Founding members were recently accepted to Azerbaijan Polytechnical Institute, it was there they agreed to create the band in 1981. Name 'Minaret' chosen by Otar Jalilov. Bassist Vadim Syrykh soon joined the band. Despite being university students now, they were practicing in their older school №175. They initially played songs written by other Soviet composers. Otar Jalilov and Pavel Bulak were mainly influenced by Pink Floyd, Yes, Argent and Genesis. After collapse of Soviet Union, Minaret began to compose their own songs. They played live in rock festivals in Baku, such as "Rock Panorama 88'", "Rock Panorama 89"', "Baku Autumn" and so on. "Kino", "Scottish Elegy", "Number", "Shy Hope" were their main tracks played live.