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A local band has released a new song, hoping to provide listeners with inspiration, originality and a whole vibe to groove to.
The six-strong Hotboxgroove started their journey of sound in 2019 as a cover band wanting to contribute to the local music scene.
“The name sprung through brainstorming in the hot climate of Bahrain, hence Hotbox, and we added groove to it because what is anything without a good groove,” said Khalil Qureshi, one of the band leaders who is currently serving in the US Navy as operations lead for entertainment on the base in Bahrain. He is involved in three other music projects – Posthypnotik, Native Tourists and Habitat.
“The band realised during the pandemic the void that existed in Bahrain’s music scene and we saw that there was a need for more original music representing Bahrain.
“This was the inspiration for the band to start writing originals and now we have something new for the music scene by fusing elements from Jazz, blues, funk and psychedelic genres.”
The band is made up of co-leaders Khalil (rhythm and lead guitar) and Ryan John (drums) along with Karl Roderick (rhythm and lead guitar), Joshua Pandit (vocalist and synth), Szabi Nigo (trumpet) and Ryan James (bass guitar).
The cool crew are thrilled to have released their first single entitled Midnight Blooms earlier this month and can’t wait to get back into the studio to complete their EP, which will be unveiled at the end of 2023.
“We are super excited and extremely proud of the band’s current achievement and the fact that such sound is coming out of a tiny island called Bahrain,” said Khalil.
“This song was recorded live in one take at Studio 77. It’s all vibes - close your eyes, tune in and it takes you on a journey. It’s a sophisticated instrumental piece in an odd time signature and yet so easy to listen and groove to.”
He added that it took two hours to pen the lyrics of the new song.
“This was one of those magical moments in the practice session where we were just jamming and the next thing we know, we had written a new song in those two hours which rarely happens,” he said.
“The inspiration came from us being asked to play at a popular jazz festival in 2021 when we pushed ourselves and wrote three new originals. This was going to be our second time playing there and as artists we couldn’t come to terms as just playing another cover or rendition set, so we will be playing our full EP including the song we recently released.”
The song styles that they have written fall under the categories of psychedelic blues and jazz rock.
All the talented members write the songs together and have colourful backgrounds in arts and music.
Bahraini Khalil attended University of Central Oklahoma with a minor in music and a major in photographic arts. He started playing guitar and music at the age of 17.
Meanwhile, Ryan John, born and raised in Bahrain, attended high school in the kingdom and moved to the US after graduating where he majored in music at Cameron University, Oklahoma. He is currently a music teacher at a school in Saar and has been part of the metal music scene in Bahrain for the past 22 years. He was involved with numerous bands in the kingdom during that period.
Karl, born in New Zealand and raised in South Africa, graduated from Pakuranga High school in New Zealand. He went on to attend Auckland University of Technology with a major in mechanical engineering and was brought up musically in the church in South Africa. He started learning music at the age of eight and is now paying it forward by teaching music at a popular institute in the kingdom.
Joshua, also born and raised in Bahrain, attended high school here and continued his higher education in India at Seamedu Media School where he majored in mass media and sound engineering. He is currently managing his family business in Bahrain and his musical background consists of bands in India and Bahrain’s reggae band Enshanti.
Szabi, born and raised in Hungary, attended high school in Szombathely and pursued his higher education at Szechenyi Istvan University with a major in music education and chamber music. He is a classically trained musician and teaches music in various schools and an institute in Bahrain. He is also a member of Bahrain’s Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ryan James, who was also born and raised in Bahrain, attended Gulf Academy, graduating in business management. Currently he is a logistics professional and his musical upbringing is also in the church and the local scene. He has also been involved with multiple music projects for the last 10 years in Bahrain and is also a band member of Enshanti and Offtrack.
“We hope to inspire all listeners to write more original music. We request promoters to support more original bands in Bahrain by getting them shows and exposure; and the powers that be, to go on and create a system that really encourages people to come up with more original art as there is a lot of talent in Bahrain,” added Khalil.
“We as a band want to deliver healing for the listeners and heal ourselves by doing so.
“We love how intimate Bahrain’s music scene is and the pool of local talent is amazing. It feels like a community and a village of musicians and artists. We would definitely like to see more original bands versus cover bands. You can literally start an experimental music project and it will be well-received by the locals.”
People can hear the new song on Bandcamp and iTunes.
For details, follow @hotboxgroove on Instagram.
