The circle of music | Exclusive

Parikrama has been there creating music for the last 17 years and has come a long way. Formed on 17 June, 1991, the band draws inspiration from Rock Machine, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Doors, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix and AC/DC amongst many others. They've performed in over 1,500 venues and when WAVE got in touch with the band for an x'clusive interview, the band was in the diwali mood and was preparing to rock Nepal on 7 and 8 November. We look forward to the rocking concert Parikrama! And now the interview follows….

What is Parikrama's music all about?
Parikrama's music, traditionally, had been Blues based rock, more like classic rock. But we changed it a bit last year when Iron Maiden took us for a 25-day UK tour and we ended up playing in many concerts including the Download Festival. Accordingly, we added shades of metal to our newer originals to suit the tour.

How did you end up naming your band "Parikrama" and why?
We wanted to keep a Hindi name, for no apparent reason. It was quite uncommon in those days as well. Nitin came up with the name and we all liked it because we could relate to it immensely as it denotes the circle of life and the theory of karma. Hence, the name!

Rate Indus Creed, Pentagram and Parikrama in terms of their music.
Indus Creed is a legend for us. They were the original rockers and we respect them immensely. If they ever re-group and no matter how big-a-band we become, we will always be open to them for concerts. We are not really into electronica as such, so don't know much regarding Pentagram's music but they are a good act. As for Parikrama, please do the rating.

You have not released any albums yet, why is that? Do you have any plans of taking one out?
Parikrama always had a different marketing strategy. We release our tracks for free on www.parikrama.com and let people download it. We realised quite early on that we cannot make money from album sales so we followed this strategy. Till date, we have close to six million downloads. People download our tracks, and if they like us they call us for shows. Today, the whole world is doing the same thing we did 13 years ago. Look at AC/DC, Coldplay, Radiohead and many more. And yes, we are planning to release an album. More so because our fans are after our asses; they want a proper album with cover/snaps and all. So let's see.

You've played alongside Iron Maiden four times, how did it feel? You also toured with Saif Ali Khan. Please share your experience with us.
Iron Maiden are probably the most humble and chilled out band we've ever met. They are idols to many but still so down-to-earth. It was like a 'lifetime achievement' award kind of feeling for all of us. It was brilliant! And Saif is a rocker. He knows more lyrics then we do. He is a dedicated musician and is always eager to learn. But you have to understand that he is an actor and plays guitar just for passion. But it was great!

You've performed in Nepal before. How did it feel playing for the crowd here?
You know, it was us who actually called Deependra and told him shamelessly that we wanted to play in Nepal. We can't tell you how excited we are to be performing again because the people in Nepal truly understand music.