You’re a band that plays a plethora of genres. How do you manage to stick to specific sounds that the genre demands?
We’re an 8 piece band and all of us have grown up listening to different genres of music. It is hard for us to stick to one genre so we are very experimental with our music. We mostly love fusing jazz, funk, carnatic and progressive styles.
Tell us how the band came together
We formed in 2018 for a College fest. We would jam almost every day for it. We were working on our first song ‘Nangooram’ and when we finally played it, it gave us immense joy! The crowd could relate to our music and that was very encouraging. We became really good friends and that became the main reason to stay together!
How do you guys as a band jam and make music?
Our music making process is not just confined to jam rooms. We come up with ideas as and when it sticks us and put it forward to the band, and from there the creative process starts. We give freedom to all the band mates to add their touch to the music we make and when all the composing process is done, we structure the songs and make it complex by incorporating ideas of progressive metal and Carnatic in rhythms and jazz elements in the melody.
Who writes the music in your band and what are you inspired by?
We write our music together. One of us comes up with the foundation element of the song and the rest of us add our own styles and layers of sound to it.
We are inspired by a lot of artists like Pineapple express, Tigran Hamasyan, Snarky Puppy and Owane.
If there is something you’d like to see change in the indie scene in India, what would it be?
Performance venues. We need more places that are meant for just indie music concerts. We’re based in Bangalore and it’s really sad when live music venues keep getting shut down. There are about 6-7 venues that support indie music and hundreds of artists aiming for the same venue.
What according to you makes your band unique?
Besides our sound, we make music for change. We try to promote environmental awareness through our music. We believe that art makes humanity worth saving.
You’ve performed in different places. Which has been your best so far?
Our best show so far has been at Fandom at Gilly’s redefined. We performed there recently for the most interactive crowd we’ve ever had. We were so humbled to see how many people turned up and supported us!
Tell us why you chose this name for your band
‘Kelvikkuri’ stands for the question mark. We thought it was funny how all of our songs were very different from each other, and we thought it was best not to put a label on that.
Briefly describe your tech set up
We use backing tracks for all our own compositions to give it our signature touch of confusion and suspense in the beginning of the songs. We also use In-ears in order to maintain the tightness as a band.
We don’t rely heavily on any sort of programmed or sequenced background music as we mainly focus on giving the audience a raw live sound. We also incorporate live art in a few of our performances and have plans for pyrotechnics.
Upcoming projects
Our first single ‘Nangooram’ is soon to be released and we’re very excited about it! We’re also planning to release our EP by the end of this year, so follow us on Instagram @kelvikkuri for more updates on that
