Indian rock band's song rooted in Onam traditions bags international award

Bangalore-based band 11 The Band's Malayalam rock song Thaka Theyy has won Best Song in Asian Rock category at the prestigious InterContinental Music Awards (ICMA).

Speaking to us about the win, the band's lead singer, Jaideep Varrier, says, "This is cherry on the top after all the love and recognition our song recieved."

He shares that the band, which also features Vimal Krishna (keyboards), Preeth PS (lead guitar and programming), Presanth (Drums), Bipin Nambiar (bass guitar and ideation), Shaji Chundan (rhythm guitar), and Shalini Pramod (producer), first came together in 2023, around Onam. "We first did a cover song. It was a Carnatic rock number. While there are a lot of bands who do that, our attempt was received well. Then, we did an Onam rock song. Back then, there weren't many such songs in this genre unlike now. And we were missing our home state (Kerala). For the punchline, while everybody talks about Thithithara when it comes to Onam, we thought differently and went with Thaka Theyy. Then, we got Roshan to write the lyrics in this metre," he says.
"This award gives us a lot of motivation. For independent musicians like us, it's a big boost. We are now planning our third track, a travel song, titled Iritty Paalam," he adds.