As Kochi gears up to host All The Fat Children, an alternative rock band from Bangalore, it’s a dream come true for musicians Ashwin Gopakumar, Ganesh Radhakrishnan and Hari Krishnan. When the event is staged on Saturday at Loungevity, Avenue Regent, it will be a realisation of their pet project Evolve 1.0, a bi-monthly gig series to promote ‘indiependent’ music, (own compositions), in Kerala.
Evolve aims at turning the Kerala music scenario more lively by providing an opportunity for the musicians and bands from all over the world to perform in Kerala.
Ashwin, one of the brains behind the project, points out how talented musicians in the state struggle to get a good stage to perform. He says, “It is interesting to see a Malayali hand in each and every band in the country right now. The bands, especially those from Kerala, have complained about lack of space in the state. Even the biggest bands in the country, Avial and Motherjane, are from Kerala but it is sad that there are no stages to perform.” The gig series is being organised by a bunch of musicians who set up Trivandrum Rock Revolution (TRR), a platform for alternative music that made its beginning by hosting D-I-Y metal gigs in Thiruvananthapuram in 2010.
The trio, Ashwin from the band Purple Blood, Ganesh from The Down Troddence and Hari from Rocksault, are back in action after a hiatus, to branch out to different parts of Kerala and spread the message about ‘Indiependent’ music.
“We have been planning to organise gigs in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, as we expect the people would respond positively."
"Evolve is also planning to tour the cities with bands by the year-end and put together the first intra-state tour documentary to be directed by Vijay Nair. We will kick-start the band tour in Kochi and then move to Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode,” he says.
The gig series will commence with All The Fat Children from Bangalore to mark their debut gig in Kochi. “We have brought out our bi-monthly calendar. This will be followed by The F16’s, a Chennai-based band, on October 19 and Frank’s Got The Funk (Chennai) on November 9,” says Ashwin.
“We started TRR with a small gig at our friend’s place while we were in college in a bedroom-turned jam room. After the first show, we got tremendous response,” says Ashwin.
The bedroom gig soon moved to Trivandrum’s Purple Lounge, where the dance floor was turned into a mosh pit, accommodating 200 metal heads. “We always wanted a platform for Kerala acts and wanted other bands from across the country to perform in the state. And thus evolved Evolve,” Ashwin quips.
“Evolve is not just a live show, it is an experience in all the sense. We are working our best to make every single show an exclusive model for the artist showcased and looking forward to doing more acts in Kochi and turn the city into the next hub for ‘Indiependent’ Music,” says Ashwin.
All The Fat Children formed in 2008 has Eben Johnson on guitars and vocals, Vickram aka Vicky on bass and vocals and Sachin Savio Dane on drums. Their influences include Avial, Motherjane, Junkyard Groove, Freak Kitchen, Dream Theater, Indus Creed, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Nickelback, Machine Head, Theory of a Deadman, Opeth, Pink Floyd, Iced Earth and many more.