Karnatriix Plan Special Set for Upcoming Tour

Karnatriix perform at the Kottayam railway station during their ‘Locomotive Tour’ across Thiruvananthapuram

From Neil Young to Pearl Jam and Paul McCartney and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, we’ve seen musicians over the years tell us and show us how to preserve the environment. Closer home, Thiruvananthapuram-based musician John Anthony and his fusion music band Karnatriix are performing a special set at schools and colleges across India, concentrating on raising environmental awareness.

“Now, more than ever, we must put all our energies into raising awareness about climate change, about clean air, about clean rivers and the role of rich biodiverse forests in sustaining life on the planet,” says Anthony on the reason for launching the Kadamma Music Outreach Program by Karnatriix. He adds, “We must do that by first acknowledging and celebrating the spirit of the forests, the life giving nature of Kadamma [‘Mother Forest’ in Malayalam].” The project is a two-hour show interspersed with messages by environmental experts.

Anthony has been involved with green campaigns from as early as 2000; the first was in Chennai for eco-activist organization Greenpeace’s environmentally friend ship the Rainbow Warrior, when they came to India in connection with the No More Bhopals Campaign for environmental justice. With a strong belief that music has a unique role to play in such issues, Anthony feels now is when much needed conversations about the state of nature must begin. “This is not a lecture on environmental protection but a celebration of our forests and rivers with music,” he explains.

Karnatriix did a locomotive tour in April in connection with their own Kadamma Research Foundation and the Southern Railways, playing across seven railway stations in Kerala in a span of two days in order to raise awareness about railway safety and cleanliness. They also planted a mango tree in every station and roped in fellow city-based artist and designer Pavi Sankar for live painting during their performances. The two-day awareness program was followed by a concert which took place right outside Thiruvananthapuram railway station.

In addition to shows across schools and colleges, the band is joining hands with the Kerala Forest Department to write a song and film a music video in May. This will be followed by series of gigs leading up to the main event on June 5th, to mark World Environmental Day.