Lollapalooza is back in India, this time with four different stages at Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai. The two-day event will take place on January 27 and 28, promising a superb line-up and the tickets are available on BookMyShow, the producer of the Indian edition of the festival (with global producers Perry Farrell and C3) and the official ticketing partner. The line-up features talented artistes from different parts of India and also a stellar international line-up to be headlined by Sting, Jonas Brothers, Halsey, OneRepublic, Keane and Lauv. t2 spoke with with JBABE, aka Josh Fernandez, (the lead vocalist of Chennai-based rock ’n’ roll band The F16s and also a solo artiste) and Parekh & Singh.
Chit-chat with JBABE
What are your thoughts on Lollapalooza coming to India?
I’m extremely excited about it and I feel it’s a great honour for India to be the first in Asia to host Lollapalooza. It’s a big power move for our country to show to the rest of the world that our music scene is one to be reckoned with.
The music festival scene in India is growing. What’s special about Lollapalooza?
The scale of the production and festival is huge. The fact that it is not indigenous to India and is an international festival with many chains, which has made its way to our country, adds value. It is a huge platform for independent artistes to showcase their talent and reach a wider scope of audience and plenty of international artistes to make their way here.
The Jonas Brothers- Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas --will be the headline act of the festival on January 27.
Is it fun having a career beyond The F16s (he’s the lead vocalist of the Chennai-based band)?
Being a solo artiste is very liberating as you don’t have any filters. When you’re in a band, you need to reach an agreement with the other members over a song, but when you’re playing solo you can do anything you want. I can even slap myself and use it as a drum kit and no one’s going to question me. I think that’s liberating in terms of my ideals, like fairness, love, revenge, peace and others. I romance those ideas and just to plunge into their existence, solo is very liberating and childish. I believe people need to be more childlike.
What are you planning for the performance?
I’m playing solo but I’m travelling with a larger crew with two visual artists on board who I’ve spent months with, developing an entire visual set. My producer Harshan will accompany me and we’re producing a whole new set for the festival this time. I’ll be performing songs like Guyver and Antibambi from my previous album and four songs from my upcoming album, which hasn’t been released yet and will drop later this year.
Your stage name, JBABE, is quite quirky.
It was my automated Angry Birds username and I just stuck with it.
What are your upcoming projects?
I am dropping two albums this year, one with The F16s and one as a solo artiste. I am also curating a music festival in Chennai.
Your thoughts on the evolving live music scene in India?
The scene is popping and there’s a spur in live music sessions and bands. It was awesome to watch people playing guitars and their interest in live music at the recently concluded Bandland in Bangalore. There was some raw energy coming from the stage as opposed to produced music, it was electrifying. I think it’s a great time to be a part of the live scene in India.
Chat-chat with Parekh & Singh
Sting is touring with his fourteenth studio album, My Songs, and will be on the Lollapalooza stage on January 28.
What makes Lollapalooza special?
Nischay Parekh: I guess Lollapalooza for me was one of those aspirational festivals. When I was a kid and I started learning about music, it was one of the first names or concepts that were in my field of vision. I always associated it with an international free-flowing and large-scale festival.
What are you planning for the festival?
Parekh: From the last year or so, we’ve toured as a quartet, which is relatively new for us as we’ve either been a duo or a trio. The band format is quite exciting with new additions to instruments and there’s going to be a lot of variety. We’re performing with this line-up for the first time on a festival stage. And in terms of the setlist, we’ll be performing songs from our three albums and we’re always trying to reinvent the arrangement of our songs, so there’ll be new versions of old songs.
What are the perks and challenges of not being just a duo anymore?
Jivraj Singh: Well, it is nice to be able to distribute fairly layered music amongst more musicians while playing live because initially, we were relying a lot on technology to achieve the full soundscape, which was also fun, but I think it’s nice to oscillate between technology and human touch in music. There aren’t too many challenges minus the logistical challenges, arranging transport and accommodation, making sure everyone’s up on time (laughs) and the rest, art can take care of.
Are you planning to incorporate female artistes in your line-up?
Parekh: We’ve had female guests performers joining us on stage on our last tour. We have collaborated with artistes for our last album, The Night is Clear. Ashley Jarmack is a great artiste and played the flute and English horn in our song, Je Suis la Pomme Rouge from the album. However, it isn’t something that we ever consciously thought of, but we’re happy to collaborate with more artistes.
Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh aka Parekh & Singh
Any genre that you both want to explore and produce?
Singh: Math rock (a style of alternative and indie rock), which is heavier and more technical. We also want to work on some experimental projects that are esoteric in nature. We’ve always flirted with the idea but never dived fully into it.