BENGALURU: If all had gone as expected, Bengaluru-based band, Final Surrender, might have been in Mexico to perform at the Exodo Fest. But, in a way, the pandemic has been in a blessing in disguise. says the band’s drummer, Jared Sandhy, who adds that performing at the festival has been on the cards since 2015 but never worked out. On Sunday, the band will perform their original tracks at the virtual festival, which also features a host of America’s top rock and metal bands. Some of the bands that have performed there in the past include August Burns Red, Deciple, and War of Ages.
“Our music includes guitar riffs and drum grooves that are fused with high-energy scream-type vocals,” says Sandhy, whose progressive metal core band was formed in December 2010, along with singer Joseph Samuel. The group now comprises Joseph Samuel (vocals), James Stephenus (guitars) and Eric Gerald (bass) in addition to Sandhy.
It started in 2013, when they got their first international signing with artiste record label ‘Rottweiler Records’ for their second full-length album. Called Empty Graves, it was produced by Rocky Gray, a Grammy winning artiste (Evanescence, Living Sacrifice) which was on the top 40 charts of iTunes Rock. “We were on 33 international radio stations where the songs aired for their local top 10 rock and metal charts, with big names such as ‘Pulse Radio’, Pure Rock Radio Canada. Which is how we gained traction in the international market, and were approached in 2015 by organisers of the fest,” he says.
To keep the show as engaging as it would have been offline, the band is working out stories to go with each of the songs. “It is an entirely different experience performing online, especially in terms of energy. Metal is all about head-banging, which is going to be missing,” he says, adding that keeping the attention of audience online is harder. “Our challenge is re-creating the offline setting in an online space. So, we need to have video engagement in addition to audio,” he says.
Some of the original songs that will be performed include Inertia, Tear Down The Walls, In They Hands – where the music in all of them arises from a place of contempt about issues in life but sends out an emotion of hope. “It’s just ironic that it could be perceived so in light of the pandemic, but it doesn’t really have a connect,” he says.