Maxim Reality, vocalist of The Prodigy, spoke to The Guide about the high-energy set that the Brit band with a global cult-like status, has planned for this evening in the city

For the '90s generation that floated somewhere between the space that Swedish pop bands Roxette and Ace of Base occupied, unable to decide whether Prince was cooler than Michael Jackson (err... only because he could play the guitar) or just as twisted, The Prodigy went on to mash it up some more.


Keith Flint from The Prodigy in performance

Firstly, nobody knew what hit them was it Rave or Electronica Rock? To date, even The Prodigy aren't sure that they're ready to be slotted yet. "There isn't anyone who's doing what we do. If there's someone on stage who does what we do, ten times better than us, I'll quit," says Maxim Reality, the band's MC and vocalist in a telephonic interview from London.

The Brit band will headline Invasion, a new annual musical festival that kicks off tonight. "Our music is just about energy. We're a live band and so it's our energy that takes our music forward even when we're in the studio writing music," says Reality. When their album Invaders Must Die that released last year didn't fire up the stage, the band went back into the studio and reworked it, explains Reality.

"What sounds great in the studio may not work on stage sometimes, so we manipulate the beats, because we are first and foremost a live band. It's the energy that takes the musical and vocal ideas forward," he says. The band plans to perform material from its first album Experience to their last album Invaders Must Die at tonight's gig.In India, the band has no idea what to expect. "When it comes to a dance fest, we know how to work it. India is an absolutely new territory. This will be an eye-opener Indian experience."u00a0

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Dugdale, an award-winning music video director who has been working with The Prodigy since 2008, shooting fans, who have never seen the band live before, is the key to a great tour film. "I'm blown away by the honesty of their expressions when they watch a band like The Prodigy on stage, marvelling at the sheer energy and scale of the production," says Dugdale.

"I don't know whose idea it was, but I know that the band is extremely excited about coming to India. I'll be shooting at Bangalore tonight and Gurgaon for the viral video and also catch some footage from the run-up to the festival, but it's the essence of the culture in India that we want to capture, so we will include the real tapestry of the country as well."

Dugdale adds that there are a couple of locations in mind that will help viewers feel the pulse of the country. "Wherever I go, I try to absorb the culture. It's not always about looking for the hardest, scariest parts although I do try to avoid the typical touristy spots and go into the dark ghettos.
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Even when we were in Serbia, we shot at parts of the city that were bombed during the war and look shelled even today." Of course, for Indian bands such as Pentagram, die-hard fans of The Prodigy, and known to do their covers in their shows, the tour will be a musical landmark, who perform as the headlining act. The line up also includes Australian electronica act Pendulum, Midival Punditz and Jalebee Cartel and DJ acts like Vachan and Bay Beat Collective among others.

At: Eristoff Invasion Festival,Palace Grounds, Gayatri Vihar
On: January 13, 4 to 10 pm
For: Rs 1,350
Log on to: https://www.invasionfestival.in/ for tickets