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Viva K Biography
Ween Callas: Vocals
Ravi Dhar: Guitar
Skoda: Bass, guitar
Evan Haros: Sitar, electronics
Los Angeles based Viva K’s eponymous full-length debut on NYC's Stinky Records re-invigorates alternative rock conventions with proudly international stylistic influences, marrying punky firepower with exotic instrumentation and songwriting. Even before Viva K unveiled their live show, they garnered early support from influential Los Angeles college radio stations KCRW and KXLU. "We just sent out our demo, and one Sunday morning, I turned on KCRW and one of our songs miraculously came on," says guitarist Ravi Dhar. "We knew it was meant to be." Los Angeles commercial station Indie 103.1 has also been a strong supporter of the band, with several of its DJs spinning the band"s demos.
Viva K resulted from a winter-long marathon recording session at the Ranch, living off of wine funded with unemployment checks. As they recorded all of their jams, material started piling up. Studio wiz Skoda began mixing and editing their prolific output and the result was an album's worth of songs that combined the drone element of raga with the simple aggressiveness of punk. Eli Janney of legendary alternative rock band Girls Against Boys was enlisted to mix Viva K's album. Boasting an impressive array of recording, mixing and producing credits (Jet, Secret Machines, Ryan Adams, Jesse Malin, Enon, among others), Eli further sharpened Viva K's album with a rousing, energetic, punk-tinged sensibility, reminiscent of his work with Girls Against Boys. The final results are twelve songs that urge the listener to live consciously in the present ("No Better Time," "Just One More"), remind us we're constantly creating our own reality ("Porch Raga," "Light Light Light") and extol the virtues of positive thought ("Love Everybody," "We Are Safe") while maintaining an anti-war, anti-mind control stance ("Does it Matter," "Who You Are").
The birth of Viva K came in the wake of the death of a Beatle. On the first anniversary of the death of George Harrison, the four musicians who would eventually form Viva K were hanging out on a typical drinking night at the hipster nightclub Spaceland, venerable hub of the Eastside Los Angeles alternative music and social scene. Introduced through mutual friends, the four discovered their mutual passion and admiration for George Harrison, his music and his role as the first musician to successfully fuse Eastern influences into modern rock.
Not long after the quartet's first social encounter, Evan wandered into a Hollywood pawnshop and purchased a used sitar rumored to have once belonged to the late Brian Jones. The four eventual members of Viva K soon discovered that each owned Indian instruments, and concluded that they were fated to play music together. "We started having these spaced-out raga jams every Friday night up at the Ranch," explains Evan, referring to their old Craftsman house, tucked away in the secluded hills of Silverlake, in East Los Angeles. Each of the four members brought his or her own disparate musical background to bear in their jam sessions. "At first the music was really transcendental. Ween would chant and play tabla, I'd play sitar or fool around with a sampler, while Skoda would hold down the low end with bass. Then, one night, Ravi busted out his Les Paul, and everything changed. The guitar added this punk element that started turning the music into songs."
Although the four members of Viva K hail from diverse musical backgrounds, they all share roots in the Old World: all are Second Generation American kids, whose families came, variously, from India, Greece, Lebanon and the Ukraine. And, all four members share a passion for peace and social justice. Reflecting this, the band's music contains an anthemic, energetic message of light in an attempt to counterbalance the tense political state of the world. It is out of this philosophy that the band was formed. "The name Viva K is a reference to Vivekananda, the first philosopher from India to bring Eastern thought to the West," explains Ween. "Like George Harrison, he was a pioneer in fusing elements of East and West."
The band enjoyed early live success, and have developed a passionate following in Los Angeles, with critics praising the band as "one of the scene's most exciting and unusual new bands" and "a fantastical, bohemian outfit of digital dreams" (Los Angeles Weekly). Live, the band have drawn comparisons to Siouxie and the Banshees, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, PJ Harvey and Primal Scream, and singer Ween is often cited as the female Perry Farrell. With their unusual set-up of sitar, guitar, bass, synth and laptop, Viva K have been known to incite altered states in their audiences, leading some critics to wax that "Viva K's enchanting and addicting vibe is the most legal, mind-expanding drug you'll ever experience" (Los Angeles Weekly).
In late 2004, the band signed to New York City-based indie label Stinky Records (Gram Rabbit, Low Flying, Singapore Sling, Benzos). Viva K have performed showcases at the CMJ Music Festival and the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, and recently played a successful month-long residency -- to packed houses -- at Los Angeles hipster club The Echo. Upcoming appearances include Los Angeles' Sunset Junction festival. With the upcoming release of their debut album in September, look for Viva K to tour extensively in the US and abroad.
Ravi Dhar: Guitar
Skoda: Bass, guitar
Evan Haros: Sitar, electronics
Los Angeles based Viva K’s eponymous full-length debut on NYC's Stinky Records re-invigorates alternative rock conventions with proudly international stylistic influences, marrying punky firepower with exotic instrumentation and songwriting. Even before Viva K unveiled their live show, they garnered early support from influential Los Angeles college radio stations KCRW and KXLU. "We just sent out our demo, and one Sunday morning, I turned on KCRW and one of our songs miraculously came on," says guitarist Ravi Dhar. "We knew it was meant to be." Los Angeles commercial station Indie 103.1 has also been a strong supporter of the band, with several of its DJs spinning the band"s demos.
Viva K resulted from a winter-long marathon recording session at the Ranch, living off of wine funded with unemployment checks. As they recorded all of their jams, material started piling up. Studio wiz Skoda began mixing and editing their prolific output and the result was an album's worth of songs that combined the drone element of raga with the simple aggressiveness of punk. Eli Janney of legendary alternative rock band Girls Against Boys was enlisted to mix Viva K's album. Boasting an impressive array of recording, mixing and producing credits (Jet, Secret Machines, Ryan Adams, Jesse Malin, Enon, among others), Eli further sharpened Viva K's album with a rousing, energetic, punk-tinged sensibility, reminiscent of his work with Girls Against Boys. The final results are twelve songs that urge the listener to live consciously in the present ("No Better Time," "Just One More"), remind us we're constantly creating our own reality ("Porch Raga," "Light Light Light") and extol the virtues of positive thought ("Love Everybody," "We Are Safe") while maintaining an anti-war, anti-mind control stance ("Does it Matter," "Who You Are").
The birth of Viva K came in the wake of the death of a Beatle. On the first anniversary of the death of George Harrison, the four musicians who would eventually form Viva K were hanging out on a typical drinking night at the hipster nightclub Spaceland, venerable hub of the Eastside Los Angeles alternative music and social scene. Introduced through mutual friends, the four discovered their mutual passion and admiration for George Harrison, his music and his role as the first musician to successfully fuse Eastern influences into modern rock.
Not long after the quartet's first social encounter, Evan wandered into a Hollywood pawnshop and purchased a used sitar rumored to have once belonged to the late Brian Jones. The four eventual members of Viva K soon discovered that each owned Indian instruments, and concluded that they were fated to play music together. "We started having these spaced-out raga jams every Friday night up at the Ranch," explains Evan, referring to their old Craftsman house, tucked away in the secluded hills of Silverlake, in East Los Angeles. Each of the four members brought his or her own disparate musical background to bear in their jam sessions. "At first the music was really transcendental. Ween would chant and play tabla, I'd play sitar or fool around with a sampler, while Skoda would hold down the low end with bass. Then, one night, Ravi busted out his Les Paul, and everything changed. The guitar added this punk element that started turning the music into songs."
Although the four members of Viva K hail from diverse musical backgrounds, they all share roots in the Old World: all are Second Generation American kids, whose families came, variously, from India, Greece, Lebanon and the Ukraine. And, all four members share a passion for peace and social justice. Reflecting this, the band's music contains an anthemic, energetic message of light in an attempt to counterbalance the tense political state of the world. It is out of this philosophy that the band was formed. "The name Viva K is a reference to Vivekananda, the first philosopher from India to bring Eastern thought to the West," explains Ween. "Like George Harrison, he was a pioneer in fusing elements of East and West."
The band enjoyed early live success, and have developed a passionate following in Los Angeles, with critics praising the band as "one of the scene's most exciting and unusual new bands" and "a fantastical, bohemian outfit of digital dreams" (Los Angeles Weekly). Live, the band have drawn comparisons to Siouxie and the Banshees, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, PJ Harvey and Primal Scream, and singer Ween is often cited as the female Perry Farrell. With their unusual set-up of sitar, guitar, bass, synth and laptop, Viva K have been known to incite altered states in their audiences, leading some critics to wax that "Viva K's enchanting and addicting vibe is the most legal, mind-expanding drug you'll ever experience" (Los Angeles Weekly).
In late 2004, the band signed to New York City-based indie label Stinky Records (Gram Rabbit, Low Flying, Singapore Sling, Benzos). Viva K have performed showcases at the CMJ Music Festival and the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, and recently played a successful month-long residency -- to packed houses -- at Los Angeles hipster club The Echo. Upcoming appearances include Los Angeles' Sunset Junction festival. With the upcoming release of their debut album in September, look for Viva K to tour extensively in the US and abroad.
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