Control ALT Delete: Meet the hosts!

May 28 • Indian News, News • 3134 Views • No Comments on Control ALT Delete: Meet the hosts!

The HEAVIEST gig Bombay has ever seen is only a week away! The crowdfunding effort is on in full swing and if you haven’t contributed yet, what the hell are you waiting for? Go make it happen.

Still unconvinced? Here’s another reason to contribute.

Two of the funniest guys in the Indian metal scene, Shezan Shaikh from Providence and Rohit ‘P-man’ Pereira, former bassist of PDV, are going to be the hosts for the night. As evidenced by the past editions of the Rolling Stone Metal Awards and every Providence gig ever, it’s going to be side-splittingly epic. We sat down with both P-man and Shezan to get some gyaan about hosting, crowdsurfs and the line-up…

Rohit Pereira has played for legendary bands like Pin Drop Violence and Exhumation and currently plays bass for Shaair + Func and has his own electronica project, ViceVersa. Along with being a stalwart musician, P-man has also been (hilariously) hosting the Rolling Stone Metal Awards since their inception in 2010. We ask him about his plans for CAD, and he answers, “The plan is to soak in some mindblasting metal . Fuck my plans, I am dying to see what the bands have planned for us!”

Rohit Pereira

At the 2013 Rolling Stone Metal Awards, P-man had been the originator of a campaign to get Ashwin Sharma to crowdsurf (results of that here) and we got an epic gig with stage dives galore. Is something similar planned for us at CAD? More importantly, will we see P-man fly this time around? “It’s all about riding the wave, the right wave. I always wanted to crowdsurf but fear for the well-being of the crowds in front stops me from doing it. But this time I think the crowds are ready for me, Shezan, Nikhil, Himanshu and Rishu to take that plunge!” he says. Start pumping iron guys.

A veteran of the Bombay scene, P-man says he has seen line-ups equally heavy, if not heavier than this one. “But I am really looking forward to seeing Grammy Winning Effort” he says.

We ask him how he feels about hosting this event, especially with Shezan and he says, “It is an honour and my privilege to host this event, and I’m looking forward to hosting the evening alongside Shezan bhai, he is a super funny guy and gets embarrassed easily. I hope he and Rishu will give their super speeches.”

Shezan Shaikh is the guitarist of Providence and his plans for include, “Absolutely nothing. It’s going to be like a covert operation, enter, introduce the band, leave.”

Providence are also playing at the event and having both responsibilities can become difficult for anyone. We wonder if similar doubts plague him. He responds “I’m more focused on Providence’s set for this gig than the hosting bit really. Hosting is really not that big a deal. It makes no difference to the crowd or to me. The only thing that matters is Providence’s performance on the day of the gig and nothing else.”

But, how does he feel about hosting with P-man? He says “My plan is to hide behind P-man so nobody notices that I was there. That’s the only feel I have because I’m not cut out for this “hosting” business.”

Shezan Shaikh

Shezan agrees that this line up is probably one of the best he has seen in the city, “Probably the heaviest in the past 6-7 years or maybe 10, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty certain a gig of this magnitude hasn’t happened for a long time.”

Which band is he looking forward to? “My brothers from Zygnema and Undying Inc. It’s been a long time since they played and CTRL ALT DEL: Metal is the perfect gig for them to take stage after so many months!” he says.

Shezan was kind enough to tell us what he thinks the term crowd surfing means , to all TAKE NOTE!!

“Crowd surfing, also known as body surfing, is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert), transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The “crowd surfer” is passed above everyone’s heads, with everyone’s hands supporting the person’s weight. At most concerts and festivals the crowd surfer will be passed towards a barrier in front of the stage by the crowd, where they will be pulled off and put on their feet by the security stewards. Then, they will be sent back to the side or rear of the crowd at the end of the barrier or they may be ejected from the venue (depending on the policy enforced).

This has been known to happen to unwilling participants who have been boosted up by others by surprise, in which case, those participants may also be ejected, albeit unfairly.”

Along with bone crushingly heavy metal, the Bombay public is definitely in for some laughs. If you STILL haven’t contributed, go NOW!

Loudezt shout out Aftab Khan