Friday, 25 February 2011

PARIKRAMA!!

Parikrama is a Rock and Roll band from Delhi, India. They have several live performances and original numbers to their name. The band was officially formed on June 17, 1991 in Delhi. The word Parikrama means 'orbital revolutions' in Sanskrit.

Members

The band consists of:
Accompanied by:
Subir and Nitin are brothers. Subir, Nitin and Chintan are from the same school, St. Xavier's, Delhi. Subir is the eldest, Chintan and Nitin, two year younger, were classmates. All except Nitin, who went to Hindu Coll., went to Kirorimal College and were part of MUSOC (music society) .Saurabh Chaudhry has a degree in Business Administration.


History

They are yet to release a full-length album, though 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 . They have made their music available for download on their official website.
The band often fuses Indian classical music instruments like mridangam, tabla and flute with conventional instruments like guitar, drums and keyboards. They have been inspired and influenced by the likes of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.


Recordings

The first song "Xerox" was named 'the face of Indian rock'. 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, titled – 'The Great Indian Rock-series' volume 1,produced by Amit Sehgal, owner & publisher of the India's first rockzine.
"But it rained", was released next year 1996. This song was dedicated to the kidnappings that had occurred in the Kashmir Valley, during that period.This song is probably their biggest hit. They were surprised when a crowd of 40000 sang along with them in their performance for the Iron Maiden concert in Bangalore. Another song - "Gonna Get It" was released in the same year.
Their sixth number in succession was released in 1997 by the name of "Load Up".
This band composed the song "The Superhero" for Bangalore only recently. This was in due course of the visit of Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates to the IT capital of India, Bangalore.
A Parikrama original "Rhythm and Blues" was created in course of their jam session with Usha Uthup.
Parikrama has recently released a few more originals like the Lord of the Rings-inspired "Am I Dreaming", "Tears of the Wizard" and "In the Middle".
Apart from "But it rained" another Parikrama original called "Vapourize" is a crowd favorite. "Vapourize" is a 7:30 minutes long song and features harmonized Guitar Solos with a Violin Solo.
Currently a number of recordings are available as free MP3 downloads on the bands official site.


Major concerts

On December 18, 2005, Parikrama performed with Saif Ali Khan at the Royal Stag Corporate Carnival, Delhi.
In March 2006, Parikrama performed at Ragam '06 hosted by National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala.
On Feb 20 2007, Parikrama performed in Goa for the "Band of the sand" which was held at Calangute beach, as part of the Goa Carnival festival 2007. They were also tParikrama will perform at the Kennedy Center in March 2011, as part of "maximum INDIA", a celebration of the arts & culture of India.
Parikrama performed 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. Again they performed with Maiden in Mumbai. And now they are the official opening band for any Iron Maiden concert in Asia
The band also supported Iron Maiden at the special Clive Burr MS Trust fund concert at Brixton Academy on 24 June 2007, after coming to Maiden's attention at the Bangalore show.
Parikrama toured all the Indian metros, with Saif Ali Khan.
Parikrama opened for Iron Maiden on Feb. 1, 2008 in Mumbai on the first concert of their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. This was the fourth time they played alongside Iron Maiden.
In September 8, they performed at RENDEZVOUS 2008, the annual cultural festival of IIT Delhi, Delhi.
On the 21st December, 2009 Parikrama opened for Porcupine Tree at 'Mood Indigo' IIT , Bombay - Mumbai
On the 24th of January, 2010, Parikrama also performed at Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar during their cultural festival, Blithchron. It was a major event throughout Ahmedabadand Gandhinagar, attended by nearly 5000 people.
On 20th of Feb, Continuing their trans-national journey encompassing different cultures,Parikrama performed at Vivacity 2010, the annual Techno-Cultural-Management fest of The LNM Institute of Information Technology(LNMIIT),jaipur. Scaremonger ,Hash and Lycanthropia opened for Parikrama.
Again on 21 February 2010, they performed at Assam Engineering College during Pyrokinesis, their annual festival.
On the 15th of March, 2010, they performed at National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, during NIMBUS-2010, their annual technical festival.
On the 26th of March, 2010, they performed at Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani – Dubai, during Jashn-2010, the celebration of the university completing 10 years.
On 28 March Parikrama performed at Bits Pilani, Hyderbabad Campus to an audience of young enthusiastic students for their first ever fest BITS Pearl-2010.
On 3 April 2010, they performed at CALCUTTA INSTITUTE OF ENGG. AND MANAGEMENT , KOLKATA during CELSIUS, their annual festival.
On 25 April 2010, they performed at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore for their annual cultural fest JAYCIANA
On May 15, 2010, Parikrama were the main event at the MTV stuntmania auditions held at NSIC grounds in Delhi, they performed last, after a great evening by Circus, Bandish, and Them Clones.
On July 24, 2010, Parikrama performed at Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow.
On August 14, 2010 Parikrama performed at St. John's Medical College, Bangalore's Fest Autumn Muse's Rock Show, Muse Rock which was Independence Eve Rock that year,Avial(band) also performed at that event in aid of Underprivileged Children's Treatment Fund.
On December 12, 2010 Parikrama performed at Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Pune as the last Band for the day.
On January 14th, 2011 Parikrama performed at the National Youth Festival 2011 (NYF-2011), being held at Udaipur, Rajasthan
On January 22, 2011 Parikrama performed at Indian Institute of Management Indore during the cultural fest "Mridang"
On February 18, 2011 Parikrama performed at National Institute of Technology, Durgapur during the fest "Recstasy"
On February 21, 2011 Parikrama performed at National Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai during the fest "Spectrum"
Recently Parikrama have joined one of the pioneers in Digital Distribution giants Hungama in their Unreleased Music venture ArtistAloud.com : According to the band's Manager Subir Malik “The reason for this website becoming a path-breaking one is that it’s the most organised effort I’ve seen so far. Finally, there’s a site that has nothing to do with Bollywood, and a lot of time and money has gone into marketing it. The music industry is almost over in India; there is no music in MTV either. At least there’s someone trying to promote non-commercial music.
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EUPHORIA

Euphoria is an Indian rock band from the city of Delhi, India. Their unique style has helped them gain an audience, seen as alternative to the dominant Indian film or classical music. Euphoria were among the first to bring rock culture to India. They mixed electric guitar with traditional instruments like the tabla, dholak and sitar to create mesmerising effects. The band lineup has often changed through the early 1990s, attaining stability after 1998, until recently, when guitarist Gaurav Misra (also known as Gary) parted ways with the band. It has been reported in the media, that Gary went off to settle in Australia. But nothing has diminished its appeal over their fans (also known as Dhoomers). Recently, they inducted female members Vaishali Barua and Krutika Muralidharan as backup vocalists.

Biography

In 1983, three young starry eyed boys - Ashok, Sunil and Jitty, one Rangarsons drum kit, a Reynolds' electric-guitar and an old hand made bass guitar (With acoustic guitar tuning keys.) plugged in and called themselves SMALL CHANGE. Endless bluesy jams in the Shroffs' drawing room and of course any party in the house was the default audience much to the delight of the trio. "We need to do a proper show!” was everyones echo. But none of them sang. Another bright eyed guitarist Prashant joined the trio and introduced a vocalist called John, who got SMALL CHANGE their first show at JMC. Another show at SRCC and the SMALL CHANGE story came to an end.
In walks Raj (Rajshree Balasubramanian). Friends told us "Has an awesome voice. Will sing your rock stuff”. Around that time, another Delhi band "White Fang" had called it a day and Amitanshu on the lead guitar came as a valuable additional member. With the exit of John, the name SMALL CHANGE was abandoned and NIGHT SHIFT was born. There was no looking back after that. The first show at IIT Delhi was followed by a new year gig at the Taj Palace Hotel and many others. Amitanshu left in around 1985 to pursue higher studies overseas followed by Manishi on guitar. Manishi was an amazing guy with original lyrics. "We must make a professional recording of our songs!” said all. In the Shroffs' Barsati practice room a make shift studio was made, thanks to Amit & Puneet Chandra who lent their equipment along with a professional mixer that was set up in Ashok’s mezzanine floor room, an audio tape recording of 6-7 original NIGHT SHIFT songs was made. 'We should cut an album now!” Raj said. But all good things have to come to an end. Raj left to join her parents in the USA and Ashok & Jitty to London to study Printing Technology at the London School of Printing.
End of 1987 - Ashok & Jitty came back and the familiar bluesy riffs again started wafting from the Shroffs' Barsati. 'We need a good vocalist!” said Ashok after no result from several auditions. Raj’s absence was terrible. The College Fests started around this time. Saw a young boy do an Elvis Hound Dog routine with desperate intensity. 'He’s good!” Everyone said.
Enter Polly, later to become Dr Palash Sen - 1988-: The youngest Shroff, Ravi did not want to be left behind and joined the group around this time on the keyboards. 'We must have a new name!" Polly said. "Our name should indicate a state of feverish excitement. How about Euphoric… or Euphoria! said Sunil & Ashok.”, "Euphoria, then be it!” echoed the others. EUPHORIA took off with the first show at AIFACS in August 1988.
1989 - Exit Ravi to the USA,enter Johnjit to replace him on keyboards.After that IIT, AIIMS, JMC, UCMS and many other gigs.
While this success came with a lot of hard work one cannot forget the co-operation and support of Ravi, Jitty & Ashoks' parents who put up with all that cacophony for so many years. A special mention for their mother who would welcome not only the band members but also their friends, acquaintances or even the passer by, who sometimes came in to listen to the band practice. Sumptuous lunches, endless cups of tea and coffee made the toil of practice like an enjoyable picnic. Whereas the band went ever onward, they could do so only with the moral support of their parents, girlfriends, wives who happily agreed to forego many precious weekends, so that the band could have more time available for practice.
1990 - Enter Anuj Bhatia, on the second guitar. Lot of Whitesnake, Rainbow, Van Halen and Scorpions followed after that.
1991 - exit Johnjit, enter Benny. Though, a hotel musician, Benny jelled in with the band instantly. Many more shows and then a prominent exit.
1992 - Sunil decided to pack his Washburn bass forever and focus on his career. He was replaced by DJ a few days later. EUPHORIA played on steadily till 1995 till Anuj left for U.K. for higher studies. Both Ashok & Jitty wanted to focus on their business expansion plans and decided to call it a day. Polly carried the EUPHORIA dream forward with new members and hasn't looked back since then.


Old band members

  • Ashok Shroff
  • Sunil Verman
  • Jitty Shroff
  • Prashant
  • John
  • Rajshree Subramanium
  • Amitanshu
  • Hitesh Madan
  • Gaurav Misra
  • Chris Powell
  • Ravi Shroff
  • Johnjit
  • Anuj Bhatia
  • Benny Pinto
  • Prashant Fuloria
  • Gussie Rikh


Band members

  • Palash Sen
  • Amborish Saikia
  • Debajyoti Bhaduri
  • Vinayak Gupta
  • Ashwani Verma
  • Rakesh Bhardwaj
  • Prashant Trivedi
  • vikas jansar



Films

The band has signed to compose soundtrack for a Malayalam film named Best  Of Luck.


Albums
























































































































Singles


Collaborations

  • 2004 - Jeet Lo Dil feat. Strings
  • 2010 - Delhi Meri Jaan. (for the Commonwealth Games 2010 New Delhi)



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JAL


Jal (Urdu: Ø¬Ù„, translation: Water) is a Pakistani pop/rock band formed in Lahore in 2002. The group was formed by Goher Mumtaz (vocals and guitar) and Atif Aslam (vocals).
They achieved fame with the release of the single "Aadat", after which lead vocalist, Atif Aslam, left the band and was replaced by new vocalist Farhan Saeed and bassist Aamir Sheraz.[1] Their new lineup followed by their debut album, Aadat (2004), which was declared the best selling album of 2004 on Geo TV by the owner of Sadaf Stereo. The band's second album, Boondh (2007), won 3 awards, including the Best Album of the Year and the Best Video Award for Song "Sajni" at the Lux Style Awards in 2008. Jal revealed on their account that they are Preparing for their third Studio Album, which is expected to come in mid 2011 in both India and Pakistan.

History

Jal was formed in Lahore in 2002 when Atif Aslam and Goher Mumtaz composed their first song by the name "Aadat". Soon after, began their search for like minded musicians to complete his band. They ran into Shazi (Aamir), a bass guitarist and after a few jamming sessions invited Shazi to join Jal. Jal's first single "Aadat" was released in December, 2003. Before the release of its video "Aadat" was released of the internet through a local Pakistani web portal. The song enjoyed the status of the most downloaded Pakistani song on the internet for quite some time and was extensively popular by the time the video was released.
Directed by Umer Anwar the single burst into the Pakistani music scene and took it by storm. Receiving an amazing amount of air time by all the music channels and entering music charts. The video was rated 4th best video of the year 2003 by ARY The Muzik within days of its release. The success of the "Aadat" can partly be gauged by the countless concert offerers the band received immediately after the release of the song and partly by its rating to date on music channels.[2]
However, by the end of December, 2003 due to musical differences, Atif Aslam parted ways with the band while Goher Mumtaz once again searched for a vocalist. It was then that Sultan Raja, Bassist of Call, introduced Farhan Saeed Butt to Goher and thus Jal found a new voice. By the time Jal came up with their new line-up "Aadat's" video was already doing rounds on the local music channels with the former singer Atif Aslam's vocals. The song was thus re-done for the official release in their debut album Aadat.[1]


Aadat (2004–2006)

Jal released their debut album, "Aadat", which did well at the charts. Their first single "Aadat" topped the charts and stayed at the top for two weeks. Singles from the album were "Panchi", "Bikhra Hoon Main", "Aadat", "Lamhey", "Ik Din Ayega", "Dil Haarey", and "Teri Yaad". Five songs from the album received Top 40 airplay in Pakistan. The title track, "Aadat," was remade for the Bollywood movie Kalyug. Few of the songs from the album, also appeared on Atif Aslam's debut album "Jal Pari" after Atif Aslam left the band. This led to a dispute between Atif Aslam and Jal about who owned the rights to the songs.
Sales of the album were such that it remained at the top of the Pakistani music charts for several weeks after its release. Sadaf Stereo Records, the record company which released the album in Pakistan announced that Aadat was the best selling album of 2004. This was followed by the release of album in India by HOM Records, where it was highly successful too.
In 2006, Jal had created waves as the latest Pakistani band on the block, even as their album Aadat continues to climb the charts locally, and their 2005 track "Woh Lamhe" was a hit, even a year after its release. A remix of the song later appeared in the Bollywood film Zeher.
Track#SongLength
1"Aadat"4:29
2"Bikhra Hoon Main"4:01
3"Woh Lamhey"5:25
4"Ik Din Ayega"4:18
5"Teri Yaad"6:19
6"Panchi"3:50
7"Dil Haaray"4:47
8"Rangoon Mein"4:35
9"Manchala"3:47
10"Har Jaga Hai Jal"2:52
11"Panchi" (instrumental)3:46
12"Woh Lamhey" (instrumental)5:25

Boondh (since 2007)

In 2007 Jal released its second music album named "Boondh" and in 2008 released it in Mumbai, India. Farhan Saeed, the lead vocalist of the band, explained the title of the album "'Boondh' is not the name of any song in the album, but is basically the theme of the album and covers all the songs in it. The name suggests that we as a band are just like a small droplet of water in the sea of music, which covers Pakistan, Asia and the entire world where our music is heard. It is our small contribution to the sea of music," said Farhan.
The album was followed by a live tour, mainly in South Asia, with concerts all over Pakistan, and a few places in India.


Music style

Jal's Goher Mumtaz has shown fondness for Junoon, and is influenced by singers such as Hamid Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan, although their sound primarily falls in the Pop/Rock genre.


Discography

Studio albums
DVD's
  • Woh Lamhay (2005)
SINGLE's
  • Kash Yeh Pal (2008)
  • Humein Itna Pyaar(Love Reprised Version) (2009)
  • Yeh Mera Pakistan New Version (2009)
  • "Iris" (2009) Cover for the 1998 Goo Goo Dolls song Iris by Goher mumtaz
  • Woh lamhay (unplugged version)" (leaked unreleased song)
  • "Rangon mein (unplugged version)" (leaked unreleased song)


Band members

Current
Former
Sessional
  • Paul Maurice - drums
  • Salman Albert – drums
  • Saad Sultan – rhythm guitar
Band Manager
  • Dj Maq
Tour/Stage Manager
  • Hasnain Alam


Awards

  • Jal's video Ik Din Aye Ga was declared the 2nd best video among the top 100 videos selected by The Musik channel.
  • Jal's debut album Aadat was declared the best selling album of 2004 on Geo TV by Mr. Khalid Sadaf (Owner of Sadaf Stereo).
  • Jal also received a special award by Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in recognition of their support and efforts to raise funds for fighting cancer in Pakistan.
  • In 2006, Jal won an award at MTV Asia Awards 2006, following an award Indus Music Awards for best rock band in Pakistan.
  • In 2008, Jal won a best song Musik Award for the song Chalte Chalte.
  • In 2008, Jal won a best song award for "Sajni", The Best video for "Sajni" and the best album of the year for "Boondh" at the Lux Style Awards.
  • In 2009, Jal won a best ballad song award for their song "More Piya" at MTV Asia Awards.
  • In 2010, Jal Won a Best Video Song award For their song "Sajni" at Ptv Award.In June-2010.

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