5 SoUlS...of SoUlSoNiC....

SUVI SURESH(Singer)

Suvi, originally known as Sweta suresh, grew up listening to a wide palette of music. Her love for creativity instilled in her the confidence to compete in “Voicehunt” a reality show amongst 5000 contestants, at the age of 17 and went to be chosen as part of the band S5 comprising of artists like Benny Dayal, Anaitha Nair, Bhargavi Pillai and Arjun Sasi. They went ahead and released their first hit single “Malarey” as part of the music album “Isai” produced by music composer Pravin Mani for Sony BMG and was released by Oscar and Grammy award winner, A.R.Rahman in 2005. They even went about and released all the songs of a movie in Malayalam called “By The People” and made their presence felt stronger than ever by starring in the movie as a band. Since then there’s been no looking back for Suvi as she went about rendering her powerful voice to top music composers in the south, such as A.R.Rahman, Illayaraja, Harris Jayaraj, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Vidyasagar and others in many popular songs. She is adeptly trained in Western classical and Hindustani music and is heavily influenced by artists like Toni Braxton, Christina Aguilera, Bjork, Aretha Franklin, Sting and Jamiriquai which is apparent in her unique style. She can sing comfortably in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kanada, Malayalam and French. Suvi is a performer at heart and on stage she sizzles with exhilarating zest, getting her audience in wrapped attention.  Suvi is now in the middle of putting her second band together after S5 with young and talented musicians like Natasha Pinto on the keyboard, Carl  Fernandes on bass guitar, Kervin Mathew on guitar with the hunt for a blues/ funk inpired drummer still on. This will predominantly be a funk, soul and R&B  band unlike all the rock music inspired bands from Chennai as the musicians are all heavily influenced by blues. The band name is yet to set in but she is pretty confident that it will not be Suvi itself as she wants to maintain a clear demarcation between her film music and live music career. She is also working on an English/ tamil solo album with music composer/ producer , Pravin Mani which according to her is truly inspired from hardships she has gone through in life and looking at it with a very positive attitude with extremely modern production Ladies and gentle men, Suvi is here to stay……….

ALOK MERWIN(Keyboard)

Alok Merwin is a maven in the world of Electronic Music Production. Being a media engineering graduate and a certified musician from the Royal schools of Music London, his compositions are a perfect blend of computers and keyboards; a technical geek and a creative artist at the same time. He has worked and performed with a few of the most profound artists in the industry today and still does. His ideas in a wide range of music spectrums such as Smooth Jazz, funk, Rock and Latin etc., are endless.

CARL FERNANDES(Bass Guitarist)

Carl Fernandes has been a Bass Guitarist for the past 10 years. He has been associated with many bands some of them (The Mudskippers, Morrison Avenue, Hexachord) and has earned the respect of many reputed musicians. He has composed and programmed for many albums in and around Chennai and has also directed the Music for an upcoming Kollywood Movie

Influences: Rhcp, Tower of Power, Freak Kitchen, Rush, Pain of Salvation, Incubus, Bela fleck, Fourplay etc.

DAVID JOSEPH(Drums)

David Joseph , trained under Dina of band A2J and Armageddon, David has developed his unique style of drumming which not many drummers may follow. He’s played at the Mj tribute show, Greenathon by ndtv news, Radio one fm station, The Hindu metro plus theatre fest, Indian Music Conference – Goa, and in almost all jazz and Rock clubs in south India. He is also very well known in the gospel music circle. This young talented individual has also drummed for the world music band ‘OsherMoosica’, Opened for Floyd Fernandez and Naina Kundu Trio at Chennai and has conducted Jazz and Latin workshops at eminent percussion schools in Chennai.He is also part of quite a few bands ,Groove#3 , La Pongal , Terrorists :P ,Drum Circle,Washed Clothes, YahweH  and other artists to name a few ! , Apart from brilliant stage shows, David also composes, arranges and programs percussion and drum tracks in his home studio. Not to forget, David Joseph has tutored many students at the Yamaha Music Academy, Chennai and is also working as a tutor in Vineyard Music Academy. To end this beat, David’s Groovy beats and lively stage presence always make feet 

JOSHUA SATHYA(Guitarist)

Kervin, the guitarist of the band, discovered his passion for guitars early. His style of playing is influenced by adequate doses of Electric Blues, 80's Rock, Rock'n'Roll, Progressive Rock, Classical and Funk.He brings a plethora of talent to the stage.

HeRe tHeY CoMe......

They are funky, cool and are determined to set the music scene on fire. Their mixes might soon be heard across Chennai. No wonder, they love to call themselves Soulsonic. If you're wondering what we are talking about, it's the latest band in town, comprising Suvi Suresh (singer), Carl Fernandes (bass guitarist), Alok Mervin (keyboard), Joshua Sathyan (guitar) and Jerry John (drums).

"After S5 (a band of which she was a part of), I was mulling over forming a new band. And, I was very particular that it should not be a pop band. It took six to seven months to form this band; nevertheless, we are happy with the team," starts off Suvi.

Why the name Soulsonic? "All of us strongly believe that music should have soul in it. We came up with many names like Supersonic, Ultrasonic and a few others. Finally, one fine day, I muttered the name 'Soulsonic' and my band mates unanimously agreed. They actually didn't have any choice," giggles Suvi.

The band is predominantly funk and R& B, and the artistes vouch that they will be quite different from the other bands in the city. "All of us have music running in our blood. We are going to do a lot of cover songs. Our mixes will include numbers from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Earth, Wind and Fire," says Carl, who has been on the music scene for the past 15 years.

Alok, on the other hand, has worked as a music programmer for films like Unnaipol Oruvan and Naanayam and is the 'Quick Gun Murugan' of the band. "That's because he effortlessly gives a slip to everything, including practice," guffaws Jerry, who is also a part of the band Junkyard Groove.

On their jamming sessions, Alok quips, "It's mainly on weekends. We had earlier planned to practice at six in the morning, but the idea fizzled out as all of us had difficulty getting up so early in the morning. Moreover, some us have to go to office after practise and it was getting difficult to wrap up on time."

Finally, Kervin, the silent one of the lot, opens up, "We have performed before our close friends and they loved it. We are planning to come out with 15-20 songs and they are going to be in English."

Suvi wraps up, "As of now, we have not zeroed in on the launch date. But we should hit the scene in two-three weeks."