INTERVIEW \ Sreedevi Manohar
Naming your band Sick Society is as transparent a statement as any. How does your music supplement your revolutionary spirit?
We named our band Sick Society because we were formed amidst the pandemic and the name struck a chord. The name Sick Society is the umbrella of solidarity that houses our different creative aspirations. Our single Entedhalla, which was officially released by Rex Vijayan spoke of the atrocities happening around the country. Entedhalla focused on showing up the murky political atmosphere in the country that silences the voice of the poor and therefore the song was an anthem of the oppressed. Apart from that most of our songs portray the beautiful and familiar simplicity of the pre-COVID world transitioning into the harsh realities of the world we currently live in.
Sick Society brings together members of established Indie bands like Thaikkudam Bridge, The Harbingers and Mad Bypass. Tell us a bit about the inception of the band and the creative inspiration behind it.
The inception of the band came about when Kiran Paul (Mad Bypass) and Abin Thej (The Harbingers) decided to create music that satisfied their hearts. They arranged and composed the first EP Weird Relay and brought in Hari Krishnan PV (C major7) to play the lead guitar for the songs and Ruthin Thej (Thaikkudam Bridge) to add more colour to the tracks with keys. Ashok Nelson (Thaikkudam Bridge) and Ashish Ramesh came on board on rhythm guitar and bass guitar respectively, when the band started performing gigs. Our inspiration for the music we create is the pure rock soul all of us harbour in our hearts.
Your latest album Ecstatic resonates the philosophy of happiness coming in waves. Could you describe the various tracks on the EP? How do they embody the key philosophy?
The 7 track album Ecstatic kicks off with the song Hopeless which talks about finding ones own desire and happiness in life rather than chasing someone else’s version of it. Then comes the song Rainy Day which illustrates a beautiful moment you share with that one favourite person on a rainy day. Mesmerize is the third track and it is a backward glance at the beauty of the world we used to live in.
The One is a beautiful conversation between a mother and a son about the girl he is looking to share his life with. Ecstatic, as the name suggests is a song that takes us back to our childhood, a simpler time with no worries and only joy. The track that follows, Annoy is an unapologetic rant against judgemental people and their unwarranted opinions. We end the album with an acoustic version of our song The One, which is a bonus track for all our listeners.
Despite being a relatively new addition to the alternative rock realm, Sick Society has already released two albums and performed shows amidst the pandemic. What has the experience been like for you?
We were able to release two albums Weird Relay, Ecstatic and we also released a single Entedhalla. We are pretty glad that things are going at a great pace and our next single Kaalam Pone is on the verge of releasing.
Performing on-stage during a pandemic was quite an intriguing experience. It was rather overwhelming for us to make the songs remotely and then come together on the stage to play it live. The response of the audience to Entedhalla first malayalam single, when we played it live is what inspired us to work on Kaalam Pone which is coming out this month.