Exclusive Interview with INNER SANCTUM

By Ashwin Sharma .
Inner Sanctum is a Thrash/Death Metal band from Bangloare formed in 2007.  From its early days Inner Sanctum has delivered power packed shows and  has steadily rised to become one of the top Death Metal Bands from India. Ashwin Sharma (Manager-ATMOSFEAR) caught up with Inner Sanctum for this exclusive interview.

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Is that even a question???

Ashwin: Hey guys, I know you must have had this question thrown at you at every interview by now but can you still tell us, how you all got together and details of the current line up for the band?
Inner Sanctum: Not really, we don’t get interviewed a lot hehe. Anyway, Inner Sanctum is the brainchild of Chintan and Michael. They’ve known each other since school (when Michael was skinny and Chintan had a clear face) and have always looked to form a Death Metal band coz they weren’t good enough to play Christian Music.
Somewhere down the line it dawned on them that it isn’t really a band when you just have a guitarist and bass player, so the search began for the loser with a drum kit, a sound proofed room and damn chilled out parents, a few months later they found Abhinav, and he fit perfectly.
Abhinav couldn’t come to terms with instrumental jams (coz he makes beats on the basis of the vocal lines it seems) and insisted that we get a vocalist. So the search began, for a female with a damn nice body and who didn’t mind standing on stage and making a fool of herself. The search still continues.
Anyway, somewhere down the line Gaurav realized that the choir isn’t going to take in hairy dudes with no sense of key. So he quit (from we have no clue what coz the choir didn’t take him anyway) and through a mutual friend joined Inner Sanctum (he apparently bribed Chintan to take him in). No one knows how Rajeev joined the band, but he’s in it.

Ashwin: What made u decide that this is the kind of music that you guys wanted to go with? Which Indian and international bands do you consider as influence on your music?
Inner Sanctum: Well didn’t I just mention! We sucked as musicians and death metal was our only hope.  On a more serious note, death metal was probably the music all of us related to and listened to all day. Its as simple as that. We don’t really have a major reason for wanting to play Death metal. We love the genre of music and we play it.

Ill keep our influences brief:- Atheist, Martyr, Testament, Amoral(early), Gojira and Bloodbath

Ashwin: Congratulations for the ep release btw! Tell us the details about the ep and the songs please.
Inner Sanctum: Thanks a lot! It’s a 4 track EP with a mix of our old and new tracks. The EP is independently produced, with all the money we saved up through competitions, headlining slots, human trafficking and prostitution hehhehe…. The finer details regarding the pre production and post production are on the cd so go and get your copy NOW!!!Ashwin: The Art work and inlay has been made by Gaurav himself right? So what was the inspiration for that?
Inner Sanctum: Yeah, since we ran out of money we decided to get the rest of the work done for free.  There isn’t too much to the artwork apart from the fact that it looks amazing. The artwork is more or less a visual representation of the EP title.

What are your plans regarding the promotion for the ep? Any thoughts on playing other cities, because you have been one of those bands who haven’t had a chance to play outside the city of Bangalore much.

We aren’t going overboard with the promotion of the EP. If you have a good product it will sell (atleast we hope it would !!! lol) Having said that we aren’t stupid to not have our cds on sale all over India. So we’ve gone ahead and done that. Most cities (with a decent metal scene) in India would have agents/distros who would stock up on the cds and merchandise and people who are interested can buy it from them directly. Those who live in cities, no one seem to know exists; can avail of our shipping option.  The EP would be available in UK and USA by the end of the month.

We’ve been thinking of having a small launch gig in Bangalore, so people can fly down for that hehe or you can just wait for our EP promotion gigs which are slated to happen in the following cities:- Starting off with Bombay and Pune followed by Delhi and Hyderabad and maybe Shillong too. We are in the process of confirming with several organizers and it should hopefully materialize by the end of the year.

Ashwin: What has been the source of inspiration, lyrically and composition wise for you guys?
Inner Sanctum: Source of inspiration? Nothing!! We are a metal band for christs sake! not some stoner rock band. But im glad you think our music is a result of some sort of inspiration hehe… we make music like all other bands… you jam and come up with stuff. The only place where we probably differ from the rest is that most of our music is composed and structured by Chintan… he lays down the blue print and gets the track to the jam room and we basically tell him what we think of it and a few jam sessions later we have a song.

Lyrics basically are Gaurav’s Department. He works on them keeping a concept in mind and the rest of the band lends him a hand (not when he is horny) now and then. Agent of Chaos is inspired by Heath Ledger’s joker in the Dark Knight. Its basically about the joker’s obsession with anarchy and chaos which he perceives as a hobby. Quarantine is about the treatment the Government meets out to revolutionaries. The fear of losing power drives the Government to send the Revolutionaries to exile, so as to prevent the infection of society with their ideals, beliefs and words. Human Disregard and Eye of False both are our take on the kind of mess the world is in because of religion, corruption, social hypocrisy and war.

Yup our lyrics are a lot more serious than our interviews…

Ashwin: Can you tell us details on the recording and production for the ep. Cause the sound is out of the world man!! One of the best productions in India currently we believe
Inner Sanctum : Thanks again, great to know that you guys liked it. Honestly, the only reason I think we’ve been able to achieve the quality of production on this record is because we strayed from the usual Indian mindset. We refused to conform to the general standard of production laid down by the rest. It’s as simple as that…We aimed at an international level production and to a large extent we’ve achieved that. We wouldn’t release this EP if it wasn’t comparable to the stuff bands outside India are dishing out.

By the way, you’ve just heard the lousy myspace quality… it’s a million times better on the cd

Ashwin: Currently there is a ban on live bands at pubs, in Bangalore. Do u think that if it’s reverted there would be more shows for bands from Bangalore and outside to play at ?
Inner Sanctum: Its obvious that the people in power have taken the proverb “prevention is better than cure” a tad bit too seriously. There is absolutely no reason for a ban. They can claim that there is one but even they know that there isn’t.

Would there be more shows for bands if the ban is revoked?? Isn’t it obvious?  Ashwin: From the bands across the country which of them would you really love to see live and haven’t had a chance to see them yet.
Inner Sanctum: We’ve seen most actually… but wouldn’t mind sharing the stage with a few of them, Amogh Symphony (if that’s possible), IIIrd Sovereign, Devoid, Brute Force, Exhumation, Bhayanak Maut, Demonic Resurrection and Undying inc.

Ashwin: What do you think about the Indian metal scene currently and also about the number of international artists performing in the country increasing by the year? Do you think that there will be a chance that Indian metal bands would be called outside to perform in other countries?
Inner Sanctum: When music shifts from being merely a hobby to a full fledged profession, that’s when the scene would be worth commenting on. The local scenes still has a long way to go.

About international artists coming down to India… it’s a huge step in the right direction. Who would have thought that bands like Opeth, Intronaut and Sahg etc would actually play in India. Kudos to the organizers for catering to the non commercial crowd as well. These chaps need to be the people in power, not the one’s who think that making the roads one way is the only solution for curbing the traffic problem.

Ashwin: Can you share something from your journey in the music scene so far; say like a moment that you can’t forget, whether good or bad
Inner Sanctum: “Rock in India 2009”- The biggest stage we’ve played on, the most professional organizers and the biggest fucking mosh pit in India we’ve had by far!!

Ashwin: You guys are playing I-Rock Bangalore elims this year, all set to tear the place apart??
Inner Sanctum : Is that even a question???

Ashwin: This is your space guys!! Fill it up with the thank you’s and messages to your fans and other metal heads around the country waiting to see you live.
Inner Sanctum : Just buy the damn EP!! Make us rich!

Ashwin : Good luck at IRock !! Hope to see you live at Mumbai on the big stage \m/. The Flaming skull podcast has the premiere of the song “Eye of false” from the Inner Sanctum’s new EP…. download the podcast here : The Flaming Skull Podcast .