Interview : Ear Split
‘ The Ear Split ‘. Any story behind the name ?
Well the name didn’t really stem out of any deep thought or anything! Back in school, we were a bunch of teenagers crazy about rock music. We listened to music with the decibel kissing inhuman levels, be it to trouble our parents or impress some girl in the neighbourhood! So “Ear Split” was just the perfect name to justify our love for loud music.
When and how you started ?
It was back in 2008, Anshul (the bassist and songwriter for the band) realised that a poor little acoustic guitar was literally dying of ulcers at his cousin, Abhishek’s place! He asked him to do something with it, apart from just letting it decay in a corner of the room. So we started off with Abhishek learning the guitar (he actually stole a notebook of Guitar Notes from somewhere to practice by himself). It was just a couple of months from then that we recorded an unplugged song called “Cries”. To our surprise it was played on All India Radio just the next month and we got calls of appreciation from all over India. That was more than inspiring for us to get serious about forming a band but it took a lot longer for us to start playing good fully plugged music.
How would you like to describe your music to one who hasn’t heard you yet ?
Well our music is not strictly about any specific thing, as our experiences change with every passing day, so does the music. Back in 2009, it was all about how bad it sucked to not even get half a speck of support from our parents, it was kind of cool thing to abuse at times too! Now the songs from our Debut E.P are more about what we face in our daily lives. Be it being singled out as “Long Haired Freaks” or “Supposed drug Addicts”or being a victim of the so-called “Genre Fight” between Heavy Metal fans and other music lovers.
What are your favorites and influences ?
Our favorites could be an endless list and it’s perpetually evolving , there’s just so much of talent in the world right now! But of course we do have a few notches of extra love for bands like Megadeth, Trivium, Opeth, Slipknot and Metallica. As much classic as they are, it’s just crazy imagining we could not follow them.
Thrash Metal and thrash metal bands like Trivium have had a great influence on The Ear split cuz it’s music with sheer raw power! As our songs our aggressive at heart, the influence of Thrash Metal had to be inevitable. Rest the varying tastes of every member has had its impact on the music too. However Anshul’s taste is kind of omitted cuz he’s been stuck into Pop punk since his school days LOL
What is your biggest achievement according to you ?
When it comes to achievements, we sure are beginners right now. We see Indian bands playing sets at international events and it inspires us so much. It’s like a flicker of hope that if we stay ardent to keep trying for what we love to do, there might as well be a day when we’ll earn a living out of playing music! As off now we feel that our greatest achievement is to see strangers swaying to our songs at concerts. We go to places like Punjab where rock music is as much alien to people as it could be, they don’t understand what we play and still at times we see them cheering for us! It is just so motivating, it feels like music is a universal language by itself. Of course there are times when people are abusing us for playing utter nonsense but then we try to let go of bad experiences like a lousy hangover!
What were the best and the worst experiences so far as a band ?
The best experience is to be appreciated for all the hard work we’ve put into being a band! The fights with parents, the criticism from people,the lack of money, the long sleepless hours of practicing and travelling to faraway places with all sorts of hefty equipment….. everything goes down the drain when someone comes up to you to say “Hey, I like your band.. keep up the work”
Who write the lyrics for the songs in the band ?
No one specific, Anshul does the final editing but inputs come from every band member.
The band recently released and E.P. How was the response to it and are you happy with it ?
We are just so happy to release an E.P . The reviews have been mixed, we’ve been tagged as average and too inspired at places. But honestly we’re so glad. It’s the best feeling in the world to listen to your songs and scream along with them. It reminds you of the childhood when you would listen to international bands and air guitar with it.Here’s the day when you’re yelling and air-guitaring to your own songs! For the people who downloaded our songs, we’re really thankful . The fan count has been constantly increasing. We’re surely under pressure of going a mile further now.
The E.P. had 3 songs. What does each song tries to express lyrically ?
The songs kinda run down from Alpha to Omega.The title track “The Ear Split” is about how free we feel when we play music. It gives a totally awesome feeling. Even though the song was a bit of a letdown coz the playback version didn’t exactly turn out as good as it is LIVE. The second song “Stay Metal” is purely lyrical, and a little against the society. To quote
“Growing’s a natural process,
Our hair might cover half the dress
They count it as a social flaw,
We’re only human don’t they know?
Let’s be falling in words and melodies,
Let music kiss our pains a pretty warm goodnight
Let’s not be cutting our veins in tragedies,
For we live for self, let’s be ourselves and feel alright.”
The last song “Doped Drugged Dead” is just about how you’re gonnaperish if you feed on drugs. So stop fooling yourself if you think it’s too uncool to stay sober!
What is the ideology that the band follows/believes in ?
Well this question is sure hard to answer, we’re too young to stay stuck at something specific. We just believe that if we keep playing what we love right now , the day is gonna end at an amazing note even if we end up cursing ourselves the day after for playing bullcrap !
What aims have you set as a band in future ?
Honestly all we’ve aimed for is to dig a full-time a Job out of playing music. We don’t really care even if people label us as the dumbest band in the world if we get to play all our lives! Right now we’re just putting all our hearts into winning good competitions and getting money to buy good sound equipment. It sucks to play at national stages and to be mocked out as poor kids with cheap processors! Especially when people don’t even try to listen to your music. We know that these aims sound kiddish but it’s all we want. We’re gonna get better every day if we keep playing after all!
What is the band planning for 2012 ? Any new songs/releases ?
Well for 2012, we had loads of plans out of the fear of doomsday! But now we’re planning a full length album and a few music videos to depict the messages in our songs. We feel that the media promoting independent musicians currently is a little more inclined towards scrutinizing the technical aspects of their music . They talk about the heaviness, the double pedals, the breakdowns and what not, but there’s rarely people mentioning what the songs convey and in what way can the listeners relate to the song. There was a time when bands played the same beat all through the song but still made people groove. Isn’t that as good as a band playing an insane, complex song structure and leaving people awestruck?
Just a simple chord going well with the mood or theme of a song should be appreciated too.So we want to make a few videos that could distract people from blatantly JUDGING the song and not enjoying it!
Thanks a lot for your time. Good luck and wishes for the band.
Ear split is :
Abhishek | Frontman/ Vocals/ Guitars.
Hariansh | Vocals/ Guitars
Kamal | Drums
Anshul | Bass
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