It started with four friends from Chennai getting together to make some music; though they claim they “had no idea what music was, back then”. With inputs from friends and family, for both instruments and musical influence, Harish Swaminathan (22/B.Tech/jobless), Ashwin Ramakrishnan (22/B.E/Warship Designer at L&T), Arjun Vasudev (R.I.P), Thej Kiran (21/B.E/Project Associate at IIT Madras) and Karthik Narasimhan (22/B.E /Jobless) came together. And, in the summer of 2008, TWKC was born.
Your name… what does it stand for?
We are TWKC. That’s Thundu beedi , Water packet, Kuchi ice, Curd rice.
How did you all come together?
All of us are from the same school: PSBB K.K. Nagar. We started out in Std. VII. The five of us started jamming sometime in 2007.
We honestly don’t know how, because we only had one acoustic guitar (Ashwin had gone for classes… well, he did go for two whole months!), Thej was learning the keys, Karthik had never touched the drums and, as for Harish, he was still trying to find his place in the band.
How did you decide the kind of music that was best for TWKC?
Ashwin: Honestly, we still don’t know what kind of music is the best “sound” for the band. It may sound like we’re confused, but we’re proud of not being restricted by any genre.
Harish: No rules. Do what you want, play what you like.
Tell us all about your first gig.
The Underground ‘07 at the Unwind Center. We played our first original composition — “The Untold story” — in the metal category and won the Best Own Composition in the acoustic category for our “French Fried Chicken Song”, which was about a French guy travelling around the world, asking why the chicken crossed the road. It was a random jam that led to our first win. The first real gig, though, was a Live 101 at Unwind Center later that year.
You have just released your first album: “The Solar Haymaker”. What inspired it?
An album was the best way to package all that we’ve done for the last so many years.
Arjun, who was an integral part of our band, died in a road accident in 2009. Through the album we are realising Arjun’s dream, as it has a lot of material that we’d written during his days. This was a way of bringing his music to light.
It also sort of highlights our individual journeys as musicians. Finally, the many friends and fans who’ve inspired, loved and supported us through the years were a big inspiration for this album.
The future: What does it hold in store for TWKC?
As of now, our plans are focused on pushing for our just-released first album.
Then, more songs, more shows, more TWKC. We hope to make it big, some day.
FOUNDED: 2007
GENRE: “Experi-metal”
LINE UP: Harish Swaminathan (Vocals), Ashwin Ramakrishnan (Guitars), Thej Kiran (Bass), Karthik Narasimhan (Drums)
BIGGEST MOMENT: Definitely the album release. It was a culmination of two months of work and, mostly, play. We are hoping for bigger moments to come!
