Collabs have to be meaningful: The Down Troddence | Bengaluru News
When a metal band from Kerala collaborates with a Carnatic singer, you know the music is going to be interesting. That’s exactly what The Down Troddence created, by collaborating with TM Krishna, for their recently released track, Maharani. In a conversation with Munz (Vocalist), Nezer Ahemed (Bass Guitarist and backing vocalist) and Advaith Mohan (Guitarist) from TDT, the trio spoke about the importance of collaborating with the right artiste, not being caught up with the pressure of releasing music for the sake of it, & more. Read on:
‘Collabs should be a way of communicating through music’
“When different artistes with different expertise and fan bases interact with each other, it becomes a meaningful collaboration. I feel it needs to happen more often,” says Advaith. Adds Nezer, “I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I do hope that more collabs happen. Because they help explore the true essence of being a musician.” But, does that mean the band will collaborate with just about anyone? Advaith says the band strongly believes that collabs should be meaningful. “Randomly reaching out to another artiste just because they’re famous doesn’t make sense. For us, to make music in the deserved manner, we put the identity and essence of the band and the musicians first. The success of the collaboration should come from the song itself.”
I think we should all treat ourselves as musicians and not as content creators
– Munz
‘Now, people are more appreciative of art in general, not just music’
India is seeing a huge rise in concert culture, notes the band. Munz adds, “After Covid, people really understood the value of going out and experiencing live acts. And it’s not just towards live music. People are now appreciating all sorts of art, be it movies, theatre, and dance. At one point, we could count the number of international artistes that chose India to perform. But now that’s changed, too as we have so many International acts making India a part of their tours. India is on the map right now, and it’s great. Having said that, I do feel like we need to also give space to metal bands, as well.”
‘Metal has always been an underground music genre‘
As a genre of music, metal seems to have been overlooked, especially when it comes to music festivals. Munz points out, “I don’t think metal will ever go mainstream. The closest we ever got to that was when the French Metal band, Gojira, played at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Having said that, I think around 2007, I would say was
the golden era for metal. At that time, there were exclusive metal fests that served as platforms for metal bands. But that’s not the case anymore. Today, when we get calls for gigs, we have noticed that the compensation offered now is not that different from what we were offered in 2010.”
I believe AI is just a tool, and you get to use it to your advantage. But don’t let it create art for you
– Advaith
‘We have always written music that we think is right’
Trends come and go, but the band isn’t one to chase them. “When we were making our first album in 2013, there were some music trends that a lot of our peers incorporated into their music. But, after a couple of years, they couldn’t survive,” Munz tells us. “The one thing we were very clear about is not to blindly follow trends. It’s okay to take time to come out with our music, but we need music that is true to our genre and passes the test of time,” he explains. Advaith adds, “Also, this band is not the only means of livelihood for any of us here. We all have day jobs and we get together for our passion for music. This is also why we actually get to take time with our music.”
