The Mavyns Return For Live From the Console’s Anniversary Gig

The Mavyns. Photo: Monisha Ajgaonkar

To mark the second year of Mumbai monthly gig series Live from the Console [LFTC], Mumbai pop rock band The Mavyns will reunite after being on a break for over a year. The Mavyns guitarist Vivek Nair says the reunion came about more from the attachment the band shares with Live from the Console. “We played the first LFTC gig [in July 2011] with The Colour Compound and think it’s one of the better platforms for music.”

Lead guitarist Pradeep Mathews, who also works with LFTC gig organizers Oranjuice Entertainment, said the original plan for a reunion was at the May edition of the event. “We were supposed to play a small set with the Supersonics,” says Mathews. Nair, who performed with the Supersonics in May, says The Mavyns last jammed a year and a half ago, “Although I always jam with my brother [bassist Varoon Nair] every now and then.” Still, the Mavyns are sure the music won’t sound the same as it did the last time they played. “We will sound different, we’re coming from a lot of experience and listening to a lot of different music,” says Mathews.

The band heads into the jam room tomorrow, but Nair says there aren’t any plans to write and perform new songs yet. Mathews adds their one-hour set at LFTC will draw mostly from their full-length album From the Tree of No Ledge, which released in March 2012. “We’re choosing stuff that keeps the energy up,” adds Mathews, while Nair adds their set is unlikely to include guest collaborators. 

After LFTC, the Mavyns want to take it one gig at a time and are not entirely sure of writing new material. Says Nair, “It’s not about any external factors, but more about how we get through [after the first gig].” On the plan ahead, Mathews adds, “We’ll play as many gigs as we can, but everybody’s got their own stuff now. For example, Varoon plays as [bass/synth act] Squidworks. The reason we got back together was because all of us felt it was easy for us to make the kind of music we liked together.” 

This month’s edition of Life From The Console will open with a screening of “Searching for Sugar Man,” based on the life and rumored death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez, who was ignored by the music industry in the country of his birth but had turned into something of a legend in South Africa. The anniversary gig also marks the Mumbai debut of Bengaluru psychedelic/alt rock band The Bicycle Days, who will perform tracks from their recently launched debut Calamitunes and will also include a closing set by Sky Rabbit frontman Raxit Tewari’s solo project, Your Chin.  

The Mavyns, The Bicycle Days and Your Chin perform at Live from the Console on July 27th, at Mehboob Studios, Mumbai. Entry Rs 250. Follow the Live from the Console Facebook page for more updates.