Oscar Pollock and Haydn Evans were childhood buddies, playing in school bands together, but it wasn't until they went to separate schools that they created the line-up that was to form indie rock band Sundara Karma.

 

Lead singer Oscar went to Oratory School where he met Ally Baty who plays guitar and Dom Cordell who plays bass. Haydn naturally took the drum seat and, in 2011 the musicians began their musical journey, kicking off with their debut single Freshbloom via SoundCloud, which scooped them a support slot with Wolf Alice for Swim Deep.

 

Oscar believes his musical talent comes from his dad, who was a DJ back in the day.

 

"Dad was into music and had eclectic taste, everything from Wham to Thin Lizzy, music was always playing around the house,'' he said.

 

Gradually the guys began to make a name for themselves and their music was being heard, their track Indigo Puff was used in the 2015 television advertisement for Mercedes-Benz in Australia.

 

But it was the song Loveblood that really put Sundara Kara on the musical map notching up airplay from BBC Radio 1's Matt Edmundson, Annie Mac and Huw Stephens.

 

The name Sundara Karma in sandskrit means Beautiful or Noble Karma.

 

"We were big fans of Bananarama,'' laughed Oscar.

 

The boys are back on the festival trail this summer including dates at local festivals: Glastonbury, Barn on the Farm and their home town of Reading before heading off to a festival in Finland.

 

Their debut album, Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect, was released earlier this year, in January and peaked at number 24 in the UK Album Chart.

 

The band have supported The Wombats, Two Door Cinema and Bastille.

 

Oscar said: "The Wombats were lovely we learned a lot from them.''

 

Sundara Karma will be playing alongside headliners Tom Odell and James Vincent McMorrow, at The Barn on the Farm Festival which runs from June 29 to July 2 at Over Farm, Gloucester. Weekend tickets are £110 for Saturday and Sunday. For more details visit http://www.barnonthefarm.co.uk/ Tickets for Reading Festival can be bought from www.readingfestival.com - Flicky Harrison