Kappa TV Mojo Rising Season 2 Band Profiles

KY-MANI MARLEY AND KONFRONTATION BAND

The Marley surname perpetuates Jamaican royalty, resonates worldwide recognition and represents the pioneer of a cultural, political and social revolution. Reggae Icon and Legend Bob Marley blessed the world with his timeless, brilliant and message filled sound which continues to inspire and influence audiences today. With such a living past, Bob Marleys conviction and passion for music unintentionally was passed to the lives of his offspring and has allowed the Marley name to remain relevant amongst the hierarchy of the reggae sound.

Son of 'Bob Marley' Bob Marley and 'Table tennis' table tennis champion Anita Belnavis, Ky-mani Marley is the second youngest of Bob Marleys eleven children. Being exposed to an urban lifestyle, Ky-mani adopted the attitude that all people are equal no one is above or beneath him. This attitude has become the motto for the way he lives his life today. Humble. Soft-Spoken. Sincere. Loyal. Honest. Genuine. These are the makings of Ky-mani Marley.

As a child, Ky-mani had no interest following in the footsteps of his world-famous father and was more inclined to play sports. However, the seed that was planted by Bobs legacy sprouted in 1997 when Ky-mani teamed up with hip-hop artist Pras of The Fugees and collaborated on Eddy Grants Electric Avenue. This would be the defining moment in Ky-manis journey which would lead him to pick up the torch his iconic father lit so many years ago.

Remaining true to his Jamaican culture, Ky-manis fondness for all genres of music influences the work he creates. Ky-mani is an artist with no limits. Incorporating world music, hip-hop, blues, rock and a grass roots sound into his music, the end product is the pure representation of life for Ky- mani. The Ky-mani Marley sound is one that transcends cultural lines and prohibits him from being categorized as only a reggae artist. His raw, unadulterated, gruff sound captures the listener and reverberates the essence of Ky-manis life story. His new works will prove to be a blend of genres that will touch the inner-soul of each listener.

THAIKKUDAM BRIDGE

Thaikkudam Bridge is a Kerala-based music band, founded and formed in 2013 .The band first became famous through the musical show Music Mojo, which is telecast on Kappa TV and their own composition ''Fish Rock'', which became popular through social networking sites and YouTube. The band does not focus on any specific genre and has composed in many different genres.

According to sources within the band, the band literally had its inception near Thaikkudam Bridge at Thaikkudam, Kochi, in early 2013. Kappa TV Mojo Rising Season 2 Band Profiles

Since then, the band has gone on to win numerous awards, perform at over 400 venues and released their own album. www.facebook.com/thaikkudambridge/

AGAM

Agam is a multiple award winning contemporary carnatic rock act from Bangalore, India. Agam derives its name from the ancient Tamil word which translates to 'the inner self'. Agam's music encapsulates the boundless, vibrant emotions of the human psyche. It explores, depicts and contemplates these countless aspirations and sentiments of the inner self. Their music combines the myriad hues of melodic scales and intricate rhythm structures offered by carnatic music with the aesthetic principles and tonal elegance from western world.

BRODHA V

Brodha V is considered to be one of India's best Rappers and Producers. Over the span of his illustrious career, he has won multiple awards and nominations forhis singles like Aathma Raama, Aigiri Nandini, Round Round and Indian Flava.

Brodha V is known for his unique style of blending Rap Music with Indian Classical and Folk genres. Known for his lyricism and catchy hooks, he has carved a niche for himself in the Indian Hip Hop scene and stands as one of the most loved and popular rappers in the country.

Brodha V has also worked in multiple Bollywood and South Indian movies and has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry worldwide.

Kappa TV Mojo Rising Season 2 Band Profiles

THAKARA

Thakara is a YouTube sensation coming from Cochin distinguished by a signature sound and a sharp everyday lyric. Frontman James Thakara is the founder member of the band and Ashwin Nath (Synthesist), Sreekanth Bhasi (Guitarist) and John Joel (Drums) make the whole team of the fun project started in the college and later converted into a main stream band. The unique voice and captive lyrics made them a sought out band in Kerala with 'Puttu Pattu' and 'Podi Penne' being crowd favourites. Their song GVQ had created some ripples in Kerala and had been featured in a Malayalam movie called ''Koothara''. Thakara is known to be a crowd puller and real entertainer.

THE DOWNTRODDENCE

TDT has always been noted for its unique blend of conventional Thrash and Groove Metal with a large dose of traditional Kerala folk music elements, art forms such as Theyyam in particular.

The band also incorporates a lot of traditional folk sounds and instruments in the form of ambient layers in their music. Rhythm structures used in their songs too are primarily inspired by folk music. Lyrically the band has a strong philosophy of talking about inequalities and injustices which are ever present in India's social and political systems. A common theme in their music is the effort to project the voice of the underprivileged and down-trodden people.

ANJU BRAHMASMI

Anju Brahmasmi is an uber-talented multi-genre vocalist/composer who mesmerizes the audience every time she performs. Based out of Kochi, Kerala, her latest venture, a tribute to the legendary Kavalam Narayana Panicker in the form of a cover of his famous song, Athirukakkum, has been doing the rounds in social media and garnering great reviews from all quarters. Her flamboyant and passionate singing is the highlight of all her renditions. Cancao do a mar, the Portuguese song of the sea, that she performed in the year 2013 fetched her a nomination at the International Portuguese Music Awards.

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

Pineapple Express is India's largest progressive-fusion band and also one of the most extravagant artists in the fusion genre in the South of India. Much influenced by the Carnatic music heritage of their ancestors and the western contemporary rock influences of their growing years, they have steadily made a name for themselves over the last few years. Pineapple Express' live performances comprise various catchy originals combined with fused and interpreted covers of popular songs. Adding some tasty classical phrases in the midst and you get what thousands of people love. The band performs in South Indian regional languages as well as English.

Kappa TV Mojo Rising Season 2 Band Profiles

CLOWN WITH A FROWN

Clown with a Frown is a Pop/Funk Rock outfit from Bangalore (India) formed in September 2011. They draw influence from a wide array of artistes like Chic, Jamiroquai, Earth Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, Steely Dan, Tower of Power and many others. The band's sound is predominantly a mix of jazz, funk, fusion, R&B, soul, reggae and disco styles blended into a modern pop rock structure. They are known for their groovy bass lines, simple upbeat rhythms backed by horns and soulful vocals.

BLANK PLANET

Blank Planet in it's heart is a progressive experimental rock band. They are four friends exploring and experimenting with music liking to play and compose music which is riff based, maintains that certain energy level and at the same time melodic. The band consists of a brilliant talented line up with Niranj Suresh on vocals, Durwin D'souza on guitars, Chandhu Salim Kumar on bass and Akhil Babu on drums. The songs that they had created are purely progressive which touches all the issues that happens in common life, the tunes are catchy and melodic and a small touch of aggressiveness is also present in our songs. A complete crowd entertainer, they had performed at various college fests, music fests in Kerala making them a popular band. 'Maya' is one of their highlight song to watch out for.

SURAJ MANI AND THE TATTVA TRIP

The Tattva trip is the musical journey of a mythical tripper. The experience is a real-time, multi- sensory interaction between the artist, audience and a mythical traveller. The Tattva tripper can move through time and space, can see into the hearts and minds of most people and can tell us their stories as they sing their songs. Their message is Re-frame your journey, transform your world! Kappa TV Mojo Rising Season 2 Band Profiles

WHEN CHAI MET TOAST

The band is a four-piece acoustic rock act which pulls of a very indie aesthetic, with a hint of folk/country. The band consists of Achyuth Jaigopal (Acoustic guitar, Electric Guitar, Looper boy, Drums), Palee Francis (Keyboard, Piano), Ashwin Gopakumar (Frontman, Vocalist, Ukulele) and Sailesh (Drummer). They write about everything that makes them very happy, and draw influences from old cartoon songs, Mumford and Sons, Lumineers, Alabama Shakes and so on.

LAZIE BISON

Lazie Bison is an Indo-Canadian collaborative effort that includes musical talent from the Indian band, Lazie J and the Canadian band, Marystown.

The band consists of Jay Pillai, a pioneer in the classic rock scene of India. He is a music composer, lyricist, vocalist and guitarist all at once with more than 25 years of music behind him.

Manoj Pillai, the drummer is a musician with over 25 years of rock music drumming expertise and has been associated with Jay for their earlier project called the Autumnleaf.

Canadian Rocker Evan Murray is the prodigious talent of the critically acclaimed Marystown Band. He has toured Europe thrice and charted in Lisbon, Portugal on Super FM alongside the likes of Foo Fighters.

Guitarist, composer and World Music producer, John Anthony; a veteran musician with over 30 years of experience in the industry is a man of historic significance in the Indian music industry, for he has been instrumental in shaping music trends and creating memorable music, having worked as composer, arranger and lead guitarist playing for over 3000 Indian films and advertisements. He brings with him his experience and skill in world-music in the form of Carnatic influences, honed and mastered under the mentorship of the late and great, Shri M. G Radhakrishnan, blended with a touch of western classical guitar, perfected under the guidance of famed American pianist and musician, Mr. Roger D. Jhanke.

Johan Dereborn, a brilliant musician all the way from Sweden is the bassist and Rahul CR, a talented student of Swati Thirunal College of Music is the youngest among the group and a multi- instrumentalist who plays keyboards and percussion for the band.

Kappa TV Mojo Rising Season 2 Band Profiles

All of these brilliant artists together is set to create some good old pure classic rock for music lovers worldwide!

GOWRY LEKSHMI

Gowry Lekshmi, 22 years of age who held the hand of music close from her childhood days, has been writing and composing songs. Director Roshan Andrews, who liked her song Sakhiye, used it in his Mohanlal starrer Casanova that came out in 2012. She was only 13 when she composed the song. The song was used in the movie when she was 15. Though the movie failed in box office, Gowry's work was much appreciated. She started learning music at the age of three and the BA Music course in RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Thrippunithura has cemented her knowledge of music. She continued her music studies in Chennai and has also rendered voice for a few Tamil film songs too. Her upcoming Tamil song is from the movie Asurakulam. Gowry is the only lady music director of Malayalam film industry and is the holder of Performer's Certificate Holder from Trinity College of London. Gowry, who likes to perform live on stage than singing elsewhere, has composed quite a good number of tunes for music bands and albums. Thoni is her biggest work so far and she has made sure that she gets the best of the industry as her collaborators. Right now, she is the youngest female music director and lyricist in India. She also sung the song 'orkathe' in the Lal jose's movie Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal. She already performed with prominent music bands including Bennet and the band, rock of ages (Cochin based choir band), Masala Coffee, Job Kurian, Alphonse Joseph. She has performed in Kappa TV Music Mojo and has been getting very good reviews. Now another set of 12 originals is going to be released through Music Mojo.

LIVE BANNED

Live banned is a Funk band from Bangalore that comprises of Amrit Rao (vocals), Dhruv Kumar (guitars), Siddhart Kamath (keyboard), Dheerendra Doss (drums), and Raveesh Tirkey (bass). The band gains influences from Bollywood songs, South Indian songs, rock and metal songs.

CUT-A-VIBE

Cut-A-Vibe does pique your curiosity. As one wonders about its etymological roots, members of this city-based music band say that it can also be read as Katta Vibe! They believe giving a new treatment to the cover songs moving away from the usual format.

Music of the band cant be restricted to one particular style or genre as in fact they call it vibe genre - happy, soulful music. The band wants to present different styles and feature a blend of electronic and live music at their performances.