A Chat with Fallen Letters (23.05.24)
Along with tons of international listeners, Fallen Letters turned our heads with their unique blend of hard rock and metal. Filled with pounding drums, scorching guitars, a bold bass and skin-tingling vocals, musicians Aditya Ramesh and Vishal Naidu are breathtakingly fantastic. We speak to the India-based pair about their EP Forlorn Pages, what music means to them, unexpected occurrences, upcoming plans and much more.
OSR: Cliche but how did Fallen Letters come about? What drew you to music?
Naidu: We have known each other since college and always bounced ideas off each other. Eventually, there were enough strong ideas to create this EP, and that is how Fallen Letters was born. We’ve both been listening and playing music since a very young age.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Ramesh: Music to me is an art form that I am closest connected to and helps me connect with my emotions at a very fundamental level.
OSR: You recently released your EP Forlorn Pages. What can you tell us about the EP?
Naidu: The EP is a journey of emotions and genres ranging from more folky tunes like ‘Our Own Demise’ to more metal tunes like ‘Beneath the Opaque Veil’. Just like all our lives, the EP traverses a range of emotions and we try portraying the same in the best way we can. We wear our influences on our sleeves and we think it has turned out really well.
OSR: What do you hope people take from Forlorn Pages? Also, what does the EP mean to you?
Naidu: We hope people connect at an emotional and visceral level to the EP and this being our first release, we are also very curious about how people receive the tracks. The EP has been a culmination of many ideas and styles we enjoy and we think the result is a one-of-a-kind experience, a high-quality one at that. We would love for people to completely immerse themselves in the overall sonic journey that is Fallen Letters. We would like to believe our music is unique and the melancholia and storytelling.
OSR: When composing and producing music, particularly an album or EP, there must be some difficulties if you work with other band members or a producer. Did you face any challenges when creating Forlorn Pages? If yes, how did you overcome them?
Naidu: I think making music in this day and age is not too complicated, but getting it ‘out there’ in this ocean of music is the bigger challenge. In this endeavour of getting our music heard (Vishal also has another solo music project), we have created Sinusoidal Music. A company whose intention is to help artists get heard and get their music ‘out there’. AlterFate Records is a subsidiary of Sinusoidal Music and we are releasing under AlterFate Records.
OSR: What do you think makes Fallen Letters unique?
Naidu: We think Fallen Letters is a unique blend of genres and styles with a certain melancholy being the underlying emotion. Like Steven Wilson says, “Sad music is the best music” (or something along those lines), our current musical landscape is in the plane of the Opeths and Katatonias and inevitably what we compose is in this same mental landscape.
OSR: Random questions: if you were introducing a new listener to Fallen Letters, which song from Forlorn Pages would you recommend and why?
Ramesh: I would perhaps recommend ‘Relapse’ as it is a groovy and interesting tune that distils what Fallen Letters is about.
OSR: What is the most unexpected turn your life took?
Ramesh: The whole Covid situation and years for sure.
Naidu: I’d say the same. Covid changed our lives, that’s when I got more into music.
OSR: What fictional character would you most like to be friends with?
Ramesh: Batman?
Naidu: Cthulhu.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED
OSR: What can we expect from Fallen Leaves in the future?
Naidu: We currently do not know what the future holds but we are certain that we will continue to create and release music as it is something we fundamentally enjoy. We are playing our first live show locally here in Bangalore in July and we’re looking forward to that!
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Naidu: We believe our music is very accessible and is intriguingly different from mainstream music, yet relatable. It is our pleasure to connect to listeners globally who find solace and connect with our music. At the end of the day, music is a celebration of life and helps us bond and connect with each other transcending languages and boundaries. So we hope our music reaches out far and wide and impacts people in some positive way.
Feel free to connect with us on all popular social media platforms as we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Many thanks to Vishal Naidu and Anditya Ramesh for speaking with us. For more from Fallen Letters check out their official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
