we realised that the big names of rock music drew inspiration from the songs of the soil, we turned to Malayalam lyrics." They practised in John's home studio in Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram with new instrumentation and its original Malayalam lyrics. Vijayan is from Kollam while Puthanveetil is Kannur-based. Film-maker Pradeep Kalipurayath, creative head at Poorman Productions helped them shoot the song video and they uploaded it to YouTube in addition to releasing it in SS Music in 2003. Unsure whether it would get good reception and about singing in Malayalam, they waited for a year to begin recording their debut album Avial. "Nada Nada" went viral on YouTube and was well received. The band spent a year finding a record label and Mumbai-based Naresh Kamath got them a deal with Phat Phish Records from the city. "Karukara" from Avial is a poem by Kavalam Narayana Panikkar from the Malayalam film Kummatti, while the rest of the songs were written by people known to them. They combined "Karukura" with heavy guitar riffs and bass lines. Sudhi Velamanoor wrote the songs "Aadu Pambe" and "Ettam pattu", in addition to contributions by lyricist P. B. Gireesh. Singer Aparnasree provided supporting vocals in two songs. A new version of "Nada Nada" was also in the album. Avial was completed in 2008 and they launched it at Bandra Amphitheatre; MTV released their music video. Their first live show was in March 2008 at the East Wind festival in New Delhi. Prior to this, lead vocalist Anandraj Benjamin Paul migrated to the US with his wife, which led to John replacing him; bassist Naresh Kamath left because of being originally from the fusion band Kailasa with Binny Issac taking his place. The album sold over 45,000 copies, despite being entirely in Malayalam. They received six of the seven Jack Daniels Rock Awards in 2008 including song of the year, album of the year and band of the year in popular and critics' categories as well as the Footprints Young Achiever's Award. John said, "Language is really not an issue because the sound speaks for us. It is only the sound that matters." 2009–present Avial performed live shows in cities across India as well as some internationally. They were the only Indian band chosen to perform at the Sakifo (Reunion Islands) World Music Festival held in Mauritius in 2008 with 40 other rock bands. Record label Phat Phish