Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
For the most current and comprehensive press please see the Viva K website:
http://vivak.net/id6.html
Thank you. - Press Page Link
“…a fantastical, bohemian outfit of digital dreams. Siouxsie-type vocals captivate and ooze over swirly, echoed guitars reminiscent of when U2 were cool, while the drums dance and the synthesizers bleep and blip in a catchy new-wave pulse, leaving the band’s secret weapon, the sitar, to flavor each song with a bit of Middle Eastern flair. Viva K’s enchanting and addicting vibe is the most legal, mind-expanding drug you’ll ever experience…” – Los Angeles Weekly
“Bristling guitars, electro-trash beats and vocals reminiscent of PJ Harvey and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, this LA quartet are busting loose." – Filter Magazine Myspace.com Top 5 Pick
“Look for the influence of this band to reach cultlike dimensions, as, one by one, we crowd into the Viva K mothership, hoping they’ll take us along when they blow this town.” – Los Angeles City Beat
“You love “Sister Ray”, so love Viva K, who float their flying carpet down from Silver Lake to raga up Primal Scream with a purportedly magic sitar…” – Orange County Weekly
“…one of the scene's most unusual and exciting new bands.” – Los Angeles Weekly
“…brilliant stuff…” – Mean Streets
“Punk rock aggression plus Cocteau Twins haze and femininity plus raga equals Viva K? Sure. Why not? Viva K is one of those bands that you may not believe you've really heard….[Viva K’s] tight rhythms and [singer Ween] Callas's charismatic presence are always engaging….Viva K are talented and unique. Their shockingly coherent fusion of pop, punk, shoegaze and raga sounds like a thousand things, but it isn't those things. It's truly, sincerely special….Viva K will make you struggle for days to place a sound that should not, perhaps cannot be placed. It will fascinate you. Most of all, it will make you want more.” – Splendid Zine
“…an intoxicating drone of exotic flourishes blended with punk sensibilities and shoegazer tendencies….a disturbing but beautiful sound….compelling.” – Exclaim Magazine
"...sitar-laced space-dance merchants..." -- Los Angeles Weekly
"...the best band in Silver Lake.." -- Mean Streets
“Silver Lake space-babies Viva K will, with synth and sitar, calm all resultant anxieties, lifting the crowd to that special place where the ’shrooms are peaking and ladies’ fingers idly trace gentlemen’s inseams.” -- Los Angeles City Beat
“Viva K - Viva K (Stinky) my pick of the week is this sweaty, feverish full-length debut, mixing the punk sneer of Ms. Ween Callas and a droning raga electricity courtesy of the band's Middle Eastern heritage, spinning the occasional hypnotic sitar or tabla beat into their own magical mystery tour.” – Anchorage Press
“…one of the most compelling and engaging bands I’ve heard in a long time….Musically, the band fluxes between western, fiery guitar slashers and eastern spirituality cleansers. This ingenious mix leaves the listener in a deep trance while trying to digest the layered depth of their music….I seriously doubt that anyone who listens to this disc could deny that musically, it’s light years beyond what anybody else is doing today. This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest discs of this year.” -- Slug Magazine
“…sounds like Hollywood to the outsider like myself. The movie Hollywood, where you and your friends tool down the boulevard in a vintage convertible looking for a party among the lights and the cars and the glamour.” -- outsideleft.com
“…disorienting, seductive and hypnotic….I’ve not been this curious and aroused since 15-year-old Annabella Lwin posed nude in a recreation of Manet's 1863 “Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe” for Bow Wow Wow’s “See Jungle!” LP in 1981.” – Crud Magazine
- Viva K Press Quotes
Discography
Self-titled debut available on Stinky Records.
Remix record available September 2006.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Viva K’s eponymous full-length debut, mixed by Girls Against Boys’ Eli Janney (Jet, Secret Machines), was released in the fall of 2005 on New York-based indie Stinky Records and quickly landed in the hands of Nic Harcourt, host of KCRW’s venerable “Morning Becomes Eclectic” program and Mark Sovel, Music Director at local tastemaking commercial station Indie 103.1. With both Sovel and Harcourt spinning the politically-charged track, “Does It Matter,” it wasn't long before Harcourt invited the band to do an in-studio session on the show.
Other supporters quickly lined up, including KXLU and the L.A. Weekly, who deemed Viva K “one of the scene’s most unusual and exciting new bands.”
Viva K marries heavy beats, noisy guitars, retro synth, and sitar, crediting George Harrison as their inspiration. “As innovative as it was for George to bring Eastern music to the West, he was equally as innovative with electronic music,” offers lead vocalist Ween Callas.
“I think George’s spirit is lodged in our brains,” adds guitarist Ravi Dhar. “I met Evan Haros, our sitar player and electronics guru, on the anniversary of George’s death at the local club Spaceland. It was great to meet someone who knew about George’s extensive musical history. Not only was he the first to blend sitar with rock on Wonderwall Music, he also recorded some of the earliest synths on his Electronic Sound record.”
The foursome took shape when Skoda joined on bass and guitar. Feverish and sweaty shows ensued, prompting comparisons to Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Jane’s Addiction and Primal Scream.
This past summer, the annual, locally-acclaimed festival Sunset Junction asked the band to perform on the mainstage, alongside The New York Dolls and Eagles of Death Metal. Viva K have performed showcases at CMJ Music Festival and South By Southwest in Austin and in January 2006 played a month-long residency at LA-club Spaceland. The band is currently working on remixes with an eclectic mix of artists including Capitol K, Sonic Boom of Spaceman 3 and producer Jimmy Harry.
Viva K’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” archived performance can be watched or listened to at www.kcrw.org. Music videos are available on the band’s site at www.vivak.net as well as Stinky Records’ site at www.stinkyrecords.com.
Links
