Interview with BLIND IMAGE
Formed in 2006 BLIND IMAGE is one the biggest Metal acts to come out of Chennai , India. Blind Image released their self produced debut album ‘Psychobabble’ in 2008 which is one of the few successful metal albums to come out of India. I had a chance to meet Blind Image ( in my invisible mode again 
) … lets hear from them .
BLIND IMAGE , thats an awesome name for a metal band, how did you guys came up with that ?
That’s an awesome name!!! Wow, thanks man.. hehehe. we just came up with that name randomly and then shri wrote an philosophical explanation to it : An image being a portrayal or a replication of things that we hear and see around us within our hearts and minds, things that are sometimes too real for comfort, facts that are too hard to swallow. And hence once in a while we tend to purposely hide such uncomfortable images away, blinding them from our vision to satisfy our own sense of vanity. These images become our blind images, representations of the devil within us all.
Kick ass right!!!! I know, thanks.
Could you please introduce the band members and the instruments they play?
David Simon – Vocals
Demattion aka Prashant Mathais –guitar
Shri aka shricharan – guitar
Jitesh James – bass
Krishna aka Srikrishna Natesan - drums
What genre of music do you consider your work to be? What Indian and International band influence your music?
Genere : Groove metal/Thrash metal ( This is the closest we can classify our music in to although our music sounds very unique ) .
Influences : Sikth, Meshuggah , Slikpknot, Texture, Lamb of god, Megadeth, Alice and Chains.
Indian bands : NONE
How long BLING IMAGE is in existence, give us a brief history of Blind Image .
I would say , we ve been in existence since end 2006/ early 2007. I formed the band with prashant and then found the other guys. ( www.blindimage.net) . this will give u the entire history.
When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
2006 end/ early 2007 . What inspired me to play music? , well the same thing which inspired me to eat pizza…. Music is awesome man.. and so are pizzas….
Our music differences inspires us to make music together… you believe that?.. that’s the truth and that’s why I believe we make unique music.
Recently you had a lineup change with the bass guitarist Tibu replaced by Muneeb Peeran , what happened?
Well, nothing personal.. things dint work out well with tibu. So had to part ways with him.. and he was replaced by muneeb.. Well this is history.
News : Muneeb quit the band yet another time because of few unfortunate events.. but it is all smooth between us.. he is an awesome bassist and an awesome friend. He is the best bassist blind image had so far.. JITESH took the over bassist spot couple of weeks back. So waiting to jam with him.
Tell us a bit about Psychobabble your debut album, the ’story/ force’ behind making of this album .
Psychobabble, well, this album means a lot to us , since its our first album and the one which gave us the identity. .
Psychobabble is a melting pot of musical tastes and ideas as each band member has contributed to the album according to his taste. The songs have been composed over a span of one year and have undergone many modifications.
The eight tracks which are found in the album portray the conflicting musical tastes of each band member and how they used this setback, productively. Everysong sounds different from the other, incorporates different musical ideas and has different lyrical themes.
You can witness the amount of musical differences that we have in the band in this album.
I would like to take this opportunity to keep you all updated with our upcoming second album. We are right now working on a concept album . Very deep concept. The music style is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH heavier than the first album. We have not titled it still. We will be starting to record soon. And this album will be produced and engineered by our close friend Laxman. Laxman is an awesome young sound engineer with lot of creative ideas and I would say, “ He foresee things with respect to the production of the album” which is awesome and we like that. . we are looking forward to start recording the album very soon. Will keep you all updated more on this very soon.
My personal favourite song of the album is “Effigy” , tell us the story behind this song as well .
LOL>> hahaha.. every one likes that song.. well, that song had another form before it went in to the album.. well. Trust me , you would have hated us, if you had heard that.. lol.. any ways, I would say , that song was composed and written in the studio itself in a span of 2 days.. very spontaneous.. and Shri, came up with the concept.. the concept is basically, w you are given 2 options out of which you can choose one.. but the point is , both the options leads to death.. the question is, which one would be easier to take and die with less pain.. imagine a guy in this situation.. so yeah, that’s the song. Inspired from the twin tower crash footage.
Do you have a record label ?
Not yet.. trying to … and we are pretty positive about getting signed because we believe that our songs are unique and contemporary .
Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
We have performed almost in all the places in INDIA….
Fav venues: HYDERABAD – we have an awesome fan base there. Next is Mumbai.
Least fav : well, WE DO NOT WANT TO MENTION>>>>>>sssshhhhhhhhhh
Yeah headlining few fest in hyd .. one on apr 18th.
Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
We play lot of our oc’s and we usually throw couple of covers as well , if we have time.Play list is different for different shows.. of course all our originals will be there for sure.
Who writes your songs for BLIND IMAGE ? what are the main themes or topics for most of your songs?
Shri is the main song writer. Accompanied by DAVID. Themes : well anything and everything that inspires us to write..
What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Well, we rehearse every single day.. trust me, that the only way to stay in tune and be perfect and to avoid even those minute mistake.. and also, jamming has become like a part of our routine in daily life.. so its like having dinner. We jam in the evenings usually. We ve jammed even at 6 in the morning for a month..
Could you briefly describe the music-making process? .
Muisc making process………………………………. Well, this is spontaneous.. all we need to , shri or demat to come up with a riff and everything else flows like a river after that.
The new album music making process is tedious. We took all the things in to consideration.. need to do heavy song, with sense of melody and it has to sound contemporary and it needs to suit the concept as well . So we keep all these things in mind . the songs that we ve done so far are sounding quiet brilliant.
How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
HELL A LOT>.. Well, just wait for the second album, that will answer this question.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Musical difference.. me and daivd even had fights in the beginning. But then , we sorted that our and used the friction between our music tastes to make unique music. So that was the biggest challenge and we ve handled it very successfully.
What is the future of BLIND IMAGE ? You guys are one of the top band in Chennai as well as India , how far do you see from here ?
We have a long way to go.. we are heading towards that for sure.. we are confident that our music will be heard all over the world soon and we are taking all the efforts for it and our unique and contemporary style of music will take us there for sure. Once again, just wait for the second album…. ( EVIL LAUGH ).. lol
What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Trust me guys, if you pull this off , nothing in life will be tough for you guys any more.. all the best. Be true to yourself. Do not give a fuck about what others think about your music.. just play what you want/like to play…Cheers.
Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
NO : ONLY US>>>>>> and of course, all our fans.. thanks for being with us guys… hope to receive the same support from you guys in the future also.
Any last words?
Watch out for the second album. You will have no idea what hit you, after listening to it.
Cheers
BLIND IMAG E- WEBSITE .
BLIND IMAGE – MYSPACE.
BLIND IMAGE – REVERBNATION .
BLIND IMAGE – FACEBOOK.
BLIND IMAGE – ORKUT.
BLIND IMAGE – BLOG .
good job.
i like mob anthem.
hey i m a student. got no bank/online accounts.
How can i buy the album in delhi??
email them at blindimage@gmail.com … they will send you the CD .