CHENNAI: When four friends — Sharath Narayanan, Sarang Menon, Arjun Radhakrishnan and Akash Chacko — got together in 2012 at Kochi, they had no idea that they will become a popular indie alternative rock band just five years later. Black Letters has made a name for themselves in the music circuits – their debut album, Shapes on the Wall (2014), had all rock music fans on their toes. Their second album Petrichor, released a year later, experimented with more detailed and mellow tunes and elements of rock. During a recent performance at IndiEarthXchange, we had a chat with Black Letters to find out about their future plans.
A studio-based band jamming in Bengaluru, Black Letters has Sarang on guitar, Akash on drums, Arjun on bass and Sharath on guitar, samples and vocals. They experiment with instruments and other techniques like sampling and synthesizers, and sometimes jam at Saran’s home studio set up. Ask him what kind of music they usually prefer, and Sharath contemplates for a while before saying: “We don’t really have any niche, but love experimenting.”
The band released a single music video, Falter earlier this year and another single Landscaper, both part of their upcoming yet-unnamed album under the record label, Overfeed Records. “Our upcoming album is inspired by various kinds of music — afro beats, Carnatic, Hindustani, jazz, a lot of hip-hop — all these are present, though not blatantly but more as a blend with our own tones,” he says.
Sharath opines that this kind of diversity shows the band members’ growth in music. “Until our last album, Petrichor, we were all influenced by the same kind of music. But now we’re branching out to different genres, sharing with each other. That ties us together. It’s interesting to come out of our boxes, and see how it reaches people,” he explains.
Already a part of the IndiEarthXchange two years ago, Sharath says the band was excited about the sixth edition of the festival too. “I remember last time, one of our band members almost missed his flight; it was crazy! He got to the stages just one minute before we started performing,” he laughs.
This year, over the three-day festival in Chennai, Black Letters treated the crowds with new songs from their upcoming album. “There’s more to the festival that just playing at it. Roaming around, interacting with the public, building contacts and meeting other musicians from across the globe…that’s my inspiration in music! I used to watch Mr.Bill tutorials on YouTube, and he was part of this festival too,” grins Sharath.