We draw some of the biggest crowds in Bengaluru: When Chai Met Toast

Kozhikode-based band When Chai Met Toast had a packed house at their Zomaland performance in Bengaluru last weekend. With the city being their launch pad, the band has always felt at home in the Garden City of India.

The band which returned recently from their Australia tour felt they were warmly welcomed as they came back to perform for the Bengalureans.“We continue to draw some of the biggest crowds here. So, the city holds a special place in our heart,” shares vocalist Ashwin Gopakumar, adding,“The crowd had high energy, just like our set.”

Ask the band about their regular haunts in the city and Achyuth Jaigopal tells us, “I always love taking a walk around Cubbon Park. As for eateries, Lavonne and Foo are my favourites.”

The band, known for hit songs such as Firefly, Khoj and When We Feel Young, performs across languages such as Malayalam, Hindi and English. Given this flexibility, the band is not shy of collaborating with Kannada artistes. “There’s a thriving independent scene in Bengaluru with some very talented musicians. We invited singer Frizzell D’Souza to perform with us at our tour show here. While we haven’t done too many collaborations as a band, it’s something we want to pursue in the future,”shares Gopakumar.

He further adds, “As for singing in Kannada, it’s a language we’re personally not very familiar with, so we’ll only explore incorporating it when the right collaboration opportunity comes along.”

Ask the band about their take on the changing landscape of creating music, where being viral is a factor to chase, and keyboardist Palee Francis tells us, “While we do have to keep the trends of the day in mind, we don’t create songs solely for their viral factor. Instead, we try to stay true to ourselves in the songs we write. In fact, songs like Joy of Little Things have organically gained popularity on Instagram.”

What does the band have planned for future? Drummer Pai Sailesh shares a peek into what they have been working on: “Last year, we released a song for Mazey Mein. We’ll be releasing more songs like these for other OTT projects.”

He continues, “We’re also in the process of writing the next set of songs, so we are letting that take its course. We always try to experiment with sounds, so there will be some new elements, but probably not a new genre.”