Quest ft. Marty Friedman – Behind The Making

Arko Ganguly — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 21:08:08 +0000

Hello

Quest has been Antariksh’s biggest collaboration so far with the amazing Marty Friedman. The former Megadeth axeman, presently based in Japan, is a celebrated guitar hero among music listeners across the world. His presence in the song enriches and concludes the final picture being portrayed through it. But how did it all begin?

The Initial Thought

Quest started off with Varun trying to sort his feelings about a crowd of people having to wait to make way for a Politian to pass. Irritation crept up as every passing minute got him late for a scheduled rehearsal! The fact that someone presumed his time was more valuable than the others waiting in the crowd, bothered Varun to his wits. “The sense of superiority and power is such an illusion!”, he thought. “Cause our life is so fragile and tied to the mere number of breaths left to breathe!”

Ideating the song..

Now here is a good part of being a musician. Any recurring thought or emotion eventually turns an expressive melody or rhythm. Likewise, Varun had most of the verse and chorus playing in his head as he drove through the road block. Humming his way into the rehearsal, he was able to lay the foundation to the song with help from Shrikant, Josh and Dan. Cooking a pot full of Carnatic music, eastern melodic ideas, some insane prog metal riffs and introspective lyrics over jams with the band gave way to the present form of Quest.

Meeting Marty

The idea for a Marty’s solo came much later while Antariksh was in Shillong playing NH7 weekender. Their set was lined up on day 1, post which they stayed back to watch Marty play on the second day. Having grown up vibing to his incredible playing in Megadeth, it was surreal to watch Marty live in his element. After witnessing an incredible gig, the band was heading back to Delhi when Varun discovered Marty and his mates sitting a couple rows ahead in the same flight! It was then he began to contemplate the idea of featuring Marty on Quest. As the flight landed, Varun took a plunge at his thought at the conveyer belts.

Marty on board

He approached Marty without many expectations. The conversation turned out to be very cordial and Marty was happy to learn the band’s inclination and appreciation towards his work. But when the idea of a possible collaboration was presented, he politely declined and said he currently refrained from doing sessions. He asked Varun to keep in touch though and share his work.

Over time Varun exchanged a fair amount of messages sharing Antariksh’s existing work. A humble Marty took time to listen and get back with constructive feedback. Antariksh’s sound was impressive enough for him to find it “interesting and unique” coming from an Indian rock band. Capitalising on this, Varun sent the demo track for Quest requesting him, yet again, to consider playing a solo on it. Surprisingly, Marty agreed! The entire band was ecstatic and awed at Marty’s humility and the fact that he found the music worthy enough to host his solo.