KAV (Kavin Sandhu) is a British musician from Leicester, England, now based in Los Angeles. Sandhu played guitar with British band Happy Mondays for four years after helping reform the band with frontman Shaun Ryder in 2004. He launched his solo project under moniker "KAV" in 2008 with long-time friend and drummer Jim (James) Portas. His solo material has been compared by the media to Iggy & The Stooges, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Primal Scream, Kasabian, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. He uses a full band for live performances, which sometimes features guest musicians from various bands.
Early career
Sandhu's first band, A.K.A Weave, toured the UK, playing at venues such as the London Astoria, Camden Underworld, and the Manchester Roadhouse. The band caught the eye of Oasis's ex-bassist Guigsy, who had recently parted with Oasis. This resulted in an opportunity to record at the Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales with Guigsy, where the band recorded their debut album.
In 2000, Sandhu launched "Groove Harder" tours which A.K.A Weave played at featuring special guest DJs such as Shaun Ryder, Bez, Mani Gary Mounfield and other indie performers such as Rick Witter from Shed Seven DJing.
Getloaded – Club events and festival
After the split of A.K.A Weave, Sandhu moved to London in 2003 and co-launched the club night Getloaded at London's Turnmills nightclub. This was the start of a partnership with Turnmills MD and House promoter Danny Newman. Over the next 18 months, Sandhu brought various musicians to Getloaded, including Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, Howard Marks (Mr Nice), Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets/ XFM) Peter Hook (New Order/ Joy Division), Annie Mac (Radio 1), Steve Lamacq (Radio 1/ 6Music), Carl Barat (Libertines/ Dirty Pretty Things) Beta Band, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce (The Smiths), The Farm, Client, and El Presidente.
Getloaded launched its inaugural summer festival in 2004. Ten thousand revellers attended the festival held on Clapham Common. It would go on to become one of the biggest indie festivals in London, and one of the early challengers to the mainstream UK festivals. "Getloaded in The Park 2004" was awarded "Best New Festival" at the UK Festival Awards 2004. Kav parted with Getloaded in 2006.
Happy Mondays
The headliner for Getloaded in the Park 2004 was Happy Mondays, their first live gig in nearly five years. Shaun Ryder had toured with A.K.A Weave as a DJ, and recruited Sandhu to join the Happy Mondays on guitar, handing him the task of recruiting new band members to fit alongside original members Gary Whelan and Mark Berry ("Bez"). Sandhu completed the new line-up of the Happy Mondays, along with ex A.K.A Weave band member Mikey Shine and San Diego-born slide guitar player Jonn Dunn. After their successful appearance at "Getloaded in the Park 2004", the Mondays continued touring live across the UK & Europe and decided to record a new album.
The Hollywood producers for British football film Goal! asked the Happy Mondays to write the title track for their film. Sandhu co-wrote the track "Playground Superstar" with Shaun Ryder, Gaz Whelan and producer Dave Parkinson. The track was released on Big Brother Records surrounding the film release. Following this, Happy Mondays commenced work on their new studio album.
Happy Mondays continued to tour the world, including appearances at Fuji Rock 2006 and 2007, Coachella Festival, Roskilde Festival, Summercase Madrid and Barcelona, Global Gathering, Getloaded festivals, MEN Arena, Brixton Academy and V Festival.
Sandhu spent his spare time playing DJ gigs worldwide, including Japan, Mexico, South America, Europe. He played on the same line-up as Guns N' Roses and Bob Dylan and toured Australia on the same line-up as James Brown as part of Good Vibrations Festival.
In mid 2005, Sandhu started a new indie/electro project called Sonic Audio. The band released a white label 12" Killing Yourself on London indie label Puregroove Records. Sonic Audio went on a small UK tour, playing a show with guest Shaun Ryder at Glastonbury Festival on the Leftfield stage with The Rakes and British Sea Power. Sonic Audio also played Alan McGee's Pop Tones stage as a late replacement for The Libertines ex guitarist Carl Barât.
In 2006, Happy Mondays recorded their fifth album, Uncle Dysfunktional, after a gap of over ten years. Sandhu played guitar, sang vocals and co-wrote the music. The album was released on Sanctuary Records in 2007. Sandhu played his last show with the Mondays at V Festival 2007, leaving to pursue his solo project.
KAV (solo project) In January 2008 Kav Sandhu announced his new solo project titled KAV.