This Kuala Lumpur-based band was formed in 2008 solely for the Rainforest World Music Festival 2008. Their debut show received overwhelming response from festival goers. AkashA’s music is a mixture of fiery percussion with blazing piano and raging sitar and guitar solos. Tha band describes their music as a redefinition of Indian music laced with Malaysian and world influences.
In 2009 the band became a larger outfit by adding three more members to create a better music ensemble. Sivabalan Shanmuga Sundram plays mriddangam (mridangam), ganjeera (kanjira) and konnakol. Aside from Sivabalan, the original members of AkashA in 2008 were Kumar Karthigesu who plays sitar, Jamie Wilson on acoustic steel guitar and Vikneswaran Ramakrishnan on tabla and konnakol. In 2009, the band added Badar Fawzey Taleb who plays world percussion, Eric Li on digital piano, and Greg Henderson on acoustic bass guitar.
The encouraging response had also convinced AkashA to release its album entitled “into… AkashA” in 2009. The album consisted of a wide-range of genres played on traditional instruments with fusion elements.
Discography
into… AkashA (2009)
Karakoram Highway (2011)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
