I was sitting in the corner of a cafe in Lulu Mall when I heard rock music blaring from the speakers. A stranger to local bands and music, I was drawn to the guitar solo and preparatory humming that suddenly surrounded the entire area. A band was setting up in the centre stage and from the looks of the crowd forming around them, they were no ordinary one. "You discovered Masala Coffee when you were drinking a cup of coffee!" teased Varun Sunil, Founder and Vocalist of the band when I finally caught up with them after the gig. And all jokes aside, I think I found out how I like my coffee that day.
How was Masala Coffee formed?
The band was formed in 2014 when Kappa TV’s Music Mojo was scouting for artists. I knew Sooraj Santhosh from Chennai and took the initiative to rope him in. The others (Daya Sankar, Preeth P S, Joe Johnson, David Crimson, Pauly and Krishna Raj) also joined in because we all synced and worked well together.
Your songs are always distinctive. What genre would you identify your music with?
Each one of us in the band come from different musical backgrounds. We have dabbled in contemporary folk, world music and elements of punk. So it wouldn’t be fair to constrain what we do to a particular category, every track we compose belongs to a genre of its own.
Your music has also been featured in movies like the Tamil film Uriyadi. Will we be hearing more of your songs in movies?
Yes. When we plan on working with more good directors and good films. But this depends on who we are approached by and the type of music that it will lead to. Most recently we composed two songs for Bejoy Nambiar’s Solo featuring Dulquer Salman. It's always a good experience when it's a project you believe in.
What can you tell us about your upcoming album?
We haven’t named it yet but it will definitely be coming out soon, by next year. There are ten songs that we know will be in the track list for sure. Fans will be happy to find that a lot of hits and favourites will be a part of it. We are also working on some new songs to go with them.
Is there a particular theme or idea that it is based on?
We have a lot of Hindi songs in this one. I come from Mumbai and I’ve always leaned towards North Indian music. But our music has always been spoken about as a primarily South Indian thing. But we don’t want to be limited to that. Through this, we are hoping that our songs will not be judged along the lines of language or culture. Music is a language in itself and that should be all that matters when we create it. Other than that, we have stayed away from focusing on any particular theme, it is mostly about us and music and ideas that we represent.
You received a lot of attention for covering old Malayalam and Tamil songs. Is this done out of love for them?
When we perform music that we love, it always comes out well. For these, it’s not about what we are good or bad at doing. What we have to keep in mind is that we have to do justice to the original.
What is the process that goes into creating your music?
We do not write our own lyrics but we collaborate with a lot of reputed songwriters. A lot of the time, we compose our music and discover that a set of lyrics goes well with what we create.
How have people reacted to the band and how has it grown since your days in Music Mojo?
We have been receiving overwhelmingly positive reactions from people. The moment people recognised that our music is different and that we had a style of our own, people have been there for us. Our fans across the country are very vocal with their support and it makes the whole difficult process of touring and performing feel worth it.
You seem to be on tour a lot. How has your life changed because of it?
Touring is an important part of the business, and like I said it is about how people react to you. We have even gone to international stages like the Global Village in Dubai and Victoria Theatre in Singapore and we received amazing turnouts and response from people. We are on the road all the time and will be embarking on a world tour which will cover Australia, US and UK soon. But our own experience and our fans have made the whole process worth it.
Which is your favourite city to perform in?
Bangalore is amazing in terms of how the crowd approaches you. Mumbai also responds with a wonderful energy. Kochi has definitely started to echo that energy. In the past, audiences would just be seated and idly enjoy the music. After years of forcing people to get off of their chairs, people have finally began losing it in Kerala as well!
As someone who has worked within the music industry in India for years, do you feel that it has become more open to independent artists and bands?
Where I grew up, the independent music scene had its own value and importance. But yes, there are aspects that have improved, especially in the South. The people have changed most of all. Young and old people have recognised the importance of music outside of the film industry. And as an artist, there is no doubt that working on your own is ideal. Every sense of freedom comes with being able to create and perform music for yourself.
