Kryptos is one of the pioneering thrash metal bands that emerged in India’s nonexistent metal scene in the late 90’s. Formed in 1998, Kryptos has two remarkably amazing albums to its name, 2004’s Spiral Ascent and 2008’s The Ark of Gemini. This Bangalore based four piece old school thrash metal outfit comprises of Nolan Lewis on Vocals and Guitars, Ryan Colaco on Drums, Rohit Chaturvedi on Guitars and Jayawant Tewari on Bass. With an album-release slated this year and performing three international Metal festivals, the band looks all set to make themselves recognized in the world metal scene. IRMP3’s Ritesh Mayekar caught up with iconic front man Nolan Lewis for the exclusive interview.
Ritesh : Greetings J. All geared up for the European Invasion 2010 tour?
Nolan : Hello. Yeah we’re getting ready with all the formalities and other important things that need to be done. Hopefully it all goes according to plan so fingers crossed.

Ritesh : There has been a definite change in the way Kryptos has progressed (sound & lyrically) from Spiral Ascent (2004) to the Ark of Gemini
(2008)? Have Rohit and Jayawant (new members) made a difference to the way Kryptos sounds as of today?
Nolan : Yeah they definitely made a difference since they’re both extremely talented in their own right and they helped push the bands sound to the next level. They also add a lot to the songwriting side of things, which makes composing new material a lot easier and more natural. On the Ark of Gemini there were glimpses of their potential but their influence will feature very prominently on our next album.

Lyrically we’ve changed as well since our former vocalist/bassist Ganesh wrote all the lyrics on Spiral Ascent (Free Download) while I wrote the lyrics for TAOG. Of course I’m not as good a lyricist as he is but we have our own styles I guess. My lyrics are a little more direct when it comes to certain subjects but my real interests lie in mythology, history, space, the supernatural and anything else out of the ordinary so you’ll definitely see a lot more on those subjects in our next album.

Ritesh : Rumour has it that you guys drained your bank account to pay off Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquility) for designing the Spiral Ascent (2004) album cover. True?
Nolan : Well not exactly but back then it was quite a sum for us since we’d just started working and money was still tight. Nowadays it would probably be classified as ‘moderately affordable’ haha.

Ritesh : Although the current line up is the best one according to your fans, Ganesh is still missed by some old timers, could you tell us why founding member Ganesh left the band?
Nolan : It was just one of those things that happened and it took place pretty quickly. Sometimes change is necessary to ensure the long term survival of any band and to ‘freshen’ things up as well. At that time we were in danger of stagnating a bit since our priorities were changing according to our personal lives and we were losing focus as far as the band was concerned. So we just parted ways and that was that. No hard feelings and we still hang out from time to time and we’re still great friends plus it’s awesome Ganesh is doing so well with Parachute XVI.

Ritesh : Now that Kryptos and few other Indian bands have been invited to play in popular metal festivals e. DR, Scribe, Do you think the western world is finally giving up on the “sitar & tabla sound” & are looking at Indian rock / metal acts with a new found respect?
Nolan : It hasn’t begun yet actually. Indian bands need to regularly tour places like Europe and the U.S and consistently put up excellent performances there to earn the respect of anyone. That’s how it is anywhere in the world. If you put in the graft you will be appreciated, whether you play metal or Indian classical or any other form of music. It’s up to us and other Indian bands to make sure that this happens.

Ritesh : Kryptos was the first Indian band to be signed on Old School Metal Records. How has the experience been? Has it opened a whole new world of opportunities for you guys as a heavy metal band or just a few radio plays in the U.S.A?
Nolan : It’s been a real eye opener for sure since we learnt a lot about how the whole ‘industry’ works. OSM have been great with us, especially our label boss Patrick. They’ve managed to get our music to places that would not have been possible without their support. We’ve also noticed that a lot of people (festivals/labels/journos etc) take us more seriously when they realize we’re signed to a respected label like OSM so it makes things a lot easier for us.

Ritesh : Descension is your most requested original at every Kryptos show? Comment
Nolan : Yeah I guess it is because it’s one of the first songs we wrote and it’s been around for a long while so people are really familiar with it. Plus it’s fun to play live since it has a bit of an ‘anthemic’ quality to it where everyone can yell along with us.

Ritesh : The moment when you guys finally thought that “We have arrived”?
Nolan : I don’t think we’ve ever felt that way or will feel that way anytime soon. We still have many moons to walk before we can consider ourselves satisfied with what we’ve achieved.

Ritesh : You guys are signed up with Anupam Roy (Grey & Saurian) for your third studio album? Given the awesome reputation Anupam has, will we be looking at a all new Kyptos sound wise?
Nolan : The Kryptos ’sound’ will still be intact but will be improved a thousand fold sonically with Anupam at the knobs. We’re looking to make our third album absolutely world class so we’ve decided to collaborate with the best, which is where Anupam fits in.

Ritesh : How tough is it managing day jobs, shows, practice times, and everything else in between?
Nolan : It’s really really tough but we all have to do it if we want to make this work. Three of us have full time jobs so it makes balancing everything extremely tricky. For example Jayawant has to travel insane distances from work to practice and then back home every day while I haven’t taken a promotion at work for the last 4 years just so I can get to practice regularly. Ryan has to squeeze our practice sessions in between his regular drum classes and gigs with his other band so it’s tough on all of us…..except maybe for Rohit who just has to concentrate on enticing the women to come to our gigs haha.

Ritesh : You guys have often joked BEER has been the secret of your energetic live shows, is it?
Nolan : I’m not sure if it contributed to our ‘energy’ but it sure enhanced the experience haha. But that was years ago when we’d go absolutely ape shit on any form of alcohol before and after gigs. Now we’re older, a bit wiser, and definitely fatter so a few cups of hot tea work fantastically well, while we keep the beer for later.

Ritesh : This interview is not complete without a comment on the current status of Indian Metal scene, any thoughts on Backstreet boys headlining at Rock in India? I mean, for Kryptos who opened for Iron Maiden last year this must be a huge disappointment?
Nolan : I’m not sure what the current status of anything in India is at the moment since I’m in my own world most of the time. As far as I know or have seen, there are a lot of good Indian metal bands but I’ve yet to hear anything that has made me sit up and take notice. I’m more of a hard rock/80’s metal guy so with all the extreme metal going on in the Indian scene right now, it’s good stuff but not really my cup of tea.
About Backstreet Boys headlining Rock in India it really doesn’t bother me all that much. Yes in a way it is disappointing that they’re the ones performing here after Maiden and Megadeth but quite frankly I couldn’t care less. There are a lot of local metal gigs happening all over the country so it would be great if all the people who unite so readily ‘in the name of metal’ to protest against a BSB concert, showed the same amount of support for the local metal bands who are the ones who really need it. Sadly I don’t see it happening very often.

Ritesh : Final Words?
Nolan : Don’t believe your government.
Don’t believe your schools.
Don’t believe your priests.
Don’t believe your T.V

*Ritesh Mayekar is a IT professional and passionate about the Indian rock music scene. Also dabbles as a co-manager (Atmosfear) and a freelance rock journalist .

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