Arun, Lav and Abhilash of The 9Teen
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Every stan (loyal fans of the BTS) has heard ‘7’, Jungkook’s latest single. Have you heard The 9Teen’s cover of the same? The cover in English and Hindi, inspired by the the Korean BTS lead singer, is steadily trending on Instagram.
Lav Jaiswal, Abhilash Murala and Arun O Conner of The 9teen, an acoustic band from Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) recently did a cover of Jungkook’s 7. “We love BTS’s music and energy so maybe we can be considered as a part of their ARMY,” says Lav. (ARMY is BTS’ fandom name)
Jungkook from the video of ‘Seven’
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
Lav adds, “We mostly do covers of the songs we love or are very popular. The reason we do covers is to create a fanbase of our music. Through the covers we show music lovers what we are capable of. We do original music as well and are all set to release our first album in September, 2023.”
This is not the first time The 9teen has done a BTS cover. Earlier the trio did a mashup of BTS’s songs and then a cover of the popular BTS track ‘Butter’. When their ‘Kesariya’ cover from the Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer, Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva did well online, they did another in multiple Indian languages.
The boys from the band The 9Teen
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
Recollecting about how The 9teen band was formed, Lav says they met at a talent show in Visakhapatnam. “After the talent show, Abhilash and Arun decided to head to the beach road for an impromptu jam session. I said I would like to join them as well. The three of us jammed on the beach road and the crowd that gathered to listen loved the musical vibe,” he says, adding “That one jam session made us connect instantly. Now we live together and make music.”
The 9Teen has a varied repertoire: this includes ‘Songs that define you childhood’ (2.6M views), ‘Srivalli’ from Pushpa (1.1 M views) and even a one-minute ad mashup (including Vicco, Dettol, Nirma, Maggie, Cadbury and Nerolac, which garnered 1.2 views.
The 9teen at a show
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
An acoustic band, they shatter the common belief that a band cannot be formed without drums, keys and electric guitar. As musicians, the trio are self taught, so they are constantly learning and improving their craft. Living together under the same roof only makes the task of improving and learning convenient.
“After my parents got transferred and moved to another city, I decided to stay back to be with The 9teen. Abhilash joined me because his place was far away. When the two of us were living together, Arun decided to shift in as well. Now it is one musical home,” says Lav.
Abhilash says, “If we aren’t practicing or working on something new, we are doing live shows. Shows keep us occupied and also bring in the money. We like to try out new covers with the crowd at live shows. That gives us an idea of how well every piece we do will be accepted.