They are not friends. They did not even know each other until a few days ago. But now, they are part of a music band. Seven random musicians hailing from different parts of Kerala are about to launch a one-of-a-kind Malayalam acapella song on April 14th under their band Chord 7.
Acapella, originated in Italy, is a musical genre in which vocals from one’s voice box, lips, tongue, and teeth are harmoniously synchronised to produce music without any use of instruments. It hasn’t been long since Malayalis introduced acapella into their music realm, but it has got many fans.
It was two sound engineers — Tony Daniel from Chengannur and James Paul from Angamaly — who launched this acapella band. It was a long-pending dream of the duo. “We have heard about bands formed by school friends or colleagues, but what makes us different is that the members of Chord 7 hadn’t met or known each other until the final audio recording day. I knew all of them from a choir fest happened several years ago, but the rest of them didn’t,’’ says Tony.
Aged from 29 to 46, Tony Daniel, James Paul, Anish Bruce, Shiju Mathew, Rijo John, Jibu John and Vinujin G. Kumar, who are skilled in percussion, piano, vocal arrangements etc., have immersed their unique voice ranges in this musical piece. “Melodious songs are supported by chords and what we are planning to do is to re-arrange these chords and recreate the acapella versions of various songs without abandoning their soul. That is how we came up with the name Chord 7,” Tony adds.
It was through WhatsApp that all the seven of them virtually connected for sharing their inputs. Having members from a cinematographer to a politician, Chord 7 is a music band woven together solely by their passion for music.
Tony, however, criticises the mainstream acapella bands in Malayalam “They use electronic support and still they call it acapella. I don’t understand how it is acapella when it is something that is purely acoustic,” he says. Their debut song, a two-minute-long melodious mix of three old devotional songs sung by K.J. Yesudas, isn’t the kind of devotional song that people have heard, says Tony. “It can be enjoyed by all music enthusiasts,” he adds.
It was a glorious moment for the team when renowned musicians like Alphonse Joseph and Stephen Devassy genuinely criticised their work.
“We are not trained musicians. We believe that it’s a talent gifted by God, through which we wanted to express our love for Him,” Tony concludes.
