Parvaaz Reveal Debut Album ‘Baran’

Early this year, Bengaluru rockers Parvaaz kicked off a crowdfunding campaign to record their album Baran. Although the plan was to record the album first and recover the costs via crowdfunding, the band says they overshot their initial budget and didn’t think they’d rake in much from crowdfunding. Says guitarist Kashif Iqbal, “We didn’t think we would make more than Rs 40,000-50,000.”

In addition to raising over Rs 2.5 lakh over two months, Iqbal adds that crowdfunding also made them establish a real connection with their fans. Says Iqbal, “They [fans] just don’t invest their money in it, but also their time. So they get hooked to you. If someone contributes even Rs 500 and is expecting rewards, he’s going to be checking in about when the album will be out, between the months of crowdfunding and its release.”

Recorded earlier this year at the Nathaniel School of Music in Bengaluru with engineer Jason Zachariah [who also worked with Parvaaz for their 2012 EP Behosh], Baran takes its name from the Persian word for rain. The title track captures the band’s dark, moody prog-leaning sound in all of 13 minutes. Originally, a part of “Baran” and its preceding track “Roz Roz” was performed live as “The Long Song.” Newer songs which the band is yet to perform live include “Ghaib” and “Fitnah.” Parvaaz has also changed around its older material from Behosh, including “Dil Khush,” which has bassist Fidel D’Souza taking over the drum kit with drummer Sachin Banandur.

While Parvaaz have already grown accustomed to playing 90-minute sets, now armed with two releases, the band members are putting together a two-hour setlist for their upcoming shows. Says Ahamed, “The audience always want us to play more.”

The band is set to release the eight-track album Baran on August 13th at High Spirits, Pune, followed by a gig in Mumbai on August 14th, alongside Kolkata rockers The Supersonics at music channel Pepsi MTV Indies’ new initiative with venue Blue Frog, Ribbit. While a digital release is still in the works, Baran CDs and merchandize will be on sale at their launch gigs. The band will complete the first set of launch gigs in reverse order, starting in Pune and finishing in their home town of Bengaluru on September 6th at CounterCulture. The band is planning a special production for the Bengaluru gig, including guest artists, stage design and possibly the launch of their music video for the track “Beparwah.” Says Iqbal, “People here [in Bengaluru] would come anyway, because there’s enough of a fanbase. Maybe making them wait a whole month is a tactic. Plus, we get more time to plan that as a gigantic event.”

 

Listen to a teaser to “Baran”

 

Baran tracklist

1. “Beparwah”

2. “Ab Ki yeh Subah”

3. “Gul Gulshan”

4. “Roz Roz”

5. “Baran”

6. “Ghaib”

7. “Fitnah”

8. “Ziyankar”

 

Parvaaz performs at High Spirits, Pune on August 13th, 2014, at Blue Frog, Mumbai on August 14th, 2014 and at Egmore Museum Theatre, Chennai as part of the Music Festival on August 17th, 2014.