INTERVIEW: “Our band’s all-Indian lineup plays a huge role.” Hardcore Act AGNI Chop It Up

INTERVIEW | Agni
Singapore Hardcore
https://www.instagram.com/agni.hc/

“We formed this band with the lack of South Asian (Indian) representation in the scene.”

These words have rocked our world as we sit here in the UK. The world is fully aware of the magic of the Southeast Asian hardcore scene, particularly of the long-lasting impact of one of the oldest scenes, Singapore. As in our previous post, Singapore (and Thailand for that matter) have been riding a massive high these past few years not with just the immense quality of insane bands coming out of there, but also monumental releases AND most recently, world traveling bands.

But one thing that isn’t written much about in terms of the hardcore scene in Singapore and Malaysia, is representation of minorities amongst the hardcore community there. So today, when a band called AGNI dropped into our submission box and PROUDLY wave the flag for the Singaporean Indian population, yo, we were STOKED. As if we need to remind you how much we back bands, labels, promoters, photographers, videographers of ANY and ALL marginalized communities, you KNOW we were down to hit them up with a barrage of questions. Also, mere hours of typing up this entire interview, Singapore has been rocked by a politician, Gigene Wong of the Singapore Democratic Party, openly using a racial slur in a public speech she made in front of her supporters. This racial slur is a derogatory term used against the Indian ethnicity – and guess who she was referring to? In Indian member of her own party. So as if this entire interview and band’s existence isn’t poignant enough, this further proves the importance of representation.

Please read on and enjoy this convo with the fellas of Singaporean hardcore band AGNI who just dropped their debut EP ‘Pyre of War’. Not only did we rope them into this conversation, we even got some quotes from OTHER members of the SE Asian community who are of Indian descent. Read on to find out who else chimed in…

Live Photos: Wayne Tan
https://www.instagram.com/xwayne1991x/

UA: Yo – congrats on the release of your debut EP! To those who haven’t heard it yet, how would you describe your sound? What were the musical influences for this project? What other bands are the members part of? 
Our band blends 2000s Trustkill era bands with South Asian influences. We are a metallic hardcore band with crushing riffs, breakneck tempos and socially charged lyrics. As I mentioned, we formed this band with the lack of South Asian (Indian) representation in the scene. For our members, Jai (drummer) plays for a metal band called MUCUS MORTUARY. Our bassist Raul plays for DISSECT and has his own project under the moniker LIMITNOTREST. And finally Sean, who plays for a ton of bands like LOSING END, WRECKONIZE and MYSTIQUE.

UA: When I think of the Singaporean hardcore scene I certainly don’t picture a lot of Singaporean Indians involved in hardcore. It’s actually VERY similar here in the UK too. I, being Pakistani, am one of a very small handful of South Asians involved in hardcore. Why do you think that is? Seems kinda universal in South Asian diaspora circles.
Indians are generally underrepresented in the hardcore scene, except for some involvement in metal and rock. Cultural or family influences might play a role. Given the existing minority status of Indians in many diaspora circles, it’s no surprise that few are involved in hardcore. Agni’s formation aimed to address this lack of representation.

UA: That’s why I’m so psyched on this band. Musically, that early 00s Trustkill sound is super sick – that was a great era for hardcore with people involved in that time fully embracing their metal roots because many people of that era grew up equally in love with hardcore as they are with metal. But what sets you all apart for sure is that it’s an all Indian lineup. Lyrically, I assume the band’s ethnic make up also has some impact? Tell us about the name of the band and how you’re approaching the band lyrically as well. 
Our band’s all-Indian lineup and cultural roots play a huge role in shaping both our sound and our message. We chose the name “Agni” — which means fire in Sanskrit — because we wanted something that reflects our energy and background.

Lyrically, we’re influenced by everything from existential crisis to the everyday struggles of being a minority. We write about what it means to exist in systems that weren’t built for us, and how that affects identity, purpose, and survival.

“We write about what it means to exist in systems that weren’t built for us, and how that affects identity, purpose, and survival.”

Our music also pulls from Indian myths, history, and the deep scars left by colonialism. For our EP, we drew inspirations about things like the Sri Lankan Tamil genocide — topics that don’t always get enough attention but carry heavy personal and cultural meaning. Coming from where we come from, these stories are part of us. They shape how we see the world and how we express ourselves through hardcore — raw, honest, and unapologetically rooted in who we are.

UA: Sick! There has been a growing movement of bands in the West singing in different languages. ZANJEER in Germany sing in Urdu, IKHRAS in London sing in Arabic and English, I personally would love to sing in Urdu but having not grown up in Pakistan I don’t think my Urdu is good enough, but my band in Hong Kong called KING LY CHEE sang in Cantonese, English and Mandarin and we did it because we wanted the lyrics to hit harder. What are your thoughts on this? Would you ever consider signing in a different language on following tracks?
We love when bands incorporate their native languages into their music – it’s a great way to express identity and cultural heritage. So far, we’ve done this ourselves with only Tamil and Hindi samples in our EP, and we’re excited to explore more of our mother tongue and culture in future releases.

UA: Hell yeah! That would be INSANE to hear future Agni tracks in Tamil or Hindi or both! Are their any bands you guys would look to as influences in that regards?
We’d definitely look to krishnacore bands as influences for incorporating cultural themes into our music. Locally, bands like SIAL and RUDRA have also been inspirations for us, showcasing the potential for blending cultural heritage, native languages with intense music.

UA: Respect! Best of luck to you guys moving forward! To wrap this up, what’s the plan for the rest of the year?
We’re stoked for what’s next! GETMONEY RECORDS is on board to support us, and massive shoutout to Leo, our Indian brother from MONEYBAG1327 as well for the love and help. We will get back to writing and creating more music! We wanna do something with PACIFIST from India but it’s still in the air right now. Shoutout to them!

We asked the band who this was in this insane mid-spinkick to the face action…and they responded, “That’s Arwin the dude who designed our cover!” 

UA: We also took the time to hit up the artist who put together AGNI’s cover art for their brand new EP ‘Pyre of War’. The artist, Arwin, himself is also of Indian descent so the fact band got him involved with the visuals is so sick. 
Since I started doing artwork for hands, Agni was number one on my list for dream collaborations, as they were all Indian like me and it was awesome to see representation like that in lion city hardcore. It felt really rare and it meant a lot to me that an all Indian hardcore band was up there doing their thing, bringing our culture and style to the scene. a while back I was contacted and got to working with Raul, their bassist, to do artwork for his solo rap project. One thing led to another, and he introduced me to the rest of the band! We all became tight, and since then I’ve been working with them for their visuals!

The artwork is of Ravana – the chief antagonist of the Ramayana, in the process of abducting Sita – slicing off Jatayu’s wing, Jatayu being the king of the vultures. It’s an incredibly striking image and the cruel, gleeful expression on Ravana’s face as he fatally wounds Jatayu is something that stuck with me for a long time. I knew it was something I had to incorporate. It’s violent, raw and showcases the vibrancy of the Hindu pantheon of gods and demons – which is something that comes up a lot in the EP’s lyrics. That on its own wasn’t enough and I wanted to link it to the concept of the band name – glowing, rippling, flaming heat, like its burning off your screen, along with enhancing the scale of it all to a cosmic level. That’s where the fiery color palette and stars in the background come from. I wanted it to feel like a galactic battle so intense that solar flares and flames were burning the sky down to embers. it’s probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever worked on.

“It’s still kind of surreal to be working with them and to see a band that looks like me working the stage.”

There’s multiple versions of the cover art, some of which may be getting to see the light of day soon – all of which representing a different element of our heritages, but the demon king himself is the one that made the cut. Nothing but love for my boys and it’s still kind of surreal to be working with them and to see a band that looks like me working the stage.

Go support Arwin at his link here: https://www.instagram.com/very.little.fun/

UA: The boys mentioned how the vocalist of Malaysian beatdown band MONEYBAG is also of Indian descent. And since he also runs GET MONEY RECORDS, the label releasing AGNI’s music, we decided to hit him up for his thoughts too. 
Having a band like Agni in the hardcore scene is important. They represent Indians in hardcore and push the community forward. We’ve been working hard to get more Indian kids out to shows, and seeing that representation gives them real motivation to show up and get more involved. Hardcore is for everyone — you’re always welcome, as long as you’re not a culture vulture. If you respect the culture, there’s always a place for you.

MONEYBAG: https://www.instagram.com/moneybag1327/

GET MONEY RECORDS: https://www.instagram.com/getmoneyrecs/

Go blast the band’s debut EP streaming below: