Meet Chennai-based electronic-Indie band F16. Named after the fighter planes, this band sure knows how to pack a punch. They entered the scene playing their catch numbers at popular college-band hunts and just a few months on, they are ready to launch their own EP. An excited Joshua, the band’s vocalist, chats about performing at India Bike Week in Goa and how F16 came together.
How did you come together as a band?
We knew each other in college and we jammed a lot together till we decided to become a band. We officially came together in the August of 2012. Band members were playing together in different bands before our final inception. We had uploaded few of our shows on YouTube and have our Sound cloud and My space pages as well; someone from India Bike Week saw them and liked our sound. They just got our number from our Facebook page and contacted us. It was such a pleasant surprise as they specially created a slot to have us play at the India Bike Week as the schedule and line up had already been released.
How did the first song come into being?
We started off tilting much to the side of rock and roll in our initial stages, therefore King’s dream was our first song. It is about Martin Luther King. The way we write our songs is — someone comes up with a groove, we put lyrics and then it just evolves.
How would you describe your sound/genre?
Our influences keep shifting regularly, so we tend not to always tag ourselves to a particular genre or sound, but we love electronic, folk, indie and a bit of rock and roll here and there. We call ourselves electronic indie because it best defines us at the moment. We are really happy about how the Indian music scene is appreciating and welcoming indie music.
How was it performing to a live audience?
We love performing live and on stage once the energy sinks in we get lost in our own world of music. And if the crowd is in the same speed boat as us then more the merrier. We loved playing at IIT Saarang's Decibel and recently we played in this cozy place called Downstairs at Zo in New Delhi. We are excited about playing at India Bike Week alongside great acts like Pentagram and Dualist Inquiry.
Where is the band headed?
We hope that our music keeps getting better and deeper and we consistently work on improving our live act alongside. We have our EP releasing by mid-March and are hoping that people will enjoy our music.
It is being mixed by sound egineer Toby Joseph who has worked with many popular bands and musicians. We hope to do more gigs and perform live because we love playing to an audience.
GENRE: Electric- Indie
FOUNDED: Mid-2012
LINE UP: Joshua (vocals and guitar), Vikram (drums), Harshan (keyboard), Viraj (lead guitar), Sashank (bass)
BIG MOMENT: To get a call from the organisers of India Bike Week and to be asked to be part of the event and perform alongside some of the country’s biggest music acts.
