Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Down the ages, metal heads have been stereotyped into characterless, savage, dim-witted brutes with piercings and tattoos in unmentionable places, followers of ear-splitting, incoherent, raucous, raspings sounds. Not that it in any way, diminished or impaired the musical appetite of the metal followers, most of them brushing off the ostracism, some even embracing it, basking in the glory of banishment from society.
But the perceptible damage it did to metal music itself is deplorable. Often criticised for being “harmful to impressionable kids and sparking off violent behaviour among youth”, if not “causing damage to ears”!
Metal connoisseur, a lifelong metal fan and an anthropologist, Sam Dunn took it upon himself to unveil the largely underground metal scene and to answer the question of why metal is consistently stereotyped and condemned. That led to the making of his exceptional documentary, ‘Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey‘, which attempted to understand the reasons for discriminatory treatment meted out to the denounced metal community.
Post the success of his first film, he’s now taken on an epochal task — his next journey explores the global metal scene, for which he has already toured across Japan, Israel, Indonesia, Brazil, China, Dubai, and various other countries. Titled ‘Global Metal’, it is slated to release early next year. He stopped over in Mumbai recently for the ‘Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey: India tour‘ gig at Razzberry Rhinoceros, Mumbai, and then of course, made his way to the phenomenal Iron Maiden show in Bangalore. “The Iron Maiden concert marks the arrival of metal in India,” the lanky 30-year-old Dunn says. A metal fan myself, I ask him what his tours to the metal scene in other countries has exposed to him. What is metal like in other countries? He replies, “Metal is a form of music that reflects or captures issues or struggles people go through depending on their own societies. And people in different countries have different reasons to rebel. In Indonesia, it’s dictatorship, among other things. In Israel, it’s the political and religious conflict. And in India, I have noticed two things. Firstly, it’s the rebellion against tradition.” He takes his camera to the back of the venue, where a wedding was being held (in the Razz lawns). Amused, he exclaims, “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”, as the ‘baarat‘ belted out Himesh Reshammiya’s songs. “Also, the musicians I’ve met here want to be forward-thinking, and are looking outside of India to rebel against what’s popular or mainstream. What amazes me is the huge film and music culture that India has, and people here seem to be tired of that.”
So does he find any commonality in metal heads the world over? “That’s an interesting question. My second film tries to explore that,” he replies, “Metal is about unity… sticking together and standing up for what you believe in. It’s about being your own person, being autonomous. Only the ways in which people are rebelling and what they are rebelling against is different. You know, what was great was that I see all these different faces, in different countries, but what they’re wearing, the music they listen to, is the same.”
“Also, the aggression that emanates from metal helps you vent a side of you. We all have our own shit that we need to get out.” He adds later as I’m scribbling down in my diary, “Sheesh, that’s not the most politically correct statement!”
So why are metalheads constantly stereotyped, I ask him. This is prevalent not only in the Indian media, but also in the United States, to which he agrees. “The most common impression is that metal fans are dumb. That our music is not thought-provoking or intelligent. That we worship Satan. And that we are violent. But you see, music is a vehicle for expressing onself — and metal confronts taboos like evil, sexuality, death — the kind of issues that society shoves aside. Metal confronts it in the most visual and spectacular way. Really, after coming out of the mosh pit in a metal show, the last thing you want to do is go out and pick a fight!”
What’s interesting, though, is the response of the people who don’t listen to metal. Sam responds, “I had these people coming up to me and telling me they never thought they would like a film on metal! Metal is just another form of music, like jazz or hip-hop. We shouldn’t try and force it down anyone’s throat. But at least if they give it a chance, it perhaps brings the curious outsider in.”
His first film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was released in 20 other countries. Indian metal fans walk up to him, and floor him by saying, “You’ve made a film that metal fans can be proud of.” Others tell him, “I’m jealous of you — you’ve got the coolest job in the world!” He later tells me, “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the Indian crowd to be so passionate here.” Although what interested him the most was the Hindi metal band, Prakalp. “I’m a fan of Demonic Resurrection, Bhayanak Maut, though Prakalp was quite interesting!” he signs off.
