Trip-thy’s latest Progressive metal song with Tamil rap ‘Old Madras Riffs’ on coming of age

Trip-thy is a 2-piece Bangalore- based music project founded by Jaiyant Jankiram. Founded in 2016, the duo consists of Jaiyant who plays the guitars, bass while writing all the music, and Shawn Jacob who plays the drums as well as mixes and masters their songs. While Jaiyant is from Chennai, Shawn is from Trivandrum. The 30-year-old artists released their 5-track debut EP in August 2021 titled ‘Sounds of Obscure Significance 1.’ Their influences include the likes of Opeth, Textures, Grunge, Bebop jazz, blues, etc. They are also influenced by all the diverse sounds from their environment including local bands and artists.

The band’s name is a play on words meaning ‘satisfied trip.’ Jaiyant, who was initially looking for a drummer to collaborate with for the band found Shawn in a Facebook group sometime in early 2018. The latter, who also happened to be a music producer worked out “perfectly,” according to Jaiyant. Together, they released their first single ‘Female Genocide’ featuring vocalist Jahnavi Bhat in 2019.

‘Old Madras Riffs,’ their latest release is a coming-of-age song into adulthood. Released on the 8th of October, it is told from the perspective of a silly, fun-loving, restless, angst, and highly motivated individual. This is also reflected in the catchy prog type of music that changes patterns, rhythms, and parts in the song. “It is of course, less about the lyrical concept and more about the music,” the band added. It is the band’s first attempt at fusing Tamil Rap with their usual prog-heavy sound, featuring Vin Tamizha aka Vinodh Kannan, Shawn’s ex-college mate in the Tamil rap section.

The song which was written and composed by Jaiyant was initially titled ‘Veedulah Drugs Vechirukah,’ which roughly translates to ‘They have drugs in their house’ but was vetoed by the members of the band. They later arrived at ‘Old Madras Riffs’ over a drunk conversation. The main structure of the song was recorded in their home studio last year when Jaiyant and Shawn were living together as flatmates. The song took a year to record and was recorded at their home studios and a studio nearby.

‘Old Madras Riffs’ is the second single of the band’s 2nd album which is set to release in 2023. We wish them the best of luck.