Total Rock - Malcolm Dome interviews Prash Trivedi
- June 2004





Tell me a little bit about BeOmega, how it started,
how you got together?

It started in New York. Cheruki and I did a tv show
out there. We had one day to prepare three songs.
That's where it began, early 2001. After that, we moved
to the UK in 2002, and wrote most of the stuff
in Wales.

Most people out there are probably thinking, well you're in
New York, the hot bed of rock n' roll, and
then you move to Wales..mmm...?

I always think Britain is the thriving centre of rock and roll ...
The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin! Even bands like Jimi
Hendrix Experience recorded in England ...

How did you end up in New York in the first
place?

I was on my way to revisit the Hopi Native
American people. Cheruki was doing a solo thing out there.
We met up and had a jam ...

Is it fair to say your music is inspired to
some extent by psychedelia?

Yeah, we are just trying to go by what happened in 1967...

Is that as far as you're concerned, the
pivotal year in music?

Yeah, it's where all the great albums, alot of
experimentation, real experimentation in music took place...rather than
just playing along with gizmos, like toys. They really
experimented with music back then, rather then just
experimenting with technology.

What are the albums you'd say which have inspired
the sound of BeOmega?

"Are You Experienced", "The Byrd's" album ...but it
wasn't as good as "Are You Experienced"...

They're very different...

Yeah, they're different...but they're just not the same
calibre of musicians as Hendrix.

Let's be honest, how many people are the same
calibre as Hendrix?

That's what we have to recapture again. Tt's about
trying to get good music going. If you get
used to mediocrity, it starts going from medium,
to bad, to worse, and then you end up saying
the really mediocre stuff is good.

Do you think we have gotten used to mediocrity?

Yeah, we have. Everyone has to put on some kind
of front or pretension when it comes to the
west as a whole. Anything can happen now. People
get away with so much these days, which they
wouldn't have gotten away with 30/40 years ago.

I think things were very different, the whole rock and roll
scene was young then...

The thing is, people had spent more time with their
instruments. They had gone through the whole learning process much
more, they were much more thorough with it. Nowadays,
if someone buys a guitar, within 3 to 6
months, they want to take a record out. They
do gigs when they know 3 chords. It's a
fast food sort of thing. It's the speed which is killing
the music.

What actually got you into 1967, what got you into
these albums and bands?

It's just the sound. So much effort was put into
the sound, the aural dynamics of it. The drumming
rhythm patterns were changing from a normal 4/4. Every
song had a different rhythm pattern and drummers
were much more free at that time. Mitch
Mitchell, Keith Moon... no one is drumming like that right now.

I agree with you. Great drummers belong to that era.

It's the drums which make music. If you stick to the
4/4 format all the time, you're only going to come
out with a certain kind of music. You're restricted
quite a bit.

There's a strong Doors influence in our thing because
we use the Vox organ for some songs. The Doors are an
intellectual band. They're about the lyrics having
meaning, morelike poetry put to music. It's
about the intellectual side getting into music. Dylan did
it a bit in the 60's but Morrison brings
the occult side into music as well and that's
where it lies for us.

We want to bring both things - the intellectual and
the occult back into music, fuse it together in a way.

Well it's a challenge and a challenge you seem to
rising to quite well at the moment!

by Mark, Losing Today Magazine

BeOmega ‘Nothing left to show’ - Now this kids is going to take your breath away, forget all those bands peddling second rate 60’s melodies, this my friends is the real deal. With a band name that’s so silver age marvel comics superhero like, the trio: Prash Trivedi, Cheruki and Taina (that’s one bloke and two sisters in case you were wondering) have been billed by many as the hottest band in London which to others is gonna serve as a red rag to a bull, but then they may just have a point.

BeOmega dig deep to deliver an authentic glimpse of the London / San Francisco scenes in 1967 as though if by magic they’ve just fallen through some kind of time vortex, their psychedelic folk rock jam is captivating and so intoxicating that you can smell the potent aroma of sweat, incense, promiscuity and carefree wild abandon eking through the hanging choked lines of marijuana of a happening scene.

Currently with one release under their belts this sizzling set is a mind melting fusion of acid drenched fuzz laden tapestries and blessed out loved up voyages into the minds eye that recall the bluesy work outs of Hendrix tripping out with the organ bled cerebral landscapes of the Doors while taking to their bosom the freeform improvisational dynamic of the Grateful Dead especially on the arse shaking smoking gun groove of the softly spaced out sensualism of ‘Time has come’.

Throughout this quartet of cuts the powerful vocals acting as a guiding light through the thick stoned fog created by Prash Trivedi especially on the maddening chimes of the grooving transcendental rocker ‘Nothing left to show’ where their brand of hocus pocus hippie idealisms do battle with the more liberated rockers from the current garage scene such as the Dirtbombs and the Bell Rays while on the crushing ‘She rides a lion’ the trio tune carefully into the intense swamp like storm inducing territories of the Space Team Electra’s darkened spiritualist voids of lead vocalist Myshel Prasad’s mind.

All in all amid an era of fast living and selfishness BeOmega return to the old ideals could just prove to be rock’s saving grace, whatever happens a mind-blowing ride awaits, dare you jump on? Joint single of the Missive.

by George Zahora, Splendid Magazine

BeOmega aspire, more earnestly than any other act I've heard, to recapture the deep, heavily insulated groove of serious sixties psychedelia -- not the happy-go-lucky Elephant 6 stuff, but the creepy, trance-inducing, patchouli-reeking stuff favored by Jim Morrison, Jefferson Airplane, Hendrix and (occasionally) Cream.

by ND, Half A Cow Records, Australia

Occasionally, when I've run out of things to daydream about, I'll ponder this thought: there hasn't been many female rhythm-section psychedelic acid-rock bands. In fact, I can't think of any. Until now.

Step through the velvet curtains BeOmega and dance feverishly around the Magic Lake draped in your finest Celestial Manoeuvres! Not sure where BeOmega are from -there's three of them on the demo sleeve and 12 songs on the demo, each averaging in length around the 5-6 minute mark with the last song 'All Sold Out' clocking in at 12 minutes. But sold out BeOmega ain't done. And probably shouldn't as that would kill their voodoo they got fryin'. All songs seem to have a free-form, jam-out feel to them with swirling, majestic keyboards and late-60s guitar but as each listen proves there are great and melodic songs here sung strong and confidently by The Mysterious Rainy Violet (that's what we call her as there's no info). And the explosive drums round out what is an original, rockin' beast of a band.

There are no highlights, as it's ALL HIGH but special mention to the incredible Eastern wailings on 'Magic Lake' and there's a male vocal for a bit of spoken-word on 'Rainy Violet'. Listening to these songs as a whole, you sort of get the feeling that you have accidentally wandered into a private performance by the band, playing their set for themselves, lost in an electric trance. As these are demos, the recording quality may put some ears off, but that didn't bother me, and one can only imagine how great BeOmega would sound given a few weeks in a classic analogue studio. -ND

by Dale Oliver, Matchbox Recordings

BeOmega are an out of this world band who license the wonderful epic 60's soundscape " The What Song". They are not your average 3 piece modern Indie rock band but more of a concept in itself in the true style of 60's escapist pioneers like The Doors, Hendrix, Joplin etc.

This great song starts off simple and acoustic with very melodic protest song vocals. The guitars are jangly and are complimented by the very distinctive and thoughtful vocals that question society and morality. " What the hell is going on here, empty faces filled with fear". This is the 4 Non Blondes jamming with The Doors while on a trip with the Grateful Dead. Just as you think it's going to stay acoustic the whole band blasts in and gets you swingin. The bass meanders, the drums crash, the guitars riff, the organ chimes and we all dance along while waving our hands in the air. This is great and a breath of fresh air in a world of boring pop.

The band spent 3 years on the New York scene playing at venues like CBGB's before deciding to bring their very cool sound to swingin London. In their own words they "Follow in the footsteps of the 60's musico-political-cultural revolution, BeOmega are a concept band dedicated to " Music with a Message". Well we got the message and it's as cool as hell. Make sure you watch them live soon.

Organ Magazine

Some kind of tasty acid drenched psychedelic rock band who sound like they should have been playing San Francisco in 1967 with The Jefferson Airplane and The Eight Legged Pineapple. They do their thing rather well, it’s cool, we like The Doors and the Woodstock soundtrack is still very fine and you’re not telling me you never wanted a time machine just to try 1967 California just once - and this is excellent actually…. Yes indeed, organs and blues and acid and kaftans and totally utter spot on feed yuor head white rabbit chasing break on though tothe other side retro psychedelia…

by Natalie Patrick, Glasswerks Magazine

Australian born musical sisters Cheruki and Taina, collaborate with guitarist and songwriter; Prash Trivedi to form this exclusive out of this world trio ‘BeOmega’. With reminiscent sound of film music, tracks like ‘She rides a lion’ explore an Indie Pop, yet underground type of sound. Knowing no fear is the message in the song and being spontaneous with the originality of the song is the concept. It carries an easy danceable beat that everyone could catch, and it certainly encapsulates a rocky, diverse and cutting edge style to the rhythm.

A classic heavy metal type of up-tempo beat is evident in hard-hitting tracks like ‘Nothing left to show’. BeOmega convey a repetitive lyric loop in this particular song of simply ‘not being able to understand’. Along with this message, the extreme sounds intertwine to bump the speakers.

Rock meets acoustic and soulful sounds in songs like ‘Time has come’. An overload of drums versus electric guitars is combined with unexpected changes within the bridge of this track. BeOmega represent the fact of important message through music and exaggerate meaning through a shuffling of voice pitch - Very original. This track has definite mass appeal and successfully bridges the gulf between indie and mainstream.

A challenging use of melodic, sophisticated rifts and a voice to set the mood is unmistakable in songs like ‘First Rays’. It immediately reflects intriguing characteristics to songs by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, if you like them, you’ll love this.

If you are looking for something more creative and distinctive, an album like this will literally blow you away with its unyielding, unpredictable beats. It’s definitely sound over lyrics! This band is where its at folks. This is music which can save today's music scene from the staleness of the strokes et al.

Logo Magazine

The first time you hear BeOmega you could be forgiven for thinking you had been catapulted straight into Woodstock of the 60’s; lyrically, BeOmega offer something much more meaningful, politically and culturally than most bands of today. BeOmega spent three years on the New York gig circuit, and it is easy to see why. The beautifully strong vocals and simple yet compelling bass-lines would, in intimate surroundings, be truly inspiring; however, they would also not be out of place at any festival. ‘Time Has Come’ is outstanding, capturing the enchanting, transcendental appeal of the band. It would be too obvious to draw comparisons with the revolutionary artists of the 60’s, but BeOmega offer us a unique take on a diminishing genre.