Articles - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - 3 Comments

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. Continue…