When Chai Met Toast

Few Indian acts sit as comfortably between languages as When Chai Met Toast. Working from Kochi in Kerala, the four-piece blends indie-folk and alternative textures with lyrics that move between English and Hindi, and sometimes weave in Tamil and Malayalam. Their material leans towards sunny, good-humoured songwriting, with Ashwin Gopakumar on vocals, Achyuth Jaigopal on guitar and banjo, Palee Francis on keyboards and production, and Pai Sailesh on drums and percussion.

The band, which began in 2016, has so far released two EPs alongside several singles. Spotify placed them on its RADAR programme as a rising artist, and the video for Break Free was picked as one of VH1 India's top 50 hit videos. They also wrote music for comedian Kenny Sebastian's 2018 web series Die Trying. On stage they have played Bacardi NH7 Weekender, SulaFest, the OnePlus Music Festival and the Red Bull Tour Bus. In August 2021, their music featured in the trailer for Farhan Akhtar's forthcoming Bollywood film Jee Le Zaraa.