Meet the Nominees: Noiseware

The Pune experimental metal band comprising vocalist Aman Virdi, drummer Gautam Deb, bassist Bob Alex and guitarists Adhiraj Singh and Aniket Patni, has seen good times at the Rolling Stone Metal Awards. Noiseware won the Best Song (Critics’ Choice) for their track “23” in 2011 and gained nominations in three categories in 2012 including Best Vocalist, Best Guitarist and Best Drummer for their EP Wake Up and Soar, which was released in 2011.

The band released “Flicker” in 2012  to showcase their new sound, which includes cleaner vocals compared to Wake Up and Soar, and plan to release their debut album by the end of this year. Says guitarist Patni, “We’re taking our time with it. Over the last two years, there have been new ideas coming out every day.” Fellow guitarist Singh adds, “The EP was just a compilation of material we’d written. There’s a notable shift in sound with the new material.”

This year, Noiseware has played only a handful of gigs, including college fests such as Reprise 2013 at Lokmanya Tilak College of Engineering in Navi Mumbai and Avalanche at Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology in Delhi in March. Says Singh, “Everyone is involved in a lot of other projects ”“ Aman has guested on [Pune prog metal project] The Multiverse Concept’s second album, Bob plays in a few other bands and I don’t even how many bands Gautam [Deb] plays in.” 

Formed in:

2009

Sound:

Noiseware first gained attention because of their djent prog metal sound mixed with technical, groovy metal. More recently, guitarists Singh and Patni say they’re listening to much more post-rock and electronica, while drummer Gautam Deb listens to a lot of jazz. But Singh assures that there are always artists such as Karnivool, TesseracT and Meshuggah that the band keeps up with at all times. “Noiseware will always be a metal band. It’s just that these other influences and genres are like condiments for food ”“ you’re making it tastier,” says Singh.

 

Discography:

Wake Up and Soar (2011) ”“ five-track EP

“Flicker” (2012) ”“ single

 

Nominated for:

Best Song ”“ “Flicker”

Best Vocalist ”“ Aman Virdi

Best Guitarist ”“ Aniket Patni and Adhiraj Singh

Best Drummer ”“ Gautam Deb

Best Bassist ”“ Bob Alex

 

On their chances of winning:

“Chances-wise, I don’t know [about winning], but it’s always good to get appreciated for a different direction we’re taking,” says Patni. Singh recalls Noiseware’s experience in 2011: “We had forgotten we’d sent an entry, and we were nominated. It’ll be great to win, but I’ll be equally great if Skyharbor won, because I really dig that band.” 

One thing you didn’t know about Noiseware:

“Most of us are freaking geeky,” says Singh. Well, that explains the overdose of interwebz humor in their song titles, band page and album art as well.

Voting for RSMA 2013 is open till June 20th on the Rolling Stone India Facebook page. Click here to vote for the Best Band, Best Song and Best Album category. For other details, click here.