'Quest' for best: Delhi-based band Antariksh's new song is bilingual

Set out to embrace the multilingual tag, Delhi-based band Antariksh has launched its latest song Quest with lyrics in both Hindi and English. Composer, vocalist and founder of the band, Varun Rajput says, “It was always my dream to not restrict Antariksh’s music to Hindi. So I thought it might be interesting to make the song bi-lingual and see how people respond to it. Also, I’ve always felt that Quest because of its heavier and intricate sound would appeal much more to the Rock/Metal listening audience which is much larger in numbers across the world. We’ve got an incredible response so far.”

​This Progressive-Rock and Fusion track is a dark, heavy and intricate song incorporating Carnatic music-inspired guitar riffs and breakdowns, a Hindustani sitar solo (Dhruv Bedi - Parikrama), and another highlight is a guitar solo section by guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman.

Rajput, who wrote the Hindi lyrics in early 2019, while driving to a rehearsal, says, “The idea to include the English lyrics actually came much later while we were working on the song’s arrangement as well iterating the lyrical parts. So the Hindi as well as the English lyrics pertain to the same lyrical theme and are two independent parts.” Like 90% of their songs, the music of Quest was also recorded first and that too over a long period starting 2019.

He says, “The mixing and mastering processes happened in mid- 2020 and the song was ready by September 2020, and we launched it in January.” According to him, Quest attempts to question our existence as humans and more specifically, how our ego, lust for money and power overwhelmingly make us feel like we are in control, while in reality we are always just responding to the stimulus. On having Friedman on board, he says, “I saw Marty play live at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender Festival in Shillong in November 2019, where our band had also played.

Coincidentally, while heading back to Delhi, Marty and his band were sitting two rows ahead of me in the aircraft. Having been a fan for years, I kept thinking how cool it would be if I could get Marty to play for Quest, which, in my head, was almost tailormade for a “Marty Friedman Guitar Solo”. When we landed at Delhi Airport, I went up to him and introduced myself and spoke to him about some of his recent music. Later, we exchanged a few messages and he agreed to play on the song.”

As Marty went back to Japan, Rajput sent him some of Antariksh’s existing songs. “He really liked them and then shared two options with me in terms of the tone - one from his rig and a DI signal in case we wanted to re-amp it. His tone was so rich, and it fits the mix perfectly.” Now, they are planning to release an animation video for Quest in February. “With all the love Quest is receiving across borders, I am super pumped to follow it up with another one of our heavier singles later in March,” he concludes.