They’re a serious band, they claim. But the truth is that they can notch up the energy level in any gig they do higher than more other performers can achieve. Eclectic blues and progressive soundscapes, Urdu and Kashmiri lyrics and a psychedelic attitude that gets you grooving to their music from the first riff and beat, city-based band Parvaaz believes in making waves everywhere they play.
Comprising Khalid Ahamed on vocals and guitar, Kashif Iqbal on guitar and vocals, Fidel D’souza on bass and Sachin Banandur on drums and percussions, the band is out with their debut album, Baran. Recorded in the Nathaniel School of Music, the eight-track offering is a poetic and progressive compilation of the band’s musical journey. They share their experience with MetroPlus ahead of their Bangalore launch.
Fidel says it’s been a blast in all the launch gigs in Pune, Mumbai and Chennai so far. “We saved the best for last in Bangalore where we will also show a trailer of our latest music video.”
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The name Baran is a Persian word meaning rain. Khalid explains that it’s also the name of a popular Persian movie which keeps coming on TV. “It sounded good and simple. It rains in a lot of our shows and the first song we recorded had the sound of rain. Rain also purifies and removes impurities and the album essentially captures that cathartic process. There were a lot of strange coincidences.”
On how different it is from other songs, Sachin says musically, the songs and the song-writing have improved. “Most of our earlier songs are blues and rock ‘n’ roll. This time, we have been more experimental and added more arrangements in the album.”
Kashif adds that most of the songs are work they have done over the years. “Almost all the tracks have been reworked every time we jam. We tried to tweak everything in the album to have a flow.”
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When asked what they would like people to take away when they listen to Baran, Fidel one-lines it: “Good music.” Khalid adds: “It’s an album that you need to listen from top to down. You can’t pick one song from the lot.” Kashif says: “We want it to be an album experience. My effort in music is to bring back the times when we used to buy the album and listen to the whole thing. Singles don’t work for me though it is much more economical for bands.”
Looking ahead, he adds: “We don’t want to stop at this album. We will keep giving music out in small packages. Not singles or small EPs since they don’t capture anything the band has done.”
Formed in 2010 fresh out of college by childhood friends Khalid and Kashif, Parvaaz roped in Sachin and Fidel soon after their first gig. “Most bands choose names just before a gig to print a name. That’s how we started. Sachin and Fidel brought colour to the band. Over the years we have realised that bands need to spend time together. It’s important to connect with one another musically,” says Khalid.
Kashif adds: “There are a lot of bands that started off around our time but don’t exist anymore. We still have a long way to go though. We are blest that we have people who were willing to take that one small risk despite the tough conditions and make this worth it.”
They sign off with this message: “Keep learning if you want to make music your career. Prove people who discourage you wrong. A lot of people also feel we have a very rosy job. But it’s not the truth. We have everything that any other job requires and we don’t even get our weekends off.”
Parvaaz present Baran on September 6 at CounterCulture along with a special act by Vasu Dixit of Swarathma and Bindumalini N. as well as performances by guest artistes Sanjeev Nayak, Ramanan Chandramouli, Michael Antony Dias and Wilbur Colaco.