The emerging boy band from India OutStation have been on their first ticketed tour, The Friend Zone, having performed in Mumbai and Delhi. The band, consisting of Shayan Pettam, Hemang Singh, Kurien Sebastian, Mashaal Shaikh and Bhuvan Shetty, feels elated by the response they received from their audience and now they are planning to perform in Bengaluru and Pune this month, hoping to embark on a full India tour too.
With very few boy bands having come out of India, the band seeks inspiration globally, especially with the K-pop band BTS. “We see bands like BTS and we draw inspiration from them, and even from older bands like One Direction. BTS literally made the K-pop industry for Korea and we want to do the same for India,” says Shayan.
Hemang shares, “BTS were one of the first bands who actually set up K-pop and with their choreographies, their visuals and even in terms of outfits, we draw inspiration from them.” Mashaal adds to it saying, “We set our standards according to them as well. When we see BTS on like Oreo, we also want to be like that, or we see that BTS cafe in Mira Road where it's crowded every day. We also aim to have a reach like that.”
Watch the entire chat with OutStation here:
The band, who tasted success with their debut single Tum Se, got a push in their popularity after they appeared on comedian Samay Raina’s show India’s Got Latent recently, but what went in their mind was a completely different scenario. “Before going on that show, we were relying on Kurien because he's the funniest of our group, but he actually let us down that day,” Hemang jokes, as Kurien responds, “The whole point of the show is that we have to be entertaining. Right after right we went off stage, we were afraid that we wouldn't even make it to the final cut. But we also understood that the music and comedy audience are very different.”
{{/usCountry}}The band, who tasted success with their debut single Tum Se, got a push in their popularity after they appeared on comedian Samay Raina’s show India’s Got Latent recently, but what went in their mind was a completely different scenario. “Before going on that show, we were relying on Kurien because he's the funniest of our group, but he actually let us down that day,” Hemang jokes, as Kurien responds, “The whole point of the show is that we have to be entertaining. Right after right we went off stage, we were afraid that we wouldn't even make it to the final cut. But we also understood that the music and comedy audience are very different.”
{{/usCountry}}Having come from different backgrounds and cities, ask Bhuvan how they got in sync with each other musically as well as personally, and he says, “It was kind of easy because in the boot camp we were all together, so we were already friends. Bonding with them was very easy but bonding with the city [Mumbai] was the hardest task because I've never been in a big city like this. So, to adjust with the food, the weather, and all of that was the hardest thing to do. It took me a lot of time.”
OutStation also became one of four Indian artistes in YouTube Music’s Foundry Class of 2026, the platform’s global artist development program for emerging artistes. The band feels honoured to get the opportunity to have their music reach to a wider audience now. “Everything is on YouTube, so we kind of have the hack. A lot of friends called me saying they saw us on the billboards, even in LA, and that has been amazing,” Hemang shares, as Shayan adds, “We want Indian music to be out there and have white people singing Hindi songs. Indians listen to Korean music as well, even though they don’t understand the words. Music is beyond language and we want Indian music elements to be a cool element in the West too.”