On a Different Plane

Just a year into the indie scene,The F16s debut their critically-acclaimed electro-rock EP,Kaleidoscope,in the city this week

It is now a year since The F16s were formed. But for the five-piece electro-rock act from Chennai,it has proved to be long enough to not only release a rather stellar six-track (seven,including Prelude) EP,Kaleidoscope on August 16 but also gain a fan following in the process.

By their own definition,the band comprising Joshua Fernandez (vocals/guitars),Harshan Radhakrishnan (keyboards/samples),Abhinav Krishnaswamy (guitars),Sashank Manohar (bass/artwork) and Vikram Yesudas (percussion) has aimed to make music that sounds fresh. But before they settled on this occasionally psychedelic influenced electro-rock sound,they were leaning more towards indie rock. We never really planned to have any electronic music in our sound, says Fernandez. Im hugely influenced by the Arctic Monkeys,so for me it was about drums,a bassline and vocals. It was Radhakrishnan,who brought the electronic music influence,something Fernandez admits he was not entirely comfortable with in the beginning.

But its worked fabulously,and has become a defining part of the bands sound. Its also a sound that is best experienced live,as made apparent by a handful of gigs in Chennai,India Bike Week in Goa in February this year and Live From The Console in Mumbai in May,which was also their debut Mumbai gig. And while The F16s havent been on tour since the launch of the EP,they will play in Mumbai at Hard Rock Cafe,Andheri,on September 4 and at High Spirits,Pune,on September 6.

Aside from their admittedly fresh sound,the band also has quite the lyricist in Fernandez,who desires that each song tell a story. The songs each represent different ideas and different perspectives,and they all have different stories to tell, he says.

For instance,Nuke talks about war,peace and such things; Kings Dream has lines from Martin Luther Kings I have a dream speech and appears to be a boys reflections on his freedom or lack thereof; and My shallow lover is a love song,albeit a fairly bitter one. But oddly enough,the gem of the album is Light bulbs.

Oddly because its also the most different for one,its the only mellow song on a record that uses a fair bit of electronic rhythms. It also manages to show off Fernandezs commendable vocals. What has worked in favour of this young Chennai band is the fact that Light bulbs works just as well as (the heaviest) Nuke.

zaira.arslan@expressindia.com

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