Kochi indie-folk band When Chai Met Toast’s open-hearted and breezy approach to multilingual songwriting has taken them from cafes to festival stages and stadiums across India. • Formed in 2014 by vocalist Ashwin Gopakumar and guitarist Achyuth Jaigopal, When Chai Met Toast soon added Palee Francis on keys and Pai Sailesh on drums. • They began with covers of Bollywood and English songs while also writing carefree music reminiscent of American folk-informed acts like Dave Matthews Band and The Lumineers. • Their 2017 debut EP, Joy of Little Things, features dreamy, captivating English songs like “Firefly” and “Beautiful World” that are peppered with Hindi and Tamil lyrics. • The band’s 2018 EP Believe saw them break through to wider audiences with worldly, focused lyrics, swelling horn sections and infectious exuberance. • In 2019, they teamed up with lyricist Engandiyoor Chandrasekharan for their Malayalam song “Nee Aara,” written as an ode to the devastating floods in Kerala. • They called on seasoned lyricist and singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari for their first fully Hindi song “Kahaani,” released in 2020. • When Chai Met Toast took a shimmering pop-rock turn on “Maybe I Can Fly” and ramped up an arena-ready song with “When We Feel Young” from their 2020 debut album of the same name.