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On March 9, the British rock band will make their debut in India with brining their electric energy to Mumbai.
Nothing But Thieves is all set to make it’s much-awaited debut at #LollapaloozaIndia2025 on March 9! (Image: Instagram)
The 2025 edition of Lollapalooza India will return to Mumbai on March 8–9, featuring an incredible lineup of Indian as well as international performers. Nothing But Thieves, an iconic English rock band, is one of the international groups generating waves. They will make their debut in India on March 9. The band, which consists of Conor Mason, Joe Langridge-Brown, Dominic Craik, Philip Blake, and James Price, was founded in 2012 and has gained a devoted fan base all around the world given their powerful music and poignant lyrics. The band talked exclusively with News18 about their impending Indian debut and expressed how excited they are to learn about the music, culture, and, of course, food of the nation.
Excerpts from the interview:
First of all, this is Nothing But Thieves’ first gig in India for Lollapalooza 2025. What are your thoughts about performing here for the first time?
Well, I think we’re excited. It’s the main thing. It’s quite rare after 10 years that you get to go to a whole new country and that you’ve never been to India in any capacity. So I think we’re just excited. I’d see the culture and see what it’s all about. It’s always quite baffling going to a new place and seeing that people are your music so far away. So hopefully, fingers crossed.
From the Graveyard Whistling EP to Dead Club City, your sound keeps evolving. Can you tease any upcoming projects, albums, or musical directions you’re excited about?
We’re actually taking a conscious effort to take a break after this album because for every other album, we’ve gone straight into the studio. We call it a back-to-back touring record, but this is the first time we’ve tried to give ourselves a bit of time to sort of recover. We’re off the road and then really focus on trying to make the next record the best it can be. So we haven’t started yet, but as for the set and what people can expect, I think it’s anytime we play a country for the first time, we’re just going to try and play our biggest songs and make it as good as we possibly can.
India has a rich and diverse musical landscape, from Bollywood to indie and classical music. Have you explored any Indian artists or sounds that have caught your attention?
You know what? It’s funny when Conor and I first met at school; we met in music class and we started with world music just from everywhere in the world. The Indian culture and the Indian music and the history in Indian music is something that I think a lot of Western schools teach when you get to that high level of musical education. So yeah, from that side of things, definitely I’m familiar with studying like Banger and things like that. I can’t say it’s heavily influenced our music, but who knows what the next album will be.
Your music often blends raw emotion with powerful instrumentals. Do you find any inspiration in world music?
I wouldn’t say that we draw specifically from singular or a couple of artists. I think that’s why our music is so diverse. We always pull from a very wide and varied selection of the things that inspire us. And you know, it’s not necessarily just things that are close to home. It could be from anywhere in the world. Yeah, sometimes it’s like music. Sometimes, it can just be like a feeling when travelling or like I’ve been inspired by a film or even like the credits on the end of a film.
There was a film I was watching and there was a company called Tomorrow’s Clothes and that’s where the title of one of our songs comes from. So I think it’s just about being open to sort of all things and seeing what you can do with it.
Lollapalooza has evolved into a global phenomenon. How do you think the festival experience changes when performed across different cultures, and what are you most excited about in India’s music scene?
I think the beauty of this and coming to a new place is we have no expectations. We don’t know what’s going to happen. And I think when you’ve been touring for 10, 11 years and the amount of places and cities and peoples we play to, you kind of get a feeling and you get used to where you’re going and what you want to expect. So the beauty of the fact that we’ve never been to India is that we have no idea what to expect. So it’s going to be kind of a wonderful experience to have that for the first time and just see what happens really.
Since you’ll be in India, is there anything specific you’re looking forward to experiencing—food, places, culture?
I mean, we are huge fans of Indian food. I cook a lot of Indian food at home. Specifically, the thing I’m trying to master at the moment is Dal Makhni, which is quite difficult because you have to cook it over such a long period of time. But yeah, I think the food is one of the things that we’re, aside from the gig, that’s definitely something that we can’t wait to experience. Yeah, we normally take a lot of time, like outside the gig, just walking around the city we’re in and trying to soak it up and seeing what happens and getting some adventures. So we’ll see.
Lastly, what message do you have for your Indian fans who have been waiting to see you live for so long?
Well, thanks for waiting and being so patient. We’ll be as excited. We can’t wait to come and play for you. It’s going to be an amazing gig. So spread the word and we’ll be with you in a couple of weeks and hopefully it won’t be so long until we return.
Meanwhile, Lollapalooza India is produced and promoted by BookMyShow Live.
