Best Iconic Female Singer Award at the IMFA, Dubai

"sabr ka phal meetha hota hain", is something I learnt in my primary Hindi classes back in school. But in my case, there was hardly any wait or struggle in literal sense. I am just a normal couch potato who would rather switch through TV channels than going from studio to studio with a demo CD and biodata. My kind of struggle was a fun ride, where I often happened to slip, too. As lazy as I can get, having sent a dozen demos to the industry's happening composers, only Rahul Raj happened to respond back for 'Chanchalam' in Ritu. But as fate had it, was quite unlucky to not have a video for that, which got the song unnoticed. Then life took a drastically positive turn when I entered into a progressive chamber of creativity aka Rosebowl. From then on, of course, I lost touch with the playback industry, and was immersed in a whole new world of music, where there were no deadlines or commanding producers, but, just plain music! When Aashiq happened to hear Outcast Vocals and invited my to sing for SNP, I never knew it would be a song or a movie that would change the age old commercial perception of Malayalam Cinema. Premikyumbol was probably my fastest studio session so far, in a record of 25 minutes! But what intimidated me was when I heard my voice along with P. Jayachandran's, at the studio. Bijibal sir was so composed and calm even while correcting some of my nuances. And to see it on the big screen ... *sigh*!

When the IMFA, International Malayalam Film Award organizers called to inform me of my award, I thought I was receiving it for only Premikyumbol. But on the day of the function, I realized that I was actually being credited for my musical endeavours with Rosebowl and Avial. Can't believe how progressive music that was displayed only on a local channel, and was circulated on the net, crossing the 7 seas, has scored to such a huge level. I also happened to learn that few Radios in Dubai play the audio tracks of Outcast Vocals, and get a lot of requests for Tose Naina Ft. Anberlin :) Despite recovering from a cold, I had super fun jamming 'Etho Varmukilin' with a talented musician from 'Radio Me', Ranjith. So, a huuuuge thanks to the 'Gelf' Malayalees and music lovers for making this local product international . The list will go on, but can't do without thanking SNP team, Aashiq, Bijibal, Rafeeq Ahmed, P. Jayachandran for Premikyumbol, Sumesh Lal for believing in his conviction, Avial team for making me feel like a family and educating me at all levels regarding music and life; my family, especially Dad.. without whose patience and encouragement I would remain a couch potato. Thank you to everyone on twitter and facebook for having shared my videos and for liking and commenting and retweeting, because of which my work got a little noticed outside Kerala. Finally, thank you IMFA and Radio Me for bestowing upon me this award. I felt really honoured to have shared this moment on the National Day of the U.A.E.

Interview for Sound Box

Being an interviewer myself.. have found it challenging to always come up with different, creative questions during the sessions. But, for a change, I was on the other side :) Jo had requested for an interview of mine to which I obliged acknowledging the fact that I have very little to share about my career till now.. His questions were out-of-the-box that totally motivated me to ,*rosebowl-style* ,open my mind ;) ..Here goes few excerpts from the interview :

How did film music, Avial and VJ-ing come through? How was the experience?

As I had done my schooling in Muscat, coming to India for music was because of my dreams of becoming a playback singer. I was so influenced by 80′s and early 90′s qualitative productions that all I ever wanted to do was sing for films. But when I joined for BA music and started to learn and take music a lot more seriously I realized that music is a lot more than just recordings. I was never a Rock music fan but became one when I was exposed towards it and were given opportunities to do something creative. All the credits go to Sumesh Lal sir, the creative head of a Malayalam TV channel called ‘Rosebowl’ . He discovered the artist in me and gave me an empty space to paint in with vibrant colors of music. He gave me a chance when I was new, inexperienced, totally believing in my intuitions and ideas. I got to work with Rex and Binny of Avial for a production by Rosebowl through which they invited me to perform with the band at the India Fashion Week, Delhi and ever since have been regular with the band. I have done very few films but recording in the silent space of the sound booth is immensely toxic!

Also, I came at a time when reality shows were on a boom. So to venture into playback, Rock and pure classical was a huge learning experience for me. Mass audience would still prefer commercial music anyday as it is more easier to comprehend than understanding the complexities of quality music by bands, etc. Coming to films, I have to thank Rahul Raj sir was trusting in me blindly by making me sing for Shyam sir’s Ritu. It was a fab experience. He is extremely positive and had been my mentor at that time. Also, working for Phani Kalyan for Telugu film ‘Pappu’ was another fun filled experience. Kalyan has always been a friend so it’s very informal when I work with him.

You blog about many issues in your personal blog, which is a rare thing among people in the music industry. How important it is for a musician (or an artist) to respond to socio-political issues? Do you think expressing yourself in a public space like blog would effect your career in music?

If I wasn’t a singer I would have been a journalist because I feel that is the best medium to project our views. So I decided to blog about whatever I felt about what’s happening around the world. I think it’s every human being’s duty to remain informed about what’s happening and to contribute to it in whatever small possible way. I wish I could do a lot more that is action oriented than just removing my frustration through the blog, inshallah! I hope to make an impact through my views someday. My western sir has always said that we can become a good artist only if we are a good, well informed human. There are people who have expressed their dislike towards my career just because I am open about my views but it doesn’t matter because it’s better to be honest than being a hypocrite. Nothing can effect your career if you are ethical towards the society and work. One should not live in the fear of losing work but in the adverse effects of being ignorant.

You sing for Avial, a rock band. There was a time when Rock music was considered evil or indecent among many in our society. Do you think it has changed?

I don’t know if Rock was considered evil, but was definitely not so popular as it is now. People have learnt to open their minds and we can see an increase in the Rock culture nowadays especially among youngsters. But there are many who live under the wrong impression of rock being all about head banging and walking around like a crazy person who parties and swears all the time. It’s an absolute cliche!! Rock can be just as subtle as eastern music and can at the same time give you an adrenalin pump. If you hang around with Avial band itself you will realize how less they talk and how more they speak through their music. The cliche about Rock musicians being high on drugs and having a rugged lifestyle is totally untrue. True (rock) musicians are very much ethical, who don’t believe in using inappropriate language on the stage and who work very hard in sounding extravagant every time.

Popular concepts of music still revolves around film music. Do you see any changes there? What hope do the independent music and musicians have in Kerala?

Popular music has always been filmi music but it hardly stays around for a long time. Sound programming is at it’s peak now and melody has been given less importance now. I don’t even know if the songs made today will be remembered in the next few years. But it’s more easy to understand, glamorous and more fast paced in terms of it’s release and promotions. Where as, bands take almost 2-3 years to come up with an album and another 2 years to popularize through live gigs. But the scene is changing. We have Amit Trivedi in Bollywood who has elevated bollywood music to another level through Dev D, NOKJ and Prashanth Pillai in Malayalam who has broken of the typical commercial line up with City Of God. At the same time, Motherjane did an OST for Malayalam movie “Anwar” and Avial has also done an OST for another Malayalam movie “Salt N’ Pepper”. So film music industry has also begun to ape towards greater heights in terms of qualitative music. Independent musicians don’t anyways work for commercial hype. They just want to be part of good music that will be etched in our hearts for a long long time. So whether they being commercially acclaimed or not doesn’t really matter to them.

If you have found this interesting enough.. then you can CLICK HERE to read the whole interview.

Avial Website Launch at Blue Frog, Mumbai

What a great start to the New Year!!! Well, preparing for this was no less than fun unlimited! Mumbai - The city that welcomed me 21 years ago as a body bathed in blood , fresh with dreams , not knowing that eventually I would never be part of it while growing! My mom always says that I and my sister were lucky to be born at B.A.R.C. for the kind of facilities it offers especially since my Granddad and mom worked there. Throughout my childhood we used to visit Granny every year and all my memories have to do with the traffic and pollution and an ice cream shop called Yankees! Now, I was returning back for a gig of Avial's to Mumbai after 10 long years!!

Nagumomu ganaleni, the evergreen composition of Saint Thyagaraja is something I've been singing since my early teens. I don't know how and when this happened but the krithi came running into my mind abruptly. And that was the exact moment when I knew I had to do this with Avial. So, when I initially discussed the idea with the team they seemed to be skeptical about it as none of them are too familiar with Indian Classical music. I did give them the confidence to experiment with it, and eventually then agreed with a big smile :)

Mumbai is super polluted minus traffic (Guess we were lucky those 3 days!). All of us went for a radio byte to Radio Mirchi 98.3 soon after lunch only to be entertained by the RJ himself! The poor guy who was trying all tactics to make us feel at home was quite surprised to learn despite us being rock musicians, happen to be so silent and subtle in behavior! It's quite a common notion that rock musicians are cool people who talk cool, walk cool, speak cool... but it's not so. In fact, there are many times when I saw youngsters come up to the band members, showing them a 'yo' and they speak words that are considered to be abusive in the dictionary. Anyhow, after the Radio session I had an amazing master class with Rex and Binny who were playing their guitars. Quite interestingly I got to see how the scale changes can be easily understood with certain techniques that are also practiced in Indian Classical system.

Sound check was a bummer in the beginning as the guitar levels were too low and the drums were too high and there was no feedback, etc. With a lot of testing and playing on the stage, eventually got to a point where everyone was content with the sounding. We got back to the hotel for a quick bite and then off to Blue Frog. I was quite surprised to see the kind of artists who perform there. These are the times when I count my blessings. Susheela Raman, Talwin Singh and the likes were the ones who were performing in the days to come. Talwinji for present for our concert. A very jolly human being who was 24/7 praising each and every member of the band.

Ehsaan Noorani inaugurated the concert and sat throughout. The gig opened with 2 acoustic versions of Aanakallan and Kaithola and continued with 'Ayyo', the new song. People went literally berserk every time Tony would speak. I was all skeptical about Nagumo because I was attempting Carnatic after a gap of 1.5 years on stage! Also, the audience was rock oriented, but there were hopes of them accepting it. It was a huge success and I really need to thank God for giving me the power to sing like that! At the end of it all, Chekele was the most-in-demand song and was played again on the stage only that this time; the crowd was singing it :)


So all's well that ends well. It was a fantastic gig, thanks to Mumbaikers and Blue Frog was making it look and sound so pretty. You can take a look at the website here : www.avial.in

You can have a look at the other pics HERE.

Avial Gigs at Blore and Delhi

It all happened so soon that I myself got no time to think over the phone call. The moment Rex gave me a call I was too excited already..Thinking how I should go about it. Honestly I was not excited about performing for the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week but the whole adrenaline pump that was happening inside me was for the fact that I was finally getting to jam with one of my favorite bands AVIAL !! Well, like I have always believed... my work spoke for itself. Amidst the whole commercial music scene I was getting a little restless about the work I was being offered that too with hardly any remuneration. It's frustrating but fortunately the motivation to work harder never died in me. But today I have to accept that remaining focused is the most difficult job ever! Anyhow, the Blore Avial concert was at the NIMHANS organized by the KEA (Kerala Engineers Association). Right before the concert there was flower (pookalam) competition after which the concert took place. Audience was literally throwing flowers at Rex and Tony for their jamming... it was insane!!! I performed Karukara with Tony and did an old black and white track 'Garjat Barasat ' too.

Delhi ... my first time... reminded me of the clean Muscat. Pragati Maidan looked big and the sets inside for the Fashion week looked even grander. Those guys were just amazing with us. Everything from diet coke to beer to chicken rolls were available there and on the other side we had cranky models who were so tired that they could drop dead right there ! Our designer, though quite tiny in size, is quite intelligent especially when he told us about how he conceived the whole idea of getting a Kerala Band and influencing that culture in his designs too. Hats off to Varun Sardana! It was exciting as we also got to meet Karsh Kale whose pretty cool apart from being a fab musician. In fact he was performing with us on the same day but for a different designer. Nevertheless the experience was fantastic and I would like to thank Avial and everyone who gave this super big opportunity so early in my career !! Here is a glimpse of what we did for the Fashion Week ..I apologize for the poor audio quality though CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO