“By the way,”
Uddipan Sarmah corrects me early on in the interview, “We have recently changed
the way we write our band name, its aswekeepsearching from now on. All in
small and no spaces.” I high-five him in my head for the move à la 65daysofstatic/sleepmakeswaves/maybeshewill
(us folks of the post rock ilk consider such things akin to our ‘street cred’)
and begin firing questions with the tone dialed back and decay set to full.
First things first, tell me about your band, aswekeepsearching – why did you guys choose to have Hindi vocals with a strong post rock feel? Was the sound always this way or did it come to evolve over a period of jams?
The band is from Ahmedabad, Gujarat and was formed in 2013 when Shubham (aka, Shawn) and I sat to try our hands on some scratches. Later joined by Ashwin to complete the drums. I have been doing Hindi vocals from quite a long time now. I even released my solo album in Hindi titled “Zindagi”. Later when we did some rough recordings of our songs, I found Hindi words fit so well to the music we were writing. Without a second though we just decided to continue writing in Hindi. The sound of the band started the way you hear the EP, ‘Growing Suspicions’. Shubham and I have been working together from 2009 in different projects and genre of music. So we had lot of understanding. I guess spending some time writing music without considering any band for reference and trying all possible inputs came up as aswekeepsearching.
Also, you're someone who doesn't use pedals - WHY is that? Do you think it’s a hassel? If you ever did use them, which ones did you have?
Hmm, I guess all guitarists love pedals. I am sure about it. I love them too. I don’t use pedals YET, because I am willing to go with my POD x3 live to the best possible extent I can. Lemme tell you, I am a big jugaadu guy, not that there are financial problems now, but I love bringing the maximum I can from what I have. Reality is I did my solo album, Zindagi, through the POD (Guitars, Bass & Vocals). The complete album was done at a budget of 10k. Also, I am quite comfortable with the POD at the moment, I guess that’s all matters. Being comfortable. Technically speaking it is one of the best Guitar processors. I do love pedals and currently I am in my research phase :) I wish to build a good board at once and not one by one. Not that I will scrap my POD though! The individual control of the stomp boxes excites me. Just that I have PLANS, let’s see how it ends. I did try adding Boss Blues Driver, MXR Carbon Copy, Boss OS2 and a CS3 Compressor Sustainer in loop with my POD but I wasn’t very satisfied. So dropped the plan. However, in a recent gig at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai, I got a chance to chat with Siddharth Talwar from Spud in the Box (man, his rig is amazing) about some cool combinations of overdrives and distortions. Will try those soon.
How many guitars do you have? Do you use any particular one for As We Keep Searching? Tell me how you came to acquire them.
Oh, I have 3 guitars. A Blue Ibanez Gio270 which is my first guitar and it is currently in Bangalore at my friends place. It’s with a Flyod Rose bridge, which i am not very fond of anymore :). But I have done quite a lot of gigs on that, never disappointed me. Ibanez endorsed me with RGR321Ex (http://bit.ly/1zuFpTJ) and I was using the guitar for couple of years. Next i have the ESP EC100M, which I am using with AWKS (Can you see the Space Behind The Yellow Room sticker on it, great band, you much check them out). A basic starting range guitar, but I so love the fret board and it never goes out of tune. I will be upgrading the pickups to DiMarzio very soon and will continue to use this guitar for always. I have the ESP logo polished black as I was an Ibanez endorsee and not allowed to use any other brand :) Lastly I have a Yamaha F310 acoustic. It’s one of those versatile acoustic guitars which will sound good always. I love this considering the price it comes for.
What brand of string and gauge do you prefer? Do you guys make use of some alternate guitar tunings as well?
I have been using Daddario strings from quite a long time. I use 10 | 46 gauge Nickel wound. I love the mids they deliver. We only go a ½ step down tuning both for recording and live.
What's your plectrum of choice?
For jamming, I sometimes use Jazz III. While my favourite is Planet waves Black Ice (I use two thickness sizes .88mm and 1.10mm). I have stocked it up Just in case I don’t find it later :) For acoustic guitar I prefer any pick of 0.46mm thickness. I love when the pick bends while strumming.
What’s your amplifier of choice? Why?
I love Vox and so I have been using the same amp simulation in all my tones at POD. I love the mid-range it delivers and it goes so well with the kind of music we play. Especially the drive is very dynamic and it complements the playing. Even fender twin is my favourite for cleans. But Vox gives me more punch with humbucker pickups, which I currently have. I have plans of upgrading to a fender telecaster and would love to check out with the Fender twin then.
Are there some tricks you employ for the uniqueness in your sound?
Ah…no tricks. I am a guitarist at the very least. Have never learnt guitar. But yeah, I do work hard on the dynamics. I set my tones accordingly. In our music, it’s about playing that one single tone with the best possible dynamics I guess. I am very concerned on how I am picking, when I am muting and how I am holding the sustains for long.
Do you usually attach your processor in front of the amp?
Nope. I already have amp simulations in my tone, so I don’t put the processor to an amp. I go DI to the mixer. But yes, if there is an amp available on stage, I connect it to my headphone outs and use the amp for my reference on stage. But yeah, I am using this small ART Studio v3 tube preamp after my POD. So basically my tone goes to the Mixer through the preamp! I am getting good health in the delay tails!
What’s your rig wishlist like? What other pieces of gear would you like to include in your arsenal?
Ah, this will never settle. Desire and desire. I don’t like huge rigs, rather simple and effective is my choice in the game: Polytuner > MXR Dyna comp > Carbon Copy > Tube Screamer > OCD Drive > Boss Line selector > Boss DD7 > Digital reverb > Cathedral Reverb.
I wish to use Line6 DL4 in the chain too. Let’s see when all these happens. But now the priority is getting a guitar, so I guess I will stick to that and continue using my POD
Lastly, what kind of advice would you like to give to all the fellow noise mongers out there?
Oh I am very young to do that. I have just started my journey to learn. I guess everyone is doing a great job in the indie scene now. India is getting rich with new interesting music. All I can suggest is there is no land and sky difference between analogue and digital stuff, it’s just that you must know your gadget well. I have seen people doing wonders with Zoom processors. Check out this band called Broken Membrane, from Bangalore. The guitarist uses a G1 still I guess and he know how to make a tone. Fucking they opened for Karnivool in Kolkata with that, mind-blowing! To me, all gadgets are good. What’s needed is the urge to learn it and utilise it. Thermal and a Quarter uses POD x3 live too.
Listen and connect with aswekeepsearching here
To buy aswekeepsearching's debut album, Growing Suspicions, go here or here
