When Outstation came together, it wasn’t in a studio or a carefully scripted launchpad. It happened inside a pressure cooker. Thousands auditioned, five remained, and what began as a nationwide talent
hunt slowly transformed into something far more intimate, fragile, and real. Between bootcamp breakdowns, homesickness, late-night conversations, and shared uncertainty, Outstation stopped feeling like a competition and started feeling like a band.
In a landscape where boy bands are often engineered for perfection, Outstation’s story is refreshingly human. They come from different geographies, carry different emotional languages, and bring sharply distinct energies into the same room. What binds them is not just harmony, but vulnerability. Their breakout single Tum Se captured the innocence of first love, but the journey behind it is layered with self-doubt, laughter, creative friction, and quiet dependence on one another. From opening for Akon in a packed arena to watching fans turn their lives into edits, hashtags, and shared identities, the band has grown up in public, one moment at a time.
In this candid conversation with News18 Showsha, Outstation speaks openly about competition turning into brotherhood, the weight of comparisons, navigating instant validation without losing themselves, and the emotional roles they unknowingly play for one another. As they stand at the beginning of what could be a long, defining journey in Indian pop, the five members reflect on where they come from, what they’re becoming, and why, for them, the band will always come before the spotlight.
Here are the excerpts:
Outstation was born out of a nationwide hunt that filtered thousands of dreams down to five faces. At what point did each of you stop feeling like contestants and start feeling like a band?
We think the bond we shared, not just the five of us, but between everyone at that bootcamp started feeling really strong very early into the camp. We’re grateful that the five of us today have that bond.
Talent hunts often manufacture rivalry. Was there a moment in the Goa bootcamp when competition quietly turned into emotional dependence?
We think we all tried our best to be there for each other and lift each other up throughout but of course all of us wanted the opportunity to make it at the end of the day.
Do you think Outstation could have existed without the emotional breakdowns, tears, and homesickness or were those cracks essential to the chemistry?
We’ve really bonded so much more as we’ve been living together in Mumbai. When one of us is going through a hard time, the others step up and lift them up. Our fans have also really given us so much love that makes us want to keep giving our hundred percent.
You represent five different geographies and upbringings. In moments of disagreement, does regional identity ever influence perspective?
It definitely helps us figure out more nuance and understanding for each other and our fans. We’re very different from each other in some ways but also really similar in others. Disagreements happen and we have ways to work with each other to overcome them.
“Tum Se” captures the innocence of first love. Was it easier or harder to tap into vulnerability knowing millions would hear it?
Excitement was the biggest emotion for that song. We were dying to get it out and finally have our fans have something to hold to their hearts. The reception has been beyond belief.
Do you remember the exact moment when “Tum Se” stopped being a song and started feeling like your introduction to the world?
The very first time we played it with a band at our prom show and heard the crowd singing it back felt surreal. More than that, when we hit number one on Spotify’s Viral Chart we saw like a realisation of how much love it was getting.
The video being shot in a prom-night frenzy with fans present blurs the line between audience and story. Did that feel empowering or exposing?
I think it felt the truest it could because we’d be nothing without them. The fact that our passengers were with us before the launch itself meant that we had to have them there for our debut.
Opening for Akon in an arena is a baptism by fire. What did you learn about stage power in those 10–15 minutes that no rehearsal could teach?
That was beyond insane! The sheer size of the stage and number of people in the crowd, it was definitely a lot to take in. But regardless, the opportunity was incredible and we found so many new passengers.
Being called “India’s answer to BTS” is flattering but also reductive. How do you mentally separate inspiration from expectation?
We can’t be BTS and it’s hard to live up to that comparison. They’re one of the biggest acts in the history of music. But we feel we’re doing something deeply special with our passengers and finding our space in India in a way that’s different. OutStation is India’s band and we want to live up to that expectation.
Does the comparison motivate you or does it sometimes feel like you’re being asked to skip chapters of your own journey?
At this point we’re used to the comparisons but we have to keep our head down and do what we feel is right. So far it’s been a great journey and we can only hope that we reach those heights at some point .
Growing up, who did you see yourself in on screen or on stage and do you feel that responsibility shifting now?
We’ve each had plenty of inspirations that also make us kind of individual amongst the group that we are.
Your fandom was born online, through Reels, fancams, hashtags. Do you ever feel like the internet knows a version of you that you haven’t met yet?
Every day! The kind of edits the passengers make of each of us show us in different worlds and identities. It’s something that we’re constantly looking at and looking forward to.
How do you emotionally process instant validation, viral charts, trending hashtags, without letting it define your self-worth?
Our team and mentors constantly tell us to keep our head down and we know there’s a long way to go. It’s surreal seeing 3000 people sing our song back to us but we know we can’t disappoint them so we have to keep working.
Gen-Z lives in a world of constant comparison. How do you protect your mental health when success is measured in numbers refreshed every second?
It’s hard for anyone, not just us. And we’re lucky to have such a supportive group amongst ourselves to keep us in place. Beyond that, we do have a lot of regular classes and workshops that help us develop.
Every band has unspoken roles beyond music. Who’s the emotional anchor? Who’s the silent listener? Who’s the chaos agent?
Kurien’s got to be the emotional anchor cause he’ll joke about your biggest insecurities and humble you down when needed. Bhuvan is the silent listener cause 9/10 times he’s zoning out with his headphones on. And honestly all of us take turns on being the chaos agents.
Have you had a disagreement that almost turned into something bigger but didn’t, because the bond mattered more?
I (Mashaal) remember the time when shayan ate kurien’s dinner and they were arguing about the cost since kurien had to pay more to order kfc…they couldnt fight each other so they started roleplaying a court scene for atleast 40mins where they made bhuvan the judge and they were both ranting out on bhuvan, and bhuvan wasn’t even paying attention.
Bhuvan: You’re described as the “heart.” What emotion do you hide best and how does it leak out in music?
I think it’s every emotion, honestly. I’ve always struggled to express how I feel unless it’s through art. Music and poetry are the only places where I let myself be fully vulnerable, where nothing is edited or held back.
In real life, I spent a long time learning how to not hide what I feel. A lot of that comes from the environment I grew up in. I still remember going to bootcamp and seeing people hug so freely, express emotions so openly, it stayed with me. That experience changed me, and it’s shaped who I’m becoming now.
I’m definitely growing when it comes to expressing emotion, but music and poetry will always be where I completely surrender. That’s where every emotion comes out, honestly and without fear. That’s where I express myself best.
Coming to the ‘heart’ of the group part, the heart doesn’t scream it. It disguises it as tenderness, which means
The deepest emotions aren’t expressed loudly or dramatically. They’re hidden inside gentleness.
Hemang: You’re called the “crowd-pleaser.” When you’re alone, what version of you exists that fans don’t see?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be seen and appreciated, and that never really happened. I think I make music for that version of me, to finally give him what he needed and let him go. I’m not chasing appreciation anymore. I make music for people like me, who were never fully allowed to be themselves. Growing up, I had to numb parts of me down and music is how I unlearn that
Mashaal: You bring the edge. Do you fear being boxed as “the intense one,” and what softness do you want people to discover?
The concept of ‘Mashaal’ arises from my own grid i create around myself, Im unsure If i ‘fear’ being in a grid, since its conceptualised by my own visualisation. I believe I am always evolving, from my experience jumping out of a box eventually ends you up in a bigger box, its too paradoxical for me to fear something which is bound to evolve. As far as softness goes, Ive grown up in an environment where softness isn’t shown or encouraged, there was a phase when I was so overstimulated with emotions that I had to numb down and suppress them, until i was completely cold and numb to the world, and i think thats where i found vulnerability in music, singing, composing my thoughts onto the strings, and now we’re at a stage where people are bound to see that front.
Kurien: You use humor to cope. What’s something that genuinely overwhelms you that you can’t joke your way out of?
I don’t really use humor as a coping mechanism for myself, I believe I use it more to ease tension for the people around me when things feel stressful. It helps create a sense of safety and comfort.
But something I can’t joke my way through is feeling powerless in situations I can’t fix, especially when it involves people I care about. In those moments, humor feels empty, so I sit with the discomfort, listen, and try to just be present instead.
Shayan: You’re the youngest and the spark. How do you balance being “the baby” with being taken seriously as an artist?
Honestly at least in regards with the band, yea sure I may get treated like the ‘baby’, but when it comes down to it all of them treat me as an equal and my opinions matter as much as the rest of the guys. But in general since I am very young and don’t have as much experience as the other people that I’m around, I always try to learn, I haven’t ever been exposed to this industry or this attention, so I try to make the most of it by learning as much as I can from everyone around me
What’s the roadmap ahead of you. After Tum Se, what are you planning as a band in terms of singles, EP or full fledged albums? And if you could collaborate, who would you want to collaborate with?
There’s so much more music we’ve recorded and we’re planning to release a lot more this year. There’s going to be a lot more shows, some insane music videos, and a ton of behind the scenes stuff that we’re going to be sharing with our passengers. Collaborations would definitely be something we’d love to do but right now we want to focus on ourselves and see how far we can go as OutStation.
