Funan and Gang Debut with Stupendous Single ‘Dear Felicity,’

When Mumbai artist Ananya Sharma aka Funan had to prepare for a showcase at the end of her first year at the city-based True School of Music in 2018, she approached fellow students to help her out. Those happened to be guitarist Vedant Thakur, bassist Abhinav Lama, keyboardist and synth player Hardik Pandya and drummer Ajay Narayanan. “What was in my head, a one-time collaboration became way more special than that. There was clearly a lot of musical chemistry and I could see that as a band they actually liked playing my songs,” says Sharma. A year on since they officially formed, Funan and Gang are now out with their exquisite debut single “Dear Felicity,.”

Although Sharma works as the primary songwriter for the band, they collectively hash out the arrangements to the songs she brings in. “My bandmates always churn out ideas that are far more creative and serve the songs in ways that I could never imagine,” says the frontwoman.

On “Dear Felicity,” Funan and Gang have thoroughly impressed. The song opens with layered harmonies and an ambient swirl before we hear subtle piano motifs and Sharma’s glowing voice. The band then kick in with some R&B flavor after which there is a switch in dynamics moving to a more progressive feel, all the while keeping you hooked to the varied transitions.

Sharma tells us that she often writes about themes related to mental well being which is something she is personally passionate about. “Dear Felicity,” also stemmed from that train of thought wherein she wanted to explore the idea of self-loathing through a letter. She says, “The basic process of it was keeping in mind that this is a journey of healing. Every section in this song represents a phase of that journey to me, and I try to reflect that in all its aspects.” Sharma adds, “I’m also a sucker for metaphors, so I picked the name ‘Felicity’ because the word means happiness, and I wanted to emphasize the idea of using a mask of happiness to cover suffering.”

The band recorded the song at True School of Music’s inhouse studio with sound engineers and fellow students Dhaval Das and Vaibhav Ahuja. The track was then mixed and mastered by Mumbai electro-jazz outfit Ape Echoes’ Sid Shirodkar. “Communication was mid corona, and just through phone calls and emails, he [Shirodkar] managed to kill it and serve the band’s vision exactly as we imagined,” says the vocalist.

Funan and Gang have partnered with online platform SkillBox for a month-long contribution campaign for monetary support for their future material as well as allow listeners to connect with them in a way that is “more direct and personal.” While in lockdown, the band have focused on making homemade demos and plan on hitting the studio to record an EP once things go back to normal. “There are so many more songs in the pipeline which we intend to record and release,” says Sharma.

Stream “Dear Felicity,” on Spotify below and on Apple Music.