Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
One of the kingdom’s beloved bands has won a major accolade at a mega music competition in the UAE ... proving the psychedelic group has plenty of groove, funk and soul, writes Mai Al-Khatib Camille.
The seven-strong members of Hotboxgroove are over the moon about winning ‘Debut Recording Artist of the Year’ for their song Midnight Blooms - their first single release in October last year - at the Musivv Awards.
“It is a great honour for us to be recognised for our hard work and win ‘Debut Recording Artist of the Year’,” said Khalil Qureshi, one of the band leaders from Riffa, who is currently serving in the US Navy as operations lead for entertainment on the base in Bahrain. “It’s indeed a proud moment for us to be representing Bahrain and Bahrain’s music scene in the region. This was a great night for independent artists.”
Musivv is a platform, in a digital magazine format, that discovers and develops independent musical artists in the UAE and the Middle East, and their awards has honoured more than 50 independent creatives since its inception in 2019.
“We are grateful and hope to inspire all Bahraini and MENA region’s artists to keep going and make great music,” added Khalil, the band’s rhythm and lead guitarist who is also involved in three other music projects – Posthypnotik, Native Tourists and Habitat.
The rest of the cool crew includes Ryan John (drums), Karl Roderick (rhythm and lead guitar), Joshua Pandit (vocalist and synth), Szabi Nigo (trumpet), Rod Collins (saxophone) and Ryan James (bass guitar).
The group is currently working on their next single Gut Bucket followed by Silhouette and Indus, expected to be released by the end of this year.
For details, follow @hotboxgroove on Instagram.
