The newest band from the land of coconuts, When Chai Met Toast had a chat with us about their music genre, what inspires them the most, upcoming projects and on their recent journey and more.
The band takes inspiration from the lighter side of life to create music that is heart-warming, happy and smile worthy.
You guys play the genre ‘Happy’. How did you define the genre and manage to stick to it?
We did not define a genre, I guess we started songwriting and it just ended up being positive. We have always been a bunch of happy guys trying to make the world a better place by inspiring good in people.
Tell us about each of the band members in one sentence.
Ashwin Gopakumar : Goofy, bearded and sings in the bathroom for fun.
Achyuth Jaigopal : Zoned out, Vegetarian and loves his orange juice. Can be spotted with a guitar all day.
Palee Francis : Short, stout and is very particular about his food, when free plays the keys.
Pai Sailesh : Gamer, loves Prog rock and Coffee is his cup of chai. Except for his dance moves, he is a metronome.
What do you think is the USP of your band?
We definitely give the USP credits to the sound and the positive music we write.
What inspires you the most while penning down lyrics for your songs?
I think we take inspiration from the lighter side of life to create music, write more from experiences and digging more into life and its little things.
As a home grown India band, what were the challenges you faced when you entered the scene?
We are still facing challenges in one way or the other, but i guess the fact that we’ve been linked with the industry for a while and been working in music industry in one way or the other has a lot to do with the back end work that goes behind what WCMT is.
How do you perceive the Indie scene in India to be?
Indie scene in India has opened up avenues from what it was, even though it is not mainstream yet. But we are seeing a steep growth in the younger population listening to indie music, turning up to gigs and getting involved in one way or the other.
What’s the story behind the name When Chai Met Toast.
Long story cut short, Its about how four South Indian boys met English folk and Indian roots.
The members of the band come from different backgrounds including classical music and metal, how did that add to your advantage in coming up with great music?
Sugar, spice and everything nice like the old times it is we guess. But in all seriousness, wide ranging influences help us come up with fresh ideas.
Would you like to share with your fans about your upcoming projects?
We’ve got a bunch of new songs lined up for release which are music videos coming out in a couple of months and maybe an acoustic EP of few songs which has more vernacular content with the same sound, maybe rewrite a song in Hindi too.
Craziest gig so far
Madras Christian College, Chennai. The energy of the sun at 1 pm combined with the energy of the crowd ensured a bright gig for us, we looked dark the next day though.
Embarrassing gig moment
None so far, we are sure theres a lot to come our way.
Best performance/ stage till date and why
Lot of memorable performances in its own way, We think Bacardi Nh7 weekender in pune is the one, but the best is yet to come.
Artist you would love to collaborate with
We would definitely love to find new soundscapes, but haven’t zeroed in on anyone. So many inspirations and people we look upto.
When you are together and not making music, what would you be doing?
Eating food or hanging at a chayakada.
Your journey through the Sennheiser Top 50
It was a different experience playing for a competition, but we’re glad our music reached a lot of new audiences and people we look up in the industry through this.
This interview was featured in our October 2017 issue: http://bit.ly/2yKoQgJ
