Manooghi Hi is a Seattle-based rock band formed in 2007 and featuring

Indian pop Indian pop music, also known as Indi-pop, refers to pop music produced in India that is independent from filmi soundtracks for Indian cinema, such as the music of Bollywood, which tends to be more popular. Indian pop is closely linked to Bollywo ...

singer,

Mehnaz Hoosein Mehnaz Hoosein (born 30 January 1973) is an Indian pop singer and songwriter from Mumbai, India, popularly known for her hit song 'Banoongi Main Miss India'. She is a graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. At the age of 13, Mehnaz started ...

. Their music is a blend of western

rock-n-roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

harmony and instrumentation with Indian melody and rhythms. The band sings in a variety of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

n languages, including English, Sanskrit, Hindi, and Bengali. Manooghi Hi released their debut album ''Hi'' in 2009Manooghi Hi (2009). "Manooghi Hi". cdbaby.com. Retrieved March 12, 2013
/ref> and their second release "Silence" in 2011.Brian McKinnon (July 11, 2011). Muzikreviews.com, Manooghi Hi. Silence. Retrieved March 12, 2013
/ref> They have performed at festivals including Seattle's

Bumbershoot Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend (leading up to and including the first Monday of September) at the ...

Arts Festival, Austin's

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

music conference, the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

in Park City Utah,

Oregon Country Fair The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) is a nonprofit organization and an annual three-day art and music fair held outside the city limits of Veneta, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, the site is about west of Eugene along the ...

in Eugene Oregon, Salem Oregon's "World Music Festival" and Darrington, Washington's Summer Meltdown. Manooghi Hi has been featured on KING TV Channel 5's "Northwest Evening Magazine", KCPQ Q13's "Morning Show", Seattle Channel's "Art Zone", KZOK radio's "The Bob Rivers Show", KEXP's local music spotlight "Audioasis" and KEXP's online feature "Song of the Day".Jason Kinnard (February 2, 2010). Song of the Day. Manooghi Hi Kismet. kexp.org. Retrieved March 18, 2013
/ref> Manooghi Hi has played concerts for Seattle City Hall and in prestigious Northwest rock clubs including repeat performances at "Triple Door", "Crocodile Cafe", "Neumo’s" & "

Chop Suey Chop suey () is a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery ...

". The band has also been featured in publications such as the "

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

".Nicole Dastur (April 30, 2009). "From Banoongi Main, to Manooghi Hi!". The Times of India. Retrieved March 12, 2013
/ref> and "Seattle Times". After watching their performance at the "SXSW" music conference in Austin in March 2009, Jonathan Zwickel of the

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

wrote 'The cross-pollination is dizzying — East and West, ancient and modern, pop and classical, ecstatic spiritualism and headbanging rock.' Manooghi Hi. Retrieved March 18, 2013
/ref>

Personnel

Current members

*Mehnaz Hoosein - lead vocals *Ava Chakravarti - vocals *Todd Fogelsonger - guitar *Jimmy Thomas - bass *John Hollis - drums *Kent Halverson - keyboards

Past members

* Mark Nichols

Discography

Albums

*''Hi'' (2009) Manooghi Hi Records *''Silence'' (2011) Mowlawner RecordsManooghi Hi Silence (2011). Mowlawner Music. cdbaby.com. Retrieved March 18, 2013
/ref>

References

Musical groups from Seattle