Watch The F16s Imitate TikTok Trends and Viral Dances in New Video For ‘Sucks To Be Human’
The track is off the Chennai band’s 2021 EP ‘Is It Time to Eat the Rich Yet?’
Chennai indie-rockers The F16s. Photo: Courtesy of Pagal Haina
After the release of last year’s five-track EP Is It Time to Eat the Rich Yet?, the members of Chennai indie-rockers The F16s – vocalist-guitarist Joshua Fernandez, guitarist Abhinav Krishnaswamy, bassist Sashank Manohar and keyboardist Harshan Radhakrishnan – began broadening their horizons. Manohar has been creating videos for other artists, Radhakrishnan upped his skills as a DJ, Fernandez’s solo moniker JBABE has been growing steadily, and Krishnaswamy has continued his stint of writing for music publications.
“The reception to the new EP has been pretty great, even if it has taken time for people to actually chew through it. We have taken charge of the visual representation as well and the fans have responded positively,” says Krishnaswamy. The band have now added to their visual representation with a brand-new video for the jumpy, yet ethereal, track from the EP, “Sucks To Be Human.”
With this being the third song from their latest EP to be accompanied with visuals, we ask the band how important a visual identity is to them. Krishnaswamy replies, “We felt the need to take greater responsibility for the art we were putting out. So, whether it’s aesthetics, outfits or the people we’re working with, it ultimately comes down to us.”
In the new clip, the band members are seen messing around with the idea of TikTok trends and viral dance videos. The group worked with choreographer Alisha Ajit. Krishnaswamy says, “She took our shortcomings into consideration and devised a sequence of moves for us to practice.” According to the band, the song itself “talks about looking towards space while surrounded by the general apathy of terra firma.” Directed by Lendrick Kumar, the band also roped in cinematographer Prayoon Sajeev and VFX designer Madhavan Krishnesh to help create the striking visuals.
Krishnaswamy adds, “The world was reeling under a mass pandemic, income inequality and huge power imbalances. We wanted to hint at all of this while making a light-hearted and sardonic visual.” Using a green screen while shooting the video was also a first for the band. “We just pranced around in silly outfits,” says the guitarist.
The F16s have already begun writing new material, which is still in its nascent stage. With upcoming gigs throughout this year and the start of 2023, the band informs us that music agency “Pagal Haina have a ton of great ideas” that they are going to explore soon.
Watch the music video for “Sucks To Be Human” below:
