With close to a decade’s worth of friendship and time as a band, you’re bound to have collected some great stories. For some, it’s trashed hotel rooms and parties that go on til the sun comes up but for The F16s, it’s getting thrown in airport jail and getting an international festival gig cancelled the day they landed.
“We were actually supposed to play a festival in the Philippines that same trip but we didn't even make it because we got stopped in Hong Kong. We didn’t have the right visas so they threw us in jail, locked us in a four by four cell for about a day,” recalled keyboardist Harshan Radhakrishnan.
“They didn't let me put on a face pack while we were in prison, by the way. They made a scene out of it, it was like they were going to shoot me for trying to be beautiful,” added frontman Joshua Fernandez
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“And then in Vietnam, no one informed us on our way there. They didn't pay us an advance, they didn’t do anything and then apparently it got cancelled on the day of the festival and they were like ‘guys, don't come here’ but we already landed, we were stranded,” said Harshan.
“But luckily, we had a friend there and we played a show at a club instead just like that. It ended up being my favourite show in Southeast Asia,” said Joshua.
Since their formation in 2013, The F16s have gone through a lot of adventures – but these pandemic-stricken years have probably been their most memorable one yet.
Comprising Joshua, Harshan, Abhinav Krishnaswamy (guitar), and Sashank Manohar (bass), the band hails from Chennai, a metropolitan city in Southeast India. These last two years have been quite the ride for the indie rock quartet, having to deal with the pandemic and several lockdowns much like a lot of musicians across the world.
Wanting to make use of this period of uncertainty and its many accompanying emotions, the band decided to huddle together at the start of the pandemic and make some music.
And several lockdowns and a batch of homemade alcohol (a type of fermented rice wine, they said) later, their latest EP Is It Time To Eat The Rich Yet? was born.
“We literally started thinking like this isn’t going to last more than three or four weeks and that we’re just going to chill and write a couple of songs. Four weeks later, we’re like ‘oh shit this just began’ and it all went on for another two years,” said Sashank.
“In some way, time slowed and everybody in the world was in one moment. So, we just sat down and kind of started writing music that was uplifting for us during this but at the same time, talked about things that were important.”
Spanning five tracks, Is It Time To Eat The Rich Yet? traverses important themes like social disparity, political tolerance, and communal protests against a sunshine-like soundscape filled with upbeat melodies and groovy disco rhythms. Think of it as an apocalypse dance party.
“We just want to raise that question mark a little higher while also writing music that is still uplifting and that gives our listeners a place to escape,” said Sashank.
Our hearts 🫀 and bellies🤰🏽 are full. Thank you for coming out Delhi. '𝗜𝘀 𝗜𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗼 𝗘𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗬𝗲𝘁?’ out now on all streaming platforms and coming to a city near you. Photos by Maan Boruah. pic.twitter.com/77lV3lRXnT
— The F16s (@TheF16s) October 28, 2021
“We didn’t really want to capitalise on the seriousness of the title and wanted to take the edge off a bit so we incorporated bright colours both musically and visually. We always see ourselves as the parody version of the message we're trying to convey, I think it's always important for any musician or any artist not to take themselves too seriously,” said Josh.
“The pandemic gave us a lot of perspectives, in terms of me lyrically and writing music with the boys and sort of branched out into a sort of a bigger scope on the world in itself. Not entirely or strictly political but in many aspects – money, jobs and disparity between society. Just a lot of different elements clubbed into one record.”
The EP was made entirely in Josh and Sashank’s house during the first wave of the pandemic.
“I got all my equipment from my studio and just set it up in the living room – it was just like all over the place, cats were running all over the equipment and stuff. Every morning someone would go sit to their part and sometimes we would all sit together and write music,” said Harshan.
While it wasn’t necessarily the process they envisioned, having been forced to work solely amongst themselves from the writing to the mixing, it eventually gave them a record they're ultimately proud of.
“We didn't know how long it was going to be and it was way longer than we anticipated which got tricky but then we're glad we held up together and finished this work,” said Harshan.
“it was nice – we came out of the entire thing with a good quality of work that was new to all of us and wasn't something safe,” added Sashank.
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The EP comes as the anticipated follow up to 2019’s WKND FRNDS, one that wonderfully encapsulates The F16s’ musical and artistic identity.
“We like to make fun stuff, happy stuff. Life in South India is morbid enough might as well write music that's happy,” said Joshua.
Describing themselves as “a pop outfit disguised as a rock and roll band”, the quartet have always been known to make for their unique and distinctive rock sound that’s often laced with dreamy synths and hypnotising melodies which has taken a lot of years to cultivate.
When asked about some of their musical influences, Abhinav shared the likes of Rex Orange County, Sunset Rollercoaster, and LA Priest.
“[Our music] is now more of a distillation of the influences we collectively picked up since we started,” he said.
Much like all their previous records, The F16s didn’t have any expectations of how people would receive Is It Time To Eat The Rich Yet?. Wanting solely to connect with the listeners in any way, be it immense love or hatred, the band just hope to evoke emotion within their listeners.
“As long as people feel something at the end, whether they hate it or love it but definitely not feel indifferent or not feeling it,” said Joshua.
“The fun of it is in the unknown and how they're going to take the tracks, how they're going to perceive the tracks and how they're going to integrate our music into their lives,” said Harshan.
In that sense, the band usually never know what ends up sticking with their audiences. In fact, the massive success of their most popular song yet, ‘Moonchild’, came as a complete surprise.
“Usually when we make an album we all have personal favourites like ‘okay, this is gonna make it’ and each of us have a guess but it's usually never that track,” said Harshan.
“So, ‘Moonchild’ was such a shock and I think it never charted till like about a year after its release. It sparked and it still hasn't stopped since, that's the song that everybody knows us by. It's a blessing and a curse really because it makes our living and keeps charting and people keep listening to it but we also get bored as creators playing it over and over again.”
And played it they have – all over the country. Since the early 2010s, the band have become prominent figures in India’s indie music scene, witnessing the steady growth of the country’s music culture in the process.
“For the longest time, [the music scene] was restricted to the metropolitan areas but now, it’s slowly moved to the slightly smaller towns. There are places in the country that are coming up in terms of alternative venues and acts that have already done the circuit like us,” said Abhinav.
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While they owe a lot to their home, the band also hope to take their music all across the world as soon as they can – everywhere from South America to Asia (and hopefully make it to the Philippines, finally).
“The best part of making music is taking it on the road. So, a big success for us would be to tour 150 or 200 days out of 365. That's really something. I think that would be a big, big success if we can get to that point at some point in our lives,” said Harshan.
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Through the years, the band has achieved an array of milestones but an achievement that they hold dear to their heart is definitely honing their artistry as a team.
"Whenever we compose music, what you create highly depends on your relationship with one another, you know. If there is one person out of sync it reflects on the kind of tracks you're trying to write or the music you're trying to create. It took a long time before we could all sort of sink into one wavelength between each other. Now, we are all like happily married," said Joshua.
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Whether it's airport jails or festival stages, The F16s tell a tale of an adventure-filled friendship, an undying love for rock and roll, and a deep-rooted passion for music.
Growing from a passion project formed against the backdrop of India's gig circuit to now being one of the country's most recognised indie outfits, the band have had quite the journey so far. But with a lot more to show the world, this marks just the mere beginning of a great trek ahead.
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"It's a blessing that you can wake up, make music, play a couple of shows. For me, that's the best part of being in a band and I get to see these three wonderful faces every fucking day of my life," said Joshua.
"It is a blessing and a privilege to be able to do what you love doing and to be able to do it on your own terms and to be able to write your own music and have enough people to reciprocate the love for that music," said Abhinav.
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"Music’s kind of a creative minefield, right? You may step on something good, you may step on something bad, you never know but like that's the best part – figuring it out ourselves in our own way," said Sashank.
"The band is four very, very different personalities, egos, pride, and whatever coming together to make one collective unit. I always look back and I think that's the most fascinating thing for me. It makes it worthwhile and you want to move forward and do more with this group," said Harshan.
It's taken time to get to where we are and we're glad it did. We're glad we are at the point we are now and looking forward to the future.
Listen to The F16s' Is It Time to Eat the Rich yet? here.
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