The Absence Of I - News - TuesdayJune26th2016
They may not look it but the members of “Absence of I” can rock out and rock hard! The four members have no long hair (in fact two are bald), no tattoos, no piercings, everyone is well spoken, and their ages range between 30 and 41. However, the vocals are melodic, reminiscent of 80’s and alternative rock; the lyrics are relatable; and the music composition complex with modern and heavy metal rock influences.
Their lives too are quite normal.
Lead and rhythm guitarist Shiva Seebaransingh is a secondary school teacher; drummer Peter Lord, an industrial printer technician; lead vocalist Anil Ragoonath is also a secondary school teacher; and basist Raees Rahim, a software programmer and developer.
Sunday Newsday recently sat down to speak with Seebaransingh and Lord, the founding members of “Absence of I.” The humble and slightly self-deprecating Seebaransingh said that, although people may see him as an “old, chubby, nerdy guy,” on stage, people see a different, slightly more aggressive side to him. “That’s one good thing about rock music. It’s not about age. You can be as old as the Beetles or Rolling Stone and people will love and respect you for what you do.
Performance beats old talk every time,” he said.
Although the band started in 2007 and had their first live show on August 28, 2015, Seebaransingh, Lord and Ragoonath were all well known on the local rock scene, having played and sung in various rock bands since the 90s.
“We were known on the rock scene and so when the rock community heard we were all in a band together, people were piqued, they paid attention. And when we started to play people were shocked because they did not realise this level of music could exist on the local rock scene which had been stagnant for some time,” said Lord.
Since then, they have, on average, one performance per month.
Lord noted that initially, their shows were patronised mostly by musicians and promoters and it was only early this year that the band started to gain popularity with the “spectator class.” He said the members have heard people say the band is capable of playing all styles of rock and so they do not try to label the band or its music as any particular genre.
Seebaransingh added that the members try to do good quality shows with a high level of musicianship, which was noted and appreciated by everyone. “I think, what was surprising to the audience, is that despite having complicated, technical music, the music was not boring. It actually hooked them. That impressed people and made them enjoy coming to hear us,” he said.
This unique band got its beginnings when Lord and Seebaransingh, having known each other while playing for separate bands, got reacquainted after many years.
Seebaransingh had written eight songs, lyrics and melodies, and wanted to collaborate with someone so they agreed to give it a try.
Seebaransingh, who began playing guitar at age 14, joined his first rock band in 1996. The band, he said, really helped him develop both his skills and his musical preferences.
So much so that he placed second in Guitar Wars at Anchorage in Chaguaramas in 2001.
While Seebaransingh was informally trained by guitarist Michael Chang Wai, Peter began his formal music education at the age of six, mostly with conductor Guillermo Antonio “Anthony” Prospect. He is a bit of a perfectionist and now plays 11 instruments.
“Peter performed magic on my songs. There were songs I did not have the confidence they were good enough. He saw something in them and showed me another way to play them, without drastically changing the essence of the song,” said Seebaransingh.
Comfortable with their music, the duo began looking for a bassist, but could not find anyone with the skill level and personality to fit in with them. It 2008, however, Seebaransingh was playing one of his songs at work when his co-worker and friend, Rahim, who had heard the duo play before, told Seebaransingh he would like to join the band.
“We are two very technically- minded people. He (Rahim) taught himself how to play guitar but he had never played bass before.
During his first practice I listened to him and although he struggling with the piece, he was fighting for it. I knew he could have handled our songs. It was his energy and his attitude that convinced me,” said Lord.
Both men worked with Rahim on his techniques and he worked hard and learned very quickly.
Now that they had a bass guitarist, they had to write bass parts for the songs.
Peter said confirmation of their comparability when a friend asked them to write the music for a rapso song he had, and to perform it with him on a local TV programme in four hours time. They did it, it was a hit with the crowd, and the band realised they worked well together as a unit.
From 2009 to 2013, they searched for a vocalist while perfecting the songs. “We respect each other so that if someone is not satisfied with an element of a song, we work on it until we get something everyone is happy with, and we have always managed to find that,” said Shiva.
During that time they struggled to find a vocalist. Lord noted that they “went through” many singers but could not find the right fit.
Ragoonath was known to them for years and they had always considered him as a singer for what was then a trio, but he was in another band. However, in 2014, the band with which Ragoonath performed was on hiatus and Ragoonath had just finished his Education Degree at UTT so they decided to call on him.
Seebaransingh said he was very impressed by Ragoonath’s abilities and was glad to find someone outside of himself who understood the vision he had for his songs and elevated them. Lord on the other hand, was not happy, not because he did not like Ragoonath’s voice, but because he believed Ragoonath had the ability to be better, but was not reaching his potential.
Therefore, Lord and Seebaransingh spent some time working on Ragoonath’s vocals as the music was “a bit difficult.” Seebaransingh noted that Ragoonath worked very hard, practising for hours, and now, to them, the combination is perfection.
During all this, the band had no name as Lord was adamant that, when they find a vocalist, that person would be the one to name the band. As all the songs were already completed and therefore the singer could not have much input, they wanted that person to feel included.
Ragoonath named the band Absence of I.
“That is exactly how appropriate the name “Absence of I” is. It was never about one of us trying to control the band. It’s really about, “There is no I.” It’s really about us, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.
We’re just a bunch of highly intelligent people coming together to do what we love,” Lord said.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,229754.html
