Neal Karkhanis on The Great Heights Band’s Debut Album “Songs in Eastern Standard Timing”

For Neal Karkhanis, busy does not even begin to describe his life. Currently a third-year law student at the University of Maryland, Karkhanis is also one-fifth of The Great Heights Band.

Updated: May 22, 2015 1:52 AM IST

By Sonali Gupta

Great Heights Band

Great Heights Band

For Neal Karkhanis, busy does not even begin to describe his life. Currently a third-year law student at the University of Maryland, Karkhanis is also one-fifth of The Great Heights Band, and, for the past several months, has alternated between studying for finals and recording the band’s debut album “Songs in Eastern Standard Timing.”

Needless to say, the 28-year-old Texas-native has his hands full. Karkhanis began listening to the likes of Elton John and The Beatles at an early age.

“My dad bought me my first guitar when I was a young kid and forced me to listen to records hours on end,” he said.

The band’s journey began about a year ago when Karkhanis wrote and demoed songs on his computer.

“My buddy Paul and I went into the recording studio with the songs I wrote, and they came out really well,” he said. “We threw them up online for our friends to check out and after that we got the itch to write more songs.”

Neal Karkhanis

Karkhanis reached out to former band mates and friends about forming a band.

“I wanted to make sure we had a good balance and it was important to find people who worked well together,” he said. The band consists of Linette Gonzalez on keyboard, Paul Martinez on drums, Owen Brinser on bass guitar, and Karkhanis as the lead singer on electric guitar.

With a unique sound deemed “alternative rock with a little punk rock thrown in,” The Great Heights Band’s music is comparable to the early 90s bandsWeezer and Blink 182.

Despite his passion for the arts, the South Asian-American singer struggled with the decision to pursue music in a serious manner.

“When I started being really involved with music and it was taking up my time, my parents were concerned,” Karkhanis said. “Most Indian parents think about things in a logical and binary sort of way. A status school, a status partner—that’s success for them because that’s where they are coming from.”

Karkhanis added that “open dialogue and frank conversations” are important tools that have allowed for his parents to support his musical ventures.

The group signed with Pennsylvania-based CI Records earlier this year. For Karkhanis, the transition is progressive. Another change for The Great Heights Band is the addition of a fifth member, Eric Taft, who plays the guitar, sings and produced the band’s full-length album.

“Being signed to a label as opposed to being independent gives us opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have,” he said.

The band’s debut album will release this summer and consist of 11 catchy tracks, written by Karkhanis.

“Most of my songs are about relationships. Love songs inspire me to write,” he said.

Paying careful attention to a song’s production, Karkhanis said he believes songwriting is an ongoing learning process. “Now as an older songwriter, I see things I didn’t before, including what themes I can write about, what people can relate to. There is just so much there.”

To keep up with the band’s latest updates, “like” them on Facebook and follow the new school musicians on Twitter.

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