Avial -Indian Alternative Malayali Rock Band from Trivandrum KERALA

Avial , banda de rock indiana cantada na lingua Malayalam.














Avial is an Indian alternative rock band fromTrivandrum, 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.

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 '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". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njUDvQPYtaM

These photos are from Closing Ceremony of an annual cultural event (DWANI 2012) of a leading engineering college - (College of Engineering Trivandrum) kerala india , 15-1-2012


By Ratheesh Sundaram