Interview with The Circus

Q. What’s the story behind naming the band ‘The Circus’?

Anshul Lall says : The name was never thought about. When we guys started practicing together for the first time, we never discussed about the name for the band. It was only when we got our first gig ever we had to sent in the name for a band, so arsh just randomly asked if “the circus” sounds good, And all of us agreed to it. And thus The Circus.

Abhishek Bhatia says : There is no story as such , though it was quite not deliberate . lets just say , this is the name now , and it sounds cool . I bet there is no story behind naming this guy suresh …

Abhinav Chaudhry says : It just came about...like the rains, the tide...the high tide.

Arsh Sharma says: That just happened incidentally, We were sick of trying to find a name for the band and we had a show in the summer of 2007, So I sent them the first name which popped into my head, which was “The Circus”. After that I think we just got too lazy to change it.

Q. As individuals performers, who are your idols, or who do you look upon as inspirations?

Anshul Lall says : Danny Carey, John Otto and Josh Freeze.

Abhishek Bhatia says : I really am fond of Brandon Boyd , Thom Yorke , Maynard …….and I quite like the sound of bands like maybe she will , 65 days of static , Trentemoller , Modeselektor , Radiohead ,Incubus

Abhinav Chaudhry says : Flea, Justin Chancellor, Radiohead, nine inch nails, a lot of new bands recently such as Maybeshewill, Trentemoller, Apparat, etc.

Arsh Sharma says: For me personally, I used to listen to a lot of thrash when I was in School which was stuff Like Slayer, Megadeth, Testament etc. Post that I got into a phase of a lot Of Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Radiohead etc. And right now it’s an eclectic taste of a Lot of electronic artists like Trentemoller, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher etc. So generally, I personally like a very diverse palette musically and listen to anything which sounds interesting or cutting edge, I’m not into the whole idolizing guitar players as much as I was maybe when I was in school, and I try to develop my technique by listening to distinctly non-guitar based bands and experimenting with soundscapes etc.

Q. Could you throw some light upon the band’s future plans? Can we expect another album anytime soon?

Anshul Lall says : We have hit the studio and are working on the 2nd album from quite sometime now. Hopefully it will be out in first couple of months of 2012.

Abhishek Bhatia says : We are working on our second album . It shall be out soon . We plan on playing gigs in the country and outside . We wish to make the second album a lot more reachable to people in and out ,

Abhinav Chaudhry says : Future plans include making new music in a different direction from what we’ve been doing since our conception...
Record and put out the second album which is currently under construction.

Arsh Sharma says: We are actually recording our second album right now, We are finished with the drum tracks, basic scratches etc. Hopefully the recording will be done soon and we will start figuring out release dates, a possible tour etc. So album No.2 is definitely out this year, when is dependent on the right climate for its release.

Q.What are your views on the developing Rock culture in India? How different has it grown since the time you started the band?

Anshul Lall says : The scene in India is way better than what it was earlier, especially after bands like Metallica, iron maiden, Porcupine tree, Lamb of God, Opeth coming down to India, the awareness of this industry in India is growing at a larger scale. Now we have rock festivals all over the year. And they are major festivals like weekender NH7, Sula fest and others.
When we guys started playing, the scene had already started growing. And now it has been 4 years now and the scene is still growing. The Indian rock industry has good future.

Abhishek Bhatia says : The rock culture in India has been developing for sure , since we started . say when we were just puerile , the scene here was not too big . I could still name more than half the people in the scene , though the people flattering the scene are quite a lot now . It’s all over the net , in schools , on air .So yes , it has definitely grown .

Abhinav Chaudhry says : There’s no real ‘rock culture’ or any sort of or a thing big enough here to be called a culture... The most one can hope for is for people to open up to new music and have a willingness to explore and the WANT to step out of their little shells and boxes and have a look at what’s happening outside...a look is all I ask, you might like what you see.

Arsh Sharma says: When we started it was still a lot of cover bands around, and we were I think one of the few bands who were playing all original sets and trying to carve out a sound of our own, right now I think the scene has grown a lot and there are a lot of bands trying to do some very interesting things out there. The only thing I think is that there’s a lot of online in-scene bickering which goes on these days which I think is healthy for a growing scene but also highly draining at times, and also I think there are too many “battle of the bands” type formats happening at every nook and corner and too many bands endorsing it which again seems a little bit pointless, It’s more about getting the audience on your side than having some half-baked musician sit and tell you whether you are first or second or forty-fifth, and that is something which I feel isn’t very healthy for a scene where all the bands are battling against each other rather than going out and getting an audience for themselves. But overall, the number of bands making interesting music and the quality of the music is way higher than what it was a few years ago. Also, the level of professionalism amongst pro-bands is at a lot greater level than it was a few years ago.

Q.How has been the response to you album ‘From Space’? Are the sales figures satisfying?

Anshul Lall says : From space reviews have been great so far. The album was ranked 4th best of the year by Indecision and it also got 4th best for the artwork. The cd’s are available on flipkart for online purchase.

Abhishek Bhatia says : The album from space took more than the expected living to get out in the scene . a lot of people have paid money for the album , a lot have been distributed as offerings . many have liked the album , we’ve got good reviews on the net and elsewhere . the sales have not been as satisfying as it was wished to be but then I think we are to be blamed for the slight delay , certain managing conclusions had been quite silly and wrong . but otherwise it was good .

Abhinav Chaudhry says : The response to from space has been adequate by underground/Indian standards, but it’s been so long since we wrote those songs...I’m starting to forget what my own response to from space was :D.

Arsh Sharma says: The response has been pretty good, the album is almost sold out and while the response has not been exceptionally out of the ordinary, it hasn’t been bad either. Most of the places where we play people are aware of the songs, some of which are in regular rotation on local radio stations. Hopefully, the response to the second album will be even better, and we would like to thank everyone whose gotten a copy of “From space” or planned to at any given time and hopefully you guys will be around for the second album as well.