Exclusive Stream: Haiku-Like Imagination’s Hyper-Playful ‘Hey, Dynamics!’

Of all the places you’d expect to hear American comedian Bill Hicks’ famous “positive LSD story” joke, a math-rock song was among the least likely. Bengaluru experimental math-rock band Haiku-Like Imagination (HLI) include a sample of Hicks ”“ who was also associated with prog legends Tool ”“ on their debut single “Hey, Dynamics!” off their upcoming full-length album Eat Lead Motherbuzzer.

Vocalist Siddharth Nair says about the use of samples, “This was when [guitarist and founder member] Sucheth [Ramprasad] wrote it. He’s weird like that. He writes a part and says, ”˜This is the sample that’s got to be there’ and he’s probably heard the sample somewhere.”

The track is some parts aggressive, some parts super-melodic as well as somewhat accessibly groovy, throwing in a solo from Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takao from metal band Cyclamen. “Hey, Dynamics!” was mixed by friend of the band and sound engineer Amrith Raghunathan and mastered by Portland-based Kris Crummet, whose credits include bands in a similar wavelength to HLI, including Dance Gavin Dance, Eidola and more.

Formed originally as a studio project by Ramprasad and then formalized as a band in 2017, the HLI lineup currently includes vocalists Nair and Shiyaz Abdul, guitarist Soorya Praveen, drummer Aniketh Ashok and bassist Alan Santosh. While they spent some time establishing their math-rock-meets-post-hardcore sound in the city circuit, Haiku-Like Imagination also supported New Delhi rock band Kraken at shows in New Delhi and Bengaluru last year.

While math-rock might be an exhilarating listen to anyone with a keen ear for music, it certainly also asks a lot from instrumentalists and vocalists. Nair, who also fronts metal band Tangents, says about writing vocal parts for HLI, “For me, the first time when I jammed with the guys, I was wondering what the fuck was going on. It was all very interesting. It’s always been something I felt was my strong suit, to understand patterns easily. Math is something I wanted to do, because I had just started listening to it [when I joined.] I’m still a fan of the band. I keep listening to the tracks and can’t seem to get enough of it even now.”

The nine-track Eat Lead Motherbuzzer, which will also include live staple such as “Exit” and the title track, will release by the second week of April, followed by plans for a tour that the band is keeping under wraps for now.

Listen to “Hey, Dynamics!” below.