Avial Returns To Mumbai After A Year

Avial. Photo: Ajay Menon/ Papaya Media

The last time Kochi rockers Avial performed in Mumbai, in May 2012, an army of Malayali fans showed up at the South Mumbai club, Blue Frog. Their performance, however, left us a tad underwhelmed. While we are sure that fans will return to cheer for their local heroes, we sure hope frontman Tony John has been rehearsing. Though lead guitarist Rex Vijayan makes a promise ahead of tonight’s show: “The least we can assure is the same old madness.”

The band, which comprises Vijayan on guitar, John on vocals, Mithun Puthanveetil on drums and Benny Issac on bass, will be joined by their traveling bandmate Neha S Nair on vocals. Since their well received debut in 2008, the band has been composing  for Malayalam films. This has also considerably delayed their second album. “We never said we were ready (with the second album), but working on it. We came out with a few singles for three feature films (including Aana Kallan) which did really well and apart from that even I have worked on a few Malayalam films as a music director. Currently, singles are also turning out be really lucrative for bands and artists, but that doesn’t rule out the album format,” says Vijayan.

When ready, Avial’s second album will be released on Mal-Function, a record label they have formed with Kochi-based advertising and design company, Papaya Media. Future plans include releasing albums by emerging rock bands from India on the label. “We have received a lot of demos from interesting bands and musicians that we plan to look into or release later. We shall come out with the news at the right time,” adds the guitarist.

Besides spending time in the studio, the band also plans to support the local performance scene. “Papaya Media has come up with a new place called Café Papaya which serves coffee and good music. They have a small performance area where singer/ songwriters/ instrumentalists will be featured and also jam with other artists. And yes, we might jam with friends sometime soon,” he adds. 

Fans are likely to sing along through the setlist at the show tonight, with the band playing old favorites such as “Nada Nada,” “Ayyo” and “Aana Kallan.” “Mumbai has now become an annual affair for us. But it’s fun to come back and play at Blue Frog. The energy and vibe is just something else. Otherwise, we’ve been playing shows, some studio work and just about to welcome monsoons in Kerala,” says Vijayan, adding, “Our setlist is pretty much the same. But we are going to play some of the old songs in a new style.”

Avial performs at Blue Frog, Mumbai on May 22nd, 2013. Tickets Rs 500 (entry), Rs 1,000 (full cover)