CHENNAI : We don’t really remember how we came up with the name ‘The F16s’,” says Josh, the band’s front-man. While it is clear the band wasn’t named after the iconic fighter jet, they have been flying high, far and wide across the country, making stops at all the major music destinations, and nuking the trigger points of their loyal millennial fanbase.
When The F16s started out in 2013, they were ahead of their times for Chennai independent music scene. They were synthesising their live output through a MacBook, experimenting with electronica and dubstep overlays when most others were playing covers of their dads’ favourite songs, or funking around.
It wasn’t a conscious decision to experiment with an electronica-driven alternative rock sound, which would become mainstream in the next five years. But they are grateful for the change in listeners’ music preferences that has helped them churn out lyric-heavy numbers boiling with individual anguish. From incessantly acclimatising audiences with their sound at college competitions, festivals, to stealing rock ‘n’ roll giant Indus Creed’s thunder at the Covelong Point Surf, Music and Yoga festival this year, the five-piece band are on an upward curve. City Express caught up with The F16s.
What is your music about?
Our music stems from basic human emotions. Anger, pain and fear is something everyone feels on a daily basis. Our last album Triggerpunkte (2016) — means ‘trigger points’ in German. The songs are about trivial things that can push a person to the edge and show who they really are. Our first EP ‘Kaleidoscope’ (2013) is a little all over the place but it also deals with ‘the individual’.
Is it a conscious choice to limit your music to the ‘individual’? Is there a censor?
Not really. But there is a censor. At least there should be. You can’t say whatever you want and hope to not get your legs broken in this country. We shy away from politically charged music because we don’t know enough. However, our next EP Wknd Frnds is about a group and its dynamics.
Is it unnerving to be an independent outfit? What is your revenue model?
Yes, but being independent lets us pick where we want to play and when. We used money from winning competitions to record our EP Kaleidoscope. Live gigs bring us money but production is expensive. So we have opened a crowdfunding portal on our website www.thef16s.com, where fans can contribute to help us.
You have played across the country. Have you run out of destinations?
Yes, it’s true we’ve almost exhausted all the venues in the country and we don’t want to get into this cycle. We saw the doors that opened up after recording our EP Nobody’s Gonna Wait in New York in 2013. Taking our music to other countries and putting ourselves on a global map is definitely on the cards.
Band members
Vocals / guitars - Josh Fernandez
Bass - Sashank Manohar
Guitars - Abhinav Krishnaswamy
Keyboard / Synths - Harshan Radhakrishnan
Drums - Vikram Yesudas