You won’t get the India vibe anywhere else in the world: Alexis Kings

British rock band Alexis Kings recently performed in the city as part of its maiden India tour. Led by vocalist Brendan Aherne, Sam Privett on guitar and Fabio Bocca on drums, the band whose first single Squire made it to the UK charts, was on a four-city tour in the country, starting with Bengaluru. One of the very few bands to not cancel its tour despite the Coronavirus scare, Alexis Kings made sure to try all things desi before heading back home.In a quick chat over chai and vada pav, Brendan spoke to us about their trip.
This is your first tour to India. You are also shooting parts of your next song’s music video here. Why India?
When we think of India, we think of colourful surroundings, cultural diversity, spicy food and friendly people. You’re not going to get a similar kind of setting anywhere else. Our next song, Strawberry Blonde, will have parts of the video shot in India. We have already shot a few sequences in Mumbai and are loving the way its turning out to be. We love the vibe of Bengaluru and enjoyed a few dosas on our morning outing. I’m an Irish man, so if you give me anything made of potatoes, I’m happy. I even had a few vada pavs while shooting in Mumbai; they were absolutely amazing.
Why is your band called Alexis Kings?
I wish we had a very elaborate story behind the name (laughs). Sam and I went to school together and just came up the name, which we thought sounded cool. We started performing at pubs and then, when we joined the university together, it got a lot more serious for the two of us. We met Fabio at one such gig; he was a mutual friend’s sister’s boyfriend at the time. We needed a drummer and he chipped in for the gig, but I guess, he was here to stay.
As a band, do you prefer recording in a studios or performing live?
I’d say gigs, any day. We love recording and putting out our songs as well, but I think we developed ourselves as a collective only after a lot of performances, so the credit does go to a lot of gigs. Recording singles is fantastic too, but that is a tad more boring in comparison. Gigs also help you to see how the audience reacts to your new set of songs.
Tell us more about your Indian experiences so far...
We’ve already met up and jammed with Bollywood singer Aditya Narayan. We loved him. Rapper Badshah had some really peppy numbers. Arijit Singh has a beautiful melodious voice! With so many different kinds of music here, the audience here is more receptive than others. I think it was also great to begin our tour with the rock capital of India.