India’s iconic rock band Parikrama completes 25 years in June this year. Late last year the band recreated their musical journey with an online tee shirt where fans could experience some of the best moments from the band’s amazing journey narrated through the largest collection of personalized tees from the iconic band which was made available on a popular lifestyle digital platform.

Formed in June of 1991 in Delhi, Parikrama packs a punch wherever they go. Parikrama comprises of six members and is nation-wide famous for its fusion of Indian classical instruments and the conventional ones. The band consists of: Nitin Malik – lead vocals, Sonam Sherpa – lead guitars, Saurabh Choudhary (guitar), Subir Malik (organist, synthesizers), Gaurav Balani (bass guitar), Srijan Mahajan (drums), Imran Khan (violins), Shambu Nath (tabla, percussion).

For the past decade, they have had majority of their recordings through their live performances rarely recording their music in a studio. This band believes and prefers in giving out their music for free.

The band also has some groovy merchandise in the form of their own tee shirts which are sold on a popular online fashion website. Well how cool can you get?

Musicunplugged.in caught up with the band for a short chat a few days before their Mumbai gig and here is what they told us about their journey. Excerpts from the interview.

You guys have been around for the last 20 years or so. What changes have you noticed in the Indian rock music scene, since the time you came on the scene and now?

Well it will be 25 years this June, Of course loads of things have changed, big bands have moved from covers to their own music now. Besides bands today have much more opportunities and mediums to make themselves heard. The world has become one very small family, and it’s really easy to reach out.

Which are the bands that have influenced you?

Almost all classic rock bands, from Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Purple, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Rush, it’s an endless list.

Parikrama has never released a full length album. What is the reason for that?

We always released our music free of cost through our website since 1995. Music reached a million times more people as it was free and in return, we got huge amount of gigs form where we got our money and the most satisfying thing ever, to be live on stage.

You fuse western musical instruments and Indian instruments in your music, is there a reason for doing so?

Yup, the album ‘Conversations’ by Dr L Subramanium, was one and only reason that I wanted to experiment with the Indian instruments and it grew from there.

Going back in time, how did the name Parikrama come about?

We just wanted to keep a Hindi name for no reason. Nitin (Malik) was into Osho Books at that time and he was reading a book called ‘Vishwa Parikrama’, we cut out the first part and thus the name was born.

You have done many collaborations with different artists like Rahul Ram, Rabbi, which has been the most memorable?

We have done hundreds and hundreds of them, cannot name in a single one, each one has its own charm and we collaborate only with friends, not for the sake of it.

How did you guys move from doing covers to originals?

The only reason was, for our dearest ever friend, Mr. Amit Saigal, RSJ. RIP man. But we always had our own songs from the show 1 (Xerox etc), just that we formed the band to play classic rock and till today, though we do almost full original sets we have no qualms in playing a cover or two of bands we love.

What is it that has kept the band together for over 25 years?

Correction 25 years - Peace, trees, rock n roll and beer.

Did any of you ever think of going on a solo career?

Never

You have also been the opening act for Iron Maiden in UK, how did this deal come about?

Well it was an unbelievable dream, they saw us in Bangalore, and just came over to the green room and said “We are taking you to UK " , and in 4 days we got the first email, it was an amazing amazing experience, and the Maiden guys are the most humble people to ever know.

Have you done any work for Hindi films?

Yes. We composed music for an entire film including the background score for ‘Manjunath’. Three members of the band, Sonam Sherpa, Nitin Malik and Subir Malik together composed the music for the movie which was based on an IIM graduate Manjunath Shanmugham, who was brutally murdered for standing up for what he believed was right.

You guys recently launched a tee shirt of the band. What is this all about?

We are super excited to have our own store at Freecultr, as we have had ordered tees from them earlier, in personal capacity, and were really impressed by their designs and execution, so we decided to launch our own tee shirts. The tees capture the glorious history of the band featuring popular screenshots, band moments including tie and dye designs that are a favorite with Parikrama fans. The store will also feature first edition tee that was first designed and printed 24 years ago. Also there is a limited edition of ‘24^th Anniversary’ tee commemorating the band’s milestones, besides mega campaigns for the massive tour this year. The designs are for both men and women. They come under 2 variants – the Casual wear and the Active Wear. We hope it appeals to our fans.

What are your future plans?

To play and play and play and to have loads of fun, like always.

Have you ever played at any of the Hard Rock Cafes overseas? If yes, which is the most memorable gig you have played there and when?

Not yet.

I suppose you might have played at almost all the HRC outlets in India. Which have you found the most appealing?

We love Hard Rock Cafe and have a very old relation with them, again very tough to answer that, we have had great fun in each and every one of them.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira