‘The tracks are angst-driven’: Aditya Kriplani

Chennai-based Skrat The Band has collaborated with filmmaker Aditya Kriplani for four songs for the latter’s film Totta Pataaka Item Maal. The rock band, comprising vocalist-guitarist Sriram TT, bassist Jhanu Chanthar and drummer Tapass Naresh, have four albums out already, with this being the first time their music will be heard in a movie. Aditya, who has earlier directed Tikli And Laxmi Bomb says that when he heard Skrat’s music, it just fell into place with the feel of the film — the energy of Delhi, the roughness of the story and the harshness of the telling of the story. “It is as it is — rough, raw and hard. And I thought Skrat has that energy,” he says. Skrat The Band’s TT tells us what that means for their fans...

How did this collaboration with Aditya Kripalani for Totta Pataaka Item Maal happen?

Aditya was nice enough to think of us for his OST! And being movie buffs, we are quite stoked.

The movie is about the incessant fear of rape. So in what way do you think your kind of sound goes with the content/subject of the movie?

I’m actually more interested to see how it’s used before I comment on that. I haven’t watched the movie and context is everything.

Tell us a bit about the four songs used in the movie.

An interesting thing Aditya did was use songs from different albums — Bison, Queen and Bring Out The Big Guns. The tracks are angst-driven and showcase characters fighting against something — be it their own demons, politicians, or humanity as a whole.

Is this the first time your music will be heard in a movie? Are you open to doing music for movies?

Yes, this is the first time our music has been used in a film. Hopefully, it won’t be the last. Guess it’s the big leagues from here. Just kidding. Still excited though.

You launched your fourth album Bison last year. How far do you think you have come in terms of sound from the first album till now?

We’ve always re-discovered our sound (or so we think) with every album. Bison is a heavy album. And probably the heaviest we would go. The music definitely took a lot more effort and thought than the earlier albums. Now to wait and see what happens with the next album.

Future projects? What’s in the pipeline in terms of singles and concerts?

I don’t want to say anything before we know for sure. That being said, there are a lot of things in the pipeline.