Mehnaz Hoosein to perform at Sundance Festival

Mehnaz Hoosein, the Indi-pop star of the ‘90s, will become the first Indian artiste to perform at the Sundance Film Festival. She takes the stage at the independent cinema festival that will take place in the state of Utah, US, from January 21 to 31.

Mehnaz’s performance is part of the Sundance ASCAP Music Café, a dynamic showcase for live performances by emerging and established artistes. She will perform with her Seattle-based band Manooghi Hi on January 23. The band includes all Seattle artistes like Todd Foglesonger on the guitar, Mark Nocholas on keyboard, Jimmy Thomas on bass, John Holis on percussion and drums, Jarrod Kaplan on percussions and vocalist Ava S Chakravarti.

“I was lucky to be a part of the Indi-pop scene in India. But when it faded, many independent Indian artistes like Shaan and Alisha Chinai moved to Bollywood which worked for them. I am really glad that Manooghi Hi happened to me. It exposed me to a whole new kind of music,” says Mehnaz.

She is excited about performing the song called Kali which tells the story of the goddess of darkness. “It’s very difficult to describe our sound. It has a hard rock base but with an Indian flavour,” says Mehnaz, adding, “I’d like to call it ‘Psychedelic Bombagrunge’.”

Mehnaz has done most of the song-writing in Hindi. The band’s last self-titled album included songs like Dum A Dum Mast Kalander with a twist, Kismet, Om Baba and Humm.

“In fact, the name of the band came from Banoongi (part of the song Miss India) because it sounded like Manooghi to my band. They enjoy the Indian aspect of our music,” she ends.