American pop rock band, and Counting Stars hitmakers, OneRepublic will make ‘all the right moves’ in Mumbai today as they take stage at the NSCI Dome for their debut Indian gig. The band’s vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and pianist Ryan Tedder shares with After Hrs what they plan to do in the city other than gigging, individual pre-gig rituals, their music and more.
We’ve actually been pushing our booking agents to find us a show here for years. So, the deal clincher was finally getting an offer that made sense and lined up with other dates in that part of the world. I’ve personally wanted to come to India since I was a little kid, I’m fascinated by it!
I honestly have no idea what to expect from fans in India. Very few American artistes have played there, so I haven’t been able to ask too many people what the concert crowd is like.
I’ve been researching for a couple weeks on places to eat, coffee shops and neighbourhoods to visit. I’ve become friends with Diplo (American DJ and record producer) recently, so I’ve been asking him advice on places to visit in the city. I’ve a pretty detailed list of places for coffee and food and some of the more obvious tourist destinations. I will also check out some art and music and have hired a tour guide for the second day. We will be documenting the whole experience as well.
My biggest pet peeve would be not leaving the hotel or arriving late at night in a city I love. If I’m in a new city, I go crazy if I don’t get to actually take it in and experience the culture. I also have no tolerance for bad meals. I get excited by live music and amazing local food and good vibes.
No superstitions or set rituals — we all do something different. I like to go for a 5-10k run, Eddie (Fisher, drummer) will warm up, Zach (Filkins, guitarist) will run through his parts and read. Brent (Kutzle, bassist and cellist) will watch a show or movie. Drew (Brown, guitarist) will be usually out in town.
Being able to share our music with the world, especially in cities like Mumbai, which we don’t get to visit that often. Doing music for a living is like winning the lottery and especially doing it all around the world.
We started as a 100 per cent live band with no programming, but as times have changed, so have we. We love electronic music and new technology, so we use it where it makes sense in our music. And I also collaborate a lot with electronic artistes from Swedish House Mafia to Kygo and Alesso.
We’re in the process of working on our fifth album (after Oh My My, 2016). No dates yet but planning on later this year. Lots of new songs coming first! We don’t set out to do one thing or another, as it comes together once I start writing honestly. But, I can tell you, it’s my favourite group of songs in years — very OneRepublic sounding but some elements of influences like The Beach Boys and some orchestral vibes.