Formed in 2013, Fragments is an Extreme Progressive Metal band from Nepal. Currently the band has three original songs i.e Divergence, Lucid and Artificial Intelligence. The band played their first gig at Battle of The Bands 2014 and also was winner in 11th KCM ICMC Fragments. Here is the short interview of band Fragments.
NU :We would like to know more about Fragments as a band and about the music you guys play.
Fragments: Fragments is a Nepali Extreme Progressive Metal band. We possess a technical and polyrhythmic style in our music alongside some melodic and ambient elements. Apart from this, our uniqueness is displayed by the combination of two vocals to give our music a different taste. Since the formation, we have composed three original songs: Divergence, Lucid and Artificial Intelligence. Our first performance was in Battle of The Bands (Silence Fest V Selection). Till now we have played in some few other concerts and gigs. Our latest performance was for 11th Inter College Music Competition in which we represented NCIT College.
NU: Fragments was established in 2013 and managed to win KCM ICMC 2014, was there strategic planning involved while forming a band?
Fragments: There was no particular strategic planning. We formed this band out of mutual interest in the genre we play. The main intention of forming this band was to cumulatively work, play and compose the kind of music we, the band members liked and the genre we had common interest in ( i.e. Extreme Progressive ).
NU: We would also like to know how Fragments as a band got formed and about your first live gig experience?
Fragments: We met through a facebook page. Regan(Vocals), Ritesh(Guitars) and Suzzeet(Drums) did some few music jam sessions and as the co-ordination went good, we decided to form a band. Later on, Regan introduced Susan(Guitars), Monil(Bass) and Dilak(Vocals) in the band. We started talking to each other about music where we discovered about the similar taste we had of the genre we play and after a few more jamming sessions, we decided to work together as a band and create a unique sound that could represent us, our band and the music we play and hence that’s how we ended up forming FRAGMENTS.
As mentioned, out first live gig was at the Silence Festival V Battle of the Bands. We had already composed two original songs (Divergence and Lucid) by that time but as it was our first gig as a band and we didn’t have much of the technical knowledge with us, our first performance was good but not up to the mark or the level we expected. For some time, it made us rethink about carrying along with the band but despite the setback we decided to keep on doing what we liked and worked even harder to improve ourselves. We increased our practice sessions and i guess that hard work finally paid off and some more is yet to come. :D
NU: “Fragments” is a new band in Nepalese metal scene, how has the journey been so far?
Fragments: As we are new in the music scene, we are somehow beginning to know how hard it is for a metal band to survive in the music scene of Nepal. But besides that, our journey as a band has been awesome. Fragments has been an escape from all the problems we go through, it’s a different feeling and a sense of relief when we play as a band. It has been like a journey including good days and bad days. We learn from the bad days we had and the mistakes we did, make sure it never happens again and similarly work even harder to have better days and elongate our journey as a band.
NU: In your opinion, which competing band on ICMC do you think gave Fragments neck to neck competition?
Fragments: Every single band that was selected for the finals gave the best performances out of themselves that day. Looking over others, bands like Crown of Thrones, 5th element, Scape Goat, Human Dementia, Strychnine and others nailed the stage and were tough competitors to compete with. All the bands were best prepared and were tough on each others; musically, performance wise and visually too. Therefore we were having neck to neck competition with all the participating bands.
NU: One of the noticeable aspects of Fragments is that you guys have 2 members solely on vocals, any specific reason for having so?
Fragments: The first reason is the sound obviously. It sounded good. As we were experimenting on the vocals we concluded in having two vocalists.The second reason is for aspects like performance and visual. During shows, while we perform you may find our vocalists coordinating with each other and the crowd/audience along with the lyrics. That is to create a visual impression on the audience and more specifically to have more vocal variations on our compositions.
NU: Anything about your future plans?
Fragments: Our first goal for now will be to record our very first compiled EP album.We are continuously working on new heavier origionals and we will be composing more songs in future. Apart from that we are looking for some good platform where we can perform again.
NU: Anything you would like to say before we end this interview?
Fragments: Thanks to everyone who supported us on the shows we play and the gigs we do. It gives us tremendous motivation from your support and appreciation to work much harder on entertaining our audience. We pledge to deliver much more on upcoming days. Thanks for the interview too.
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