The Kerala folk-indie act finished up Europe and North American reveals and will go out to Australia and Dubai in the coming weeks
When Chai Met Toast carrying out in London as part of their Joy Rooms 2026 World Tour. Picture: Courtesy of the artist
Now on their 3rd world trip, Kerala folk-indie act When Chai Met Toast have actually called their present encounter Europe, the U.K., North America and later on, Australia and Dubai as the Joy Rooms 2026 Tour. Vocalist-guitarist Ashwin Gopakumar states, “The whole concept of Joy Rooms is to essentially take our front lawn of the home, so that it practically seems like we’re playing in front of them and make them feel comfortable.”
He’s speaking from Kochi while he’s on his method to gather his passport from the visa center that has his U.S. visa, 2 days before he, guitar player Achyuth Jaigopal, drummer Pai Sailesh and keyboardist-producer Palee Francis touch down in Dallas.
Gopakumar states he totally thinks they’re a “worldwide brand name” at this moment. “It feels great, and I was almost to put a Reel about that also– how we are really living the dream.”
Jaigopal fasts to include that it’s “a continuous dream.” He discusses, “It’s not like we were over night feelings. It’s not like we are playing arenas or arenas. It’s still like an extremely DIY trip, with the grunt work of packing in devices every day, and we are struggling it out. It’s the dream, and it’s what keeps us going.”
The guitar player and banjo gamer finished with an MBA from Cambridge Judge Business School in June, so there’s plainly a few of that experience entering the band, even if Jaigopal does not always state it. “For me, it was more individual, wishing to do one academic stint, simply a year of discovering brand-new things since that’s something I’m constantly captivated about. I have not had the chance to do that because, like, [I was] 18 since I quickly got on the roadway with [multilingual folk-fusion artist] Raghu Dixit and after that WCMT started growing. This was simply a year of taking an action back, having a brand-new environment, brand-new individuals, brand-new nation, and simply the scholarship worked out and I got to have a terrific year out of it,” he states.
Equipped with an MBA and previous music company experience (Jaigopal likewise studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston for his undergrad), the guitar player states he’s constantly been assisting their long time supervisor Kishan John for trips. “All our logistics, daily marketing, some social networks, some advertisements … all that continues. I believe I’ve gotten some understanding in some locations, which I’ll include here, however today, I’m going on artist mode initially,” Jaigopal describes.
Obviously, it does not stop his bandmates from gently roasting him. Gopakumar feels Jaigopal does not discover it various. “But there’s a substantial distinction in how we see him now because previously, he utilized to never ever embed his t-shirt. We’ve likewise made it a point that he does that on phase,”the vocalist-guitarist states with a smile.
From the outdoors, it appears like there’s a lot of marketing and service collaborations driving the band’s story. There’s a “chai break” at their programs, which has actually seen them partnering with”store chai brand names”to serve tea to audiences.”We likewise have a costume modification where we become the t-shirts made by recycling our mom saris,” Jaigopal states, including that all these touches belong to a bigger world they’re constructing around the trip and album, one that’s concentrated on triggering happiness and bringing fond memories into the live experience.
Sailesh includes, “This trip has actually been visually and sonically like a mega-refresh to everybody. This time we’re playing the whole [new] album, that feels good.” Gopakumar states with a little bit of incredulity, “There are households concerning our programs.” Jaigopal states it’s “very heartfelt” to see fans who initially found them throughout college years continue coming back year after year.
At the center of the trip is their approaching album Town, Big Love, Little Homesthe band’s 2nd full-length album after 2021’s When We Feel YoungThe setlist on the Joy Rooms trip consists of formerly launched songs like “Dreamland,” “Baaton” and “I’m Coming Home,” however likewise yet-to-be-released tunes like “Far From Bombay,” which Jaigopal tips may be their next single.
WCMT have actually played larger places this time around, consisting of offering out the 650-capacity Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and playing to almost 900 fans at the Opera House in Toronto. The trip likewise offered the band an opportunity to highlight fellow Indian indie artists, from singer-songwriters like Jeremiah De Rozario promoting his brand-new EP The Heart ShowcaseTanmaya Bhatnagar, Teenasai and Sidharth Nair in Europe.
Gopakumar includes that they now likely play more programs outside India than within the nation which has more to do with quality over amount. “I believe doing less variety of programs in a year has actually made us eagerly anticipate the programs we have, much more.”
There are strategies to do an India trip once the Joy Rooms World Tour covers up in Dubai on Nov. 14, 2026. The band published a current upgrade meaning Mumbai and New Delhi reveals turning up. They stated in a remark, “When we do India, we wish to do it the very best method we can, and it’ll occur we assure.”