After the much lauded release of their first single Mind Over Matter in September, Delhi based modern rock band Barefaced Liar recently released their album of the same name across all digital platforms.

The band, comprising of Akshay Chowdhry and Sumant Balakrishnan (Bala)also released a video for their second single All I Have.

‘Mind Over Matter’, the album that comes five years after their debut self titled album ‘Barefaced Liar’, sees the band getting more comfortable in their skin. Playing live while working on the album, and the release of the single Toe the Line in 2012 gave the band a good indication of their future direction and sound.

We met band member Sumant Balakrishnan to know more about their album and what makes their music rock.

The second single All I Have is nothing like the first single Mind Over Matter. Does this diversity continue throughout the album?

Yes! We are fans of many different styles of music, and our endeavour has always been to never allow our original music to be confined to any single sound or label. There is always a healthy mix of upbeat and slower songs in our catalogue.

Which was the most challenging song on the album that you kept redoing? 

There were a few challenges on this album, the most daunting of which had to be Back to the Basics, a song we literally designed and re-designed, even recorded previous versions which we didn’t like until we finally hit the sweet spot. Besides this, By a thread also has gone through a few iterations and our first single Mind Over Matter used to be a completely different song until our producer Zorran set it right.

Why did you pursue a pop direction in Mind Over Matter? It’s very unlike your debut work?

The release and subsequent popularity of Toe the Line really has a lot to do with the direction we took on this album. We wanted the music to be appealing to people outside the sphere of “indie rock”, additionally, its far less self-indulgent than our debut effort.

If your album has great production value, how do you plan to take it live? Do you think production gets compromised when the band performs live?

In our opinion, a band on record and live should be two distinct experiences. That being said, on a record like ours that’s layered and has really subtle embellishments adding to the overall soundscape, some elements might be missed when we play them live as a four piece band. To this end, we’ve been experimenting playing with backing tracks and also at the other end of the spectrum, playing completely stripped-down acoustic versions of the same songs.

Music producer Zorran Mendonsa doesn’t collaborate with indie artists very often. How much was he involved in the project?

Zorran worked with us in our Delhi studio for almost 10 weeks and looked at each song with minute detail. He was almost like a third band member on the album. It is possible to hear something new every time you listen to the songs on the album as Zorran’s production is really detailed and we went to great lengths during the mixing of the album to ensure that every element stands out, but doesn’t stick out. For example Back to the Basics is easily the production powerhouse on the album with heaps of synth layers, really cool vocal effects, a driving rhythm section and other elements that keep it fresh sonically.

You have been around and have witnessed the change in the indie scene in India. Your comments on the same.

Some things have obviously improved since we started out, some things have remained the same and some have gotten worse. While “the scene” still has a long way to go, it definitely has made strides and we’re happy to be a part of it.

If you would like to check out their music video, click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7SZL0fFpEY

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira