How chai met toast to form a brew of folk music

CHENNAI:If you are having a bad day and want to up your happiness quotient from zero to infinity with some unabashedly honest, and smile-worthy music then tune into When Chai Met Toast’s tracks. The band from the ‘land of coconuts’ will be in the city on March 24. The founders of the indie band, Achyuth Jaigopal and Ashwin Gopakumar talk to us about their journey — from serendipitous beginnings to becoming one of the most sought after bands in the country.

Recalling their meeting, Achyuth says, “We met at Fort Kochi in 2014. From being Ashwin’s intern at Springr Café to being bandmates and the best of friends, you can call our ‘chance meet’ serendipity.” Their collaborations began when Achyuth asked Ashwin to sing a track for his debut solo EP. After writing a handful of songs together, the duo were joined by Palee Francis and Sailesh Pai, and that’s when the two-piece project became a four-piece band.

Their music sessions usually start off with a melody or ‘hook’, exchanged often as WhatsApp recordings by Ashwin and Achyuth. Then, they either take the idea to the jam room or the studio. “Palee, whom we call ‘magic’, is the brain behind a lot of the arrangement and how the different parts work together as a song. Sailesh brings in the groove, drummer’s elements and also help us to set the structure of the song,” explains Ashwin, the lead vocalist.

The band’s name, ‘When Chai Met Toast’, represented the coming together of Indian (chai) and Western (toast) influences in their music. Ask them if it has been challenging to live up to the name and Achyuth says, “We try to incorporate Indian elements only when necessary. So, we never see it as a challenge. Since all four of us grew up listening to a lot of Indian music during childhood, it’s inevitable to have that influence, and it transcends naturally to the music we make. That’s probably what sets us apart from any other English folk band.”

Their setlist teems with happy renditions. “The songs 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. It’s just been something that comes naturally to us,” shares Ashwin.

‘The story of how four south Indian boys met English folk and Indian roots’, is how they describe themselves and talk about their influences. “Our influences are from everywhere. It might be hard to believe, considering the kind of music we play, but, three of our members have metal music background- even that influences us,” says Ashwin. “We also take inspiration from our Indian roots and film music,” adds Achyuth.

The band loves the Tamil language and might premiere one of their newest songs ‘Remember’ for the show, which has a few Tamil lines in it. “One of our first tracks ‘Beautiful World’ has couple of Tamil lines and people have loved it!” smiles Ashwin.

For the band, it has been a happy ride. “It’s amazing to see our music reach audiences across the country, and even abroad. For a two-and-a-half year old band, we are fortunate to be playing in the stages we are today,” the duo share.

When Chai Met Toast will perform on Mar 24 at Phoenix MarketCity from 7 pm onwards. For details call: 6651 3007