Our latest exclusive interview is with New Jersey based rock trio Pseutopia (Laji George, Shyam Narayan, and Mithun Raju) who recently released their cover video for “Seasons”, in tribute to the late Chris Cornell. During our interview with the band, whose influences range from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden to Radiohead, Pearl Jam to RATM, we learn more about their moniker, find out what inspired them to cover “Seasons”, and much more.
After reading our Q&A with Pseutopia, be sure to connect with them on their social media and their website. We look forward to seeing and hearing what’s next to come from these guys in 2019!
I'm very interested to learn more about the band's name "Pseutopia". What does it mean and why did you guys select it for your moniker?
Pseutopia is a blend of Pseudo and Utopia and as we say in our bio - Pseudo-utopias are all around us and we say it just like we see it. We try to keep things honest and real with our writing and songs. We are a rock band. High energy, hard hitting. Sometimes soft and stirring.
Describe your creative process when it comes to developing new music.
We share our song ideas with each other and then continue to develop it as a band. Sometimes it’s from a tune, sometimes just a line of lyric. In the end we are fully involved right from the songwriting stage to the production/mixing stage. We pretty much feed of of each others ideas and energy throughout the creative process.
Where in New Jersey are you based and what led you to form the band?
We are based in Green Brook, NJ. We formed the band during our school days in Cochin, India.
Tell us about your recently released song and video for "Seasons", which is a cover of a Chris Cornell song. What inspired you to cover this song?
We were deeply affected by Chris's untimely death. As one of our strongest influences we felt almost compelled to pay our respects and tribute to him. “Seasons” is one of his masterpieces and one of our favorites. We really hope we were were able to do justice to this great song and the genius of Chris Cornell.
How did you connect with ex-Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese?
We sent Dave the demo of “Seasons” that we had done. He was really impressed with our version and was on board to play on the track. Dave is a true inspiration and joy to work with. He is one of our heroes and for him to play on our tribute to Chris is just surreal.
What's next about "Seasons"? Can we expect some original music to be released on an upcoming EP or album this year from the band?
We already released one of our originals “Crooked Nose” along with cover of “Seasons”. The official video link for it is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXKORSSgctg We are currently in the studios working on other originals and planning to release the tracks and their videos individually through out this year which will eventually culminate into an full album by the end of the year.