Bringing rock n roll back

City band The Mavyns unveil debut album at city club, to be sold online only.

A couple of days ago, city band The Mavyns released their first official album titled, From The Tree Of No Ledge, after playing together for four years. Not that the past was a dry spell for them. Shortly after the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the band, then comprising drummer Kristofor Mendonca, keyboardist Vivek Nair and guitarist Pradeep Mathews, moved to Goa to record what they called the Susegado Sessions. Later, Vivek’s brother Varoon quit flight school in San Diego to join the band full-time.

HT Image

Right off the bat, what’s intriguing about the new CD is its surreal album art. Cover imagery shows a tree trunk twisting into a spiral, with what appears as eyes growing in place of leaves. “We wanted to depict infinity, and the design also agrees with the fibonacci series. Vivek conceptualised and painted it on canvas along with a friend,” Mendonca says.

Given The Mavyns’
inspirations like The Velvet Underground, The Beatles and other bands of the ’60s, it’s not surprising that the band does a mix of rock n roll, blues and some post-punk. “We all started out with our parents’ cassette collections, it’s what they were listening to back in the day too,” Mendonca reasons.

Moreover, having played their new album live for the past couple of years before finally recording it, its sound has evolved over time. “We find that different songs work in different places. For instance, ‘Soul friend’ went off really well on a beach in Orissa, at the Indian Surfing Festival. There was a small audience of 200-250 people, so it fit the mood,” Kristofor says.

Question Mendonca on his skinhead look when all the other band members sport long hair and he laughs, “I’m just a good boy, I guess. I took my shirt off at the launch party and tried to throw it at the girls but it completely missed!”

To download the album, log on to www.nh7.in/themavyns