It's a practice that thrash metal band Zygnema adopted in the first few years of their existence that has helped them last for 10 years, they say. They became a constant fixture on the college competition circuit — for example, in 2009 itself, they played a total of 40 shows, big or small, they did it all. "So, we got the college audience, which is all about listening to new music. When they graduated, they recommended us to other students. The power of word-of-mouth has helped us survive for this long, and people are still listening to us," says guitarist Sidharth Kadadi.