Project Mishram Announce Debut U.S. Festival Show at Louder Than Life 2024
The Bengaluru-origin prog-fusion band will join the likes of Slayer, Judas Priest, Slipknot, Korn and Gojira, among others on September 29th in Louisville, Kentucky
Bengaluru prog-fusion band Project MishraM live at UK Tech Fest in 2022.
With American festival Louder Than Life lineup coming out, most eyes were on the surprise comeback of thrash metal giants Slayer, but closer home in India, Bengaluru’s prog-fusion band Project Mishram have also been announced for the four-day rock and metal festival taking place between September 26th and 29th in Louisville, Kentucky.
Project Mishram are the second Indian band to perform at the festival, after New Delhi folk-metal band Bloodywood made their U.S. debut at Louder Than Life in 2022. Project Mishram’s vocalist Shivaraj Natraj – presently studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston – says the chance to play at Louder Than Life came their way after applying to perform via the Berklee Popular Music Institute [BPMI]. The institute sends music by Berklee students to festivals, working as a collaboration between artist-students as well as students who may take on roles as artist managers. Natraj adds, “This team is flown out at Berklee’s expense, where flights, stay and food is taken care of by Berklee. I applied for BPMI in 2022 as well as recently and we only got selected for this year’s edition of Louder than Life fest.”
Understandably, it takes a lot of hustling to secure a slot at a festival like Louder Than Life, where Project Mishram will perform on September 29th. They share the billing with heavyweights like Slipknot, Anthrax, Judas Priest, Mastodon, Gojira, Spiritbox, Motley Crue and several others for the 10th edition of the festival.
While the festival slot has been secured, there’s still work to be done within the Project Mishram camp. Originally thriving in India, the band members are now based in the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands and Bengaluru and will begin applying for visas. Natraj says they do want to make a debut U.S. tour happen on the back of Louder Than Life.
Preparation for the performance too is set off remotely. Natraj says they’ll stick to Project Mishram’s staple songs. “Considering that the festival goers haven’t seen or heard almost any of our songs before, and considering rehearsal restraints logistically, we would strategically go for our classics that we have been playing on our past tours that have been wired into our DNA,” he says. If “time and logistics permit,” the band might also get to play their 2023 single “Sera” live for the first time.
With seven members spread across five cities around the world, Project Mishram are constantly “battling schedule constraints.” Natraj, however, adds, “We are working on multiple song ideas as of now and hope to release a single or two this year.” Out in the U.S., Natraj has also been able to leverage TikTok to gain new fans. “We had some viral success on TikTok, where our video of ‘Cynic Machine’ from UK Tech Fest 2019 blew up to 110,000-plus views in three days, amassing almost 2,000 followers.”
