Sophomore Ananya Krishnan stepped up onto the stage with her twin brother Tarun and the rest of her band members, ready to perform the first set of the night, one evening last December. As she began to perform, the band faced technical difficulties when the mic stopped functioning, forcing her to restart her song twice in front of 100 people.
Through numerous performances, Ananya has learned to adapt to anything that can happen on stage and go with the show.
“In the end, people are really nice and tell you you did great even if you know you did bad,” Ananya said.
Following in their parents’ footsteps, their band, “Font 12,” comprised of sophomores Ananya and Tarun Krishnan, continues the legacy with a band of their own, starting in middle school.
The Krishnans use music as an escape from school’s constant academic pressures and stress, putting together concerts for their friends and family twice a year. Their band was inspired by their parents, who had formed a band in school together called Font 72.
Their parents’ band name came from a joke from their bassist’s wife. Since he wears glasses, he always used to make the font on his iPad font 72, so he could see clearly. Their band decided that was the perfect name for the band, because they considered themselves to be “old,” Ananya said.
According to Ananya, they have two concerts every year: one in the summer, and one in the winter. They’re always held at one of the adult band members’ house.
Their concerts are invite-only, so the attendees mostly consist of friends and family.
Their popular summer concert usually yields around 200 audience members, and their winter concert draws around 100.
The Krishnans’ band plays only covers. Ananya is the lead singer, while Tarun accompanies her on the keyboard.
Since the band members are all in high school except for one eighth grader, they don’t have time to right originals so they perform covers. They also each participate in several extracurriculars; Ananya, for example, plays on the varsity soccer team and also plays for a club team.
“Usually we lean towards today’s pop, partly because the adult band does classic, old rock,” Ananya said. “We’ve done some old songs before, but we tend to lean towards pop.”
In the past, they have played “This Love” by Maroon 5 and Beatles’ songs like “Help.”
Like many other kids playing an instrument or learning music, being in a band at first felt like a “chore” to Ananya.
“I hated going to practices every Friday and my dad would have to drag me,” Ananya said. “And then after a while I realized it was something I was actually excited about and it became more of a hobby.”