How creative can you get when it comes to finding the right name for a band? There are some really cool band names if you look around, and some named after planes or adopting a name of a particular type of plane. Internationlly we have heard of the B52s, The Foo Fighters, there’s Irish band U2 who are also named after a plane (Lockheed U2) and what about rock group Jefferson Airplane. There are also numerous songs named after airplanes, like Elton John’s Rocketman, to give you just one example.

On the Indie music scene we have our very own band who took on a name the F16s. The band from Chennai have shared something that they all love and named their electro-alternative band after jet fighers. The band has been in existence since 2011, and has played throughout India and internationally.

They play alternative dance music borne out of frustration with a barren and flaccid cityscape. The band has 2 EPs out, Kaleidoscope consisting of seven songs, which acts as an effective acid test, laying the groundwork for an arresting live set and the other EP titled Nobody's Gonna Wait. After this they released a full length album 2017‘Triggerpunkte’, with the first track Moon Child which has garnered more than over two million hits on Spotify appearing on their “US Viral 50” list in 2017.

The band have also won the Converse Road To Rubber Tracks competition and got a fully paid trip to Brooklyn, NYC and also recorded 2 songs at the Converse Rubber Tracks Studio as a reward. Currently, a 4-track EP titled WKND FRNDS is out now on all streaming platforms, with a tour to follow very soon. The band consists of vocalist-guitarist Joshua Fernandez, bassist Shashank Manohar, on keys Harshan Radhakrishnan and Abhinav Krishnaswamy on guitars.

Here is a lowdown on the five year old band in case you didn’t know them.

Hey, it is great to be speaking with Chennai’s most famous indie band! How did you’ll F16S commence?

We started off by playing college competitions which led to some exposure which turned to shows which turned to EPs which turned to albums

What is the reason behind your band name ‘F16s’?

We like jet planes. Also, people in Chennai gather in small groups to do something called F16-ing which the rest of India calls taxiing.

From where did you derive inspiration for the album? And what was the idea behind the name?

We like the weekend, we have friends. Put them together, you have weekend friends. Take out the vowels because that's how one becomes cool, and you have WKND FRNDS our latest single.

What inspires you to make music? Who would you consider your music idol?

People, relationships, being stuck in a rut. Our music idol had always been Anu Malik, if not for music, for his taste in shiny fabrics.

When Kaleidoscope received great reviews from across the nation, what was your reaction?

We were definitely happy; it was nice to see people gravitate to the music. It also opened up doors for us, playing festival slots in the same year.

Nobody’s Gonna Wait was recorded in Brooklyn, New York. Did you draw inspiration for the song from there as well?

Both the songs were already written but a little unfinished. Being in the studio together did inspire us to finish the material we already began writing.

What were your thoughts behind creating Amber?

Our wonderful friend Deepti got in touch with us via email and told us about her vision. When we traded that with the song, it yielded a great partnership with mutual respect. And the rest can be seen in the video that she animated by hand.

What has been the most difficult part about your journey as Indie artists?

From taking trains on unreserved tickets, sleeping next to the train door; travelling obscene distances for a morsel of exposure. It's taken a huge toll on our bodies

Is F16s a full-time profession for you guys or do you also have other jobs? If yes, what are those jobs?

Josh makes his own music as JBABE. Harshan records and mixes for indie bands and films. Sashank is a freelance designer. Abhinav teaches music.

Have you released any music videos recently? Are you planning to release new ones in the coming future?

We have released a few videos: Amber and My Baby's Beak from WKND FRNDS, and a few lyrics videos from the older material. We will always look to translate our material visually with the right language

What according to you is the future of Indie music in India?

There seems to be an Indie Music Movement in India. For the music we make, it's hard to ascertain a future. If we made music satisfying more regional tastes we may have a more certain future. In India, electronic music sells.

How does it feel to participate in a platform like Vh1 Sound Nation League?

It's alright. It's the bees' knees. We love to be on TV and the more ways we can the better.

What are your views on the prominent artists in the League?

Prateek Kuhad is cool. Fopchu is cool. Komorebi is cool. Fuzz culture is cool. Malfnktion and Shayan are cool.

What can we expect from you in the future? Are you planning to sign with any record label?

We are already working with distributers House Arrest Distribution for North America along with other territories. The future can hold more albums, that's for sure.

Any Bollywood collaborations we can look forward to?

No one looks forward to those. From the South, we'd like to collaborate with Santosh Narayanan

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira