International Indie Music Festival to return with third edition at Kovalam in November

Independent music festivals, catering to bands from niche genres, are often hard to sustain, especially due to lack of funding. But the perseverance of a community of independent musicians and the support of a government agency has meant that the International Indie Music Festival (IIMF) had a successful run in its first two years.

Buoyed by the response for its past edition, the third edition of the festival, organised by the Kerala Arts and Crafts Village, Kovalam under a Tourism department initiative, in collaboration with the Lazie Indie music magazine and community, is set to make its return here from November 22 to 24. Just like the previous years, the festival this year will also feature independent music bands spanning several genres from various countries. The programme coordination and management will be handled by Starvalue.

The headliners of the festival will be Martyr, veteran metal band from the Netherlands. Formed in 1982, the power metallers were one of the first bands of the genre from their country. Though the band separated by the end of that decade, they regrouped in 2005. Since then, they have been active on the concert circuit. Their latest album Planet Metalhead was released in 2022.

Another highlight of the festival will be The Yellow Diary from Mumbai, a mellowish rock band with electronic influence that has been active in the scene for close to a decade now. Their music videos like ‘Mann’, with a short film format, have won them a considerable fan following over the years. A big name on the list is veteran Indian rockers Parikrama, who have been active on the circuit since the early 1990s. The band is slowly regaining their presence after a lull following the passing away of their guitarist Sonam Sherpa.

Denmark-based Cold Drop, a hard rock band formed in 2017 by members from a couple of popular bands, will be another attraction. Afrodelic, hailing from Lithuania, brings a unique blend of traditional Mali music blended with electronica. Led by guitarist Victor Kiawara, the band’s music mainly involves collaboration with local musicians from Mali.

Lazy Fifty, a blues rock band from New Zealand, brings an interesting mix of blues and high energy classic rock. DeerMx from Mexico brings an eclectic mix of industrial sounds. Popular folk rock musician Taba Chake from Arunachal Pradesh, who sings both in Hindi and his native Nyishi language, will be another musician to look forward to.

The festival this year has a good number of hip hop bands including Wild Wild Women, an all girl band from Mumbai, Kochi-based Street Academics and popular Tamil rapper Asal Kolaar. Also on the cards is electronic musician Dualist Inquiry, Tamil folk rock band Kulam led by popular vocalist Pradeep Kumar, Thiruvananthapuram-based punk rockers DIY Disruption, 43 Miles The Band, indie pop musicians Prarthana and Gabri.

“The uniqueness of this festival is in how it caters to multiple genres unlike a majority of the music festivals which are limited to specific genres. So a music buff can experience a variety of music and return home enriched by all the different styles. It will thus be an educational process too. So, each year, we curate the bands from a variety of genres. Last year, we brought reggae and Georgian folk bands. Festivals run on pure commercial interest will not be able to make such a selection of bands. We are a community of independent musicians spread out across the world and this enables us access to a wide variety of musicians,” says Jay Pillai of Lazie Indie magazine.