Lef II Riot have just made an incision into the Indian hard rock and metal scene. For a band that sounds like it has been around for very long-they have an undeniable chemistry in their performance and compositions. Their latest single puts them on the map, while taking us on a short retro road trip that will remain memorable. This is called Rest of the Days (Forever ). Make sure you check out the questions we asked the band as well!
You are inspired by several hard rock projects through the years. Who have been the most inspiring?
Every member of the band supports a diversity of influences that has shaped his musical journey over the years, the only ingredient that primarily binds us together
is the love for glam metal movement of the 1980’s which we all seem to enjoy. Our individual playing styles draw from bands and players who were thriving in the era of the 80s, to name a
few, Van Halen, Steel Panther, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Guns N Roses and also some of the underrepresented bands of the era which include, Danger Danger, TNT, Enuff Znuff. Appreciating underrepresented bands of an underrepresented genre mattered to us as well.
Like a classic Whitesake/Extreme track-they put their strong foot forward first. Lef II Riot are taking us to the years when reels were the ones made from film. Heartfelt lyrics, soothing compositional elements and stellar vocal highlights are the true accents of this song. They lead with a charge that is inspiring-while bringing a slice of time within a circular hourglass. When harmonics come in-you can see how well they have tempered the composition. It rises the way it is supposed t, to bring true emotion to the crest.
Kochi is the birthplace for rock in Kerala. How was your experience in finding each other as a band?
Kochi has always been foundational for a rich independent music scene, you can a variety of individuals who listen to different types of music but glam metal listeners were a minority like anywhere else in the world. Aadarsh had taken a couple of guitar lessons from Fredy, who is the founder of another heavy metal band (Rocazaurus), together they met Roopak who posted covers of 80s songs prominently on Instagram and we bonded because we dug 80s music a lot. The three of us decided to meet and jam out to songs without a specific purpose; the only motive was to have fun! Fredy decided to bring the drummer of Rocazaurus (Ritwick) who played with other popular bands of Kochi and Roopak got his younger brother (Ridhik), whi also loved 80s music to play the bass, and that’s how Lef II Riot was formed!
Rest of the Days is soft, emotional and vulnerable. Tell us about crafting this song..
The song “Rest of the Days” talks about the impact that suffering and lost love have on our mental health. The song, like its name, took forever to find fruition. We spent countless hours, debating every single aspect of this song, from individual notes to every word of the lyric.
The writing process was vastly democratic but this led to a lot of time juggling around between finding the right set of ingredients to mix. The fact that all of the band members had individual lives and commitments to adhere too made the process a bit difficult but regardless, we are happy with the output that we have produced so far.
You might have heard the song for the first time, but there’s no way the chorus seems that far away for you. It seems like home territory-especially if you have grown up with this kind of music. They are making forever happen right now-and they’ve put their time and energy into it. Lef II Riot are the shining new star in Kochi’s crest of incredible Indian rock and metal. Banger Farm Films does an incredible job of framing time and place so well in the music video, which you can check out below:
What about playing live. Did you start out doing covers and this is your first original?
Like we said, the band formed by jamming out to songs we liked, the motive was not to form a band, release originals the very next day, the individuals need to be in sync and let the process evolve organically rather than forcing it because having chemistry and sync between the band is a very crucial aspect that is ignored. We didn’t create music because we thought that’s what we had to do at any cost, it mainly evolved from our times together that we spent, glamorizing the music of the 80s’
How does the collection coming together look like? Aiming for an EP or album?
At the moment, it all boils down to how much time we are able to spend with each other creating songs. We spent a lot of time on Rest of the days at present we want to focus on playing live shows, because playing live is something we enjoy the most as a collective. While we have a couple of originals that amount to an EP atleast, we hope to eventually find seeds and create tunes to fill up an album.
What are some other indie acts that you are love seeing grow with you?
Kochi boasts a lot of independent music bands that are creating good music, some of them include Skreen6, Chemirocha, 986…
What would you say to a young music enthusiast who wants to start a band in this time and age?
This is the best era if you want to make music, endless resources, inspiration lies at your fingertips and the only barrier is to take action to bring that interest of yours into fruition.
1)Listen to high quality music
2)Have good role models.
For a place that has birthed so many bands and inspired so many more-this is another chapter in pursuing your dreams. For a band that wants to make us rock and want more-here are the horns-for the rest of the days!:
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
