Exclusive Stream: Bengaluru’s T.ill APES Drop Primal New Song ‘Whoa There Nelly’

Bengaluru hip-hop/neo-soul act T.ill APES have been a staple at stages across Indian music festivals this season, conquering everything from Echoes of Earth in Bengaluru to Orange Festival of Music and Adventure in Dambuk, Arunachal Pradesh. It also includes Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan, Lollapalooza India in Mumbai and most recently, Vh1 Supersonic in Pune.

Drummer and manager Sange Wangchuk says it’s been “absolutely surreal” to hit up that many stages and open themselves up to thousands of new listeners. “It’s also been a great opportunity to hone in and perfect the live experience that we curate for our listeners which is what we’ve come to be known for, so that’s definitely something that’s been in our favor as of late,” he adds.

Their latest single “Whoa There Nelly” has been part of that groove-heavy, high-energy setlist at festivals. Rapper Hanumankind issues all kinds of warnings about not crossing boundaries, while the band’s rock and rhythm section – Wangchuk, guitarist Amrith Raghunathan aka Doc. Awes, bassist Soorya Praveen, and keyboardist Philip John – almost emulate the thematic clash addressed in the lyrics with a sonic intensity that saxophonist Gautam David rises up to match. David says the song was a departure from his usual. “I tend to play much more gently. At one point Doc. Awes asked me to scream into the sax to get into character and playing that loud led to some wild spikes on the tuning charts”, the saxophonist adds.

Soorya says the song was inspired by the film Reservoir Dogs, particularly a scene where the focus is broken apart by chaos. Raghunathan adds, “The most fun part about writing this song was that every element was a product of trusting our first instinct, which is why it’s such a trip to play this live as well as listen to the studio version.”

For the rest of 2023, T.ill APES will keep the momentum going and Wangchuk terms it as running a tight ship in terms of releases. “You can expect a bunch of singles throughout the year to keep your ears busy, and maybe even an EP in the last couple of months of 2023,” he adds.

Listen to “Whoa There Nelly” below. The song is out on streaming platforms on February 28th. Pre-save here.