Band Lineup:

Deepak Rao

Varun Srivatsa

Sudeep Sundaram

Akash .Y

The members of Shrapnel go back to mid-1999 when the four of them met in pre-university college. Deepak and Akash had known each other for much longer. It was 2 years of lots of fun. Towards the end of 2000, Deepak had started to get more serious about his guitar playing. He played with a few bands that never got anywhere but gave him a lot of experience with respect to functioning of bands, and finally teamed up with Akash in the beginning of 2001 to realize the vision of Shrapnel.

Meanwhile, the friendship among the 4 grew and they got to know each other better and better. It was probably the sudden burst of heavy metal in Bangalore that motivated Deepak and Akash to form a band. Bands like Threinody and Kryptos were huge inspirations, notably the Encomium concert at Ravindra Kalakshetra featuring Kryptos, Cryptic and Threinody.Also when international bands like The Scorpions and Deep Purple came to Bangalore, it only cemented the decision to form a band. The first lineup of Shrapnel didn’t last very long, 4 shows to be precise. Deepak and Akash had MUCH more in mind. And then, the questions were asked and decisions made.

Once the band was officially formed, first the equipment was to be bought. Deepak and Akash, of course, had theirs ready. Within the next 2-3 months, Varun and Sudeep bought their guitars and amps (Sudeep forfeiting a brand new bike and opting for a 5 string bass instead!) and were ready to kick some a**. Deepak started briefing the two about guitaring playing and under his guidance, Shrapnel hit the jamroom by April 2002.

With one or two easy covers used to get some practice, Shrapnel got into the act of composing by May. After a lot of practice and hard work, they hit the stage for the very first time on September 1st 2002. From there, there was no looking back…

The composition of the music is spearheaded by Deepak and the others pitch in with some small contributions. Each one does his own stuff on his instrument and they don’t relax till the music sounds right up to the high standards set by the band. Currently nine songs are done and there are many more still to come.

Today, Shrapnel is one of the better known bands in Bangalore. They’ve performed in over 20 shows some being

• Opening for bands like Pentagram, Zero, Kryptos etc
• String of headlining shows at the Urban Edge
• Performing at the Bangalore Habba, an event celebrating the spirit of Bangalore.

Shrapnel has managed to impress many with the original music that they play. Right from the start the band’s focus and main priority has always been to create quality original music. The songs are generally contemplative and the music could be described as Heavy Metal, with a strong emphasis on melody. They are looking forward to releasing their debut album and playing gigs all over the country to promote their original music.

Frankly, nobody knows. At the moment, the members of the band are in the final year of engineering and have no idea as to where their future will take them. The priority now is the completion of the debut Shrapnel album and they are just enjoying that amazing feeling of creating music and leaving the rest to the ways of fate.

Deepak: Ibanez “RG” Series 24-Fret Guitar with and EMG 81 active humbucker in the bridge and EMG 60 active humbucker in the neck, SHURE Microphone for vocal duties. Boss GT-5 Multi Effects guitar processor, Stranger NS 100 Watt amplifier, Fender DG series acoustic guitar.

Akash: TAMA Swingstar Drum kit with Zildjian Hi Hats and Ride, Paiste Crash and TAMA Iron Cobra Double Bass Pedal.

Varun: Tansen 24-Fret Guitar with EMG 81 active humbucker in the bridge. Zoom 505 II Multi Effects guitar processor, Stranger Cube 80 Watt amplifier.

Sudeep: Tansen 5-String 24-Fret Bass Guitar with 2 Duncan Design J-pickups.Stranger Cube 80 Watt amplifier

For further information visit their site Shrapnel