and they added their styles. Puneet: The music is primarily inspired by the 80’s & 90’s era, bands
like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Sound garden, Mad Season,
Tool, Velvet Revolver, Queen, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Collective
soul, Led Zeppelin, Iron maiden, Judas Priest, Pantera, Black Sabbath
and many more; an intense amalgamation of all that is intended to
move people beyond physical dancing. With such versatile influences,
our music is meant for a wider audience. Though the band initially
started to support Grunge scene in India we evolved and got a sound
with an essence of Grunge in it and a lot of Alternative, Rock and
metal vibes.
Tell us a bit about the new EP.
Puneet: Our EP is self titled which clearly explains the inclination of a
soul. I relate and connect emotions and feelings with a soul inside that
drives our physical body. In this EP we have tried to portray the dark
side of a soul. We want to work on that and explain those emotions
for listeners to connect to and overcome and be strong and motivated.
There will be a song for everyone to relate. We are not restricted to
any particular kind of sound and genre as we all come from different
musical influences with a common base and love for this kind of
sound. Our sound is raw, powerful and mellow. We have 4 new songs
in this EP which are: Who’s your God, Running Today, Return to Self
and Born of a Sun along with 2 previously released
singles as bonus tracks "I am alone" and "Not a
Loser".
Shashank: The album has a lot of different
elements and major variations. Although, if
people are hoping for computer generated
atmospheric layers/wall of sounds, beep
bops, dub vubs, post rockish vibe or
auto-tune, this one is definitely NOT for
you. Just “Alt Rock/Grunge” would be
better words to describe it!!
What would you say is the most distinctive aspect of
Soul Inclination's music?
Ashish: The honesty. We have tried to portray our little world, and
the things affecting lives. For e.g., "Who's Your God?" is apt for this
age when people kill people over religion. Even "Return To Self" is our
attempt to help people fight depression by telling them it's not others
they are living for, but for themselves and their loved ones because life
is short, make it beautiful. So for me, Soul's music is all about honesty
and really defining the world.
Is the song writing process collaborative or singular?
Puneet: I am not in favour of a single person writing and composing
for a band. Everyone writes with a different prospective. So, engaging
with each other and working on ideas is better for making music. Yes,
someone init iates it and gives an idea or an instrumental or a melody
and we all can show our creative part and work on it. Most of the songs
started out as my old compositions and were recorded earlier with the
previous lineup and we had to change all the parts except the guitars
resulting in a huge change sound. The redo was a collective effort.
'Return to self' is a brand new track composed with the contribution
of every member.
Ashish: Everybody has say in the band which is very important. While
everyone writes their own parts, no one says that I can't write lyrics
just because I am not a singer. Similarly, if there is a bass groove
someone else thinks of in the band, I play that if it's syncing with the
overall sound. We do not want to rush into songs, but ensure every
note is thought of, written and played at least a 100 times so that it's the
best fit for the song before it goes into tracking.
Nishant : We can only write music at night and it goes on till its time
to wake up. That period is super productive for us. We always have
one member missing. Every session brings out new elements in our
songs. It's super fun.
Have you played live yet? What was it like?
Puneet: We had a few shows together before releasing our EP. When
we came together, we immediately started recording songs and
playing them live to understand the sound. We have also performed
our songs acoustic.It was a wonderful experience sharing the stage.
We are just free to be ourselves and we share a great chemistry on
stage and off stage.
Ashish: I think for every band the off-stage chemistry needs to get
translated on-stage, otherwise we are just talking about 4/5 people
playing their respective parts in the band without the so called "feel"
that makes any band alive and loved by its fans. When I did my first
jam with the band I knew there was a good connection. Musically and
even personally. I think that's what you can see on-stage as well.
What can fans look forward to?
Ashish: A lot of jumping around on-stage. Shashank and Puneet doing
a beautiful vocal harmonies. Nishant and I trying to keep the base
structure steady when Puneet goes into guitar solos. Some great
jamming on stage with Nishant and Puneet. We are working on new
songs and hopefully releasing them this year. We have got a lot of love
for our recently released EP, and it has really motivated us to bring
more tracks and work harder to get Grunge and the likes and support
this kind of music in India.
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