"Growing up in the early 90s, the only two unique distinctions in sound for me was A.R Rahman's music and heavy metal... Don't get me wrong, I mean, I grew up in heartland of Bombay, exposed to Bollywood, devotional cacophony of loudspeakers blaring during festivals, cassettes and LPs of international artists like ABBA, Boney M, Kraftwerk, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Rabindra Sangeet" recalls Roy Dipankar, heading Royville Productions. Roy's affinity for independent and alternative music is a long winding story, as seen in his videos and documentaries, capturing the panorama emerging from the Indian subcontinent. His professional experience in the commercial and institutional realms, eventually left him not so satisfied, in terms of creative freedom and space. Over time, he began to understand the alienation and bias that surrounds metal music culture, in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The more he searched, the more he discovered concurrent narratives of musicians, fans and propagators from the unconnected corners of the subcontinent. We spoke to Roy recently about his stunning, seminal documentary titled 'Extreme Nation'. The film captures a fledgling but resolute subculture, set against the backdrop of religious radicalism, nationalism and existing hegemony - the 3 hour documentary is simply "loaded" in conversations, contrast and controversy. Almost five years in the making, 'Extreme Nation' is now debuting at various film-festivals, media outlets and indie panoramas in India and outside. The documentary received the 'Honourable Jury Mention' award at Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival and is set to premier at the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival in South Korea.
I have always worked in collective formations. A while back, before I joined the so called music industry as an A&R, it was copywriting and creative execution of brand-led ideas in advertising and communication design, that laid the foundation for me to venture into personal narratives. The commercially driven objectives were killing me, as an artist. Something had to be done! Principle objective of Royville Productions is to serve as a platform for lesser known, obscure, experimental independent artists who work beyond the given trends and institutional norms. The inclusive ethos of this agency is giving video evidence and documentation of non-mainstream subcultures. Short stories, experimental fiction and music videos are in the pipeline as of now... This has to be sustained with the help of commissioned projects, creating a sustainable revenue stream.
Tell us about the Extreme Nation, the film?
Extreme Nation is a feature documentary capturing the journey through five years, across countries, cities & towns of the Indian subcontinent. I have travelled across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, unravelling a gripping tale of diverse and equally discordant narratives from metal musicians. Discovering a connected nexus of a volatile & extreme subculture. This is harsh music and lifestyle, emerging from a region steeped in common history & geo-political strife, that reveals a rather scathing commentary of our times.
What difficulties have you faced in the process of making this film?
Several ! Especially when one embarks upon an independent task towards creative art which is all about subversiveness and anti-creation. Be it the inter-personal relationship of the countries, or the highly elusive or inert nature of bands and characters involved in the underground. Finding the right people and convincing them to be a part of a bigger spectrum was a massive deal. Financial hurdles were/ are the most difficult ones. Especially when the international documentary world is looking at India to produce more apparent hard-pressed issues related to environment, gender identity and equality, caste based politics and such, a feature film on subculture takes a second or rather a second-last silver lining on the path to fruition. Security was another concern regarding the cast and 'politically sensitive' content. Diplomatic and bureacracratic hitches, like visas have always been a chimera for extreme musicians travelling across our borders. Struggling against the pre-fixated mindsets towards music that is metal, noise, power electronics, hardcore, is tough. But I took this as an anti-morose challenge which is both exciting and satisfying as the awareness spreads... a film about dark music! A film about the seething yet fragile voices within nations of the Indian subcontinent.
What do you make of the fragmented metal sorority? There seems near zero dialogue between these fringe communities, which appear rather similar in their manifesto and desires?
After being a part of the music community, both independent as well as sales driven pop hits, I believe most sororities are kind of fragmented. More than ever, it seems the entire diaspora (metal or otherwise) breathes in segmentation, biased and divided binaries, unfortunately the tale of our times. However in all of this chaos, some order still prevails. Regarding the metal community, I believe it's good as long as the competitive nature and aggression is retained through music and art, when it comes to expression. Definitely there are genre-wars, social justice keyboard leagues, and ideological pitch-battles within, however a great album here or one mind-blowing performance there, makes up for most squabbles. Best part while filming was when I realised that in spite of all the strained relations between India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the underground music communities are well inter-connected and cemented by some common goals. Metal music is the common language, a bridge of sorts... You have to watch 'Extreme Nations' to know more about it!
Why Metal? What attracts you towards it?
The teenage angst in me would be satiated by metal music alone .... and a bit of Bruce Lee films maybe. What attracts me in metal or extreme music (as currently what I listen to might not easily be identified as metal. Have you heard acts like 88MM, MZ412, Bell, Black Cilice, Qrixkuor? Mostly outside of what mainstream culture's levels of tolerance! It probably is that naked, unabashed and true openness of expressionist art, that needn't adhere to a form, methods or institutional limits. There is a lot of music and talent out there with the above characteristics, that we are yet to discover.
Post Extreme Nation, whats new with Royville Productions?
Last month, we released a music video of an artist called Demon They Call Troy. I came across his work while curating a recent music festival. Demon They Call Troy is a rapper and a part of Chennai's underground hip hop collective Elevated Pride. When Jerome aka Troy shared the tune with me, it just triggered a ripple in my mind! That demanded a vivid and offbeat visualisation. I immediately promised to direct the video for Troy as this was fresh territory with a hugely underground vibe for me. Anti-religious, trap horror-core?!
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