Rex Vijayan

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Rex Vijayan
Rex Vijayan.jpg
Rex live on stage
Background information
Born (1983-04-26) 26 April 1983 (age 41)
Kollam, Kerala, India
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)Guitar, keyboard, synthesizer, ukulele
Years active1995present
Member of Avial
Formerly of Motherjane

Rex Vijayan (born 26 April 1983) is an Indian composer, guitarist, singer, record producer and multi-instrumentalist from Kerala. He is best known for being co-founder and guitarist for the alternative Malayali rock band Avial. He started out his career as a composer in the Malayalam film industry through Kerala Cafe by giving the score to Anwar Rasheed's segment 'Bridge'.

Contents

Early life

He is the son of Albert Vijayan, a music director in Malayalam films. He self-learnt to play various instruments at a very young age and began his musical career by mastering cover versions. [1] He married Chintu Ramesh on 14 March 2008 at Kollam. [2] His brother Jackson Vijayan is also a musician.

Motherjane

Vijayan was part of the popular Kochi based rock band Motherjane, as the rhythm guitarist from 2000 to 2003. [3] Even though he left the band in 2003, He continued to associate with Motherjane as a consultant. He was the producer of the band's singles Jihad(2010), Clayplay(2015) and Namaste(2018). [4] [5] [6]

Avial

He is the music composer, lead guitarist and synthesizer of the Trivandrum-based Malayalam alternative rock band "Avial" since 2003.[ citation needed ]

Other collaborations

He was part of an amateur German hip-hop band "Intensive Erfrischung" (Intensive Refreshment), which was based in Munich. He is also actively involved with Daksha Seth's Dance Company, which is concerned with performing on stage contemporary dance. Gibson Guitar Corporation, USA offered him to be their endorsee for their latest high end series guitar "Gibson Les Paul Classic".[ citation needed ]. He has also produced and composed music for some ad-films with Papaya Media, Kerala Tourism Dept. etc.

Film composing

Rex debuted into film music direction with Anwar Rasheed's 'Bridge', a segment of the portmanteau film Kerala Cafe . He then did the composing of Chaappa Kurishu directed by Sameer Thahir, 22 Female Kottayam , by Aashiq Abu, helped with the background score of films Second Show and Friday and did music for Shyamaprasad's movie English in which he collaborated with American clarinet player and music composer Shankar Tucker in the song Aakashame featuring Rohan Kymal on vocals. He then did the title track for Anil Radhakrishnan Menon's debut movie North 24 Kaatham starring Fahadh Faasil. Rex Vijayan become a playback singer with ‘Enthanu Bhai' in Aashiq Abu's film Da Thadiya . His work for Sameer Thahir's second movie Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (after his directorial debut 'Chaappa Kurishu') has set a path breaking trend in malayalam film music. [7] [8] [9] Rex has also sung the title track 'Neelakasham' for the movie. [10]

Sapthamashree Thaskaraha was Rex's next film, in which he composed songs such as Thaane Pookum and Nam Onnaayi. [11] After that Rex went on to do the background score for Picket 43 . He returned after a break with Parava in 2017. Later in the year he composed music for Aashiq Abu's Mayaanadhi . Rex's composition for the film was well appreciated. The song Mizhiyil Ninnum was a sensational hit [12] [13] and singer Shahabaz Aman won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for the rendition. [14] [15] His latest releases as music composer are Sudani from Nigeria (2018), Thamaasha (2019) and Valiyaperunnal (2019), all were widely acclaimed. [16] [17] [18] He also served as music producer for the 2020 movie Halal Love Story . [19]

Discography

Original soundtracks

FilmTracklistNotes
2009 Kerala Cafe Background Score (Segment: Bridge)
2011 Chappa Kurishu
  1. Orunaalum Kaanaathe
  2. Theeye Theeye
Also composed Background Score
2012 22 Female Kottayam
  1. Melle Kollum
Co-composed background score with Bijibal
Second Show Background Score only
Friday
2013 English
  1. Maayumee
  2. Aakashame
  3. Nila Vaaname
  4. Shalabhamayi
  5. Thaarame
Also Composed Background Score
Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi
  1. Doore Doore
  2. Thaazhvaram
  3. Neelakasham
  4. Neerppalunkukal
  5. Ami Hitmajare
Also composed Background Score
North 24 Kaatham
  1. Thaanaaro (Title Song)
Title Song only
2014 Sapthamashree Thaskaraha
  1. Kayyethum Doorathu
  2. Naam Onnayi
  3. Sapthamashree Thaskara
  4. Thaane Pookkum
2015 Picket 43 Background score only
Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi
  1. Aayiram Kaalamaayi
  2. Thaarangal Paadunne
  3. Kunnimani
  4. Dheera Charitha
2017 Parava
  1. Pyaar Pyaar
  2. Ormakal
  3. Pakalin Vaathil
Co-composed Background Score with Yakzan Gary Pereira, Neha Nair and Sekhar Menon
Mayaanadhi
  1. Kiliye
  2. Uyirin Nadhiye
  3. Kaattil
  4. Mizhiyil Ninnum
1song (Kaattil) co-composed with Shahabaz Aman;

Co-composed Background Score with Yakzan Gary Pereira and Neha Nair

2018 Sudani from Nigeria
  1. Kurrah
  2. Kinavu Kondoru
  3. Cherukatha Pole
1 song (Kurrah) co-composed with Shahabaz Aman;

Co-composed Background Score with Yakzan Gary Pereira, Neha Nair and Kishan Mohan

2019 Thamaasha
  1. Paadi Njan
  2. Kaanumbol Ninne
1 song (Paadi Njan) co-composed with Shahabaz Aman;

Also composed Background Score with Yakzan Gary Pereira and Neha Nair

Valiyaperunnal
  1. 'Hey' Song
  2. Chemmanam
  3. Labbaikkallah
  4. Thazhvarangal
  5. Piraanth
  6. Kochi-Mattanchery
  7. Uyirullavaram
  8. Vandu Njan
Also composed Background Score
2020 Halal Love Story
  1. Sundaranayavane
  2. Bismillah
Credited as Music Producer
2023Neelavelicham

As playback singer [20]

YearSongMovieCo-singer(s)Music Director/ Composer
2011Oru Naalum Kaanathe Chappa Kurishu Rashmi SatheeshHimself
2012Enthanu Bhai Da Thadiya Bijibal,
Jayaram Ranjith
Bijibal
2013Neelakasham Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi Himself
2015Tharangal Padunne Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi
2017Pyar Pyar Parava
Uyirin Nadhiye Mayaanadhi Neha Nair
2018Cherukatha Pole Sudani from Nigeria Imam Majboor
2019Thazhvarangal Valiyaperunnal
2020Jaalame Trance Lal Krishna, Divya S Menon, Namitha Raju, Gagul Joseph, Jackson VijayanJackson Vijayan
2023Manuja Romancham Sushin Shyam

Awards

YearAwardCategoryFilm/Album/SongNotes
2018 Filmfare Awards South [21] Best Music Director Mayanadi
2018Indywood Academy Awards [22] Best Music Director Mayanadi
2018Mazhavil Mango Music Awards [23] Best Music Director Mayanadi
2018Movie Street Film Awards [24] Best Music Director Mayanadi
2018 CPC Cine Awards [25] Best Music Director Mayanadi, Parava

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References

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  6. Kolkata, Retro (16 December 2018). "Interview with Motherjane | India | Guest Band | World Music". Retro Kolkata. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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  11. "Rex Vijayan for Sapthamasree". The IndiaGlitz. 20 August 2014. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. "'എനിക്കങ്ങനെ ഒരു പാട്ട് ഉണ്ടാക്കാനാകുമെന്ന് കരുതുന്നില്ല. ആഷിഖ് ഇക്കാര്യം പറഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ ഞെട്ടി'".
  13. "'നിത്യകാമുകാ ആഷിക് അബൂ, ജന്മദിനാശംസകള്‍' -ഷഹബാസ് അമന്‍".
  14. "Shahabaz Aman and I composed Mayaanadhi tunes like band members: Rex Vijayan - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  15. "Rex Vijayan's soulful and nostalgic music- Cinema express". Cinema Express .
  16. "'Sudani from Nigeria' review: a magical delight laced with football". OnManorama. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  17. "Warmth and sensitivity in equal measure - The Hindu". The Hindu. 8 June 2019.
  18. "Rex Vijayan crafts a colorfully experimental pop soundtrack in 'Valiya Perunnal' | by Dhinoj Dings | Film+Music | Medium". 29 December 2019.
  19. "ഹലാല്‍ ലൗ സ്റ്റോറി മോഷന്‍ പോസ്റ്റര്‍ പുറത്തിറങ്ങി".
  20. "List of Malayalam Songs sung by Rex Vijayan".
  21. "Rex Vijayan feels honored to have won an award at the Jio Filmfare Awards - Times of India ►". The Times of India .
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  25. "CPC Awards announced; Thondimuthalum Drik Sakshiyum Best Picture".