Derev

Fusing their Middle Eastern heritage with prog sensibilities, the Canadian band is reaching out and affecting new audiences.

The image of a pair of teenager pals bonding over music and aspiring to form a band to take on the world has never lost any of its romantic potency, but few are the bands that have traveled halfway across the world to fulfill their dreams. Not so prog-metallers Derev, whose guitarist Armando Bablanian and drummer Michel Karakach rose to the challenge after initially meeting in high school in Kuwait before finally forming the band in Canada after a period of separation.

“I came to Canada to study and Michel moved to Syria to continue his studies,” recall Bablanian. “We were always up to date with what we were doing with our lives and with our music. We never really knew if it was ever going to work out until Michel came to Canada as a refugee after the Syrian uprising.”

“Once I was there, I hooked up with Armando and said, ‘We’ve been talking about being in a band all this time – let’s just do it!’” adds Karakach.

Wasting little time, the pair recruited singer Adel Saflou, bassist Stan Komarovsky and keyboardist Ran Zehavi and released the //Leap Of Faith// EP, which has now been followed this year by //Troubled Mind//, their debut album. However, with Saflou located in Amsterdam, Mike Symons has taken his place to move the band forward.

For Derev’s founders, their heritage informs their music whether they’re conscious of it or not. “It’s something that we can’t really separate from ourselves; it’s part of who were are,” says Bablanian. “We don’t try to intentionally put too much of it in our music but we also embrace it and let it flow through out music.” As Karakach points out, their lyrical concerns deal as much with personal issues as they do with wider global events. “We’ve previously written about war, so that’s where I’ve drawn on my experience from Syria. //Troubled Mind// focuses on personal issues and struggles.”

Derev – named after an Armenian word meaning ‘leaf’ (“it’s very organic and it’s tied to new life and new hope,” explains Bablanian) – are hitting the road in Canada, an experience they stress is crucial to conveying their music. “We’ve had audience members tell us how the music has touched them emotionally.” High praise where dreams really do come true. JM

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