It is time to rock! Sound Engineering Academy (SEA) returns with their annual music band festival. The four-day event, SEA Music Band Festival 2016, which begins today, has some of the rising rock bands in Kerala performing at Bharat Bhavan, Thycaud.
“This is the third edition of our festival. We had launched it in 2014 to coincide with our 10th anniversary celebrations with a performance by kARNATRiix. After that we thought of creating a platform for up-and-coming bands because there aren’t enough opportunities for them. That’s how the second edition came about. It was a six-day festival featuring bands that played different genres. The present edition raises the bar with a lot of attention given to production and technical aspects,” says Vishnu A.R., director and CEO of SEA. The bands performing at the fete are Segments (August 11), KL-01 (August 12), Perfect Equation (August 13) and Tricotri (August 14). The performances are at 7 p.m. Entry is free.
And here are the musicians…
Segments
Segments is the brainchild of chef-turned-musician Nikhil J. Menon. He hit all the right notes with his songs for Lal Jose’s Nee-Na . Known as Counter Clockwise earlier, Segments is now a year old and has been on an upswing ever since its launch. “Counter Clockwise, a three-piece band, had a good journey and we released a single also. We were on an experimental mode then, trying to identify our genre. Segments has a new line-up and during the course of our journey we started focussing on progressive alternative rock,” says Nikhil.
At the festival, Segments will be mostly playing its own compositions. The line-up has Nikhil (vocal), Ajay George Joseph (lead guitar), Chris Paul (lead guitar), Lesly (bass) and Ritwick Wilfy Bivera (drums).
KL-01
KL-01 was born out of the meltdown of two bands – Shasthra and Legal Gunfire, which were active in the city’s music scene during 2009-10. KL-01 obviously refers to the capital city’s Regional Transport Office code. The line-up of KL-01 changed over the years and now it is a four-piece band. “We played different kinds of music before we zeroed in on progressive rock,” says Anand Amarnath, vocalist of the band. The band has had a good run with pro-shows and gigs. “The genre we play is not very popular here and it has a niche audience. We all are in it because we are passionate about our kind of music and want to be recognised for that. What we aim at is perfection,” says Anand.
The band will play original compositions, which includes Malayalam songs as well, along with some popular tracks. The band members are Anand Amarnath (vocal/guitar), Sharath Menon (lead guitar), Brian Fernandez (bass) amd Ananthapadmanabhan (drums).
Perfect Equation
Perfect Equation had its birth on the campus of St Joseph’s School, Kalamassery, where two friends jammed together. One is Nekheeb Shah, who, over the years, added more friends to the group. Thus was born Perfect Equation four years ago. Progressive rock is the forte of the five-piece band. “We didn’t finalise any genre initially. But over the years ago we moved towards progressive rock. It is our passion for music that keeps us ticking,” says Nekheeb. The band is currently working on its debut album.
Perfect Equation’s line-up has Irthasa Aazem (vocal), Arjun Aravind (lead guitar), Paul Emmanuel (rhythm guitar), Santo Joseph (bass) and Nekheeb Shah (drums).
Tricotri
Tricotri stands for ‘trick and treat of music’. The ensemble enjoys playing popular music. That is why they perform popular tracks with a rock flavour, be it Malayalam or Hindi. “We are just a year old. From the beginning our focus has been on playing songs that people love. But we do give a Tricotri touch to these songs, be it ‘Chekkele’, ‘Kaithola’ or songs from Rock On . Our playlist keeps changing according to the taste of the audience,” says Anzar Muhammad, manager of the band. With a few members based in Kollam and the rest hailing from different parts of the state, Tricotri has covered the length and breadth of the state with its performances.
In the meantime the group is currently working on their debut Malayalam single. Tricotri members are Vishu S. Pillai and Niranj Suresh (vocal), Shiyan Shaji and Sreekanth Bhasi (guitar), Jackson (bass), Jeo (drums) and Sachin (keys).
