Indie band Fallen Letters on looking beyond luck

Vishal Naidu of Fallen Letters talks about the band’s uphill struggle to reach where they have

Progressive rock/metal band Fallen Letters formed in 2023 by vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Vishal Naidu and guitarist Aditya Ramesh, are among the newest acts on the block.

At a time when it is all about going digital-first in the music industry, the band has found an audience globally and locally, with their debut song ‘Remain A Memory’ accruing a massive fan following on streaming platforms with over a 120,000 streams on Spotify and over 11,000 views on YouTube.

Their second single ‘Relapse’ carried forward that momentum, gaining over 18,000 views and while these might seem like smaller numbers compared to the industry-backed, trend-friendly hip-hop or pop artists, it is a big deal for an Indian progressive rock and metal band who are existing in a niche. Thankfully for them, they have a strong, loyal audience.

Vishal says, “Considering we were a new band that no one had heard of, even in the local scene, getting our first single out there was a serious challenge. There was no luck involved. It was hours and hours of focused effort from Aditya and me.”

Having built the artiste promotion platform Sinusoidal Music and test-running it on Vishal’s solo project, they had a “structured strategy” of finding curators, applying to playlists across the world and running Google and Meta ads for their ‘Remain A Memory’ music video.

“On top of that, we reached out to blogs and reaction channels to get people talking about the track. It’s been a grind from day one, nothing happened overnight; and it is still as challenging. But it’s rewarding to see that kind of response to something you’ve built from the ground up,” he recalls.

Now, with a steady audience, the band are an EP old, Forlorn Pages came out in 2024, and are prepping for their debut album, Mindfractures to release in September this year. The first glimpse arrives in the form of the single ‘Distant Lines’ (released on May 14 on streaming platforms) and a launch gig at Barbarous Sessions on May 16 at Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, alongside a diverse lineup ranging from death metal favourites, Gutslit, prog band Lotus and thrash metal act Amorphia.