Biography:

Tapping into an intricate fantasy world rich with astute spirituality and cleverly-constructed melodic and harmonic structures, dexterous guitarist, songwriter and producer Pheroze makes intelligent music that illuminates life’s mysterious complexities. Inspired by vibrant rock risk-takers such as Freddie Mercury, Kim Thayil, Chris Cornell, Slash, Jeff Buckley and Prince, his intellectually-driven songs memorialize the craftsmanship behind the music that has sparked his imagination since childhood and present multi-dimensional snapshots of his cultural and creative roots. His ongoing dedication to mastering the intricacies of the recording and production process and talent for drawing out the unique elements of each song, regardless of genre and shaping them into works of art that connect emotionally with listeners has helped him evolve into a skillful producer and engineer. Through his meticulously-crafted albums and cathartic live performances, he freely presents highly-personal material that also genuinely resonates with a universal audience.

Born in London to Zoroastrian parents, Pheroze’s musical journey began while he was splitting his childhood time between the restrictive Saudi Arabia and the colorful, sensual India. Equally-stimulated by the pervasive Bollywood culture and the Black Sabbath, Queen and Prince that was on regular rotation at his parents’ house, his exposure to varied cultures allowed Pheroze to develop a worldly perspective. When he was 12-years old, a chance encounter with a friend’s guitar finally gave a distinct voice to his life’s passion, and, in order to raise enough money to buy his own instrument, he smuggled in Penthouse magazines – which were illegal in Saudi Arabia – and sold them to local teenagers. From that point on, he has been driven to build his life around the creation of music. He continues to channel the ghosts that have drifted in and out during his journey and let them speak through uniquely haunted melodies and lyrics.

Pheroze has been energetically participating in the New York City music scene since he arrived in 1997 and has written songs for, played in and released well-received albums with bands including Scar Culture (Century Media Records), Soapbox Army and most recently, Comfortably Plum, an emerging Pink Floyd cover band. Often referring to himself as “Minstrel for the Dead,” Pheroze Karai has recorded and released two solo LPs: Driftwood (2008, mixed by Nick Cohen); Crows into Swine (2011, mixed by Clay Holley). Both albums exhibit his skills as a multi-instrumentalist and feature him playing every instrument except drums. His upcoming album Ennui presents a series of distinctive, intricately-crafted songs about the moody human condition, reinforces his agility as a producer, singer and songwriter and showcases his powerhouse backing band, consisting of guitar virtuoso Pontus Gunve (PHWG), accomplished bassist Dan Kramer (The Stink) and nimble drummer Jeff Hardee (Facelift). Ennui will release on April 23, 2013.