INTERVIEW WITH STIGMATA
Ziad: First of all I want to congratulate you on being Sri Lanka’s baddest and meanest sounding band!
Suresh: Our heartfelt gratitude and magnanimous thanks. We are humbled and much
obliged.
Years after you first
started, how do you see the growth of the Sri Lankan metal scene?
There was
no infrastructure for Metal, Hard Rock or originality back in the day. There
was a lack of media support, zero sponsors and no clubs/pubs willing to take a
chance with a Sri Lankan Metal Band. The genre was disrespected, frowned upon and
not taken seriously. There was a time when media would offer us exposure if we
were willing to dub ourselves an ‘Alternative Rock’ band to avoid any backlash
from the public. You can imagine that our response was not compiled with
pleasantries.
15 years on; after 3 albums, One 10 Year Anniversary Limited
Edition Double Album, 1 DVD and 7 EPs it’s sufficient to say that things have
changed profusely. The Sri Lankan scene now is flourishing and growing every
day, every month, every year. There is acceptance and credibility for Metal as
a lucrative and respected art form. Our Sonic Alma Mater is revered and
respected for its substance, depth and musical dexterity. It’s an accepted
lifestyle and community that’s part of Sri Lankan society now. A scene where well
over 70 Rock/Metal Bands perform gigs regularly, there is ample support from
electronic and print media and the bar has been raised in terms of the high
standards indoctrinated by us and others that are professional and serious
about their music. We organize bigger and better concerts now; the scene has
attracted many international icons to tour the country as well (Nervecell,
Cyanide Serenity, As I Lay Dying, Civilization One, Serenity Dies, and Rudra to
name a few) there is some form of sponsor affiliation in contrast to their past
involvement and the misconceptions and misconstrued ideals regarding Metal has
subsided. The Sri Lankan Metal scene is evolving and hopefully it will become a
renowned hub for artists to perform in but more importantly a place that shows
the world that we Lankans can kick butt in things other than Cricket.
Lyrically and
musically, what do you consider to be your primary influences?
We are
essentially inspired by each other. That’s the truth. We all share such an
eclectic taste in music be it Metal or other genres that if our music is a
canvas, drawing inspiration from five different sources has helped us retain
our aesthetic credibility, originality and helped us push the creative envelope
to unprecedented terrain. Musically we love everything from Death, Rush,
Nevermore, Tool, Pantera and Spiral Architect to Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai,
Animals as Leaders, Revocation, Arch-Enemy, Johnny Cash, Strapping Young Lad,
Testament, Iron Maiden to music by Hans Zimmer and even Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Tim Rice. If it’s powerful, evocative, has depth and stems from an honest
place, we will listen to it.
Lyrically everything from literature, poetry, theater, film,
music and of course the general human condition and psychosis to devour each
other in systematic and profound ways, the reality of existence… anything
that’s invigorating or intriguing enough to capture our attention puts the age
old adage that the pen is far mightier than the sword to good practice. There
are plenty of things in the world to be inspired by; all it takes is for us to
look but see, to hear but listen.

Suresh, you write
most of the lyrics in poetic formats. What are some of your favorite poets/lyricists
and have you considered using any particular favorites for a future project?
I
never set out to embrace any set techniques or devices of literature when
writing lyrics. Again the inspiration dictates the direction of the lyrical
approach. One thing is that right from the inception we knew we wanted to drive
the proverbial nails hard into peoples’ consciousness and sublime with our
music, the multi-layered themes and connotations in our sonic spell craft… but
we always wanted to have lyrics that would stand on par with the music. That
was very important to us to be a well-rounded musical enigma.
I love Neil Pert’s lyrics; Rush are too amazing to discuss
or decipher!!! Warrel Dane (Nevermore) is possibly my all-time favorite
lyricist and poet of all time if truth be told. I am greatly inspired by Steve
Harris’s lyrics in Iron Maiden and even James Maynard Keenan’s lyrical work
with Tool. I like Anathema’s lyrics too and even Chuck Shuldiner’s stuff with
Control Denied and Death. Tim Rice wrote amazing lyrics for Jesus Christ
Superstar.
But of course one cannot cite lyrical inspiration without
bringing into consideration the work of Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake,
Shakespeare, W.B Yeats, Oscar Wilde, H.P Lovecraft, Jean Arasanayagam, Bob
Dylan etc., J.R.R Tolkien, Geroge R.R Martin, Stephen King, Mo Hayder, Mario
Puzo, Neil Gaiman; they all inspire me in no small measure.
I had the distinction of playing Judas in Sir Andrew Lloyd
Webber and Tim Rice’s Rock operatic masterpiece ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ a
short while back, that opened up a lot of creative doors because it was a long
run, performing to a full house at the Lionel Wendt theater in Sri Lanka – it
was incredible working with such a talented cast and crew but paying tribute to
some of the greatest singers that have ever graced this earth; Carl Anderson,
Ian Gillan, Ted Neily, Steve Balsamo, Drew Saritch… now that was something.
I also recently collaborated on a single with a local
classical singer named Sanjiv Niles who is a powerhouse opera singer. We worked
on the lyrics and music together and the instrumentation and orchestrations
were handled by Ravin David Ratnam. The piece was released a month or two ago
to great global appeal. It’s called ‘Cadence of Your Tears (Freedom’s Chains)’
and it’s unlike anything I have ever worked on before. That aside I have no
immediate plans to work with anyone else. Although if I could one day compose a
song with Warrel Dane – I would die a tad more happier than I would otherwise.
At the moment it’s about conceiving and shaping the lyrics to our new music;
the 4th album will be out this year to celebrate our 15 year
anniversary. That’s my main focus and priority musically and lyrically.
“Psalms of Conscious
Martyrdom” was internationally praised for its aggression and progressive
elegance. What ignited the spark for its writing process?
Honestly I doubt
there is one singular thing that can be traced for igniting the spark. After
our second record ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ we felt at that point of time than
we wanted to explore a very intricate and intense sound; experimenting with new
ideas stylistically and what we were composing was tripped out, it had
progressive elements but we never lost focus of our song writing. It’s an
aggressive record with enough moments of grandeur to render a rampant response
of WTFs but with an epic texture woven throughout the album. We’ve always
wanted to create powerful, evocative and memorable songs. Music that translates
well live but also captures the essence of that respective sound on record. I
think our mind set was such around that time that we felt a sense of proclivity
to reach inside and showcase a body of work with captivating material, but to
also depict the band’s musical growth and prowess as well. We didn’t evaluate
or assess methods and means of achieving this – we just set out to write and
record an album that would show the world that ‘Pure Sri Lankan Metal’ really
means business. To a great extent – we accomplished that.
You combine a
spectrum of genres in your sound, how does this hybridization process come
about?
That’s a very good question and one that we have often debated on.
Sometimes the answer we seek is right before our eyes. There’s something to be
said about subtlety and obeying the divine rule that the devil’s in the
details. It’s the geographical placement. In Asia we are exposed to a lot more
varieties of music; whether the styles are mainstream or underground
respectively. It doesn’t matter as long as the music stems from an honest place
and is authentic. We are inspired by Western and Eastern music, we appreciate
jazz, funk, fusion, dig classical music, blues and of course we incorporate
baila and Sri Lankan musical elements to our sound which lends it the unique
DNA it possesses. Genre classifications and scene specifications cease to be
significant. We are positioned and blessed to be able to draw inspiration from
a myriad genres and styles. From our inception we fused a variety of styles
into the ‘Metal’ blueprint of ours and somehow through the years (15 to be
precise) we’ve grown comfortable and rather experienced in honing a sound that
pushes creative peripheries while never losing track of the roots of our sound:
Extreme Metal textured and multifariously layered to challenge the listener.
What we do is an acquired taste, it isn’t for everyone. But once you connect
and relate to what we do, you will endorse our artistry for life.
You have performed
hundreds of shows in Sri Lanka and internationally. What stage do you hope to
perform one day and any particular bands you’d like to share the stage with?
We
are grateful for the opportunities we have had; we have had the distinction and
privilege of performing at some remarkable festivals and concerts overseas and
locally through the years from the Melbourne Arts Festival at the Forum Theater
to the SAARC Band Fest in India to us representing Sri Lanka at the South Asian
Rock Fest last year in Bangladesh, performing for over 30,000 people at the
Army Stadium in Dhaka. Naturally there are so many more places we would love to
tour, countries to see, and cultures to experience. The really big festivals: Wacken, Bloodstock, Download etc., all of those would be great. It would be
great to be taken out as a support act by some of our heroes. But to be able to
organize our own shows and perform very intimate gigs for our Saints in smaller
venues is also integral to us. In Stigmata we share a policy that whether we
play for 30,000, 3000 or 30 people that we will always deliver the same show of
a fucking lifetime.
Speaking of live
performances, any particularly favorite live bands you like to watch on tour?
Dream
Theater, Morbid Angel, Strapping Young Lad, Arsis, Metallica, Megadeth, Lamb of
God, Opeth, Arch-Enemy, Flesh God Apocalypse, Black Sabbath, Slipknot… bloody
hell RUSH!!!! There are too many. Man, we would have done anything to see
Pantera live. Or Queen. Kansas even. Fates Warning with John Arch back in the
day! Or Deep Purple or Rainbow in their prime. Judas Priest!!! I’ll stop now.
This is one question to which the answer has no limits. We’ve seen quite a few
bands and let me tell you so far no one comes close to the mighty Iron Maiden
live. Those guys are three times the age of most Metal Bands today and the
sheer tightness, cohesiveness and adventure they bleed out on stage is just
phenomenal.
Any last words for the readers of Metality?
Don’t
be fooled, it’s you guys who keep the flame of Metal ignited and burning in the
warrens of time and space. Thank you for supporting Metality and Metal around
the world. If you dig what we do and find yourselves Stigmatized welcome to our
humble family. If not – wait till our 4th record is out, you may
change your minds \m/ Thank You for the interview, guys. See you at the storm of the century!
Thank you guys, looking forward to a monstrous show in
Dubai!
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