Learning to fly
Ahead of their gig, guitarist Kashif lqbal of Parvaaz speaks about their brand of music.
With every second rock outfit choosing to play in English, it is refreshing to see those who pick a language they breathe in. Remarkably earthy with Urdu and Kashmiri poetry, Parvaaz stands out in the crowd. Technically, it is a ‘psychedelic-blues rock’ group, but the Bangalore-based quartet has more to it than meets the eye. Pune will get to know them on Friday as they play at High Spirits for their maiden performance in the city.
Formed in 2010, Parvaaz comprises four members: Kashif Iqbal (guitar), Khalid Ahmed (vocals), Sachin Banandur (drums), and Fidel D’souza (bass). It was Kashif who, along with his childhood friend Khalid, decided to form the band. “Khalid and I have known each other since childhood. We were fortunate to find each other in Bangalore after a long time. We share similar musical influences, so it didn’t take us long to start composing our own music,” he says. The duo then met Sachin and Fidel through common friends and decided to form Parvaaz.
Parvaaz, in Urdu, means ‘flight,’ and their music, which is a perfect blend of psychedelia and blues, exemplifies it, transporting one to a different world. Ask them about their musical influences, and Kashif quips, “Each one has a different musical influence, from classic rock to blues to jazz. But when we jam, we keep our individual influences aside and create something unique.” And unique is precisely what best describes Khufia Dastaan, one of their most popular songs. The nine-minute long number that has influences of hard rock and blues equally has got brilliant reviews.
Their songs mostly describe experiences of love, loss, desire, and aspirations, and their debut album Behosh is a beautiful compilation of these songs. “This was never planned. After a year or two of playing live, we decided to record an album in 2012,” Kashif says. He feels that recording an album is more challenging than performing live.
The group is now working on their second album. “After the release of Behosh, we came up with 8-10 songs. We plan to come up with a second album (untitled project) which will have all these songs,” says Kashif.