| Avial | |
|---|---|
 The band members
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Kerala, India |
| Genres | Alternative rock Experimental |
| Years active | 2003 - present |
| Labels | Phat Phish Records |
Avial is a Malayali Rock Band formed in 2003.[1] Similar to the popular Kerala cuisine of the same name, the band is a mix of members belonging to different genres of music. The overwhelming response to the video single “Nada, nada..” in the year 2003 gave them the break to step forward as a Malayali rock band. Its success inspired them to form the band and they later released their first full-length album “Avial – The Debut” in 2008. The album again was a huge success, and their music was able to reach out to all kinds of crowd. Among the numerous bands in India that follows rock, Avial stands out unique in the fact that it adopts the native language and its cultural elements.
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The name of the band is taken from a South Indian dish Aviyal, which is traditionally a part of the Sadya, and made with a mixture of contrasting vegetables. The band has mixed to perfection folk music from Kerala and alternative rock, making the band name pretty much suitable.
Avial depicts the social scene of Kerala and the common man residing there about a hundred years back. The plight of farmers whose hard-earned crop was seized by the local landlords is clearly portrayed. The music also consists of folk songs that were predominantly sung by the workers in the paddy fields. This unlike the other majority of the conventional rock bands, is a new trend.
Avial has devised its own flavour of music, which the band members refer to as "Alternative Malayali Rock", that reflects the one of a kind heritage of Kerala life. Malayalam lyrics are used in their rock songs so perfectly that it hardly ever sounds awkward. The band's maiden album has excellent instrumental play, brilliant singing, and lyrics which are beautiful and poignant at the same time. The album received generally positive response from rock enthusiasts in India, especially the youth.
So far they have been doing mostly live shows. Most of the performances were in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore,Trivandrum, Cochin (Ernakulam) and so on. Shows were also held internationally in places like Dubai,Mauritius,Reunion Island etc. They are honored to have performed at the Sakifo (Reunion) World Music Festival held in Mauritius that brought together 40 rock bands from across the world. Avial were the lone band to be selected from India to represent the country in the festival. The experience was special since the crowd was multinational, mostly French. Impressed with their music, the popular Italian band “a67[1]” approached them to be a part of one of their forthcoming album, ‘Suburb’, its one song collaboration.
Popular record label Phat Phish Records along with renowned musician AR Rahman were hosting a reality show for rock bands. Avial were invited to perform at their opening press meet. And during the press meet, Rahman singled out the band and expressed his interest in their unique style of music that blended folklore and urban rock sensibly. The “Rock On” humanity concert was indeed a great experience for the band. The concert was primarily a fund-raiser for the victims affected by the Bihar floods. Farhan Akhtar, known director-actor in the Hindi film industry spearheaded the concert. Avial was the only band to be invited from Kerala.
At the Jack Daniels Annual Rock Awards 08-09, Avial walked away the winner bagging six awards – Song of the year, Album of the year and Band of the year in both the popular choice and critics award categories.
Rex Vijayan (Lead guitar and Synthesizer)
Tony John (Vocals, Turntables and Synthesizer)
Mithun Puthenveetil (Drums)
Binny Isaac (Bass)
.[2]
Rex Vijayan is an Ernakulam-based guitarist who began his musical career by mastering cover versions. He has some renowned performances in India and abroad to his name. He was part of a popular band Motherjane in the early ‘90s. He was also part of a novice German hip-hop band "Intensive Erfrischung(Intensive Refreshment)[2]" based in Munich and is also actively involved with Daksha Seth’s Dance Company, concerned with performing on stage contemporary dance. Gibson Guitar Corporation, USA offered him to be their endorsee for the latest high end series guitar.
Mithun is the drummer of Avial who hails from Trivandrum the capital district of Kerala. Versatile on the tabla and a wide range of percussion, Mithun dabbled with pop music before finding his true calling in funk and rock. He has distinguished himself through a Heavy Metal band named Rage based in Trivandrum. Lesser known, he is the son of veteran politician and presently Cabinet Minister in Kerala government, Mr. Kadannappally Ramachandran.
Tony is the band's current vocalist. He is also a gifted percussionist who mainly works his magic on turntables. His rise to fame came in the 90's while working for a band called Karizma. He has worked with the Daksha dance company.
Binny Isaac has currently replaced the former bass guitarist Naresh Kamath who was the only non-Malayali member of the band from Mumbai. His home town is Ernakulam. But he is a Trivandrum based guitarist.
Anand Raj Benjamin Paul (Lead Vocals)
Anand is from Thrissur and was the lead singer who brought the special touch in the band's self-titled album, blending Malayalam so smoothly with Rock. The singer was also an English teacher until he quit the profession to dedicate his time to music. He has many stage shows in India and abroad to his credit and interestingly, he sang jingles to unwind. However, due to personal issues, he decided not to continue any longer with the band.
Naresh Kamat (Bass Guitar)
Naresh Kamat was the only non malayali in the band. Now he is working with Kailash Kher's band.
The first release titled AVIAL has 8 songs:
Karukara and Adu Pambe features vocalist Aparna Sree.
They are working on their next album which is expected to be released sometime in 2010.
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