By Cody Thomas

Shreyans Jha stands in one corner of the room, next to his Fender amp, which is propped up on a chair. He wears his Epiphone Les Paul very low, an ideal position for jumping around with a guitar. The New York University music practice room is extremely warm. Jha and the rest of Null Friction, however, are used to playing in the heat. The band hails from Madras, India.

Over the last four years, Null Friction, with Jha as their front man and singer, has quickly become one of the most popular independent acts in India. The power trio of 20-year-olds (Jha just turned 21) has played in some of the country’s most important musical events, like the June Rock Out, an outdoor festival with thousands of spectators. They have been written about more than once in The Hindu, India’s national newspaper, and have also seen widespread radio play. They have been featured on the popular Indian podcast Sound of the Indian Underground and recently broke the top 10 most-watched music videos in India with their collection of still-frame photos that comprise the video for “Madras,” the first single off their eponymous album.

“It feels good when you’re walking through the supermarket and a guy randomly comes up to you and says, ‘I saw you guys last week, your show was awesome,”’ said Jha. He has also received emails from fans from all around India. Some fans even ask him for copies of his transcribed music so that they can learn the songs themselves.

Jha and his band mates, however, have recently reached an exciting crossroads. All three members are juniors in college, and all three are attending school in North America. Jha is currently a student at New York University, and his band mates go to school in Boston and Ottawa. Like most other college bands, the members of Null Friction have been forced to balance their studies with their music. On top of that, though, they also have to deal with the distance. Keeping the band together has been a challenge, but the rewards have been immeasurable for Jha. The band has just recently had the opportunity to play their first American show at Sullivan Hall in Manhattan.

“It feels good to be playing with Null Friction again,” said Jha. “It’s not about playing in New York or the middle of nowhere.”

The members of Null Friction met in high school, where they were classmates together. Jha and bass player Abhishek Singhal met first, and they added drummer Ansh Sanyal later. The band developed a strong sense of friendship during high school, and breaking up at the beginning of college never seemed like an option.

Jha describes the band as mainstream rock, and the sound is reminiscent of 90’s grunge. Null Friction factors in an emphasis on hard rock, which is balanced with a strong attraction towards catchy song writing. Jha says his guitar parts may have been most influenced by Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. When it comes to singing, though, his influences are a little more diverse. Jha draws influence from classical Indian music, and also lists Kurt Cobain, Chino Moreno, and Maynard James Keenan as vocal influences.

Another noticeable trend that emerges during the band’s practice involves Jha’s fascinating facial expressions. For most of practice, he wears a puzzled, frustrated look to match his low-hanging instrument. The tension in Jha’s face, however, always seems to resolve in the same genuinely enthusiastic smile. This occurs only after Jha has rigorously doodled with his guitar in search of the perfect riff for the current song.

“Shrey is the intellectual one,” says Sanyal, the drummer. “Abhishek is reserved, mellow, and soulful. I’m aggressive, and Shrey is the intellectual.” Sanyal also describes Jha as a perfectionist, which he says is important in the writing process for the band.

The three members have, so far, succeeded in keeping the band active. They have a Skype conversation once a week, and have even managed to practice occasionally. “The more important thing to a band is being friends,” says Jha. Null Friction’s first show at Sullivan Hall in February proved successful, and the venue invited them back for another show this St. Patrick’s Day. “It was a lot of fun,” said Jha.

“What’s been helpful for us is that we’ve always had a goal and we’re always working towards something,” says Jha. The band, however, keeps its sight on short-term goals. “We don’t get a chance to think about the long-term.” For Jha, it has become less about the long-term goals and more about just doing things with the band. “We spend 2 hours on a train to practice for 10 minutes, or do pointless things like that. But the pointless things come together and end up some of your most important memories.”

One pointless thing in particular sticks out. Jha remembers a show the band played in a small town in South India. Null Friction was scheduled to play for an hour but went on for only 10 minutes. The motivation, according to Jha, was simply to piss off the people running the show and to see if they could get away with it.

As for being a student so far from home, Jha concedes that it contributes to his music. “When you’re home you feel comfortable and you have all the resources of being home,” says Jha. “When you’re away from home, you’re always slightly stressed, and that definitely affects the music.” Plus, Jha feels as if being away has helped him focus his influences from back home. “When you’re there, you’re being bombarded with it, but when you’re here it’s like wearing gloves and you can select what you listen to,” says Jha. “There are less Indian influences, but they’re more focused.”