The Band…
Parvaaz is an Bangalore-based blues/psychedelic Rock band.
It comprises of Khalid Ahmed (vocals, guitar, and lyrics), Kashif Iqbal (lead guitar, backing vocals, various instruments, and lyrics), Fidel Dsouza(bass) and Sachin Banandur (drums, percussions).
The band is currently touring to support their debut E.P. ‘Behosh’.

How It All Began…
Kashif and Khalid, two childhood friends met after a gap of three years while studying in Bangalore. Kashif had been singing for the Delhi based band 'Blank Noize' since the year 2006. But because of the distance between the two cities, that project had gone on the backburner after the launch of their second album 'Pukar'. Khalid on the other hand, had been working on a solo project.

After meeting Khalid, the two had their first jam session at a friends place and at 3 am, one morning and came up with their first song. Although it was a rough structure, the two found a common wavelength musically. Neil had been playing guitar along with Kashif for a couple of bands in Bangalore, and the two had a few compositions of their own. Somarshi Bhattacharya (Shomu), drummer for the band - Dead Incarnation was chosen after a few auditions and Parvaaz was ready in total.

The Journey…
The three months that followed, saw Parvaaz participate in various college level competitions. This period can be termed one of the most crucial times in the band's history as the boost from winning 5 of these competitions in a row gave motivation to all the members to change this otherwise temporary project into a fulltime pursuit.

Around October 2010, the band qualified for the finals of a talent hunt show named Zee Aspire. Unfortunately, Shomu wasn't available then. Hence they roped in Sachin Banandur, a common friend. They ultimately won the competition Sachin joined the band.

In March 2011 the band went four-piece after Adarsh left due to other commitments. The quartet of Kashif, Khalid, Sachin and Neil now started work on their first single ‘Dil Khush', an eight and a half minute track with a 3 minute drum solo, released 3rd July 2011. The first reviews of the band were comparisons with a 60’s psychedelic era with shades of Led Zeppellin, Pink Floyd and The Doors. By this time the band had gathered a decent fan following, mostly due to an epic performance at The Fireflies Festival of Music and Arts held earlier that year in Bangalore.

Parvaaz started gigging heavily, at festivals like Big Junction Jam, Great Indian October fest and Roots Festival. The band was about to record their second single in September 2011 when the intense pressure of balancing music and personal commitments took its toll on Neil. He ended up leaving the band a week after the recording. The band scrapped the single and started looking for a new bassist.

Sachin had earlier in his career performed with a lot of musicians and knew Fidel Dsouza, a bassist with the jazz band 'Bourbon Street'. After watching Parvaaz perform live at a local event, he later reconnected with Sachin and eventually become the new bassist.

Present…
By January 2012, Parvaaz had a fresh set, quite different from their earlier work. They went on to perform at 'Storm Festival' held in Coorg. This show put them in the limelight and the band was finally performing along big names like Swarathma, Indian Ocean and Raghu Dixit.

With time, more new songs followed and by March 2012 the band chose five tracks to go into their debut EP ‘Behosh'. It was produced by the band themselves, recorded mixed and mastered by Jason Zachariah.

The band is now working on a full length album which they say will define their musical ambitions and shape their sound better. As Kashif puts it "We are just getting there as performers. In today's industry the walk to the top is long and hard, but when you have passion by your side the journey is beautiful".