The conversation between Sahil ‘Demonstealer’ Makhija and Sinusoidal Music covers more than two decades of Demonic Resurrection, side projects, live shows, and content creation. One thread connects these different parts of his career: he learned by doing and changed his approach whenever the old model stopped working.
“There Was No One to Teach You”
Sahil traces his musical roots back to hearing Iron Maiden in the sixth standard, but the real shift came after school, when he and his friends decided to form a band. A friend named Sunil later played him a song recorded entirely at home.
“In hindsight, it was a terrible song. But the fact that it had drums, guitars, and vocals, and it had all been recorded by Sunil at home was mind-blowing.”
The possibility mattered more than the quality.
“I was so excited that you could create music. So I started recording my own music.”
Sahil used the Sound Recorder program in Windows 95 or 98, programmed drums into separate WAV files, and added a guitar track that was not in time. The result did not sound good, but the process gave him something he still values.
“So it’s a complete horrible piece of thing. But that was the first thing I recorded, and I was just so much in love with the process. I have a feeling, I have a song in me, and it’s there now.”
He later moved to multitrack software, but tutorials and accessible recording tools did not exist in the form they do today.
“There was no one to teach you. Right. So you just had to try and make mistakes and hope that you got better with each one.”
That approach also shaped Demonic Resurrection. Sahil created the band’s name before he had its final lineup, used a thesaurus to arrive at “Resurrection,” built a personal website to find musicians, and put “Demon Stealer Records” on the first album before it existed as a formal label.
Making Creative Work Sustainable
Sahil understood early that metal would not easily support him in India.
“I knew that the option of making it here is not possible. It’s not going to happen.”
He dropped out of college and chose sound engineering because it could pay his bills while keeping him close to music. Years later, he applies the same practical thinking to the economics of performing.
“One day you’ll get a one lakh rupee gig. Then you’ll be like, would I rather pay to play one gig for one lakh or ten gigs at ten thousand to make that same one lakh?”
He now treats content creation as his profession. Headbanger’s Kitchen previously occupied most of his working day; Headbanger Eats has since taken its place.
“The cooking stuff when Headbanger’s Kitchen was my job, that was the first thing; now Headbanger Eats is the job. So that’s the first thing.”
That transition also required him to respond to falling viewership. Sahil Makhija says Headbanger’s Kitchen went from earning approximately $2,000 a month to $170. Despite having hundreds of thousands of subscribers, some new videos failed to cross 2,000 views.
“Take the money out of it. Fuck the money. I don’t want the money. Just give me my viewership.”
The podcast with Sahil Makhija expands on this cycle of building, losing momentum and starting again, across recording, bands, gigs, food videos and the business behind them. You can check out the full interview here:
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