Delhi based modern rockers Akshay Chowdhry (Singer/Guitarist) and Sumant Balakrishnan AKA Bala (Singer/Guitarist) formed Barefaced Liar (BFL) in 2008 to take their original music to the stage.
BFL put out their first album in 2010 with the self-titled ‘Barefaced Liar’. With its layered vocal harmonies, driving riffs, solos and keen Indian sensibilities, the critically- acclaimed album set the band apart. Music Publications like Rolling Stone, Rock Street Journal (RSJ) and Indianrockmp3 listed the album among top 10 albums of the year. Since then, they went on to play at some of the biggest festivals in India at the time, including The Great Indian Rock Festival, Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Friends of Music, Harley Rock Riders, Escape Festival, Gig Week to name a few.
In 2012, the band leapt straight into writing their sophomore effort and from those initial sessions was born ‘Toe The Line’, a true signal of the evolution in the band's sound. The song garnered airplay on MTV Indies and VH1, besides being the only Asian finalist in the 2013 edition of the UK Songwriters Competition.
Akshay and Bala recorded ‘Mind Over Matter’ in late 2013 with their producer Zorran Mendonsa. A more streamlined and concise direction ensued with a ‘don’t bore us - get to the chorus’ attitude, and as a result, all 9 songs have been written to stand on their own. ‘Mind Over Matter’ is the new sound of today’s rock n roll- fun, loud and experimental. With the release of the album in late 2015, the band is gearing up to promote their new material and hit stages in India and beyond.
“Barefaced Liar is a band which everyone should know of. This four person group, who are from Delhi and are bound to wow audiences with their suave looks, are causing quite a stir in India and are expected to be incredibly popular around the world”
Chinmayi Tripathi - Songdew
“Based out of a country and culture that is still embracing the concept of rock ‘n roll and live music, BFL has worked passionately on honing their craft in terms of combining technical skill and quality songwriting and believe that their hard work is ready to be recognised on a global scale”
Indian Express
"Very few rock bands manage to make the kind of impact that Barefaced Liar has in the short while they’ve been around. Barefaced Liar is firmly en route to becoming one of the coolest bands in the city and the country"
Kartik Mahajan - Little Black Book
"Barefaced Liar presented a combination of classical and modern rock as well as the blues, as the audience rocked to numbers such as Toe The Line, Tourismo and Glow"
Anmol Jain - Hindustan Time
"Kolkata rocked to the tune of band music. Delhi’s rock band Barefaced Liar were in Kolkata for the first time and with their first performance here they came, they saw and they conquered. This band has performed in most of the big cities of India and came to Kolkata to judge a band competition. BFL’s participation changed the whole feel of Nokia Lumia Worme Fest east edition"
Swabhumi, Kolkata
" Musical extravaganza is what happened when Barefaced Liar, a brand new band from Delhi decided to take Bangalore by storm as a part of their maiden album launch promo"
Mid Day, Bangalore
"The 4 member band enthralled the crowd with a variety of rock and roll numbers and left them awestruck with their high voltage performance"
Bangalore Beat, Bangalore
"They have been on the scene for a couple of years and their talent and hard work has been recognised internationally at the UK Songswriters contest over the last two years where the band manage a semi final result in both years"
Mid Day, Bangalore
"The 4 member band enthralled the crowd with a variety of rock 'n' roll numbers and left them awestruck with their high voltage performance."
Tulip Issue, Hyderabad
"Barefaced Liar, with tracks such as 'Carnation, 'Glow and 'Mirage, that have won the eight year old band accolades at international performances in the past, the musicians set the floor on fire and pumped up the spirits of the Hyderabadi junta that had in fact gathered with the hope of being part of an action packed evening"
The Times Of India,Hyderabad
"Though these young lads hail from different educational backgrounds, it is their passion for music that as woven these pearls into one necklace called 'Barefaced Liar' "
Pratima Achrekar - Navhind Times, Goa
"The musical evening witnessed rock lovers grooving to the distinct and refreshing compositions spelled out by the band. The four member band enthralled the crowd with a variety of rock n roll numbers and left them awestruck with their high voltage performance"
The New Indian Express, Hyderabad
"A mix of rock, Indian influences and blues, courtesy Delhi-based band Barefaced Liar'
Dhanusha Gokulan - New Indian Express
"Delhi - based band Barefaced Liar has got the international acclaim that most Indian rock bands strive for. Two of the band's songs - Glow and Mirage - were the semi-finals entries for the UK songwriter Contest in 2009 and 2010 respectively"
Shruthi Raghunanda - Times Of India,Bangalore
"Barefaced Liar is loud, raucous and lots of fun. the vocals have nice harmonies to them and the lead vocalist has an endearing vocal tic that he exploits to the maximum"
Krish Raghav - Livemint, National
"There's something to be said about Indian rock bands. At first glance, it's easy to fit them into the stereotype - t-shirts with witty one-liners, tousled hair, the gleam of ambition, the slur of cool quotient. But some bands stand on their own despite the cliche', and New Delhi-based Barefaced Liar is one of them."
The Hindu - The Hindu, Hyderabad
“Barefaced liar is one band which has it’s heart in the right place.Brilliant melodies, amazing instrumentation and compositions in their debut effort makes them clearly stand out from their peers. After a few listens to the record, I went hunting for a weak track and didn’t find one. The album is a potpourri of influences right from the classic rock era of the 70-80’s to today’s modern rock era. Blues based modern rock riffs and catchy choruses are the hallmark of Barefaced’s brand of music. This one is up there with the best as far as debut albums are concerned from the Indian rock stable and I see Barefaced Liar going places with this impressive effort.”
Jitesh Rajan - Indian Rock Mp3.com
“Unity’ sees the band strike the resounding east-meets-west chord on song with a different spin. The confluence of a clean-toned twang on lead guitars running parallel to a Godsmack-like haunting bassline with thumping pulse of a tabla and tambourine makes for a spellbinding listening experience. The backdrop is reminiscent of the fusion-treatment of Pakistani band Junoon, though the root vocal melody completely distinguishes the track. Akshay Chowdhry’s syrupy vocals on this one are harnessed in low pitched harmonies and echoes, the layering cushions the easy-flowing composition. And it’s not that blatant east-west convergence we are overtly familiar with, it’s got a western distinction which is very cleverly secured over the Indian spin on instrumentation.”
Neha Sharma - Rolling Stone India