Nikotin Complete 'Panodrama'

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Hiten Nainaney

"This was a real Chinese Democracy," admits Neil D'cruz – 'Cruize' to anyone who knows him – of the debut album from Dubai-based rock band Nikotin. But Panodrama, a record that’s been in the works since 2010 and has been beset by the kind of delays and holdups that would make Axl Rose sympathetic, is finally close to completetion, with just the mastering left to be done.

It’s an important milestone for Nikotin – a mainstay of the Dubai music scene since they formed in 2009 – who, despite a string of high-profile shows and opening slots (including sharing a stage with Nickelback and Maxïmo Park) found it increasingly difficult to complete their first LP. “We had a lot of issues,” says frontman Cruize. “A lot. The band split up for a while. People would leave, people would have different ideas, and when you know your band lineup is not solid, it’s hard to have the motivation to finish a record.” Work on Panodrama began in 2010 when, after their Nickelback gig, the band realized that they really needed a recorded body of songs. “We all thought, ‘Damn. We should have had an album ready when we got on that stage,’” Cruize says. “We were gigging a lot, and we didn’t want to tone that down because it’s what we loved to do. But we had won a battle of the bands competition in 2009, and the prize was recording time at [Dubai studio] SAE.” Nikotin met producer Elvis Garagic who, after hearing a couple of demos, told Cruize and his bandmates that they should consider doing a full album, and that he wanted to produce it. But despite the best of intentions, work on the record was problematic. “We would pause, and start again. And pause. And start again. Because the band kept changing,” says Cruize. “People would leave town, it was really difficult.” For Cruize and fellow original member Irfan Omar – ‘Charlie’ – the sporadic progress on Panodrama was the source of significant friction. “There would be moments where Charlie would be super pissed-off,” Cruize says. “He would be asking me why we were playing another gig when we had an album to work on. And I’d always be like, ‘Let’s just do this one show,’ and I’d be so pumped about it. I feed off the energy of a crowd, and I sometimes forget about recording music.”

A fluctuating lineup, work commitments and the fact that they were self-funded continued to delay Panodrama’s completion. “It was one thing after another,” Cruize says. “And then, over the past three, four months, things have just felt right.” A big part of that has been a stable lineup for the last seven months. Nikotin’s current incarnation – Cruize and Charlie, alongside bassist Frederick Mondol, drummer Kenan Bairouti and guitarist Walid Khalife – has clicked. “This lineup is so strong because everyone’s so stable,” says Cruize. “A couple of months ago, we all said, ‘Let’s just go in and finish whatever has to be done.’ We really pushed ourselves.”

Now that work on Panodrama is complete, Nikotin have big plans for 2014. They’re in talks for gigs and international festival appearances in the summer, preparing to shoot a music video, and are planning to fly out to Delhi this month to work with Maitri.org – an NGO campaigning on behalf of women in India, who want to use Nikotin’s “Letter For Better Days” as part of a promotional campaign.

And while the delays might have been frustrating, Cruize also believes that the finished product may have benefitted from the extended time. “I feel that the album right now, compared to what it could have been, say, a year ago… This is much better. It makes sense that it took this much time. It wasn’t wasted, and we’ve added something to the album. And we’ve learned a lot as well,” he adds. “We’ve certainly learned how to produce a record faster next time.”

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