Interview with Fallen Letters | Alt. Rock Indian Band
Fallen Letters is an emergent Alt Rock/Metal duo hailing from Bangalore, India. With Vishal Naidu on vocals, guitars, bass, and keys, and Aditya Ramesh handling guitars, bass, and backing vocals, they bring a unique and evocative sound to the scene. Drawing inspiration from influential bands like Blackfield, Deftones, Opeth, and Katatonia, Fallen Letters blends Alt/Prog Rock and Metal to create music that is deeply emotional forming, a melancholic atmosphere.
Introduction: Who is behind the release Forlorn Pages?
Their debut EP, Forlorn Pages, released in May, marks a significant milestone in their journey. Produced primarily by Vishal Naidu and mixed by renowned producer Mike Langford, the EP the culmination of several years of work. With standout tracks like “Remain A Memory” and “Beneath the Opaque Veil,” the EP has been well-received for its blend of post-rock, post-metal, and progressive elements. By the way, although this EP was not featured in the best metal albums of May 2024 due to this interview post, you can include it within that section!
"Bangalore (India) is a confluence of various forms of music, western and Indian, and we have been exposed to all these forms from a young age."
Full Interview
In this interview, Vishal and Aditya share insights into their creative process, the evolution of their music, and their experiences within the Indian metal music scene. Let´s start the interview with Fallen Letters!
Formation and Influences
Let’s start from the beginning. Can you tell us how Fallen Letters came to be? How did you two meet and decide to start this project?
Vishal and I met each other in Engineering college and realised very soon we have similar tastes in music. We’ve been composing and storing up many riffs and ideas for a long time and on re visiting these ideas, we realised that we have a lot of more melo and darker rock riffs and ideas. We were also listening to a lot of Katatonia, Opeth and Blackfiled; and Fallen Letters birthed out of the confluence of these stored up ideas and influences.
Your music draws from bands like Blackfield, Deftones, Opeth, and Katatonia. How have these influences shaped your sound and songwriting?
Yes indeed! All these bands have greatly influenced us from the sheer adventurousness of Opeth to goth vibes in Katatonia, it is indeed a wide spectrum and pigeonholing us to a particular genre is difficult die to this very fact of our diverse influences juxtaposed with our Indian music.
Debut EP Forlorn Pages
Forlorn Pages is known for its unique blend of genres. Can you walk us through the creative process behind this EP?
On a day to day basis, we always share musical ideas with each other and are pretty transparent about what should go where in terms of composition and structure. We are also pretty aligned in terms of production ideas and Vishal largely produces the track too. Sometimes one of us composes most of a song while at other times we collaborate and build a track together based on one idea or melody. There isn’t a fixed recipe but we are always guided by a common goal of making good music.
The track “Beneath the Opaque Veil” was mixed and mastered at Jens Bogren’s Fascination Street Studios. How was the experience of working with such a renowned studio?
Though remotely, It was a pleasure to work with everyone at Fascination Street Studios and we feel that “Beneath the Opaque Veil’s”mix and explosiveness is indeed from their great input and touch! However, for instance, the track “Remain A Memory” was worked on by Mike Langford from Canada.
Songwriting and Production
Your compositions resemble depth and melancholy. What inspires your lyrics and musical themes?
In general I think our favorite bands inspire our themes and style the most. And Steven Wilson himself says ‘we’re all kind of bonded in sadness and melancholia and depression’, so who are we to argue, hahahahah. We largely explore themes of longing and heartbreak, which I suppose is a bit cliché but again it is very universal and connects with most people. We hope our twist on it interests people in terms of lyrical themes.
Vishal, you took on the primary engineering and production roles for the EP. What were some of the challenges and rewards of handling these responsibilities?
It was pretty challenging in terms of finalizing a structure for a song mainly from the pre-production side of things, along with a lot of time signature changes and figuring out if we’re forcing it or it’s a natural flow. In terms of sound, we used Neural DSP plugins for most and dialing tones for them was really nice and easy! I’m a bit of a perfectionist so Aditya might complain about me being very picky when it comes to recording takes and being the best possible take. In the end it was challenging, but I learnt a lot especially from song to song and you can see how different the last song “Beneath the Opaque Veil” is to the rest and how much we progressed. It’s very rewarding to see this come into furition and many fans around the world loving the music!
Metal Music Scene in India
How would you describe the metal music scene in India? What unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered as a metal band in India?
Bangalore (India) is a confluence of various forms of music, western and Indian, and we have been exposed to all these forms from a young age. From Western bands touring in India to local Fusion music, Bangalore has it all. This certainly has widened our musical palate and resulted in an appreciation for all things music, which is quite evident in our compositions I believe.
Are there any local bands or artists in India that have influenced your music or that you particularly admire?
Both of us listen to a lot of regional music (regional languages) which in itself is a treasure trove of gems and ideas as it is so different from western music and hence gives us a different perspective. The band Skyharbor from India is a really cool band in this genre we admire. Gutslit, Thaikuddam Bridge, Avial, Godless among others are some really cool bands (albeit not exactly from this genre) from India we listen to often.
Collaborations and Future Plans
Mike Langford, known for his work with Evans Blue and Parabelle, mixed the drums for your EP. How did this collaboration come about, and what impact did it have on your music?
Vishal was listening to lots of Evans Blue and greatly appreciated the mix and production elements. On investigation we found it to be Mike and reached out to him. To our surprise he replied! And he also liked some of the demos we sent him. Mike also agreed to play drums on the tracks and it has come out brilliantly! We believe his ears and mixing touch have taken the songs to a whole new level and are extremely grateful to have worked with him! The last song “Beneath the Opaque Veil” though was mixed by Johan Martin at Fascination Street Studios and was drummed by Mukund Narasimhan who is part of our band now!
What are your plans for future releases? Are there any upcoming projects or tours that your fans should be excited about?
We have a couple demos already ready and many more ideas that are being worked on. All our listeners can surely expect consistent and regular releases as both of us have far too many ideas far too frequently to not be putting out music hahahah. Tour wise we are planning some local shows this year and we will surely try for foreign shows next year!
Musical Evolution and Audience Reception
How do you feel your music has evolved since you first started? Are there any particular moments or achievements that stand out?
We believe and often discuss how our sound and music has changed right from our first composition (Remain A Memory) to the last in the EP (Beneath the Opaque Veil). We are very much open to change and are not afraid of it. We constantly evolve our sound and I suppose it is a function of what we listen to and the phases of our lives we’re in too.
Reaching 100k streams on Spotify last month was a really cool achievement and also we’re planning our first local gig details of which we will announce shortly on our socials!
How has the audience reception been to Forlorn Pages and your previous singles like “Relapse”? Are there any fan interactions or feedback that have particularly resonated with you?
We’ve got good reception from blogs and reaction channels and also some really great messages from fans across the globe! The many messages we get from across the globe from countries like Chile and Argentina warms our hearts that our music is a part of so many people’s lives and this is what keeps us motivated at the end of the day!
Personal Insights and Inspirations
As a duo, how do you manage the creative dynamics between the two of you? Do you have any specific processes or rituals that help in your collaboration?
We are very open and unfiltered about the ideas we each come up with and while we both come up with a lot of ideas, very few end up as demos as we both critically analyze these ideas and see where it can be taken. Hence with a common goal of creating good music, I think we’ve got a good dynamic. Hahahah I do not think there are any specific rituals per say but I personally (Aditya) come up with a lot of my ideas while I’m doing something completely non musical.
What advice would you give to upcoming artists in the metal and rock genre who are trying to make their mark in the music industry?
Alt Rock is a rather underground genre and to stand out, music that is different would be the most important. Promoting actively on socials and various platforms is also an essential part of the process in this digital age. Playing live shows where possible, goes without saying as an important goal as well.
Final Thoughts
Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience?
We believe our music is very accessible and is intriguingly different from mainstream music, yet relatable. It is our pleasure to connect to listeners globally who find solace and connect with our music. At the end of the day, music is a celebration of life and helps us bond and connect with each other transcending languages and boundaries. So we hope our music reaches out far and wide and impacts people in some positive way.
Conclusion
Haven’t you listened to Fallen Letters – Forlorn Pages yet? If not, you can find it in our Rock playlist.
