Immolation guitarist Bob Vigna and vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan spoke with Newindianexpress.com about their first time performing in India at the G-Shock Bangalore Open Air today (July 7th). Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

Newindianexpress.com: This is your first performance in India. How do you feel?

Vigna: “We have been wanting to come to India for a long time. We are excited to play for our fans here.”

Dolan: “When we go to new part of the world, we are always excited because we know we will be reaching more fans and be able to perform for new fans who have not seen us. We are as excited as our fans.”

Newindianexpress.com: What has the response been like for your recent video “When The Jackals Come”?

Dolan: “Phenomenal. Bob directed the video.” 

Vigna: “I was managing a full-time job and also touring. So, I did not get time for it until we came back from a tour in South America a couple of moths ago. It is one of our favourite songs – it’s got speed, heaviness and some darkness. We are happy with the outcome. Videos are always great. It was like repromoting the record. When it comes to videos, people share and new people, who haven’t heard us before, also check it out.” 

Newindianexpress.com: Your songs are mostly based on current issues, earlier ones were predominantly about religion. Did you face any trouble because of it? Do you have enough creative freedom?

Vigna: “We haven’t faced any issues. Most of our earlier music were religious stuff and had double meaning. Now, we are more direct about the message we’d like to convey in our songs.” 

Dolan: “We try to stay ambiguous. Especially now, in our country, the scene is bad. It’s like the period during the civil war. We’d rather not get involved in that. We do not embrace the political mindset.”

Vigna: “Also, it depends on how people perceive it. We could have a track where some people will know what it is exactly about and some people will perceive it in a different way. That’s the odd of it. People take whatever they want from it and as along as it works for them, it is cool.” 

Dolan: “We try to touch up on what’s happening in the world today but our music is actually about humanity. Most of our songs depict failure of humanity. You look around, you’ll see how humanity has failed us in so many ways. It’s not political. Hopefully, through our music, people will get a positive message. Sometimes, you need to see the darker side before you proceed to a positive direction.”

Read more at Newindianexpress.com.