Goddess Gagged Returns With New Single, Kicks Off Tour
Mumbai alternative metal band reunites after nearly three years to head out
on the fourth edition of the 2Stroke Tour series this week
Goddess Gagged onstage at crowdfunded gig series Control ALT Delete in 2013 in Mumbai. Photo: Prashin Jagger
In November last year, what was meant to be an internal communication between the members of Mumbai alt metal band Goddess Gagged was sent out to their public official page. Frontman Siddharth Basrur had posted, “Reunion tour ’16? I know someone who really wants to make it happen. If everyone’s interested, I’ll spill more details.” Bassist Krishna Jhaveri says that message was supposed to show up on a private group the band had created for themselves. Basrur adds, “In the span of two days, this ”˜mistake’ just got so much attention from fans.”
Best known for their friendly yet fierce bounce-around brand of post-hardcore and metal, guitarists Devesh Dayal and Arman Menzies noodling out one complex melody after another, the band released their debut album Resurfaces in 2011 and played country-wide until they went on an indefinite hiatus in January 2014. Dayal moved to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a four-year course in music, drummer Jeremy D’Souza also went to Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. Menzies got serious about his electronic music project Zokhuma and Jhaveri was already part of instrumental metallers Pangea and rockers Indus Creed. Basrur, too, became involved with several projects, both commercial and independent, including alt rockers Last Remaining Light. Says Basrur, “When Last Remaining Light played the 2Stroke Tour (in 2015), Uddipan (Sarmah, co-founder of event and artist management company BlueTree) asked if Goddess Gagged would be interested in touring.” Sarmah explains his reasons for wanting Goddess Gagged, “I don’t really consider them to be a metal band. And for the tour, I want to keep things interesting. I don’t want to pick obvious bands.” The band’s 2Stroke Tour run includes seven cities between August 26th and September 4th, crossing over for the first time to play in Kolkata and Guwahati, and return to Shillong, Pune, New Delhi, Bengaluru and close off with a homecoming Mumbai show.
Listen to “Handmade Waterfalls”
Basrur says he thought the band would never get back together, owing to their busy schedules and spread-out locations. Jhaveri and Dayal’s biggest priority right now, though, is Delhi prog metal band Skyharbor, who are working on their next full-length album. Now, individual practice sessions are on and they’ll spend five days together once Dayal flies in from Boston a week ahead of the tour. Jhaveri says the setlist will include most of Resurfaces as well as two newer tracks, “Fine Lines” (their last single) and “Handmade Waterfalls” (their recently-released single). Basrur says he hasn’t heard their songs in at least two years. “I probably have to buy the album,” he jokes, but later adding that songs like “Modern Machines,” “Sink or Swim” and “Rosemary’s Baby” feature “some of the best vocal melodies I’ve written.” Jhaveri adds that he’s always been proud of the music, “It stands in our mind and that’s yet another reason to get into it.”
The band can ride the reunion tour wave for now, but Jhaveri says there’s no way they’ll return to a dormant state and get back to their respective projects. The bassist adds, “The focus will be to work on new stuff. Skyharbor finds a way to do it across the world. I think we can also find a way. Before we play again, we do want to put something out.”
2Stroke Tour ft Goddess GaggedÂ
August 26th ”“ Princeton Club, Kolkata w/What Escapes Me
August 27th ”“ Cloud 9, Shillong w/Dossers Urge
August 28th ”“ Terra Mayaa, Guwahati w/Lucid Recess, Dark Carnage
August 31st ”“ Antisocial, New Delhi w/Kraken, Soul Inclination
September 2nd ”“ High Spirits, Pune
September 3rd ”“ The Humming Tree, Bengaluru w/Tails on Fire, Diarchy
September 4th ”“ Antisocial, Mumbai w/Ferry Tales, Gumbal
