| Avial | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
| Genres | Rock, alternative rock, world music |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Labels | Phat Phish Records |
| Website | www.avial.in |
| Members | |
| Tony John Rex Vijayan Mithun Puthanveetil Binny Isaac |
|
| Past members | |
| Anandraj Benjamin Paul Naresh Kamath |
|
Avial is an Indian alternative rock band from Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The band is named after the popular South Indian dish Avial. The band consists of Tony John (vocals), Rex Vijayan (guitars), Mithun Puthanveetil (drums), and Binny Isaac (bass). The band's music is a fusion of native folk music from Kerala and Alternative Rock. The band was formed in 2003 in Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum) in Kerala, and focussed on rock performances only in Malayalam language.[1]
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The name of the band is taken from a Kerala dish Aviyal, which is traditionally a part of the Sadya, and made with a mixture of contrasting vegetables. The band's work is a mix of folk music from Kerala and alternative rock, and the band's name is a reference to this.
Avial depicts the social scene of Kerala and the common man residing there about a hundred years back. The music consists of folk songs that were predominantly sung by the workers in the paddy fields, along with alternative rock. The plight of farmers whose hard-earned crop was seized by the local landlords is clearly portrayed in the lyrics of their songs. This portrayal is a new trend, and is unlike the other lyrical themes of majority of the conventional rock bands.
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. The Malayalam lyrics used are well blended into their rock songs. The band's maiden album has been complimented for 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 Avial has been involved most in doing live shows. Most of the performances were in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Madras, Cochin (Ernakulam), Trivandrum and so on. Shows were also held internationally in places like Dubai, Mauritius, Reunion Island etc. They were honored to perform at the Sakifo (Reunion) World Music Festival held in Mauritius that brought together 40 rock bands from across the world. Avial was the lone band to be selected from India to represent the country in the festival. The experience was special for the band since the crowd was multinational, mostly French. Impressed with their music, the popular Italian band 'A67 approached them to be a part of one of their forthcoming album, ‘Suburb’, its one song collaboration. The collaboration spawned the song "Chi Me Sape".
Popular record label Phat Phish Records was co-hosting a reality show for rock bands, along with renowned musician AR Rahman. Avial was 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 and sensible blend folklore and urban rock. 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, a well-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 of six awards – Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Band of the Year, for both the popular choice and critics award categories.
The latest performance of Avial is for a Malayalam movie Salt'N Pepper. The only song they are making for the production is "Aanakkallan".
Rex Vijayan is a guitarist from Kollam, who began his musical career by mastering cover versions. He is the son of Albert Vijayan, a music director in Malayalam films. Rex had his schooling in Kochi, and took part in "Magnum Opus" by Bhavans Vidya Mandir and "Vista" by Rajagiri school. He has some renowned performances in India and abroad to his name. He was part of a popular band Motherjane from 2000 to 2003. He was also part of a novice German hip-hop band "Intensive Erfrischung(Intensive Refreshment)[1]", which was based in Munich and is also actively involved with Daksha Seth’s Dance Company, which is concerned with performing on stage contemporary dance. Gibson Guitar Corporation, USA offered him to be their endorsee for their latest high end series guitar.[3] Rex forayed into film music direction with the Malayalam film Chaappa Kurish, directed by Sameer Thahir.& now with next project 22 Female Kottayam
Mithun is the drummer of Avial, and hails from Kannur and settled in Trivandrum. 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 Thiruvananthapuram. He is also the son of veteran politician and former Cabinet Minister in Kerala government, Mr. Kadannappally Ramachandran.
Tony is the band's current vocalist.He replaced band's former vocalist Anandraj Benjamin Paul. He is also a gifted percussionist who mainly works on turntables. His rise to fame came in the 1990s, while working for a band called Karizma. He has worked with the Daksha dance company in Thiruvananthapuram. He hails from Trivandrum. The music workshop of the band is functioning in the house of Tony.
Binny Isaac has currently replaced the former bass guitarist Naresh Kamath, who was the only non-Malayali member of the band, hailing from Mumbai. His home town is Trivandrum
Anand is from Thrissur, and was the lead singer for the band's self-titled album. He 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. Interestingly, he sang jingles to unwind. However, due to personal issues, he decided not to continue any longer with the band.
Naresh Kamath was the only non-Malayali in the band. He is a prominent guitarist in the Hindi film industry and is part of Kailash Kher's band.
| Avial | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Avial | ||||
| Released | February 08, 2008 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, Malayalam | |||
| Length | 40:52 | |||
| Label | Phat Phish | |||
| Avial chronology | ||||
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This was their first studio-album Avial, released on February 08, 2008.[4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nada Nada" | Engandiyur Chandrashekaran/John P. Varkey | 5:05 |
| 2. | "Chekele" | Traditional | 5:02 |
| 3. | "Njan Aara" | Avial/John P. Varkey/P.B. Girish | 5:33 |
| 4. | "Arikuruka" | Engandiyur Chandrashekaran/Traditional | 3:43 |
| 5. | "Aranda" | P.B. Girish | 3:57 |
| 6. | "Karukara (feat. Aparnashree)" | Kavalam Narayana Panicker | 6:21 |
| 7. | "Aadu Pambe (feat. Aparnashree)" | Avial/Sudhi Velamanoor | 5:22 |
| 8. | "Ettam Pattu" | Avial/sudhi velamanoor | 5:49 |
Avial is working on their next album, which was expected to be released in the month of February 2011. A couple of tracks from the new album were played live by the band during their concerts, before the release of the album. During their show at St.John's Medical College, Bangalore, on 14 August 2010, the band opened their concert with a new track titled 'Ayyo'.It has been confirmed that the new album will contain a total of 8 new tracks. During an interview with Yentha.com, vocalist Tony John answered a question about the title of the album as: "It is still nameless. We just spontaneously come up with the name one fine day. One of our songs in the album is called 'Aana Kallan', and it's all about fraud swamis and monks who are out to cheat people." Their next album will also be their first album featuring Tony John on lead vocals. The album is also expected to feature a different sound compared to their debut album.
The music video for the song "Aana Kallan" from their forthcoming album was released on 23.5.2011, and also appears on the soundtrack of the movie Salt n' Pepper...