When Chai Met Toast

When Chai Met Toast

When Chai Met Toast is an Indian indie group from Thiruvananthapuram, active since 2016. The band works in hindie, Indian folk and indie India, and its name reflects a meeting of Indian and Western influences in its music.

Formation and early line-up

The project begins as a two-piece collaboration between Achyuth and Ashwin, who meet in 2014 at a music café in Fort Kochi, where Achyuth is doing an internship. He asks Ashwin to sing on music he is recording, and the pair find that they work well together. Richy then joins on keyboard, but the group stops temporarily after he leaves for Australia to study and Ashwin moves to the United States.

Re-forming as a band

While the project is on hold, Achyuth joins the Raghu Dixit Project and tours with Raghu Dixit from May 2015 to August 2016. After returning to Kochi, he and Ashwin decide to continue the band and expand it. Palee and Sailesh join through mutual friends, and the group takes shape as the version known as When Chai Met Toast.

Members

The band is a four-piece project made up of Ashwin Gopakumar on vocals and guitar, Palee Francis on keyboard, Sailesh G Pai on drums, and Achyuth.