Search - Himsa :: Ground Breaking Ceremony

Revelation: 87 Himsa was forged in October of 1998 to provide outlets of each members' expression, anger, political ideas and emotional rage. Initiated by members of Seattle band Trial, the genesis of Himsa began at a basement practice. With the addition of the multi-talented Aaron Edge (Harkonen, Genuine, Christ, Anonymous) on guitar and Christian (Anonymous, Jessica) on vocals, the makings for a complete aural and mental assault were complete. "Himsa's members come from hardcore backgrounds, but I'm not looking to label us as a hardcore band. Let's just think of it as it pertains to me, 'core' which means the central part of anything," bassist Derek Harn expounds. The name Himsa is a shortened version of the Sanskrit word "Ahimsa" which has varied meanings in different cultures, mostly with non-violent connotations. Derek offers his reasoning, "I don't want to give a strict definition because you may find it means something different than someone else and it kind of relates to how I want our music to be thought of." Guitarist Aaron adds, "If the word 'Himsa' is looked at literally, people may think that we are a negative group of people for choosing it as our band name. The word 'Himsa' forces me to look at life's issues in a dark light in order to focus on changing things for the better." Christian defines their sound as "the point between frequencies on the radio dial. It can be soothing and disturbing all at once." Each member contributes their own background experiences to each song, and political and social issues are never ignored. The band's self-titled debut 7" and forthcoming full length were produced by Paul Speers (Queensryche, X, Sir Mix-A-Lot) at Seattle's Rainstorm Studios. After a tour of the West Coast, Himsa plans to migrate east to convert the rest of the country.