The lyrics of many songs featured on Avial’s debut self-titled album Avial reflect a sense of awareness between an individual and the world he lives in. With elements of Indie-rock and folk, Avial The Band has created a fresh, unique sound that they like to call “Alternative Malayali Rock”.
Avial’s journey started four years ago in Kerala, but their musical aspirations trace back to years ago when as young boys they spent their days listening to the infectious tunes of Boney M and Abba. When Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa and ‘70s band Rush exploded into India’s music scene, rock was here to stay. It was this new mantra as an uncharted territory that each of the band’s five members traversed alone before they found each other.
Not many bands in Kerala wanted to experiment with Malayali rock. And so what began as acknowledgements exchanged at various music fests soon became a mutual appreciation for each other’s talent. This soon gave way to serious career action and the eventual outcome was the formation of the band in 2003.
The band hopes that the release of their album will create a pathway for other emerging musicians to seriously consider sticking to alternative, vernacular music. The members are led by Anandraj Benjamin Paul, a vocalist from Thrissur who has also worked as an English teacher and has many stage shows in India and abroad to his credit. Interestingly, he sings jingles to unwind.
Tony John (Vocal, Turntables and Synth) first became known with a hard rock band called Kariszma. Tony has also been a vocalist and percussionist for the Daksha Seth Dance Company.
Rex Vijayan (guitar and synthesizer) is an Ernakulam-based guitarist who learnt to play at a very young age and began his musical career by mastering cover versions. Part of a popular band called Motherjane in the early ‘90s, Rex is also actively involved with the Daksha Dance Company and still performs for them at various shows in India and abroad. Rex was recently sought out by Gibson Guitar USA for an exclusive deal to play their guitars.
Mithun Puthanveetil(drums) always hears a distant beat. Versatile on the tabla and a wide range of percussion, Mithun dabbled with pop music before finding his true calling in funk and rock. Until recently he played drums for a heavy metal band called Rage.
Naresh Kamath (bass guitar) is the only one based in Mumbai, as the bass guitarist of Bombay Black, which opened for Aerosmith at Los Angeles in 2001. He is also a part of Kailasa and has been an active musician in the Indian rock scene for the past 14 years.
