KOCHI: It was sheer passion for music that led to the birth of G Band by the students, their parents, teachers and non-teaching staff of St Goretti Higher Secondary School at Punalur in Kollam district.
The idea took shape following the Kerala School Youth Festival where the school bagged honours in four music categories. “We had always wanted to perform songs as a group,” says Sreehari M, a class X student of the school and coordinator of the band.
The desire grew after the youth festival, he adds. “Our journey started from failure. We had formed a team to compete in the nadanpattu cateogry during the district youth festival. However, we were not selected,” says Sreehari.
This prompted the lad to approach Sumith Samuel, a teacher at the school for help. “He agreed after initial reluctance,” adds Sreehari.
“The first performance of the G Band was by a team comprising teachers and it was during the school anniversary. However, the band had its actual formation in January 2024,” says Sumith, the social studies teacher of the school.
“We have three teams in the band. Students make up two while the teachers, non-teaching staff, students and parents form the third. Each team sings a different genre,” says Sumith.
Another interesting fact about the band is that all the performances are devoid of musical instruments. But that has not made their performance lack perfection.
“Instead, we have been getting rave reviews on our social media pages. We will add instruments starting next year,” says Sumith.
Though live performances are too few and far between, the band’s mainstay is the videos uploaded on social media handles of the school.
It should be noted that the G Band doesn’t have any permanent members. “The aim behind the formation of the band is to give students with musical talent a chance to showcase their skill,” says Anet Sara Joseph, a class VIII student and a member of the nadanpattu team.
For Fida Sajeer, another student, G Band gave her a space to unleash the singer in her. “Everything about the band is professional. To become a member, one has to make through an audition,” says Fida.
According to Sumith, G Band will not be confined to just the students. “After seeing our performances, when the autorickshaw drivers at the auto stand near the school expressed their wish to perform in a music video, we decided to dedicate one episode to them,” he says.
Sreehari expects the G Band to become a professional group very soon. “We are getting calls from a lot of people already.”