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okay wtf???? https://i-d.vice.com/en...
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

this is total rubbish - "eating disorder" is a massively inaccurate statement
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

i was also v clear that my issues w food were *not* only about body image
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

most of the time the food stuff was just incidental
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

there were so many factors involved & my purpose in talking about it was 2 bring awareness to all kinds of difference that ppl face daily
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

also fyi i have never been diagnosed w anxiety or depression which would be clear if u actually listened 2 my interview w owen
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

fuck it this is a phone note

— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

👋🏽
— krishna deshpande (@krish9) 22 april, 2016

Who is Krishna Deshpande: Five Things You Didn't Know About the 'Desire' Singer

Nicholas Mojica, Design & Trend
April 20, 2016, 12:18 PM
n.mojica@fashiontimes.com

If you've never heard of Figure 9, you may know their songs "King" or "Desire." "Desire" became such a big hit for the group that they re-released it a few years later as a new version featuring Ultra Violet. Here are five things you may not have known about the group's front man and lead singer, Krishna Deshpande.

1. He Got His Job By Singing In The Shower
Although lead singer Krishna Deshpande had already told founder Mikey Goldsworthy that he wanted to be in the band, thanks to Goldsworthy hearing Deshpande sing "Cry Me a River" in the shower, he got the job. "I've read about this online and it sounds like I was just casually showering and wandering around someone's party, very free in this commune style house. Anyway, I probably sang 'Cry Me a River' because that's my shower song."

2. He Had His Ears Pierced When He Was Three Years Old
In a Hindu tradition called Karnavedha (a ceremony performed for Brahmin children), Krishna's parents had his ears pierced when he was a three-year-old. "People tend to think it's a bit funny because my parents really don't like my tattoos and stuff," he said. "But the concepts are different. Actually, I hated my pierced ears when I was younger because I thought they made me stick out and look girly. I took out my earrings around First Form but put them back in after I finished school."

3. He Was a Swot
Although Krishna tends to be known as a wild child these days, he used to be much more straight-laced. In fact, he earned As all of his A-levels, of which he took four: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Art History. "I thought I was going to go to university for medicine, but I wound up not going at all in the end."

4. He Loves 'Bend It Like Beckham'
"I didn't love organised sports when I was a kid," Deshpande admitted, "and I still don't really get much out of them, but I did really love playing pick me up footie with kids around the neighborhood when I was growing up. We didn't use proper rules or anything, it was just for fun. I was quite good, actually! My sister's more the athlete in our family, though, so the reason I started playing was because I wanted to be cool like her."

5. He Appreciates His Young Female Fans
When asked which of the three members of Figure 9 appreciates female fans the most, Krishna replied sarcastically, "Oh yeah, clearly I hate girls." He continued more seriously, "No, I love them! I love all our fans. And of course I want to be nice to everyone! Our fans are so sweet and supportive, and I tend to be the most open to meeting them and hanging out with them. But I suppose it's also way less weird and threatening for me to constantly taking selfies with them and hugging them and stuff."

krishna deshpande: i struggled with an eating disorder for ten years

In a Facebook live event, the singer shared that he struggled with body image and eating issues from a young age.

Figure 9's lead singer Krishna Deshpande has always been outspoken about mental health. Despite expressing reservations about becoming a poster child and about using his platform as a pop artist to bring more awareness to issues surrounding depression and anxiety, he has worked consistently to talk about his experiences as well as difficulties he has witnessed others go through.

"I've always been a skinny guy," said Deshpande in a recent interview in America. "So I'd look around at other boys, at older boys, and see that they were bigger. Of course they were bigger. They were older. But I saw them and it made me fixate on how I looked because it seemed to me just another way I was different. It was my skin color and my accent and my clothes and my family, and then it was that I was a skinny weakling who couldn't do the stuff that other kids could in PE. It was depressing as fuck, and isolating." He admitted that he tried weight lifting to remedy his physique but that "it did the opposite of what [he] wanted."

The 23-year-old singer continued, "Ironically, though, the more I fixate on stuff the more anxious I get about it. When I get very stressed out I can't eat, my stomach's all in knots. So it became a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, I suppose. At school there were compounding issues, like the fact that after Second Form I brought my lunch to school, and I felt very self-conscious about that because my meals looked quite different from most everyone else's. I was ashamed of that, but I also hated that I was ashamed of it. I'd wind up skipping lunch a lot as a way to not have to deal with it at all. And that's aside from the usual dining hall politics."

As he got older, anxiety continued to impede his ability to eat regularly, but he shared that he "gotten better at calming [himself] down" and making use of his "great support network."

Deshpande speaking out about his difficulties opens up an important dialogue about male body issues and eating disorders, which aren't discussed enough, considering studies have shown that 31% of British men aren't happy with their body image, and 10 million men in the US will suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life.

The openly gay pop star also recently spoke to Owen Jones about his battle with anxiety and depression, describing the struggle of growing up gay "in a straight world." He also released a statement with recent video "Desire" about the importance of celebrating queer bodies, identity and sexuality.

Credits Text Lula Ososki
Photography via WikiCommons

Topics: news, music, beauty, krishna deshpande, figure 9, body image

Krishna Deshpande & Jay Lussier Caught at Coachella Oh No They Didn't! - LiveJournal

For those of you who don't know Krishna Deshpande is a delicate British waif who cries when someone breathes wrong in his direction and Jay Lussier is a hybrid producer/DJ who probably appeared on this earth fully formed because he's too pretentious for the birth process. Somehow, against all odds, they found each other.

Figure 9's BB-8 Design Features Their Album Artwork GREAT Britain

Designed by the band Figure 9, this BB-8 is a bold representation of a microphone and headphones, brought to life with the distinctive pattern and colours of their album artwork. As big Star Wars fans, the band are proud to have designed the only two-headed BB-8 in the auction!

Krishna Deshpande Fires Back: "They Totally Twisted My Words" Attitude Magazine

23 year old singer Krishna Deshpande took to social media to shut down claims that he has an eating disorder. "It's frustrating when people don't actually listen to what you're saying and just go for a very flashy headline," he complained in a series of tweets.

Who is Krishna Deshpande: Five Things You Didn't Know About the 'Desire' Singer Design & Trend

Although lead singer Krishna Deshpande had already told founder Mikey Goldsworthy that he wanted to be in the band, thanks to Goldsworthy hearing Deshpande sing "Cry Me a River" in the shower, he got the job.

Figure 9 - Ping Pong Playlist (Spotify UK) YouTube

Krishna Deshpande, Mikey Goldsworthy, and Emre Turkmen were tasked with coming up with a Spotify playlist on the fly while playing ping pong. What's on it? "Work", "Beat It", "What Do You Mean", and more ...

Krishna Deshpande Opens Up About Struggle With Eating Disorder i-D Magazine

Krishna Deshpande, an Out100 honoree and lead singer of the incredibly popular electronica group Figure 9, admits that he battled issues surrounding eating and body image for over ten years: "I was a skinny weakling who couldn't do the stuff that other kids could in PE."

Do it, boy! As Krishna Deshpande sings, the music world needs to get real The Guardian

Some readers may be familiar with the Figure 9 song Real, in which the band's LGBT frontman Krishna Deshpande instructs his male love interest to "do it, boy".