High school students from Inventure Academy, Aayush Varghese and Rahul Menon went through “a series of not-so-serious bands,” in the words of Aayush, only playing covers until they realised just how passionate they were about music. And so Kyojin was formed, at first as an acoustic duet that created original music. As they progressed in their style and started dabbling in other genres such as punk rock and blues, they brought on Arvind Krishnan and Pradyun Deep Singh to accompany them on live shows.
Explaining the name ‘Kyojin’, Rahul says, “Kyojin in Japanese translates to something along the lines of ‘Giant’, which we thought was ironic, since we’re pretty small ourselves. On a more philosophical note, it refers to the ‘ten feet tall’ kinda feeling we get when we’re playing our own music.”
Kyojin’s musical influences are John Mayer, George Ezra and the Beatles, and they’re inspired by Indian artistes such as Mother Jane, Parvaaz and Avial. “Most mainstream musicians saturate their songs with feelings,” muses Rahul. Kyojin strives to appeal to a more realistic depiction of the human mind through their songs, seeing it as a spectrum of emotions.
The Kyojin boys are not to be underestimated despite being just 16 years old, although it’s often a struggle for them to juggle high school and music gigs. “A lot of organisers don’t take underage bands seriously and we’re trying to change that, since life from the perspective of a minor brings its own outlook on the world,” Rahul articulates.
Despite being challenged by a lack of equipment and proper practice spaces, Aayush and Rahul are the type to make do. They’re currently working to release their debut album, Tana. “These songs have been our staple set at gigs all around Bengaluru, and we’re also planning on putting in new songs that haven’t been heard before,” divulges Aayush, “We hope to feature some artistes whose work we appreciate on the record.”
When asked about their plans for the future, the boys don’t miss a beat. “We have two more albums planned after Tana, and we hope to fill them with rock and blues-based tracks,” quips Rahul. They also plan to tour their album in Bengaluru and other cities.
Kyojin hopes to leave a positive impact on the Indian music community and on society through their music, as music does, time and time again.
– Anoushka Shyam
