Pentagram will go unplugged on MTV next month. Vishal Dadlani told I Kaur about his composite performance
For a master like him, it is easy to create a perfect composition, be it for Bollywood or for his band Pentagram. But Vishal Dadlani points out that creating music for Bollywood and for his band Pentagram are two totally different things. “But the common factor is that the soul of the music remains the same,” he comments.
Born in 1994, Pentagram is an electronic rock band known for its independent, original music. Dadlani says that “Pentagram has made me who I am. I am here today because of the band. So whatever I do has a touch of that.”
In its 19-year run this would be the first time the band would go unplugged — literally! The forthcoming MTV Unplugged, that begins in November, will feature Pentagram in one of their episodes.
Vishal is excited about the band’s first stint at acoustic music. He says, “The frame of the song, the vibe and even the way I have sung the songs is very different. Our entire set in the show is a lot more internal and expressive.”
They will be performing a seven-song set which will include one song from their first three albums and four from their latest album Bloodywood.
He shares, “It is going to be a varied set because every album has been very different from each other. Of course the heart of each song is similar because we as a band we have a definite mindset. From our first album in 1996, We’re Not listening, I will be singing The Ignorant One. From the second album Up released in 2002, there is Drive and from the 2007 album It’s OK, It’s All Good we have Voice. Then we have four songs from our 2011 album, which is the latest one, Bloodywood — Must I, Human Feelings, Tomorrow’s Decided and Nocturne. All of these songs have been completely reworked and rearranged. The entire feel of the songs is going to be different,” he added.
There will also be people accompanying Pentagram on the show. “We will have Karan Joseph accompanying us on the piano and Gaurav Gupta will be seen using vocal harmony,” states Vishal.
According to him, the entire experience for Pentagram has been very authoritative. “I think it was a very state-of-the-art kind of a performance for all of us,” he says.
Vishal and his band members always take inspiration from life and then compose a song.
“Every song has been taken from our experiences in life. Our music is also heavily inspired from the music we have heard throughout our lives because somehow at every stage in life you associate yourself with a different kind of music. All of that put together defines us,” he adds. Pentagram is now working on its new album which they plan to release in 2014.