We think good food, good beer and good music make for a great combination, and that’s what the Sunday Simmer Down at Toit is.

As a part of this initiative, we feature bands from around the world, and each of them have a great musical story to tell.

Last Sunday we had the very cool Mad Orange Fireworks play a super chill set here at Toit.
For the uninitiated, the three member band of Michael Antony Dias, Kaushik Kumar and Deepak Raghu, has been around for the last two years with this lineup, and are as awesome as locally brewed beer, with a sound as fresh as freshly squeezed orange juice.

We sat down with the boys (to men) and spoke about music, beer and weird band names, among other things.

…as awesome as locally brewed beer, with a sound as fresh as freshly squeezed orange juice.

What’s the most annoying question you get asked as a band?
Kaushik: How did the name of the band come about?

Michael: Ya, I hate that question! Don’t ask us that, please.

So, how did the name of the band come about? *for jokes*

Ok, fine! What’s so mad and orange-y and firework-y about you guys?
Michael: Wow! That’s so much better!

Deepak: I don’t know. What’s so pink about Pink Floyd?

Michael: Generally we’re mad and we like orange. (Deepak: We’re not mad.)
We like fireworks also. (Deepak: I don’t like fireworks either.) Generally, I just like looking at fireworks. (Deepak: I don’t like the colour orange also. It’s strange.)
Deepak wasn’t there when we formed the band. Maybe we should change it to Sane Purple Fruits now.

Do you guys drink beer?
Yes!

What kinds do you like?
Michael: I’m more of the ‘all beer is good’ types.

Deepak: I like Belgian beer.

Kaushik: I like Stouts.

Michael: Maybe we should try one of each beer here and then continue this interview.

*At which point a Nitro Stout, a Jack in the Box, and a special Bacardi cocktail called, (surprise, surprise!) Mad Orange Fireworks, were duly supplied. Set!*

Deepak: I think Mad Orange Firework is a better drink name than a band name, actually.

What’s so pink about Pink Floyd?

What’s the band’s pre-gig ritual?
Michael: We write the setlist right before we get on stage! Sometimes these guys get drunk before and it’s chaotic. But we don’t really have any ritual as such. We don’t even do the huddle thingy.

Deepak: Yeah. No warming up also. Nothing we do.

Best venue you’ve played at.
Michael: My personal favourite gig was our album launch. It was packed out and everybody came to watch. It was a lot of fun! And it went really well.

Deepak: We also had this gig in Kovalam, and that was fun. It was a private birthday party at a really fancy resort in Trivandrum. Some of the people there even had bodyguards.
So, on one side we could see beaches and the coastline, and on the other side, rich aunties and uncle, drunk and dancing.

One thing that always goes wrong and you wished venue/event managers would fix.
Kaushik: Never getting paid on time. It’s the norm, basically.

Michael: People just take it for granted that if you’re an artist, then you don’t need money, that it’s not important.

Deepak: It’s ok to an extent if you’re a local band. You can go down to someone’s house and pick up the payment also, but if it’s a band coming from Bombay, Delhi, whatever, and you’re not getting paid on time, it’s a pain. That’s the biggest problem.

People just take it for granted that if you’re an artist, then you don’t need money,

Michael: It affects your entire attitude towards the place. It has to reach a point where we have to put our foot down and say if you’re not going to pay us, we’re not going to play. But we all need the gigs too. So it’s a tough situation.

Onto slightly more cheery topics. If you could make up a Fantasy League Band, like Fantasy Football, who’d you put in your band?
Kaushik: I would be managing the band and I would have Beyoncé and Shakira, and they would sing with a lot of singers, and there would be a backing track. DJ Tiesto will be handling the backing track.

Deepak: I would play drums and sing, Jeff Beck on guitars and John Paul Jones on bass.

Michael: I want to have a band with Norah Jones! And the Foo Fighters drummer. (Deepak: Taylor Hawkins! You don’t even know his name). Yeah. That guy. And Sting on the bass. Oh, and Richard Marx on keyboards. I’ll just play rhythm guitar or something. And I’ll get Steve Morse to play guitars as well.

Deepak: That is such a weird band!

Back to you guys. Do any of you have any quirks?
Michael: I always make remarks about the both of them on stage. Stupid shit.

Kaushik: Not stupid stuff. Like everything he says is blatant, straight out lies about us. He’s a big liar.

Michael: But only on stage! And I think Deepak’s quirk is that he abuses the audience. His quirks mostly show up post-gig when he’s really drunk.

Who do the ladies love the most?
Michael!

His quirks mostly show up post-gig when he’s really drunk.

Deepak: But that’s because he’s like a lady.

If you could play for any band apart from MOF, which band would it be? (Indian or International)
Kaushik: Queens of the Stone Age.

Deepak: Metallica.

Michael: I like this band. But ok, maybe Coldplay.

Finally, Kudix is our beloved mascot. If the band had a mascot, what would it be?
Michael: I think Garfield. He would be perfect. All three of us are big cat people, and Garfield is fun. And orange.