The Indian Rock-ilution! III - Parikrama

What sets the bar between a good band and a world class band? For me, it’s the ability of a band to make you hum their original compositions for days, months or even years together. It is this that separates the so-so bands that you wouldn’t mind hearing every now and then when ‘plain bored’ from the bands that can change your mood (and maybe your life) with their mesmerizing tunes. Parikrama is one of those bands that have been knocking on the doors of international recognition for a long time, but hasn’t had their potential channelised to the fullest for reasons best known to them. 

One of the oldest bands on the circuit, Parikrama was formed in 1991. Parikrama means ‘orbital revolution’ in Sanskrit and comprises Nitin Malik with his powerful and raw vocals, the tenacious Sonam Sherba on lead guitar with his silky solos, Saurabh Chaudhary on rhythm guitar, Subir Malik, the brother of Nitin and the manager of the band as the keyboardist, Chintan Kalra on bass guitar and Srijan Mahajan on drums. Their musical influences include Pink Floyd, The Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jimi Hendrix amongst others. Parikrama are hailed by thousands of their fans as the ‘Big Daddies of Modern Indian Rock’ and arguably have the biggest fan base as a rock band in the country, one that is still on the rise. They started off covering bands such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd (some say they’ve outdone Floyd’s version of ‘Another Brick in the Wall’) but with age and maturity under their belt, they gradually realized the importance of their own novel sound that stands out from the rest of the lot.
Parikrama have done it all, from playing at various IIT and college Festivals to sharing the same stage with Iron Maiden, but inspite of such popularity, they have retained their roots with the incorporation of Indian instruments such as the Sitar, Tabla and the Flute. Parikrama epitomizes what we like to call ‘Fusion’ these days. What I would like to see them do is integrate their Indianised sound into their covers such as maybe getting the violins into play for ‘The Trooper’ or a sitar solo for ‘Highway to Hell’ which might be an arduous task but if there’s anyone who can do it, its Parikrama. They are not known by many for sharing a great off-stage chemistry but you would never be able to tell when they wave their magic wand on stage with performances that personify energy and which take experimentation to a different tangent altogether. Nitin leaves no stone unturned when it comes to lyrics covering a wide array of topics such as rock and roll, sex, war and fiction. 

Their first song, ‘Xerox’ was labeled as the ‘Face of Indian Rock’ in 1995. Their first hit single, ‘Till I’m No one again’ was among the 13 other originals selected for ‘The Great Indian Rock Series volume 1’ produced by Mr. Amit Sehgal, the owner of India’s first ever Rock Magazine, ‘Rock Street Journal’. In 1997 , Parikrama released the track ‘Lauda’ which would eventually be called ‘Load up’ censored for kiddy audiences. No prizes for guessing what the track is all about.

Parikrama also has a couple of music videos in its kitty, namely ‘But it rained’ and ‘Rhythm and Blues’. ‘But it rained’ is a fan favourite and is one of the highlights of their illustrious career. The song talks about the kidnappings in the Kashmir Valley. ‘Rhythm and Blues’ on the other hand was composed at a jam session with singer Usha Uthup. More recently, Parikrama have composed originals related to the Lord Of the Ring Trilogies such as ‘Am I Dreaming’, ‘Tears of the Wizard’ and ‘In the middle’. Another track that has the capacity crowds singing along in full throttle is the seven and a half minute composition called ‘Vaporize’ and features harmonized guitar solos mashed with a violin solo as well to add to the frenzy. 

Parikrama have big gigs in their bag to boast about such as playing in New Delhi for the aids awarness concert, playing in late 2005 along with Saif Ali Khan at the Royal Challenge Corporate Carnival in New Delhi and at the ‘Band of the Sand’ in Feb 2007 at Goa’s annual carnival. The turning point of their career came in March 2007 when they opened for a certain erm….. Iron Maiden and ever since that path-breaking performance, there has been no looking back for the band. Parikrama then went on to perform at Download Festival in Donington in 2007 on the same day, as a warm up to Iron Maiden. At this concert Nitin Malik stated that they were there because Iron Maiden had requested the event organisers for them to be on the billing and it was an honour for them to return the favour of Iron Maiden who travelled to Bangalore, India in March 2007. Parikrama opened up for the 4th time for Iron Maiden in Mumbai on the 1st of Feb,2008 to kickstart the ‘Somewhere back in Time Tour’ with a bang.

Having played for 17 long years, you would like to think that Parikrama has a wealth of albums and originals accredited to their name, but the truth is, that till date not a single album has seen the light of the day. Parikrama have stated before that they have not released an album because they believe in free music and do not mind their music being copied. Their theory would make some sense if they had put up more than just the 8 originals they have on their official website which are low-bit rate, barely audible versions of their tracks. Artists down the line, are remembered for their original works of genius and Parikrama barely have around 30 originals that the fans have heard over a span of 17 odd years which is an average of 1.76 originals a year. Now I’m no good at math , but even an amateur on the music circuit knows that that’s a paltry total to have and without meaning the least bit of offence, your local garage band can claim to compose more originals in a year than Parikrama. Die hard fans argue all day saying ‘Quality matters over quantity’ , but if you’ve been around for 17 years in the circuit then you had better get something right otherwise you’d be better off at your day job. 
 
 Don’t get me wrong! I really like Parikrama. If you’re opening for Iron ‘fecking’ Maiden and have showers of praise being thrown by their band members from all directions, you have to be ‘hot property.’ I mean one brief glance at Parikrama’s works over the 2 decades and you know that they’re as talented as any international band can be. Its just this wave of chagrin that sweeps across when you think what could have been, had Parikrama followed a better path in its various endeavors. It does pain me to a certain extent that Parikrama, being the icons and representatives of Indian Rock could have done more to attain major rock honours and to become an established International Rock Act, setting a precedent for the junior bands had they followed a better path. 

With the foundation that the band has set, they could have probably made it much bigger than they are with a more tactical approach and some more marketing nous , but lets not take away their thunder and the shadow that they cast for bands emerging and aspiring to be the next big act. Parikrama is without a shadow of doubt, the most eminent figure in the Rock circuit today and definitely deserves a round of applause for the influence that they impose on the next gen of rockers going through the system. Taking a cue out of their song Rhythm and Blues, “Their rhythm does flow, their rhythm does blend, their rhythm doesn’t sound like a one night stand, Eh heyye yeh heyye yeh heyye yeyye ye yehhhh.”(screech screech)