Last year Megadeth, one of the biggest metal acts of all time, reigned at Bacardi NH7 Weekender, with t2. Ear-splitting chants and crowd roars celebrated the crunchy riffs and searing guitar solos. “We’ll be back, don’t worry,” singer-guitarist Dave Mustaine had assured then. As we wait for Megadeth to keep their promise,
another international act — The Aristocrats — is set to storm Swabhumi Rang Durbar on September 12, 7pm onwards, for THE Festival Chapter X: The Aristocrats Live In Kolkata, with t2.

The band members took on a few questions in the countdown to their two-hour-thirty-minute Calcutta gig.

How did the India tour (Calcutta, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi) come about?

We’ve toured Asia before as a band, but not India, and we were determined to come to India this time because we could tell from our social media that we have a lot of wonderful fans here. But we were having difficulty finding a promoter willing to bring us over, which happens sometimes when we are trying to book our first tour in a new country. After a few difficult weeks, we finally just posted something on our Facebook page about it, saying ‘We want to come to India — who can help us get there?’ And then the ball started moving.  

What can Calcutta music lovers expect from the concert?

We want them to have fun at our show! Of course we will play our eclectic material, and there will be room for us to stretch out and play our adventurous music, so people will get that feeling of seeing what they came to see. But we also want it to be loose, fun, and not so serious.

We’re all excited to perform as a band in India for the very first time, and since Calcutta will be the very first show of the India tour, it will be a special moment for all of us. I’m sure we will know Calcutta much better as a city after this visit.

How often do you experiment on stage during a performance?

We are constantly adding and shifting little things in each song so that we can communicate while playing, improvise bits here and there, and keep the material fresh, while also preserving the integrity of a show that works.

Compiled by Arindam Chatterjee

A fanboy writes in

Guitarist Guthrie Govan composes songs which are complex and intricate, but he can still make it accessible and enjoyable in a very fun way. I guess that is why I love listening to The Aristocrats so much. They never fail to reinvent themselves for a new album. The Aristocrats will never fail to surprise you.Tres Caballeros, their last album, was such a great change in mood and tone with a lot of jazz and blues influences, along with some great grooves from Marco Minnemann (drummer). All three of them complement each other perfectly, and they play together to create some magic — Debroop Basu (third year, English Honours, St. Xavier’s College)

Cactus guitarist Ritaprabha ‘Ratul’ Ray sends his Qs via t2

The debut Aristocrats album (The Aristocrats) was recorded in two weeks. Did you have the songs ready before you hit the studio?

Yes, we did. It’s really the only way for us to make studio time work, because we live in very far away places. Fortunately for us, we’d all made solo albums on our own before then, and so we were all capable of producing a complete demo of whatever song we were writing and then presenting to the band. So we each brought three complete songs to the table, and then we’d go over them, play them as a band, and then they would become Aristocrats songs. 

How important a role does spontaneous improvisation play in the process of creating music together?

I think our compositions, while certainly not written as mere vehicles for soloing, provide many opportunities for improvisation and stretching out. And that’s the kind of thing that develops over time, and the course of a tour, as we play a song 10, 20, 30 times. Little things will happen during a concert, and a new moment might become a part of an arrangement going forward. Or maybe it just happens for that one night.

Organiserspeak

“Under-21 tickets are priced at Rs 750 onwards and general tickets at Rs 1,250 onwards, including Rs 500 redeemable cover charge. Tickets are available at insider.in and at the venue on Monday. There will be food and beverage for purchase at the venue. Rules and regulations are available on www.thefestival.in” — Kinjal Bhattacharya of E365 Media Solutions