Guitar-driven instrumental albums are an essential component to any serious musician’s journey to attaining a more complete understanding of the stringed instrument. Sans vocals, they allow the listener (and practicing student) to absorb the craftsmanship into their psyche and channel this language out of their fingertips. Recordings from such (contemporary) masters as Stanley Jordan, Joe Satriani, and Eric Johnson have served as templates for wanna-be shredders who could no longer get their kicks satisfied engaging in “Bill and Ted” air posturing. Whether it’s jazz, metal, or blues, the guitar naturally serves as a beacon that conveys a mood and attitude of the songwriter’s composition. It takes an enormous amount of talent to tell a story with no words, however, it can be done. One of the more recent fret masters to accomplish this is Chand K. Nova…
Besides winning awards for his guitar playing, Chand also slays on the fashion front. Don’t even try to compete.
Born and bred in London, Chand developed a passion for the guitar at a young age. He began teaching himself to play along with the songs he loved, which led to the creative sparks to compose original music. Frustrated with the inability to find like-minded musicians that shared his passion, Chand chose to rely on himself and began his foray into becoming a multi-instrumentalist. After learning to play a variety of instruments, he recorded his original works and uploaded them on YouTube. There, his profile increased positively, and Chand knocked out four demo albums for his growing fan base. Those said fans were instrumental (no pun intended) in picking out five songs from the demos to be remastered for Chand’s official debut “The Solar Bliss EP”, released in June 2014. It garnered positive reviews, and one of the pieces, “China Man Blues”, grabbed an Independent Music Award for “Best Instrumental”. The title track, “Solar Bliss”, served as the catalyst for an episodic animated series set to Chand’s music, coinciding with the release of his second album, “The Wrath Of Chand”. Released in August 2015 on the Plaza Mayor Company label, this full length proved that Chand could rock with the best of ’em, with material showcasing a metal feel at times. He followed this up with another EP titled “Change”, which dropped on April 7 of this year.
On September 26, Bongo Boy Records will release the EP “Uncuffed”, Chand K. Nova’s most personal collection of instrumentals to date.
Chand’s inspiration for this latest release were the changes taking place in his personal life. Having invested nine years working in the prison system teaching music (among other duties), he began to feel the negative impact that his schedule was having on him personally. Finding it hard to focus on his passion for composing, he left that job for greener pastures, and this EP is a culmination of the feelings of freedom, hence the title “Uncuffed”. Compared to his second album, this has more of an “Unplugged” feel to the proceedings, mellow but still sublime. The opening track, “El Chando”, is a wonderful slice of Spaghetti Western bravado, bringing to mind the excellent soundtrack music of Ennio Morricone. “Kingdom Come” is an acoustic jazz number, that displays Chand’s fine chops, setting the mood for what’s to come. Following are “The Cost Of Freedom”, the title track, and “The Beginning Of the End”. The five selections on this EP are quality examples of mood music that can help you unwind, decompress, and think. It’s no surprise that Chand’s an in-demand session musician, given his talent. His previous output has been reviewed for such websites as Skope, MusicNotez, JamSphere, Beach Sloth, Maximum Volume Music, and Rockposer. And taking into account his growing fan base, imaginative cinematic thought process, and continuing creativity, it’s obvious that Chand K. Nova’s career will be going stratospheric.
Keep up with all of Chand’s happenings over on Facebook.
For more news, videos, and to purchase music, visit his official website.
You can also follow Chand on Twitter.
Here’s a sampler of the latest EP (courtesy of Chand and Bongo Boy Records):
