The last time we heard any new music from Back to Godhead was their 3-song Promo 2022. Three years is an eternity it today's hardcore music landscape, but in the Krishnacore band's case, there was good reason for the break.
After being fronted by Bhakta Javier for several years, Back to Godhead have reunited with original singer, Danesa Das, and have been working on material for their long-awaited full-length album.
To celebrate the new chapter, Back to Godhead have just dropped two new tracks—"Gita" and "Uncivilized"—to tease the forthcoming LP. I spoke with Danesa and guitarist Ekaraja to get the background story behind their latest developments.
For those readers who might not be familiar with the band, give me a quick rundown on Back to Godhead's history together.
Danesa Das (vocals): (Back to) Godhead came into fruition in 2021. The main driving force behind the bands beginning was Ekaraja (guitar) and Isvara Chandra Puri’s (first drummer) enthusiasm to start a hardcore band with friends that promoted a Krishna Conscious or Yogic life style.
This conception story is not very unique from the other Krishna-core bands who paved the way before us (108, Shelter, etc.). For a Krishna devotee who came up in punk and hardcore, starting a band like this will happen kind of naturally at some point.
Tell me about the new lineup and what the catalyst was behind the changes.
(Ekaraja, guitar): The funny thing about this “new” lineup is, it’s really not new at all. Back to Godhead consists of Danesa (vocals), Ekaraja (guitar), Vakresvara Pandit (guitar), Manohara (bass), and Ty Gohl (drums). Back in 2021, Danesa (OG singer) had decided he could no longer do the band due to personal reasons so Javier (then guitar) stepped up as our new vocalist.
After that, we asked our good friend Vakresvara from Bent Blue fame to join us on second guitar and it worked out pretty good for a few years until Javier decided to leave in late ‘24. We weren’t quite sure what we would be doing next, it’s not like we could just ask anyone to sing. We have a very specific message so it’s crucial our frontman is also practicing Krishna Consciousness.
Manohara quickly got the bright idea to ring up Danesa and ask him if he’d be interested in returning and fortunately for us, he said yes. Javier’s departure also came as we were just finishing up the music for our LP so it all worked out. Danesa immediately got to work and you can say, reignited our purpose and gave us renewed enthusiasm.
Mike Hartsfield (New Age Records) told me he's excited about the new material you guys have recorded. Who did you work with in the studio?
(Ekaraja): We’re pretty excited as well. Our full-length LP is not quite ready yet but we figured it was time to get back in the game and drop a promo featuring a couple of tracks off the LP. We worked with Brad Racine over at Local Man Recordings. He worked with us on our ‘22 promo and we believe he really captured our sound then so naturally we decided to work with him again.
We also had some help from our good friend Dony Gil who helped us demo the new songs prior to recording with Brad. We found his feedback to be very valuable as we struggled at times to keep the momentum going. It was nice having a fresh set of ears to help us polish up the songs. Nick Townsend over at Infrasonic Sounds did the mastering on these new tracks. We had also previously used his services for our ‘22 promo and just knew we’d be returning as we were happy with the results.
What are some of the lyrical concepts behind the new songs?
(Danesa): As far as lyrical content goes, I make an effort to write about spiritual life in a way that isn’t very “on the nose” or too esoteric for anyone to give a shit about. I try my best to talk about spiritual life from an authentic place.
The truth is that spiritual life is not for the timid. It requires us to sit with the worst parts of our selves, the worst parts of our consciousness, and take radical responsibility for the way we’re thinking and behaving in this life. A lot of my lyrical content is preoccupied with this type of self inquiry and examination of my own behaviors, and the consequential suffering or peace I experience as a result of my behaviors.
What was your personal journey towards Krishna consciousness? Did you come to discover it through hardcore music? Why did it resonate with you?
(Danesa): I love this question because it’s never a dull story how someone gets involved with the hare Krishna’s [laughs].
When I was 15, a tweaker gave me a Bhagavad Gita (The core text for Hare Krishnas). I was atheist at the time and had no interest in hearing this weirdo talk at me about spirituality. However, I kept the book and it stayed on my shelf for some years.
At the age of 21-22, I had already been dealing with a drug addiction for 6-7 years and was desperate for change. I went clean in a single day and immediately started trying to restructure my sense of self and my world views. I put this simply but it was a really challenging time in life. The self reconstruction I was under led me to trying out a yoga class, the yoga class led me to pulling the Gita off the shelf, that Saint Tweaker gave me, and the rest is history.
What keeps me committed to this is the same thing that keeps me committed to punk and hardcore. I’m not delusional, I understand there will never be a time where everyone agrees on matters of God, the soul or the after life. But if people could be emotionally mature to look at the philosophical reasoning of the Gita with an open mind, coupled with the humanitarian tenets found in there, people will see the similarities in core beliefs and values found in Hardcore and genuine spirituality.
What's the plan for Back to Godhead for the rest of 2025?
(Danesa): We’re hoping to start playing shows again and end 2025 with the release of our full-length on New Age Records.
It’s been a few years since the band was active and it very much feels like we’re starting from scratch again in a lot of ways. But we have no qualms with that. In fact, that’s very exciting to us! We’re looking forward to reintroducing ourselves this year and having fun with our friends, playing shows and chanting “Hare Krishna."
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"Gita" b/w "Uncivilized" is available as a cassette via New Age Records.
Back to Godhead on social media: Instagram
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