Meet The F16s who make music only so that they can mature as artistes.They recently performed in the city at the Global Isai Music Festival
CHENNAI:Two minutes into the first song, and you are already hooked on to the Indie-pop tunes of The F16s. It makes you feel as if you are on a train that’s cutting through fog as it circles a mountain. Nearly four years, two EPs and a lot of anxious waiting later, the alternative dance-punk band released its album, Triggerpunkte earlier this year. The Chennai-based band with lead vocalist Joshua Fernandez, drummer Vikram Yesudas, guitarist Abhinav Krishnaswamy, keyboardist Harshan Radhakrishnan
and Shashank Manohar — performed at the Global Isai Music Festival, Phoenix MarketCity recently.
“When we started the band, we tried to emulate our favourite groups and the result was our first EP — Kaleidoscope. It was a tribute to all the bands we followed,” says Harshan, who explains how they were new to songwriting and making music at the time. “We sounded like a lot of bands we listened to. While it was appreciated, we matured with time and finally found our sound.”
Interestingly, the band also won The Jack Daniel’s Award for the Best Emerging Act in 2013. The group finds its inspiration from a host of artistes including The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Radio Head and Electric Guest among others. They also listen to a lot of classic rock and hip hop. Their music finds its ethos in melancholy, emotions and the mundane routine of everyday life.
“We are united when we make music,” Harshan smiles over a poor phone connection, leaving us hooked to each word. “We’ve been touring for the last three years, so we get tired of each other sometimes. But we come together and forget all that when we make music,” he says.
So what is their music-making process? “We don’t really sit and plan things. Someone starts a chord and it catches on…and we go with the flow.”
It’s believed that Indian bands are an ‘untapped goldmine of artistic genius’ and the band is a testament to this. “There is still lack of exposure. Only Indian people know about Indian artistes. People abroad think we make only Carnatic music, and we need to work on erasing that cliché,” opines Harshan.
We ask the band that has toured extensively, especially in the last three years, to compare the music scene in Chennai to other metros. “It is pathetic and sad. We played a 19-gig tour last year and not one was in Chennai; that shows how much the city lacks a good live music scene,” shares Harshan.
We were surprised by his ignorance but rather than taking it personally, we decided to be professional and asked what was lacking in Chennai? “There aren’t enough venues that want to welcome music for the love of the music and not the money. You can’t get into this if you only want to make money out of it,” he adds. “Also, people here are lazy and laid-back. They’d rather sit at home and watch a film. A live gig is not seen as entertainment. Until this mindset goes, the scenario will not change.”
The group also made a trip to Brooklyn, New York two years ago and recorded two tracks, where they met experienced engineers and artistes including Mac Demarco, The Horrors and Julian Casablanca, the singer of Strokes who is a major influence on the band. “It was a real eye-opener for us. That’s the level we are striving to get to,” he smiles, and talks about the gap between the two. “As a band, you have to mature. We get bored of playing and creating the same kind of music. It’s not a conscious effort, we grow in phases.”
Listen to their songs at www.soundcloud.com/the-f16s