Media Release

London, Sep 13: SKA London (South Kanara Association) is all set to present ‘Konkani Sambhram’, a unique event as part of its 40th Anniversary celebrations. ‘Band Charitra’, the international ‘Desi Rock Band’ from Mangaluru along with other well-known artistes is all set to entertain the UK audience. Yes, it is a dream come true for the SKA London team members.

This event will be held on October 13 at the Beck theatre, Grange road, Hayes London - UB3 2UE.

The South Kanara Association (SKA London) was formed in 1979 in order to provide a forum for social gathering for people from the South Kanara district of Karnataka in India, whose mother tongue is Konkani. The Association currently has approximately 150 families as active members who live in the London area. The Association organizes a few events during the year such as the annual Christmas Dinner and Dance, Valentine Dinner and Dance, Easter Celebration, two summer picnics, Sports Day, SKA Voice of London and Naach London Naach, charity events and also a celebration of the feast of Mother Mary.

The association also has its own website http://www.skalondon.com, and also its own Facebook account called ‘SKA London’.

Band Charitra

Charitra, the new generation desi rock band from India has popular audios and videos tagged to its name. It is young, energetic and is full of passion towards creativity. Each production by Band Charitra is a masterpiece.

Band Charitra has passionate and most promising musicians, who believe in creating music which resonates in the hearts of people. It is a team of dedicated musicians and excellent performers. Waves of success, achieved in the last few years, is a clear manifestation of their hard work, dedication and taste of music which has been appreciated by the masses.

Loy Valentine Saldanha - Music Director, Producer, Performer and Sound Engineer

Loy is a certified engineer in music production and sound design from A R Rahman’s Institute of Audio & Media, Chennai. He started his music career at the age of 10. He initially performed in various Desi Rock Bands and now is the founder member of the desi rock band named Band Charitra. He has been the official composer, vocalist, music programmer and sound engineer at Charitra Productions ever since its formation.

Melwyn Antony D’Souza - Lead Vocalist, Performer and Lyricist

Melwyn has pursued his degree In Carnatic music, Art and Culture. Melwyn is an amazing lead Vocalist, Composer, Lyricist and with his extreme high notes, he is well known to sweep the audience off their seats and bring them to the dance floor.

Melwyn has a creativity to write lyrics and is the official lyricist of this production house. Over the years he has written amazing lyrics and sung for several projects and jingles. He is known to lift the mood of the event with his vibrant performance and has been known in his friend circles as ‘rock star’ who also call him ‘Mika Singh of Konkani.’

Patson Pereira - Music Director, Producer, Performer and Sound Engineer

Patson is a qualified sound engineer in Music Production and Audio Technologies from SAE Institute of Audio Engineering, Malaysia.

He started music career at the age of eight. He initially started performing for various shows as a Drummer, then gradually as a keyboardist and guitarist, later performed for various bands around the globe. Presently he is the official member of Band Charitra as a guitarist and runs his own recording studio named Patma Digitals where he is a music programmer, composer, sound engineer and vocalist. In short, he is a bundle of talents and enthusiasm and is known for his creativity.

Ian Sachin Saldanha – Drummer, Percussionist and Backing Vocalist

Sachin found his passion for music at the age of 14. During his tenure of graduation at St Aloysius College, he performed on various occasions.

Sachin began as a session drummer in several top rock bands and has played for a number of hit shows at his early age. Sachin got his first set of drums at the age of 15 and by the age of 16, he was performing with local bands along with his batch mates. He then got into Band Charitra, a desi rock band famous for mashup of Bollywood and Hollywood songs.

Rikith Leonard Soans - Bass Guitarist and Backing Vocalist

He acquired the certificate of western music (Grade 5) under Trinity College of London (TLC) in 2012.

An unsung hero from the city of Udupi, supporting melody while syncing with the band to bring out the wonders in the world of music. Born and brought up in a family of music, his passion for music started at the age of seven.

He then started his music career performing in various rock bands since 2009. His music ranges from soft Ballads, Rock, Pop, and Fusion to foot-tapping Baila and Bollywood numbers. Presently he is the official bassist for desi rock band Charitra.

Apart from his main musical weapon as bass, he is also well-known for playing violin, keyboard and guitar.

Akshada Talaulikar - Play Back Singer and Global Konkani Best Female Singer

Akshada acquired the art of basic singing under the able guidance of Pt Sudhakar. Currently she trains and learns from Pt Subhash Prabhudessai, a prominent music teacher in ‘Swarmanch’, Margao, Goa. She has won tremendous accolades all across, one of which is the prestigious Global Konkani Music Award from Kalaangan Mangaluru in the year 2009 as best female singer.

She has performed with various celebs like Suresh Wadkar, Pankaj Udhas, Jagjit Singh, Mika Singh and many others.

For more details contact:

Sunil D'Cunha - 07894995160
Loy D'Souza - 07920423947
Wilfred D'Souza - 07590574429