Desi Boys on the Block

Savan Kotecha, a 17-time Grammy nominee and hitmaker for One Direction, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran and more, has formed an Indian boy band, featuring a member from Karnataka

- MAHIMA NAGARAJU

In the 90s, when musician Savan Kotecha first entered the US music industry with dreams of being in a boy band, he was bluntly told that ‘no girl will put an Indian guy on her wall’ and he should focus on songwriting instead. “I knew back then that was true, but I always waited for the day when it would be possible to do it,” says Kotecha.

Having written hits like What Makes You Beautiful and One Thing for One Direction, God Is A Woman for Ariana Grande, Sapphire for Ed Sheeran, and many more, Kotecha has put together a boy band under his label Visva Records, along with Republic Records, and Universal Music India which may just make his doubters in the 90s change their minds.

Named OutStation, the band has 5 members from across the country between the ages of 17 and 22. One member, Bhuvan Shetty, is from Udupi, Karnataka. Others include Hemang Singh from Prayagraj, Mashaal Shaikh from Goa, Kurien Sebastian, a Malayali from Delhi, and Shayan Pattem from Hyderabad.