Fresh from landing in Mumbai from Melbourne the previous night, brothers Josh and Sam are signing a guitar this morning. Josh uses the right hand, Sam, his left. Later, as they prepare for interviews on a sun-washed five-star rooftop in Bandra, Josh is all smiles and on the edge of his seat while Sam appears calm, reclining on his chair. The former calls for coffee and the latter, tea. On the surface, the duo seem different, but there's a lot that binds

The Teskey Brothers

, a

soul-and-blues band

from Australia about whom Google is asked, "Are they twins?"
"People sometimes think he is the older one," says Josh, pointing to Sam, on whose shoulders he once stood during a sold-out gig in Melbourne. Ever since he poked Sam when he was born inside their house in Yarra Valley, a wine region outside Melbourne, The Teskey Brothers—who will perform their unique blend of soul and blues for the first time at the

Mahindra Blues Festival

in Bandra today—have seldom needed words to connect. Resting on Josh's forearm and hiding on Sam's shoulder are tattoos of the region where they grew up listening to R&B artists such as Chris Welson and Paul Williamson, discovering American Blues greats from BB King to Otis Redding "secondhand," as Sam puts it.
In school, the siblings learnt to play guitar from their father even as he was picking it up in his 40s and responded to each other's bird calls. The shorthand bled into their busking gigs as teens. "Performing on the streets for long hours helped us build the chops," says Josh, explaining the raw energy that marks their shows. Fans of singers that exude "real passion" and "simple, not showy" chord progressions full of emotion, the brothers explain the lure of

Blues music

by quoting Jimi Hendrix: "Blues is easy to play, hard to feel."
Confident that AI cannot replicate the authenticity or nuanced storytelling that marks Blues which is "here to stay," the duo look forward to soaking in the sunset at Marine Drive and the sights of the Gateway of India. While this is Josh's first trip to Mumbai, Sam had glimpsed the city during his trip to India in 2011. Spanning Delhi to Kerala via Rajasthan, the trip saw him buy a sitar. "I had fun playing it. The tuning is the hardest bit. Unfortunately, it got smashed on the flight back home," says the guitarist, looking forward to discovering

Indian music

through the fest. Can they give us a teaser of their gig? "We don't have a setlist planned yet," says Josh, "but you might just see me standing on Sam's shoulder."