A different alternative

Paul Andersen, Enjoy!

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Thrash around in your garage and jam, letting

the music come together, checking the chemistry to see if the band will

work. Work up some songs while lining up some gigs, and then hit the

clubs or go on the road, playing live as much as you can. Get a buzz

going, build a following, and with some luck and breaks, the record

labels will come calling. Then the real fun starts.

This is the standard operating procedure most rock bands follow when

trying to make it in the business. Sometimes, however, depending on

circumstances, the procedure is altered; maybe they’ll skip one step to

focus on another, or maybe a facet requires particular attention.

Then again, you can throw the whole thing out. That’s what Kali did,

and it seems to be working just fine.

“Yeah, we sort of did it all after the fact,” says Kali frontman Sonny

Koliwad, formerly of La Canada Flintridge. “We recorded a couple of

demos, shopped them around, and got a lot of interest.”

Odin Music, a small L.A.-based label, made the band its initial

signing, and put up the financing for a complete CD.

“That,” Koliwad says, “was really cool.”

Kali is basically a duo consisting of Koliwad on vocals and a bit of

guitar and drummer Michael Brillantes, who also served as producer,

programmer and keyboardist on the record, which is titled “From Death to

Rebirth.”

The two are now putting together a backing band to help them play the

songs live. Kali will make its debut performance Friday at the Dragonfly

in Hollywood.

“It’s heavy alternative, with electronic effects, a KROQ-kind of

sound, somewhat like Korn or Powerman 5000,” Koliwad says, trying to

describe Kali’s music.

“But there is a subtle dance beat in the songs, and then there is a

bit of influence from my upbringing, from my parents music,” he says.

The 25-year-old Pasadenan is a first generation East Indian, and while

growing up in La Canada Flintridge (where he still coaches junior league

baseball) he was exposed to the music of his ancestry.

Though he grew up listening to such bands as Metallica, Guns ‘N Roses

and Van Halen, there are tinges of Eastern colors and rhythms that show

up in Kali’s songs.

Then there are Koliwad’s vocals, which ultimately are the focal point

of the band’s sound. It is a gravel pit of a voice, somewhat akin to

Metallica’s James Hetfield, only more intense.

“Yeah,” he says with a laugh, “I tend to throw myself totally into it.

But it doesn’t hurt at all, regardless what you might think.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Kali in concert.

WHEN: 10 p.m. Friday.

WHERE: The Dragonfly, 6510 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.

PRICE: $10.

PHONE: (310) 784-8837.

KALI ON THE WEB: www.odinmusic.com.