Make love, not war

Strings went from being the boys next door to becoming international rock stars, getting international acclaim and becoming UNICEF Pakistan’s National Ambassadors for HIV and Aids in just a little more then a decade. With each successive album they released, their sound matured and their lyrics became more meaningful. Their songs had a knack for reaching out to a mass audience. Strings grew on all of us in such a way that their songs became what we hummed day and night, the sound of their kind of music became more and more familiar —to the point of it becoming easy to predict a typical Strings song from any other. It just might be about time they do something about that.

Their latest offering, Beirut, written by Anwar Maqsood, although primarily based on the recent bombing on Beirut, is about the implications that a war has on a society and its people. According to Bilal, who was speaking for himself and Faisal, “This song is not just about Beirut. It is about what is happening in the world around us. It’s an anti war song” he went on to elaborate how Faisal and himself, being fathers, were concerned about the younger generation growing up in an increasingly hostile world and the need for them to be more socio-politically conscious. He stresses that, “we didn’t want to promote us. We wanted to promote the subject”.

When questioned about writing the Beirut song, Anwar Maqsood replied, “Actually Faisal forced me to write that song. He had already composed the music for it and needed the lyrics. I based it on the movies on Beirut that I used to watch when I was younger. Around the same time, I was also doing a project on Lebonnen, so that also helped”. He also added that, “Overall the entire song took around two days to write”.

Having already written several popular Strings songs already, he is expected to be the sole lyricist for their upcoming album leading one to wonder: why him? “We are comfortable working with him. He understands our concepts and our music” replied Faisal, “being an artist himself, the way he writes songs tends to produce a very graphical picture of the concept we have in mind. Plus, he writes prose in a way that doesn’t make the language difficult to understand to anyone”.

Strings upcoming album is due sometime in the end of February, beginning of March, right after Moharram. The status on the album is that they have already composed all of the music and are currently spending time in the studio recording it. The lyrics for most of the songs still need to be written, but they have already come up with concepts for each of their songs. There is no particular theme that dominates the album, however, they have composed some songs that touch upon socio-political issues, not unlike Beirut.

One of the songs they are working on is based on terrorism, the lack of security and uncertainty that surrounds it. It is about a man who leaves his house not knowing whether or not he will be able to come back home. Being the official UNICEF Pakistan’s National Ambassadors for HIV and Aids, it comes as no surprise that there is also a song on Aids currently in the making. Strings hope to launch the song on December 1^st, World Aids Day.

They are currently undecided as to which label to sign up with in Pakistan but will definitely be signing up with Sony BMG in India. They are currently touring between Nepal, the United States and Switzerland.

One has to credit them for taking the initiative to ‘talk’ about issues that are currently affecting the greater world. The video of Beruit, although not entirely a piece of art, seems to be inspired by that of Sarah Mc. Lachlan’s “World on fire”. It graphically depicts the impact of wars, making it more ‘real’. Since time immemorial artistes have used their power and influence to generate attention and focus towards issues and events that had a major impact on certain groups of people. Wars have been stopped and people have been saved as a result of those efforts.

With the world becoming more and more global, nowadays, what affects only a certain group affects everyone else directly or indirectly and whether they like it or not. It’s about time that someone from the media used their creativity to snap most of us out of the materialistically-driven haze we seem to be perpetually lost in and made us sit up and take notice.

Photo: A screen shot from the video of Beirut, Strings latest anti-war song.

First Published:
Images
October 29th, 2006

To Norway and back
Norway, which has a very large desi community, has always been somewhat receptive when it comes to having local musicians perform for them. Looking back, Junoon was the first Pakistani band to perform in Norway back in 1999 to a full house at the Oslo Concert Hall. In September 2001, they went back again and collaborated with Morten Harket, a member of the popular Norwegian band A-ha, on a concert in which they jointly performed several songs.

Fast forward to 2006 and three sets of musicians from Pakistan recently went to Norway to perform at the World Music Festival in August. Shallum and Gumby collaborated with the Norwegian band Fryd, Overload (featuring Puppo Sain) and Atif Aslam, who was accompanied by guitarist Sarmad Ghafoor, and also performed on separate days during the festival.

Images decided to have a heart-to-heart with Ingrid Kindem of Fryd on its collaboration with desi musicians during the festival and on their future plans in Pakistan. Also, Farhad Humayun from Overload shared his experience of performing for a Norwegian audience.

“Fryd went to Pakistan for the first time because of the Norwegian company Telenor,” says Ingrid. They have a big international cultural programme and they wanted us to play a concert together with Fuzon at the launch in Islamabad in March 2005. It was very interesting for us to work with Fuzon so we wanted to develop the project together. Later on, we went to Karachi for studio work in both Immu’s and Shallum’s studio.

“Shallum wanted us to meet some of the local musicians and he introduced us to Gumby and Khalid, the bass-player. We had several jam-sessions in Shallum’s studio and had a lot of fun playing together with local musicians. Russell and some local vocalists also joined us. We played some standard jazz tunes together, some pop-covers and also original material composed by Fryd and Shallum. For us, the original music is the most interesting. Shallum has composed a lot of great instrumental music; he has definitely developed his own sounds-cape and character, and we hope to work on that material later on.

“We had a great time working with Shallum and Gumby in Karachi. They are really great musicians, open-minded and they challenge us to play our best. We wanted them to join us at a concert at the World Music Festival in Norway,” Ingrid said, continuing on how Fryd ended up collaborating with Shallum and Gumby in the festival. “We also included a tabla and a banjo player in the band. We rehearsed for several days to give this collaboration a special sound.

“The concert was a big venue outdoor, and the audience was really enthusiastic. Later on, we did a live concert at the National Norwegian Broadcasting which included an interview with Shallum,” he added.

Fryd ended up performing a track they titled Thumri. Lyrically, it was in a local language. How did that end up happening? “After working with Fuzon, we really wanted to learn more about Pakistani classical music. Fuzon gave us an introduction to some Pakistani raags and we found some similarities in traditional Norwegian folk music. Later on, we made a new song together based both on a raag and a Norwegian scale.

“Mocci wrote some Norwegian lyrics and Shafqat made a similar lyric in Urdu. Last year, Fryd did some studio-recordings in Lahore, and we tried to record a classical thumri song. The guys in the studio helped us a lot and Mocci really worked hard to sing the lyrics in Urdu,” related Ingrid. “A lot of people liked the arrangement and the way we played the song, so we developed it to include some Norwegian lyrics as well. I'm sure we will develop a lot of songs this way. Music is a great and universal language. You don’t always have to understand the lyrics, but you can feel what this is about when good musicians perform.”

And what is your perception of the Pakistani audience? “They are curious, enthusiastic and friendly. What more can you ask for? We want to come back soon,” replied Ingrid enthusiastically. “Fryd has fallen in love with Pakistan and we are absolutely thrilled to return in November. The Pakistani people are so friendly; we have a lot to learn from them.”

Elaborating on their plans of coming to Pakistan, Ingrid told us, “The tour with the Norwegian-Pakistani Collaboration will be set in a few days and it seems like Shallum will be a part of that project.” Details of their visit include a concert in Islamabad on November 9, and after a performance and a short studio stint in Lahore, they plan to perform in Karachi on the 18 or the 19.

Moving on, Farhad related what Norway was initially like for them. “We were scheduled to play two gigs in Oslo at the festival at the Docklands. We were situated at a downtown hotel where all the nightlife is and all the decadent artistes hang out. The Oslo jazz fest was on so we took out the time to hear some good authentic jazz. The weather was cool and breezy –– perfect for us to kick up a storm. Ours was the only band which was at the venue well before the others for a thorough sound check, so we sounded really good as the opening act for the festival and got the groove going for other bands to follow.”

Talking about the festival, he says, “It was a three day fest. The first day was pretty desi in terms of the crowd turn out and artistes that played, although the Danish band Outlandish also played that night. The second and third days were dedicated to world music. We saw a great Egyptian band, a Palestinian band with a female singer and another big band with a great horn section. Other than music, there was food and a separate booth for poetry, cross-cultural discussions and debate. It was fun because we didn’t expect Norway to be so multicultural.”

How was the response that Overload got? “Phenomenal. Absolutely fantastic. I don’t want to praise the band unnecessarily but I must say each member of the band played like this festival was his last. God has been very kind. We were signing autographs and getting pictures taken right after we got off stage. Especially at the second gig, we had a turnout of about 100,000 people. It was a long street that accommodated the audience and we could see this wave — people just jumping and dancing and bouncing — like there were springs in their shoes. It was crazy.”

After performing at the festival and becoming acquainted with different international musicians and artistes, are there any future collaborations that we should be looking out for? “Well, I don’t know about collaborating with artistes in Norway, but right after the festival, the Sains headed back home and Sheraz, Hassan and I went to Barcelona where we had lined up some casual club gigs.”

On a more serious note, he said, “Most people aren’t clear about the fact that the three of us are Overload and we collaborate with other artistes like we did with Shafqat Amanat on the album and are currently touring with Pappoo and Joora Sain. We are talking to other European artistes so there might be something on that front in the future. But it’s clear that the next album and following gigs will feature more artistes.”

What would you have to say if you were to make a comparison between the Pakistani audience and the Norwegian audience? “The Norwegian audience is better educated in music. They will listen more than dance unnecessarily. They think and are receptive and are generous in appreciation which works out better for a band like ours which are completely instrumental at the moment. I feel the same way about the Japanese audience,” said Farhad, relating to Overload’s last performance in Japan.

“The Pakistani concert audience is more like a sports audience. Quick, emotional, noisy and crazy — which is fun too, but I think it’s better suited for pop/ vocal artistes — because Pakistani people generally like to be involved in every happening, whether it’s a car accident or a story about somebody whose daughter eloped. Pakistani people relate better to words/ vocals. That’s why the music of our artistes is weaker than the vocal content usually.”

With foreign artistes coming to Pakistan and providing local audiences with a fresh, new angle to music and with desi musicians travelling and collaborating with musicians abroad, one can hope that this exposure will result in a greater variety and enhanced richness in the music that local bands are currently churning out.

The fact that compositions made by local musicians are not only being recognised but are also gaining appreciation should also affirm that there is no dearth to talent in Pakistan, once a person puts heart and soul into what s/he’s doing. As for festivals, we still have a long way to go before we can host our own.
















Photos:
— Morten Harket in the studio with Ali Azmat and Brian O Connel (background)
— The musicians in Oslo: Overload, Atif Aslam, Shallum, Gumby and Fryd.

First Published:
Images
October 15, 2006

The Blue Raag

They emerged as a promising new rock band after attaining victory in the Pespi Battle of the Bands in 2001. Their first video, Sawal, skyrocketed them into commercial success and henceforth began the anticipation regarding the release of their debut album.

It seemed everything was going in the right direction for them — their songs were doing well on the charts, their fans were growing in numbers by the day and a major sponsor was backing their first album. What more could anyone ask for? More so, why would anyone want to mess that up?

Aaroh, the band in question, takes its name from an eastern classical term, aarohi, which in simple words means “ascending a scale”. The initial success Aaroh experienced also made them more susceptible to enticing offers from here and across the border. A person who found one of the offers tempting was Nabeel Chisti (the then lead guitarist of the band) who, along with Kamran Khan (keyboard player) hopped across the border and signed music deals with industry individuals in India allegedly using the band’s name without the prior consent of the other two founding members of Aaroh, Farooq Ahmed (vocalist) and Khalid Khan (bassist).

A tug of war between the two groups ensued over who rightfully owned the band’s name and songs in the first album. A court case later decided the issue for them: everything by Aaroh legally belonged to Farooq and Khalid. With popular hits like Jalan, Sawal, Jeay and Na Kaho, Aaroh’s debut album Sawal, although marred by controversy, attained a relatively good level of success. One question, however, remained unanswered: how much of its success could be attributed to the contribution made by Nabeel?

Nabeel’s exit marked the entry of Haider Hashimi into the band, then a relatively unknown figure in the industry. He not only had to learn and adapt his own formula to what Nabeel had left behind, but also had to ‘prove’ himself in order to come out of Nabeel’s shadow. Aaroh’s current lineup consists of Farooq (vocals), Khalid (bass guitar), Haider (lead guitar) and Jason (drums).

With two videos from Aaroh’s second and upcoming album, Yaara and Pyaar Ka Jaal, both written and composed by Haider, having already done pretty well on the charts, one would say Haider has more than just redeemed his position in the band: he has quietly proved that as a musician, composer and songwriter, he is a force to reckon with.

Farooq claims that most of the songs in the new album have been written and composed by Haider. However, when confronted, Haider refused to take individual credit, saying that it was all a “group effort.”

With the launch of Aaroh’s second album, Raag Neela, just around the corner, Images decided to take a sneak preview into what the new Aaroh has to offer to its devoted fans. For their second album, Aaroh has signed up with The Musik Records as its record label.

The song Khuda begins with Farooq singing in a haunting, almost hypnotic voice tinged with emotion. The song is one of Aaroh’s softer songs and has a small guitar solo near the middle with a distinct bass line towards the end. Following Khuda in the softer, more soulful category is Woh Jo Kehday Mujhay. Heartrendingly romantic, the song talks about giving one’s self up to one’s object of affection.

Where no one can really top the queen of sufi soul, Abida Parveen, Aaroh’s rocked up version of her classic Mahi Yaar Di Gharoli is nevertheless, catchy. I personally feel that the live version is much more exciting. However, what comes as a relief is that the song, although rocked up, still maintains a certain simplicity about it; it has not been ruined by over-the-top guitar solos or vocals extending beyond reasonable-breath. The mix and the music are just right to have Aaroh ‘owning’ a classic without disrespecting it.

The title track Raag Neela came somewhat as a pleasant surprise. It pumps energy in a similar manner that the Abida Parveen cover, done by Aaroh, exudes when performed live. Farooq seems to enjoy himself while singing this particular track and one can trace an intriguing mixture of irony and amusement in the way that he has rendered this song. Backed by a strong composition, needless to say dominated by powerful guitar-music, the neela raag definitely stands out as one of the better tracks in the album and deserves to be put on the playback mode.

Although the song Pyaar Ka Jaal is now familiar to most due the heavy airplay its video received on the tube, it still manages to stand out in the album and comes across as a strong song. With lyrics dealing with the darker side of love, broken promises and anguish that accompanies heartbreak, Pyaar Ka Jaal is still very much listenable.

Where there are so many good songs in the album, there is one that failed to rise up to one’s expectations, Ek Cha, the only song in the album written by Shafqat Amanant Ali. It seems mellow compared to the raw emotion depicted in the rest of the songs in the album. Ek Cha may appeal to some listeners, but as a song, it’s a little too ‘safe’ and lacks a certain edge. Also, Jeet Lo, Daira and Jo Ankhon Mein Aanso somehow fail to stand out. Confronted with much stronger songs such as Yaara, Pyaar Ka Jaal, Khuda, Woh Jo Kehday Mujhay, Mahi Yaar Di Gharoli and Raag Neela, these songs fade in comparison and somehow just don’t cut it.

Although initially promised to be a very ‘dark’ album, Raag Neela continues to embody the raw emotion and intensity that initially defined Aaroh; however it does have a light funky element to it. It may finally prove to some individuals that rock is not restricted to dark, melancholy music and depressing subjects. Rather, it can be experimented with and be used with to express the same emotions with a lighter angle. Aaroh’s Raag Neela definitely has new flavour and is overall a good album to have.

First Published:

Images

October 8th, 2006

Above, far and beyond

How many times have you wished that you could just ray-gun someone of out your sight? Or while stuck in the infamous Karachi traffic, wished there were beaming stations from where all you had to do was say “energise” and you would then conveniently be transported (beamed) to the destination of your choice within seconds? From where did such ideas enter into our heads anyway?

Science fiction or Sci-Fi as it is popularly known, has been a part of literature ever since an over imaginative person discovered he or she could write. It included things the writer thought was to come and create a magical world without any magic spells, potions and unicorns. Instead, these objects would be replaced by man-made gadgets and inventions that were capable of performing wonders. Science fiction writers wrote based on what they thought the world would be like several decades or centuries after the time-period that they were in.

Literature categorised as science fiction is described as those in which the author creates an illusionary world involving hypothetical, physical, biological, technological, philosophical, historical or cultural constraints. This is done for the purpose of relating or exploring specific aspects of human behaviour, life or the universe under these new, contrived conditions. These writers reflect their awe for science and their hopes of what scientific research could yield. However, it also displayed their fears in cases where scientific research would end up reaching harmful conclusions, the consequences of which would have to be suffered by all mankind, animal-kind and earth-kind. A quick read will make it clear that Sci-Fi writers are more prone to write about the future they hope will not happen rather then that which they would want to.

One thing needs to be taken into consideration however, and that is that predictions made by science fiction writers are deeply influenced by those scientific possibilities that are mutually understood by people in that era. Also there is a considerable portion of fantasy in science fiction and many science fiction writers have also written what is known as fantasy literature.

Decades after popular science fiction writers forecasted the future of mankind, one wonders how accurate their predictions were. Now that we are in the ‘future’ that they used to write about, how has the advancement or deterioration of mankind measured up to the imagination of these Sci-Fi writers?

Some of the predictions that did end up coming true are from the popular classic book, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne. He is considered to be the first to ever merit being catagorised as a science fiction writer. Most of his books including his first best-seller Five Weeks In A Balloon, From the Earth to the Moon and two other books that later got adapted to screen-plays, The Mysterious Island and the famous classic, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, deal with voyages and exploration where his characters are constantly marvelling at the new scientific discoveries that they end up making.

In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Jules Verne had predicted that there would be self-propelled submarines that would be capable of diving and travelling underwater at very high speeds. He also predicted in the same novel that electronic watches that would be far more accurate then analog clocks and that electric generators would be used to propel very large sized engines. Furthermore, he predicted that underwater aqualungs (portable cylinders with compressed oxygen in them) coupled with adequate wetsuits would enable deep sea divers to remain underwater and work on the ocean floor for longer periods of time. He also spoke about how submarine warfare would render ships travelling on the surface of the water absolutely helpless against them.

Another popular science fiction writer, H.G. Wells has written books that set the background standard for other science fiction writers to work on. He has written one screen play, Things To Come, in which he tried to depict, in detail, the horrifying implications of World War II. Out of all his books, two of the most well-known were adapted for the big screen quite successfully. First one being The Time Machine, in which he showed time-travel through the ages and the result of the human race. The other was War of the Worlds in which he depicts the horrors of an alien invasion on earth.

In his book, Things To Come, which was published in 1933, H.G. Wells ended up with a few successful predictions including that World War II would start in 1940 and would involve all of the major countries in the world as well as air-raids and dog-fights between enemy aircrafts. He also predicted the implementation of gas warfare.

Amongst his non-war related predictions from the same book, to have been invented by the year 2054, was the introduction of air-conditioning, video tape recording and commercial television and televised broadcasts reaching almost all parts of the world. All of the inventions mentioned above have been introduced to mankind well before 2054.

A prediction that did not end up being successful was the reconstruction of the world till it reaches utopia in the year 2054. Hopefully by then, ‘enlightened’ human beings would have gotten rid of all kinds of instruments that lead to death and destruction. One of the predictions that yet to come true is that citizens will be wearing personal communication devices on their sleeves at all times. This is oddly reminiscent of the use to cellphones nowadays which most people have and keep on their self almost all the time.

In his book, When the Sleeper Awakes, H. G. Wells predicts the invention and use of all-purpose liquid food, portable television sets, use of automatic doors, mechanised agriculture and ‘light globes that change night into day’ (light bulbs). Those predictions that sound like fun, but yet to be realised, are an automatic clothes-making machine, special ‘pleasure cities to placate the masses’ (Dubai, perhaps?) and moving conveyor roadways. He also predicted that most of Earth’s population would be concentrated in great super-cities.

Brian Aldiss, another science fiction writer who wrote primarily about space travel and nuclear technology, in his book, Who Can Replace A Man, predicts space flight to Mars and sound being used as a weapon.

His predictions still to see daylight is the introduction of robots to serve and support human communities and robot wars after mankind becomes extinct. He also predicted anti-gravity to have found its way to Earth by the year 2500 A.D.

Whether or not the predictions of science fiction writers come true or not, we can safely state that these writers possessed an extra-ordinary imagination. They provided us with countless stories and transported us to faraway lands, the idea of which would have been inconceivable to most people at that time. Famous inventors are those who have a great imagination coupled with the skill and drive to realise them. Sci-Fi writers simply provide them with a direction where to begin with.

First Published:
Spider
October 2006

Music and beyond

[ Cover Story ]
The development and growth of electronic music on the internet has been phenomenal to say the least. What started out as a trend between a couple of individuals to share encoded files, which when played, produced music, turned into an alternative that record labels now consider a huge threat to their revenue and are increasingly considering switching towards it themselves as a medium through which to market their clientele.

Music and computers came together when the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) introduced the first modern-day synthesiser. Originally created for the purpose of industry professionals studying the science of sound, introducing the synthesiser opened a world of possibilities for musicians. The amalgamation of computers and microprocessors meant that comparatively large quantities of music data could be stored on a computer.

Making advancements in music technology Sequential Circuits developed the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) format in 1981. What differentiated MIDI from the synthesiser was that other then allowing the transmission of sound information, it identified the structure pertinent to the file itself. The creation of MIDI spurted a rapid growth in the development of electronic music and all hell broke loose the moment this advancement found its way to the internet.

The MP3 (Moving Pictures Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 3) format, which revolutionised the way we listen to music, was developed in the 1980s by the Fraunhofer Institute, a German research firm. It is a compression format that condenses audio files, incurring only a small difference in sound quality. The more the file is compressed, the worse the sound quality of the file becomes. The Fraunhofer Institute went on to develop the first MP3 player in the early nineties but the resulting application wasn’t up to the mark and was abandoned.

Around the same time in 1995, the Progressive Networks released, what was then described as, an application enabling internet users to select and play music clips from a menu and listen to them immediately. The application was the Real Audio Player that was integrated the RealPlayer 4.0 into the Internet Explorer 4.0 in 1997.

Also in 1997, Tomislav Uzelac, a developer at the Advanced Multimedia Products created the AMP MP3 Playback Engine which, after being released over the internet, was used by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev who altered it by giving it a Microsoft Windows outlook and renamed, the Winamp. The creation and free-availability of the Winamp is what is believed to be really responsible for the MP3 craze that raged from then on till now. Justin Fankel and Dmitry Boldrev also recently created the MacAMP.

Winamp’s launch into the cyber world boosted the growth of numerous encoders, search engines, players and so on but none could match what Napster had to offer. Napster’s history has been riddled with controversy and court-cases, which rendered it infamous, and as a hero to many MP3 pirates. From the day it was launched on the internet in 1999, Napster was a direct threat to many record labels since by connecting users to each other’s hard drives, it allowed users the opportunity to search and download any kind of popular music within minutes. However, Napster was charged with copyright law violations by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was ordered to shut down. This move may prove to be ineffective when it comes to MP3 downloads because there are many other application software and websites which are currently offering the same services that Napster did back in 1999.

Another breakthrough when it comes to music over the internet is the online streaming of the internet radio which was first introduced by Carl Malamud in 1993. More important then that, Radio HK, the first full-time, internet only radio station began broadcasting in February 1995. This method of broadcasting used a web-conferencing reactor that would in turn be connected to an audio CD that would move in almost-endless loops. However, pretty soon, Radio HK then converted to using the servers of RealAudio.

What revolutionised online radio and made it accessible for all was when in 1999, when the ability to net-cast 10 minutes of data by anyone was made available by a company called BMP. The software used, MyCaster, was built like an MP3 player which sent a stream to the MyCaster website, while the user would have been listening to the tracks. The MyCaster website would then provide an amplified stream for their users to access. Unfortunately, MyCaster went down with the internet bust in 2001.

Music in all forms has been appreciated by people of all ages. With more and more diverse viewers logging into the internet everyday, the demand for music will constantly be on the rise. With peer2peer file-sharing in vogue yesterday and internet-radio today, who knows what the future brings in terms of trends and mode of transmission that the music of tomorrow will bring.

First Published:
Spider
October 2006

The ‘light’ side of life
We hardly have any indie groups or labels in Pakistan producing independent work. However, what we do have is Shahzad Nawaz who took the initiative to form one. Working under the label Coup d’etat, his first project, Daira, the adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s book Moth Smoke, although highly anticipated, didn’t exactly generate critical acclaim but it was a start. After the buzz surrounding Daira died down, he began working on his second project, Botal Gali, in collaboration with Humayun Saeed Productions. This time, Shahzad made sure that every little detail he could think of had been taken care of — from setting up a website acquainting interested individuals of the Botal Gali concept, to forming an Orkut community where it could be discussed, to handing out posters and a paparazzi-size booklet during the premiere of the movie to familiarise the attendees with the cast, crew, making and most importantly, the concept of Botal Gali several minutes before the movie itself was to hit the big screen for the first time. The concept behind the invitations was also well-thought and was hand-delivered in a symbolic message-in-a-bottle manner.

Over one year in the making and with a cast comprising of over 32 well-developed characters, the movie (which is rated PG) opens with a man depicting Zameer (conscience) giving the opening dialogue about Karachi as a city and its inhabitants. While talking, facts scroll on the screen displaying bits of information from the size of Karachi’s population, the date of when alcohol was banned, to the number of liquor (wine) sellers operating within the city to the demographics of their customers and so on. Zameer, clad in a simple white shalwar kameeze, speaks eloquently and mostly in metaphors. The story is set in a time where the bootleggers and the customs in Karachi are engaged in conflict and the city suddenly experiences a dearth in the quantity of alcohol available. When he is done, the camera moves to a location behind him where a man with long, filthy hair and persona is shown with his hands dipped inside an iron tub. He takes his hands out to reveal what he had been washing: an empty green liquor bottle.

Babu’s introduction into the play produces a chilling effect as he is obsessed, talking to his beloved bottles about how they, as the keeper of secrets, are used as scapegoats for everything gone bad. He speaks to them intimately and with emotion that seems to reach out beyond the screen and forces the viewer to pay attention to his dialogue with the bottles, to which he talks to with an odd mixture of bitterness and intense love. Babu, an ex-alcoholic, resides at the farthest end of Botal Gali, a place where all of the empty bottles of Karachi find a home only to be resold to interested individuals again. For eight years he has been collecting discarded, empty liquor bottles and bringing them home with him. We do not know his purpose for doing so, but while cleaning them he talks to them about the hypocrisy, confused identities, selfishness and self-indulgence of those who had emptied those bottles in the first place.

With Botal Gali, the film, depicting different stories of a variety of characters interconnected in one way or the other, we find Babu picking up discarded bottles, the morning after every drinking binge, from locations giving hints of who and where these bottles had been consumed previously.

Characters that play a dominant role in the movie are those of Shahid, a pan-spewing, surma-eyed bootlegger who suddenly finds that his brand of alcohol, ‘Dante’s Vodka’ (effectively pronounced ‘dants’ by him and his co-conspirators), is in high demand. Henceforth, he is shown making deals, having his product delivered via his so-called friend, Zahid, who’s girlfriend he happens to be seeing behind his back. Shahid can be seen making mental calculations of how much his every move would cost him and how he is going to profit from so-and-so person and so on.

Amy is an American photojournalist married to Zeb (Sheikh Amer Hasan), an ex-pat who has recently returned to Karachi. The character of Amy provides an outsider’s point of view into the lives of the elite that she is exposed to and her curiosity and quest for covering something meaningful leads her to Babu. She sees in Babu an honesty that is not contained in others. Although the point of view she represents tends to bring out some very interesting facts and observations, Amy’s innocence and seemingly angelic appearance tends to get a tad bit too much here and there.

The auditorium in which the movie was being shown was packed, with some people sitting on the stairs, it seemed as if not a single person had decided to skip the event. The dialogues were clever and well-scripted and invited thunderous applause from the audience whenever a political or a social comment was made. The scenes themselves were short and the transitions slightly abrupt, but that style of editing seemed to grow on one’s self and the abruptness of the change in the scenes wasn’t noticeable in the end. The script of the movie had been well-written with facts thrown in here and there making it informative enough not to confuse a viewer with too-much-information. the only critique in the way it was rendered that one can find is that every person who drinks is shown as getting utterly and completely wasted (save for this one small group of individuals in one story out of the very many in the film), which is not always the case.

Post-premiere talk with Shahzad revealed that the characters are named after the roles that they play and have been inspired by real-life people and the storylines in the movie by real-life incidents. He hopes the film, after going through Pemra’s censorship would hit theatres by November. The film is planned for launch in theatres in India and will be shown at a South Asian film festival being held in New York this year as well. Other then theatres, Shahzad plans to release a DVD version of Botal Gali as well.

There aren’t many who have dared to make a movie about subjects that we know off but don’t speak about. Those that do end up being made aren’t allowed to run for long on big screens or aren’t given adequate publicity and eventually fade away into oblivion. Botal Gali speaks of a subject that most aren’t comfortable depiciting via the electronic media. It is an unapologetic look at what happens when you lose yourself in the jungle that surrounds us, giving more value to social acceptance and materialism to the point of forgetting who you are, and how these individuals end up shaping a community as a whole.

photos: screen shots from the BG
1) Babu with his hands in the washtub,
2) Babu trying to mend a broken bottle
3) Amy photographing Babu


First Published:
Images
September 24th, 2006

Sajid and Zeeshan Freestyle Frenzy!
[ in focus]

If there is anyone making waves on the Pakistani music scene these days, it is two guys called Sajid and Zeeshan. And if there is anything billed to zip up the charts at lightening speed, it is their debut album titled One light year at snail speed.


You're not a rockstar,
But you can see yourself up there.
Under the bright light
You feel you're the reason.
(Chorus)
So throw away that bag of gold,
Listen to what your music holds.
It's a melody only you can feel,
You're about to be the King of Self.


—taken from King of Self
by Sajid and Zeeshan


I still remember the first time I had heard this song —on the radio. What followed was three consecutive, sleepless nights scanning international music channels hoping to catch its video being aired. Needless to say I wasn’t successful.

The next time I heard it I was at a local radio station while I was having a chat with a friend. The conversation that ensued went somewhat like this:

BB: whose song is this?!
Friend: Sajid and Zeeshan.
BB: No, the song that’s playing right now!
Friend: Sajid and Zeeshan
BB: I’m not asking about Sajid and Zeeshan, I’m asking about this song, the one that’s playing!
Friend: that is Sajid and Zeeshan!
BB: *incredulously* Desi?
Friend: yes, Sajid and Zeeshan.

One year later, they release their debut album, One Light Year at Snail Speed —the pre-launch gig plus the press conference that followed were both worth going to. Where an artiste/musician in Pakistan now has a host of record labels to launch their album through, Sajid and Zeeshan manage to bag EMI International as their record label. And EMI decides to make their comeback in Pakistan with them.

Hosted at a local club in Karachi, Sajid and Zeeshan’s pre-launch gig took off almost an hour late —early by most standards. The backdrop, which should have been slightly bigger in order to cover the wall, displayed a blown-up photo of their album, designed by Zeeshan himself, and a photo of Sajid and Zeeshan.

The event had its share of surprise visitors. Alamgir who had been jamming for his upcoming performance at the The Musik Awards with Shallum, Khaldi, Gumby and Emu also attended the launch with them. Well known recluses, Rohail Hyatt from The Vital Signs and Nadeem Farooq Paracha came out of their shells to attend the event. Looking around, you could see people casually walking in, in one corner Sajid and Zeeshan were giving some televised comments on one thing or the other, little groups of television-familiar faces having little conversations in another. Everything was set for them to perform and nobody knew what to expect. Keeping in mind the craziness that had preceded the launch itself, I kept my fingers crossed.

The gig officially started with Sajid and Zeeshan performing Freestyle Dive and without exaggeration, they rocked everyone’s pants off. For those who don’t know, Freestyle Dive is the song for the animated-cartoon video (directed by Zeeshan Parwez) depicting a moustached man on his way to robbing a bank, during which we get a picture of how his life would have been had he chosen not to. The video itself has been nominated for several awards and bagged a couple.

Getting back to the launch, from the moment Sajid opened his mouth to sing and Zeeshan started to work his magic on the gadgets that surrounded him, they managed to throw everyone’s preconceived notions about Sajid and Zeeshan completely off balance, even mine. I was shocked. In a good way, but shocked nonetheless. They weren’t just good, they were brilliant and the expressions on the faces of those who attended and the chatter that I was met with, post-launch, confirmed that I was not the only one who shared this opinion.

Here is a bit more of ‘the revealing’: Zeeshan can sing, really. I swear. His vocal-talents are not limited to singing mock-raags while amongst friends now and then, he really can sing. He provided the backing vocals to Sajid’s powerhouse performance in —most notably— Freestyle Dive and a couple of other songs.

Also contributing to the ‘wow’ effect was Zeeshan producing the turn table scratch sound by waving his hand over a sound effect module, which had motion-sensors via an infra-red ray. The infra-red ray would detect movement in the air above it and would therefore produce the desired sound-effect.

Sajid and Zeeshan performed a total of nine songs some of which were Free and Underestimated, Glue, Changes, My Happiness, Deserts, Have to let go sometime, All this time and the song that officially launched them on the tube, King of Self. Before performing each song, Sajid would talk a little about the song and what it was about. Hence, Glue became a song about “that something that binds people together” and so on and so forth.

The song Deserts had been written by Fasi Zaka, Zeeshan’s cousin and host of On the Fringe (OTF) —also a Zeeshan Parwez production. A mellow, soulful number, the song reflected a difficult time in Fasi’s life. This is also the song in which Sajid whipped out his harmonica from nowhere and launched into a little solo.

Following that, Zeeshan soon revealed that Sajid was not the only one who was harmonica-friendly. In Glue, Zeeshan blew into a mouth organ that was attached to a keyboard, and which resulted in ‘the harmonica effect’.

The duo had initially planned to finish the gig off with a jazzed-up version of King of Self, a song that needed no introduction and which it didn’t get. The crowd cheered happily when the familiar music that accompanies King of Self was played and they sang along with Sajid to the lyrics.

Sajid plays the guitar in a way that makes it truly his —with a familiarity that makes it difficult to differentiate the musician from the instrument. Depicting masterful versatility, he continued playing despite breaking a nail and wowed everyone with the way he ended King of Self.

Needless to say, the audience demanded an encore which Sajid and Zeeshan were only too happy to give. On Zeeshan’s insistence, they performed Freestyle Dive again. This also proved that Sajid cannot stop himself from doing a little jig to Zeeshan’s music every time this song is performed.

The downside of the pre-launch gig was the sound, which was really bad. Event managers need to know —musicians already do— how important the sound of any gig is. Essentially, people do come to ‘listen’ to songs that are being performed. Sajid and Zeeshan ended up performing in a way that didn’t make the sound-issue that dominant. Had it been anyone else, the people attending would not have stuck around as long as they did —till the gig ended.

It’s difficult to conclude a performance that remains fresh in one’s mind weeks after it happened. As a duo, they put most new live-acts to shame. Where most of the songs were perfectly tailored to the unique sound that is Sajid and Zeeshan, there were some songs on which a live, five-person band would have worked well. As a band, it was heartening to see that Sajid and Zeeshan had a good level of coordination between them.

Concerning the album, Zeeshan was involved in arrangement and production with Sajid in the lyrics and composition. At the press conference, a couple of days later (which incidentally was also the night of the TMA), Sajid commented that, “One light year at snail speed is about having a destination and making the journey to it… its about the journey itself that makes life worth-while.”

The album overall is concerned with “people, real issues, self-development, questioning on the inside”. Elaborating on the content, he mentioned that it was about “perception about love, pain, giving into people.” and that, “Some of the tracks reflect past-relationships but they have been written in a way to make them more relatable to everyone”.

When talking about how they were able to produce, compose and create music in a place like Peshawar which is rampant with restrictions, Sajid compared that to trying to choke a person: the more you choke a person, the more he/she will struggle and make a stronger effort for air/to breathe.

Since most of the songs were written in the nineties, some were concerned whether they were still relevant to the present era. In response Sajid said, “human nature does not change”

Omar Sheikh, who was representing EMI mentioned that “It was in August 12th, 1994 when EMI had closed down because of the piracy rampant everywhere. It wasn't financially viable for EMI to continue its operations in Pakistan… this is a good time to launch an album, especially after the anti-piracy crackdown in May 2005… we are coming back with a product that is considered to be ground-breaking”. On coming back with an album that was in English, he commented that “There is an element of risk in any venture, we are coming back after 12 years and this was the perfect album to come back with.”

He went to elaborate on the extensive measures EMI has taken to ensure that piracy of their products does not take place. When pressed for comments on the anti-piracy issue and EMI’s efforts on preventing piracy, Zeeshan replied, “I am going to miss downloading free music”

For many within and outside the music industry, the launch of this album has been eagerly awaited. Unfortunately the actual ‘launch’ of the album itself is constantly being delayed.

One assumes that part of the reason could be attributed to the heavy rains that Karachi was recently subjected to. At the time of writing this article, it was not available in the market. A new date has been set and hopefully the album will be delivered to shop-keepers by then. Till it does however, one has to make-do with the two-minute songs in the promotional CD that was handed out during the press-conference.

As a concluding note: during the press conference, on how he writes his songs, Sajid commented that “It’s the music that dictates how the song is going to be. I start by writing a small piece of music and if the music moves me enough, the words just come”.

Note:
— this is the un-edited version
— photos by Fayyaz Ahmed.
— written under the pseudo/pen-name Band Baji

First Published:
World Music Magazine
Sept/Oct 2006

Appreciating Music

[ awards ]

The Hints

What started off with little teasers cleverly depicting the mysterious appearance of the letters TMA before they would vanish with the effect of a television screen turning itself off, turned into one of the most talked about events in the music industry— The Musik Awards.

The invitations were hand-delivered in a black velvet envelope-type thing that you had to open to reveal your invitation card. Plain black in colour, there were several sides to the invitation. One side had the venue and timings, another told you that the dress code was formal and the colours to be worn had to be black and white. At the end of it all was a little chair that folded out with a coloured dot. The text “we have saved a seat for you” was below the chair and the colour of the dot depicted the area you were seated in. overall the invitation was cheeky, but a welcome change from the plain card normally sent out. This also showed the attention to detail the TMA team was giving to everything related to the event.

The Ambience

Set in a location that will not be disclosed, those at the gate would effectively beep the invitation, registering your attendance, and then would let you in. An elaborate deep red carpet was laid out bordered by creatively put-together by little back-drops where some red-carpet interviews were being conducted and marble slabs with TMA slogans carved into them. The red carpet itself led to a waiting area before leading on to the main place where the TMAs were being held.

Under a large dark grey tent with a shimmering light grey canopy, the waiting area was complete with comfortable sofas, air conditioning, beautiful lights and bartenders serving drinks that seemed a brilliant combination of a pineapple margarita and lemonade. Television-familiar faces, both in the music and fashion world would arrive and chat before moving on to wherever they wanted to be seated.

Out of those who lingered on, there were some musicians who seemed to consider themselves as having star-power above the others and remained somewhat aloof, all the while checking the other attendees out. The most blatant example was of Strings, who consciously stood a little away from ‘the crowd’ —on the pretext of discussing their upcoming performance— and peered onto the rest through the shades that they were wearing indoors, at night.

The stage can be described in one word only: humongous. The backdrop was plain black and white with Motorolla (the main sponsor of the event) written on it. In a way, there being a single sponsor was a relief: one was not confronted with an array of advertisements, had there been more then one which gives a bad taste to any event. The single sponsor with the simple way in which it advertised itself: by blending into the environment by restricting its colours to black and white, and graphics to text only was actually commendable where corporate sponsorship is concerned.

The event started several hours late, which was expected, although it would be nice to see a local event start relatively on time. The various hosts of the evening were Aijaz Aslam and Sonia Khan, Hasan Shehryar Yasin and Meesha, and Faraz and Natasha, the latter two being popular VJs on The Musik.

The TMA team had done everything to ensure that nothing was left out. They mounted large plasma screens for the benefit of those who sat further away from the stage and so could easily view everything that happened. They coordinated to make sure that everyone who had to be there was seated before they started the event. What they did not do however, was pay attention to sound. The sound, during most of the event, was quite horrible.

The Performances

The show was opened by Ali Azmat crooning to Mein Challa with various models dressed in white prancing around him and the stage throughout the song. The overall choreography of this particular ‘item’ was oddly similar to last year’s New York Fashion Week, where models showed off designer outfits in the midst of singers performing on the cat-walk. Despite the similarity, the song was done nicely.

To this day, most of us are unaware as to whose outfits were being displayed, but what the hell; it was fun trying to figure out which model was wearing what. And of course, Ali’s performance was also good.

The TMAs overall consisted of live performances by Musicians, a brilliant little production depicting Faisal Qureshi and Mani’s humour, and awards being given out. Coming to the performances,

Aaroh performed a song off their new album, Raag Neela which had Farooq jumping around on the very large stage in a pair of very bright red pants. Some thought he had lost it, however, one assumes he wanted to be noticed. If that’s the case, then he was quite successful. His pants are also one of the most talked-about things since the TMAs.

Haroon Rashid performed a single off his new album, Jiya Jaey with an ensemble of heavily done up individuals who tried hard to look like they were having a good time. Some of them wore, what appeared to be dresses. Haroon performed well but he could really have done without the people who joined him.

Who can forget Annie and her thumkas, especially at the awards? Performing a remixed version of her song Mahiya, Annie arrived on stage in an ankle length black dress and showed us in person what she had been flashing us with in her music videos: her thumkas. And helping her with them were the stage dancers. One has to commend the Pakistani-Shakira on her guts to swish-swash the way she did, she beat the rest of the performers by a mile when it came to entertainment.

Performing their very popular Jhok Ranjhan, the Meekal Hasan Band —known for being finicky about the ‘sound’, and why not— managed to pull it off quite decently. Not one of their better performances, in terms of sound, but one of the best where performances at the TMA were concerned.

Even though this particular song managed to gain a lot of acclaim for its beautifully written lyrics and melody, the performance of Zinda Hoon by Strings was a bit of a letdown. maybe the fact that they are one of the best bands to every come out of Pakistani soil and that the song was the very popular Zinda Hoon, could have contributed to a rise in expectations where it’s performance was concerned. But they could have done much better. It failed to create the ‘wow’ effect that should have been; given it was Strings who was performing.

The person who easily stole the show with his surprise appearance and being backed by some of the best musicians in the country, the pioneer of pop-music, Alamgir came back with a bang. Pulling off one of the most energetic and vocally strong performances I have ever been a witness too, he had some die-hard fans jumping on their chairs and dancing to his songs. He sang, he danced, he jumped and fell and came back on his feet again, he was amazing through and through. He depicted boundless energy at four-o-clock in the morning when most people were ready to die of fatigue and lack-of-sleep. If anything, TMA really did nail ‘it’ by bringing Alamgir back. And we will forever be grateful to them for it.

The Jury

The Jury members were: Arshad Mahmud, Anwar Maqsood, Shehzad Hasan (Shahi), Nayyara Noor, Tariq Amin, Nadeem Farooq Paracha, and Asad-ul-Haq.

The Awards

Best Ballad: Yaad piya ki, Fariha Parvez

Best Album: Social Circus, Ali Azmat

Best Pop Song: Pyaar to hona he hai, Suroor

Best Bhangra Song: Saiyyan way, Shiraz Uppal

Best Rock Song: Na re na, Ali Azmat

Best Live Act (Artist): Sajjad Ali

Best Live Act (Band): Mekaal Hassan Band

Best Rising Star: Kaavish

Best Music Producer (Album): Ali Azmat for Social Circus

Best Lyricist: Sabir Zafar for Na re na

Best Guitarist: Shallum Xavier

Best Drummer: John Louis Pinto (Gumby)

Best Bassist: Sameer Ahmed

Best Keyboardist: Shuja Haider

Best Song (Viewer’s Choice): Mahiya, Annie

Best Video (Viewer’s Choice): Na re na, Saqib Malik

Most Wanted Male (Viewer’s Choice): Atif Aslam

Most Wanted Female (Viewer’s Choice): Annie

Most Wanted Band (Viewer’s Choice): Call

Best English Song (Viewer’s Choice): Leeway, Corduroy

Best Soundtrack (Viewer’s Choice): Dost – Faakhir

The Musik Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music: Arshad Mahmood

The Musik Award for Lifetime Achievement: Alamgir

Motorolla Musik Icon: Strings

At the end of it all…

Despite the little bloopers that occurred here and there (which were in any case, inevitable), The Musik Awards achieved what The IM Jazz Awards failed to: attaining a level of chic, sophistication and attention-to-detail, also known as professionalism in certain contexts.

The first ever awards to be audited, it’s a comforting to know there are awards out there where accountability is pertinent and where authenticity is stressed at. Lets hope TMA is able to establish a r

eputation that would further the validity of a TMA award.

One of the ways of judging an event is to see how it starts and ends. The TMA started by bringing on stage Pakistan’s symbolic rockstar, Ali Azmat and ended it by surprising everyone with the appearance of, as he is considered to be, the founder of the pop industry in Pakistan, Alamgir. The TMAs marked their way into Pakistan Pop History; let’s hope they can live up to the reputation they have established for themselves.

After-thought: comments on the awards

Meekal Hasan: A step in the right direction, I’d still like to see the awards focus more on the achievements of the musicians both behind the scenes and in the limelight. The music scene continues to be fashion obsessed and that is demoralising for many musicians who may not be considered cool and hip by the glitterati.

The nominations for the best drummer, guitarists etc are a welcome first step and need to be further extended so that the people who play on the hits and records of the country's stars are duly acknowledged and appreciated. Without Salman Albert there would be no Aadat and there would be no live performances if people like Pappu and Gumby were not recognised.

There also should have been a best singer and best woodwind category and there should have been best live sound engineer category too. Also some of the people nominated for the best drummer were not in any records and people like Salman and Fahad were looked over while they have been recording and playing live for ages.

There should also be a "talent deserving wider recognition" award. So that people can be aware of artistes who have major potential.

I also feel there should be a best journalist award. Just as the musicians are important so too are the people who cover and write about music.

Gumby:

Well organised and the show itself set a new standard for future performances in
Pakistan. From the shoot to the logistics, everything was well taken care off.

Imran Momina (Emu): I want to judge the judges.

You (the jury) give awards based on the work that an artiste has done that year or sometime near the year that is being judged. Sameer Ahmed, the bassist for the band Karavan who won the Best Bassist Award hasn't been in the country for the past three years. How could you give an award to someone who has not produced some concrete work in over three years? Let alone be in the same country?This means that the awards were given based on the credibility of the artiste rather then his or her recent work.

Compared to that, Khalid Khan, the bassist for Aaroh has done a lot of work in these past three years. He should have gotten the award. But he didn't.

This clearly shows that the motive behind the awards that were given was more personal in nature. I didn't get an award because I didn't do any (commercial) work in these past few years.

Shallum got the award for best guitarist even though it has been more then three years since the last Fuzon album came out and he hasn't released any record as a solo artiste since then.

And what was this about Kaavish winning the Best Newcomer award? Nayyara Noor gave the award to her son (the lead singer in Kaavish). What has Kaavish done so far? Compared to that Abbas Ali Khan should have won the award.

My point is: these awards are meant to pamper people.

If Sameer Ahmed has been playing bass for 20 years, then I have been playing keyboards for 17 years. On that basis (experience) then the Best Guitarist Award should have been Aamir Zaki.

Note:
— this is the unedited version, the published version is titled "Claps and carps"
— written under the pseudo/pen-name Band Baji

First Published:
World Music Magazine
Sept/Oct 2006

Alamgir has arrived!
[ comeback ]

The Godfather of Pop music in Pakistan, Alamgir recently performed a gig in Karachi. Courtesy of The Musik with a set designed by Omar Amanullah —inspired by Andy Warhaul’s Pop Art— Alamgir came and rocked all those present off their feet. Otherwise known as The French Kissers, a name coined by Gumby during one of their gigs at the Alliance Francaise, the band backing Alamgir included Immu, Khalid Khan, Gumby and Shallum Xavier.

The concert was opened by Aaroh who began with Sawal, and went on to perform Yaara. They dedicated Na Kaho to Alamgir and pumped up the excitement in their audience by concluding their performance with a rocked-up version of Yaad Gadoli by Abida Parveen.

In direct contrast to the high-powered performance Aaroh left with, Alamgir launched into a soft harmonica solo which launched off his first song for the evening: Shaam sey pehlay.

The concert was dominated by brilliant performances by everyone who performed: the Aaroh gang which included Farooq, Haider, Jason and Khalid along with Alamgir and The French Kissers. Each musician held their own and stood out despite having Alamgir amongst them.

On the other hand, Alamgir’s high-powered, energetic rendition of his rocked-up songs pulled the crowd back into the seventies and the eighties while still staying in the present. It was a night in which the young and the old came together and celebrated the arrival of a king that had been missing for way too long.

Note:
— photos will be uploaded soon.
— this is the un-edited version.
— th edited version is not what i would call 'me'
— written under the pseudo/pen-name Band Baji

First Published:
World Music Magazine
Sept/Oct 2006