Parikrama
Background information
OriginDelhi, India
GenresIndian rock
Blues
Years active1991–present
LabelsRock Street Journal, Channel V
MembersNitin Malik
Saurabh Choudhary
Subir Malik
Sonam Sherpa
Gaurav Balani
Srijan Mahajan
Shambu Nath Bhattacharya
Suhail Ali Khan
Shashank Singhania
Dhruv Bedi
Past membersVipin Mishra
Dilip Ramachandran
Chintan Kalra
Prashant Bahadur
Rahul Malhotra
Rajat Kakkar
Steve Namchyo
Valentine Shipley
Sharat Chandra Srivastava
Imran Khan
Gyan Singh
Websitewww.parikrama.com/home.html

Parikrama is a rock band from Delhi, India, formed in 1991 in Delhi. The band is considered to be one of Asia's biggest rock groups. Parikrama toured internationally with Iron Maiden in 2007, playing at the Download Festival in England. The band is known for its high-energy live performances, and has released many singles in its 3 decade long career.

In its 2014 listing of "25 Greatest Indian Rock Songs of the last 30+ Years", Rolling Stone India featured "But It Rained" (2001) by the band.[1]

In February 2020, the band's lead guitarist Sonam Sherpa died of cardiac arrest.[2]

On October 8, 2020 Parikrama relaunched their 2001 single 'But It Rained' with the entire solo, as was played by Sonam Sherpa.[3]

Members

The band consists of:

  • Nitin Malik – Lead vocalist
  • Sonam Sherpa – Lead guitarist (died 2020)
  • Saurabh Choudhary – Guitarist
  • Subir Malik – Organist, Synthesizer
  • Gaurav Balani – Bass guitarist
  • Srijan Mahajan – Drummer

Accompanied by:

  • Suhail Ali Khan – Violinist
  • Shambu Nath – Tabla, Percussions
  • Shashank Singhania – Flute
  • Dhruv Bedi – Sitar
  • Rajesh Nair / Nitin Sidhu / Vikram Mishra – Sound Engineer

Subir and Nitin Malik are brothers, with Subir being two years elder to Nitin. Both of them studied at St. Xavier's, Delhi. All the members of the band except Nitin, who went to Hindu College, went to Kirorimal College and were part of MUSOC (music society).[4] Saurabh Chaudhry has a degree in business administration.

History

They are yet to release a full-length album, because they prefer giving out their music for free. They have had millions of downloads from their site and other related pages. They did release a free multimedia CD of their singles and videos in 2001. The band does not have any policies against their music being copied and distributed.[5] They have made their music available for download on their official website.[6]

The band often fuses Indian classical music instruments such as mridangam, tabla and flute with conventional rock instruments including guitar, drums and keyboards. They have been inspired and influenced by Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. Sonam Sherpa and Saurabh Chaudhary are endorsees of Carl Martin effect pedals.

Recordings

Parikrama rarely records music in the studio, and most recordings are made in live performances. On being asked in a 2012 interview if they plan a compilation album of live recordings, the band encouraged listeners to download their recordings from Facebook or Reverbnation and "make your own album, the way u want it".[7]

The first song "Xerox" was named 'the face of Indian rock'.[8] Their first hit single "Till I'm No One Again" was released in 1995 along with "Open Skies". It was among thirteen other songs chosen from the demos sent by a hundred and fifty other bands in the country. This release, Great Indian Rock Volume 1, was produced by Amit Saigal, owner and publisher of the India's first rock magazine: Rock Street Journal.

Another song, "Gonna Get It", was released in 1996.

Their sixth number in succession was released in 1997: "Load Up".

This band composed the song "The Superhero" for Bangalore. This was in response to the visit of Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates to the IT capital of India, Bangalore.

"But It Rained" was released in 2001. The song was about the kidnappings in the Kashmir Valley in 1995. This song is probably their biggest hit. They were surprised when a crowd of 40,000 sang along with them in their opening set for the Iron Maiden concert in Bangalore.[9]

A Parikrama original "Rhythm and Blues" was created in course of their jam session with Usha Uthup.[10]

Parikrama released a lockdown version of 'Vapourize' in which Nitin sang the song in a new style.[11]


References

  1. ↑ "The Search for Rolling Stone India's 25 Greatest Indian Rock Songs of the last 25 Years". Rolling Stone India. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Indian rock band Parikrama guitarist Sonam Sherpa dies at 48". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Parikrama relaunches their 2001 hit single But It Rained". www.flipsyde.live. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "The LAUGH on US with US Page(s)". Parikrama.com.
  5. ↑ Ganesan, Sharmila (10 February 2006). "Piracy no prob, says Parikrama". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2006.
  6. ↑ "Till I'm No one again". Retrieved 9 April 2006.
  7. ↑ Tyagi, Akshay (13 March 2012). "Parikrama – "Don't do drugs!"". Themusiciris.com. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "The rock 'n' roll pilgrims - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Blabbermouth (31 January 2008). "Nearly 100,000 Fans Expected At IRON MAIDEN's Concert In Mumbai". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "RHYTHM AND BLUES". Parikrama.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Parikrama's lockdown version of Vapourize is the way we've all been feeling lately". www.flipsyde.live. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.