Rough Cut
It could have been anyone’s wildest dream project: a nightingale-voiced vocalist from Pakistan teaming up with who is considered to be one of the best guitarists in the region, on a single album. When two exceptionally gifted and well known individuals work together on a project, expectations tend to run high: the outcome has to be nothing short of pure genius. After all, one plus one equals two, nay in some cases even three, but never zero. In this case however, it seems as if these two individuals ended up cancelling each other out: the much-awaited Hadiqa Kiyani and Aamir Zaki collaborative effort, Rough Cut, is pure genius, but only at putting the listener to sleep. In some cases, forever.

Disappointingly enough, Is baar milo, the song that did end up becoming a massive hit does not make its appearance in the album. Hadiqa has carried the style of singing predominant in Is baar milo, throughout Rough Cut, however, coupled with the change in language and overall content, her style of singing seems highly unsuitable. To top it off, her desi accent manages to creep in here and there in the songs. Altogether her efforts sound extremely amateurish and not something one would expect from someone with more than 10 years of professional singing and extensive exposure to all kinds of music.

It would be unfair to heap the album’s lack of impact on Hadiqa alone. With Rough Cut his first proper recorded piece of work in more than a decade, Aamir Zaki’s musical contribution in the album seems minimal, and in some cases, non-existent. This causes one to question why? Is it because he has run out of musical creativity or simply because he is afraid?

When it comes to the content, the album deals with a variety of issues ranging from the harsh life in the media, to the monotony that overcomes a person’s life to the age-old subject of love and heartbreak. The song, City of Fallen Angels, deals with the violence predominant in Karachi (as the City of Fallen Angels) and it is perhaps the only song in which Aamir Zaki lends his vocals as Mr. Undertaker. However, with Hadiqa singing along with him, it becomes difficult to decipher Aamir’s voice, since her voice is a little too loud. Thus the only duet in the album ends up as none.

Perhaps another track that needs a mention here is Easy ride. It dominates an unmistakably familiar bass line which die-hard Aamir Zaki fans would recognize since the bass line itself had been released on his website a couple of years ago. One of the better tracks in the album, perhaps also because it doesn’t attempt at sounding ‘eastern classical rock’. The album, including this song, has an unmistakable early nineties sound to it and might have fared better had it been released when it was initially supposed to.

The flute (courtesy of Baqir Abbas) and tabla (courtesy of Arshad Ali) make their appearance a lot throughout the album. Complete with soft (and safe) guitar strumming and oddly-familiar bass lines, the music in the album ends up in a cacophony of confusion since one cannot tell whether the album is going towards a pop, or an eastern pop sound or is trying to embody an orchestra-oriented sound – a definite confusion of identifies. The album has its share of perks, but they’re not strong enough to overshadow what is wrong with it: this collaboration lacks chemistry – at least in English.

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July 1, 2007

Été De La Musique

(changed to "Singing in the Rain" in the published article)

With humidity levels on an all-record high, summer in Karachi isn’t exactly the best season in the year for its inhabitants. Keeping that in mind the organizers of the Fête De La Musique (World Music Festival), celebrated every year at the Alliance Francias (Karachi), had their representatives hand out hand-held fans to those who attended. What’s more is that they were armed with water guns they’d use to sprinkle water on those who came a little too near and seemed a little too warm. Summer had officially arrived and City FM89 celebrated it by hosting another one of their all-day music events. With the last event (held several months ago) a huge hit, one definitely looked forward to attending this one.

The lineup this time around included The Strange Brew (who also played in last year’s festival) as the opening act followed by Taal Karisma, Leon Menendez, Tee-M, Aunty Disco Project and Mauj. When one arrived at the venue Mauj were engaged in a somewhat lengthy sound check that seemed to last, well, forever. Not many seemed to mind, there were vendors right outside the performance area selling munchies and people could be seen lounging around, either waiting for the performances to start or for their friends to arrive. Tariq Mirza (Tee-M) could be seen conversing near the entrance of the performance area while members of the Aunty Disco Project hung around, sipping drinks, waiting their turn on the sound.

A somewhat three hours later, a cheerful RJ Munizeh announced the opening act and The Strange Brew took their places on the stage. The Strange Brew is a popular underground act that has been performing popular seventies and eighties for several years now. With only five minutes of sound check, the band launched into Talking in your sleep by The Romantics, delivering only half of what their best performance is normally like.

Although they got off on a bumpy start, their performance of Mustang Sally (dedicated to RJ Munizeh) definitely hit the right notes with this scribe – the band was in sync, the song was upbeat and the chorus was catchy enough for people to sing along to it. The band pumped up the energy with a lesser known, Doogie brother’s song which ended with a prominent play on the keyboards. They delivered another great performance with the massive 1980s hit, Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf but ended their performance on a not-so-great note with classic jazz number – it seemed a little too mellow especially after they had the crowd worked up with the upbeat rendition of Mustang Sally and Born to be Wild. One has to mention here that despite being a very good live act, this wasn’t The Strange Brew’s best performance. They lacked their usual energy on stage and perhaps a lot of it can be attributed to the half-hearted response they received from the crowd.

After a short break, during which the clouds turned into hues of blue-grey which threatened to spill rain any minute, Taal Karisma took the stage and amidst the muffled thunder in the background, launched into their first (and only) composition of the evening, Soul. Fusing the sound of the keyboards, lead guitar, bass, tabla and darbuka, Taal Karisma’s Soul embodied an intimacy that seemed to reach out to its listeners, accentuated by the sharp, easily audible tabla beats. With the wind blowing on the stage, the thunder in the background and the air smelling of rain, one can safely say that put altogether; it rendered a romantic air to their performance. Unfortunately their performance was cut short only after one song and by the time Leon Menendez took the stage, it had begun to rain hard.

With the performances being held in an open-air venue, there were some attendees who chose to leave the moment they suspected rain, but on the other hand there were others who stuck around wherever they could find cover. Just when one thought that the evening had ended, ADP took to the stage (which was set in a rain-sheltered area) and began performing. Performing without vocals (the microphone wasn’t working because of the rain), ADP exuded enough magic to have the crowd going to the Indian classic, Papa Kehtay hain and the more recent Indian hit, Beedi. After which they launched into their fast-growing popular original, Sultanat. They continued to entertain the crowd for a further five or six songs after which they made way for Mauj.

With two of their singles, Kush Fehmi and Paheliyaan already massive hits on the tube, Mauj are fast-growing popular in both Karachi and Lahore and are establishing a reputation as a formidable live act as well. They began with a cover of Dick Dale’s Misirlou (OST Pulp Fiction) – somewhat becoming a signature opening track for their performances – pumping energy into the audience. They followed that up with a Mauj original, building up their performance and just when things couldn’t have gone better, they came to an abrupt stop, packed up and left the stage.

According to the ever-dependant rumour mill, they left because they were unsatisfied with the ‘sound’. That is surprising since they spent a little more than an hour working on it, delaying the overall Music Day celebrations. On the other hand, some claim that the organisers had pulled the plug on their performance, which seems highly unlikely: why would anyone hire a band for a full performance and let them perform only two songs? Mauj was the closing act and anyone with an inkling of interest in live performances knows that the closing act is considered the most important to any event since it sets the tone at which the event ends. It’s essentially what the audience takes home with them.

With nature gate-crashing on this summer fest, this wasn’t the best Fête De La Musique, hosted by the Alliance Francias; it was however, the most interesting. The highlights of the evening definitely include Taal Charisma’s soulful performance and ADP’s love and commitment towards their audience. One was taken aback by Mauj’s diva-oriented behavior, especially since they normally do not behave as such. At this point, one cannot stress the importance of a band’s commitment at living up to their (promised) performance, no matter what – anything less is completely unacceptable. With City FM89’s knack of hosting events that entertain with an added ‘oomph’, one is hoping that there would be a Fête De La Musique II, which would make up for the shortfalls in this one.

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July 1, 2007

Shooting desi
Nothing remains hidden for long in our entertainment industry. No project, scheme, development or any kind of machinations that people might be up to. And so it was that a little bird working in a certain television channel told me about two individuals from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC to you and me) who had flown into Karachi recently to make a documentary on certain aspects of Pakistan’s entertainment industry.

This immediately caused one to wonder why, followed by ‘what have they found’? It’s always interesting to get an outsider’s perception of our television industry that seems to have grown on us. Several phone calls later, I found myself face-to-face with the team members late last week.

Irshad Arshad and Atta Yaqoob look like they are in their late 20s or early 30s. Some of Atta’s immediate family members live in Lahore and have been constantly updating him on the developments that have been taking place in the entertainment industry here. For Irshad Arshad, it’s been 17 years since he last paid a visit to Pakistan and it was out of sheer curiosity that he made the pilgrimage back to his home country, albeit for purely professional reasons.

By the time this interviews appear in print, both Irshad and Atta will have left Pakistan and returned to the UK with the hope that once the four documentaries go on air, they will be back again to shoot some more.

Q: So what have you been preoccupied with in Karachi?

IA: We’ve been here to make four films about modern Pakistani culture — the television explosion, the fashion modelling scene, truck art and a film about the Food Street in Lahore. I’m the director and Atta is the presenter. We’ve been here for three weeks and we’ve been working every single day. It’s been amazing because the working trip has been the best trip because we’ve worked with Pakistani people from all levels of society and got an insight into Pakistan. Personally speaking, it has completely changed my opinion of Pakistan.

AY: I work as an actor in the UK. I’ve done quite a bit of established work in mainstream television, Irshad’s with the BBC and he knew me through that, and hence I’ve been invited along to report on the different aspects of Pakistani culture.

Q: And what was your perception about Pakistan?

IA: Most British Pakistanis’ opinion is based on the Pakistani community they grew up in, which left the country from the Kashmir and Mirpur region some 40 years ago. They are still dedicated to maintaining the traditions and lifestyle of the Mirpur that was four decades ago. My opinion of Pakistan was also formed by growing up in that immigrant Pakistani community in the UK.

Q: Is it very different here from what is perceived in the UK?

AY: Unbelievably different. But having said that there are a lot of aspects that you can relate to on both sides. In hindsight, before coming here I had thought ‘it won’t be like it is in the UK over here’. The fact that I’m sitting next to a female journalist interviewing me in a bar … I wouldn’t have pictured this.

Q: How far are you into your documentaries?

IA: We’ve shot all our stories. We shot the behind-the-scenes of a Hum TV drama and we shot with The Musik. We met some VJs, I saw some show reels and they blew me away. After we had interviewed some of them and walked around the studios, the impression we got was that the entertainment in Pakistan is a huge, burgeoning industry.

I’ve been talking to people and they say ‘if you’re young and smart and walking up the street and you got a job, you can succeed very quickly’. You can’t do that in England because getting anything like this done there is extremely difficult.

AY: For me, apart from the heat, it’s been refreshing so far. As an actor, seeing these television studios and production setups and the work going on, and not just any run-of-the-mill work, and the passion with which it is being done has been mind-blowing.

Q: In terms of programming content, what difference do you see?

IA: The stuff that’s really popular on network television in Britain is kind of live-talk reality shows which are really quite formulated. All the best television documentary makers are kind of in exile from British TV because their documentaries don’t get shown there. They are now working towards independent distribution.

I have seen the ARY show reel and technically I was blown away. I think it’s really good. There is a really popular comedy character in the UK called Borat who reinforces the worst stereotypes about the East … one of them being that they make crappy television programmes. At this point, the one thing that I want to do is say through my work that if you thought that Pakistan is anything like the Borat TV show, think again.

Q: What are your observations about Pakistan’s fashion industry?

IA: We did a story about the models and again it was interesting in the sense that all the models we met were really quite intelligent, well-spoken and we could hold really intelligent conversations with them. In Britain you can’t get that access. It will take me three weeks just to get to talk to their PR persons.

AY: We met some designers and I realised that they make clothes for the elite who can purchase these designer outfits. But something interesting came up in our research work: It will all be copied down, making fashion more of a commodity for the common man which is interesting. There is always a cheaper version available and that is how fashion can influence.

Q: Why pursue truck art?

IA: Truck art for me is a phenomenal outfall. When we went to the truck adda and we met guys over there we were blown away by the kind of authentic art we saw. In Britain, everything is commodified, everything is kind of globalised. We appreciate things that are unique and authentic. We cry out for things like “this is Pakistani culture and it’s best.” It’s a phenomenal kind of art form with a lot of skill going into it.

Q: Any final words of encouragement?

IA: The creative energy that we saw in the television industry here, we haven’t got in the UK because it is already so established there. Overall, you guys over here are doing your thing and doing it really well. You know, you don’t need the BBC to say that you are doing it well or for it to come over here at all. I am very impressed.

AY: It is always fascinating to see such a dynamic, innovative young team doing business. Professionally speaking, it is a war and it shows as such.

Photography: Amean J.

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June 17, 2007

Carving the 'Rough Cut'

Growing up in the nineties, there were very few role models in the Pakistani media that one being a female one could look up to. More so, there were even fewer that one could relate to. But Hadiqa Kiyani changed all of that. She is perhaps the only female vocalist who has managed to stand on her own and establish her own identity and sound in what continues to be a largely male-dominated industry. And she has remained strong for years to come. This is further proven by the fact that the Herald’s 2005 annual issue has a foldout in which all of the top pop industry’s music makers are posing on a four-page spread. Hadiqa is the only woman in it.

Since the re-boom of the entertainment industry, we’ve seen a host of aspiring female vocalists try and take her place. But none of them have so far managed to come close or show signs of even having the potential of reigning for as long as Hadiqa has. Following a career and a personal life that has had its own share of ups and downs, Hadiqa is more than just a signer/composer: she represents Pakistan on state-related foreign trips and was recently awarded the coveted Tamgha-i-Imtiaz. Once banned for not wearing a duppatta, although still dressed modestly, and for saying ‘I love you all’ to her audience, Hadiqa has managed to survive the best and the worst that working in the music industry has to offer. Now, she is back with a much-awaited album by a musician who, for most part of his tenure, as been regarded as a maestro in his own right but has chosen to remain shrouded in mystery.

At first glance Hadiqa appears almost fragile. It is difficult to imagine a nightingale voice such as hers coming out of such a thin, petite frame. But as the interview (‘conversation’ as she called it) progressed, she not only appeared friendly and somewhat talkative, she also sang excerpts of foreign language songs here and there. Although sounding perfectly alright, she apologised for still having a ‘morning voice’.

“I always love to sing in different languages. Ever since I was a child, I was a member of the National Council of Arts and used to go to different places where children festivals were held such as Bulgaria, Turkey and Jordan,” she says about adapting to singing in different languages. “I recently got the chance to go to Malaysia and sing in Malay. I’ve also sung in Chinese on my visit to China, in Turkish (Turkey) and in Arabic on my visit to Jordan.”

So does she know these languages or does Hadiqa learn them at the spur of the moment? “You have to pick up the right accent. And you have to listen to it over and over again and you hear it and then you grow with it. And I’ll hear the song maybe, a thousand times, over my iPod with my headphones on,” she replied, “listen to it a countless number of times, till I’m totally ready to perform it.”

Her collaboration with Aamir Zaki on their much-anticipated, full-length English album, aptly titled Rough Cut, is finally set for a release. What does she have to say about it? “It was a great honour for me to work with such an artiste as Aamir Zaki. Because people know him as a good musician and as a good guitarist, I think he’s a good lyricist as well. He understands what you really want to say,” she says enthusiastically. “Fifty per cent of the songs in the album are his and 50pc are mine. The concept of the song you’re hearing nowadays on television, Living This Lie, was mine. I wanted to talk about showbiz, I wanted to talk about the spotlight and the fake smiles that we give sometimes.” Elaborating on the song further, Hadiqa said, “We go on stage and we’re feeling low and all that but we still have to perform. Sometimes there is a lot of pretension that is going on. I try not to pretend which is why I avoid interviews and the like.”

The buzz surrounding Rough Cut began a couple of years ago. The recording, mixing and mastering had been done and it was set for a release several times in the past but was never launched. “It wasn’t years ago but it was a long process. Once you start working on something, it doesn’t take that long. But the whole process of putting things together, giving your input, etc, takes a long time. In my and Aamir Zaki’s case, the major factor was availability because he is mostly in Canada and I, here. The fact that we weren’t working as a band but as individuals working in our own environments, so putting things together took longer than usual.”

Hadiqa and Aamir have been acquainted with each other for quite a few years now and it was about time a collaboration such as Rough Cut came out. How did they finally end up working together? “I’d asked him to write an Urdu song for me, Iss Baar Milo, which formed the basis for everything. He writes in English mostly and he feels comfortable in that. So he said to me … no, asked me very casually that ‘what if we do an English project together?’ I said why not. Music is music, and for me it doesn’t have any linguistic boundaries.”

With the video of the hauntingly brilliant Is Baar Milo (directed by Jami) already having scored a hit with both the critics and the masses alike, and with Living This Lie (directed by Sohail Javed), what more can we expect next from the album Rough Cut? “A video for the song, All The Same, directed by Kookie (Hamza Ali Butt).” According to Hadiqa, the video has a very youthful element to it and “to me All The Same means that it’s really all the same and that there’s nothing new in life. It doesn’t really matter what happens, it’s all the same,” she says on a pessimistic note.

Talking about the musical aspect of the album, she says, “It’s a new genre and Aamir has defined it in a way that it’s ‘eastern alternative rock’. It has him on a six-string bass and guitars, flute by Ustad Baakir Abbas and tabla played by Arshad Ali.” One can’t help but wonder whether Zaki has also played his latest favourite, the fretless bass guitar on it as well? “Yes, he has.”

At this point, I can’t help but beg to differ. The music on Rough Cut isn’t out-of-the-ordinary and no, Aamir Zaki has not defined ‘eastern alternative rock’. If anything, that credit should go to Faraz Anwar’s collaboration with Yasir on Kalavati, with Yasir on the sitar and Faraz on the lead guitar. Having already heard it, the music on Rough Cut is anything but out-of-the-ordinary.

Perhaps the only song in which Aamir Zaki lends his vocals is City of Fallen Angels. It sees Hadiqa crooning to a certain Mr Caretaker with Aamir replying in the midst of fast-moving guitar riffs and music. “He wrote it about Karachi and the chaos that goes on in it. It’s a very good song,” says Hadiqa. She added that the video of City of Fallen Angels would be directed by Sohail Javed and contain footage of Karachi in chaos without including any performance-based clips in it.

When two of the best artistes in the industry come together to work on a project, you cannot help but build expectations about what that collaboration will result in. Hadiqa has proved that she can make it in a man’s world, while Aamir continues to remain a silent legend despite being a well-known recluse and shying away from the media. At this point, one feels the need to point out that had Rough Cut been released around the same time the buzz surrounding it had begun to build up, it might have had a chance at scoring a massive hit. At this point, with all the delays the album has suffered, it sounds slightly dated and lacks the expected impact.

With Hadiqa working on her next solo album that, according to her, would be a tribute to all the ‘world legends’, i.e. includes her covers of all of the foreign language songs she’s performed abroad and with a collaboration with Ali Zafar on an English track in the UK in the pipeline, we might not have seen (or heard) the last of her yet. Having listened to her vocal versatility when it comes to switching languages, one can safely say that might just be a good thing.

First Published:
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June 10, 2007

reviews/previews

Babel
In this Oscar-nominated movie, acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu, brings to light the real barriers that seem to separate mankind. Babel, which by definition means “a confusion of voices and other sounds” and has been mentioned as “a tower built by a tower built by Noah’s descendants who intended it to reach up to heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand one another” in the Genesis (11:1-11). That is precisely the concept on which the movie is based and sees the lives of individuals, who otherwise have nothing in common or to do with each other, delicately entwined with each others’. The beauty of the movie lies in the multitude of ways in which it can be interpreted.

The movie focuses on four different set of characters and they each have their own storylines. Interestingly enough, individually they don’t seem to have anything in common or any point of connection, either geographically or culturally etc, but as the movie progresses, the viewer discovers that they are. The first set of characters is an American couple who come to Morocco. The second is the two children of the American couple of are left in charge of their Mexican nanny who needs to cross the border to attend her son’s wedding. We have the Moroccan Sheppard who buys a rifle from a neighbour in order to protect his livestock from wolves. And lastly, we have a Japanese father/daughter couple, the daughter is deaf and dumb and the father, a hardworking businessman. The latter seem to have the least likely connection with the rest of the characters in the movie.

The American woman gets shot by the Sheppard’s riffle which was fired by his son who had been playing around with it with his brother. The Mexican nanny cannot find someone to take care of the children while she attends her son’s wedding hence she takes them along with her. On the way back, she has a run-in with the border authorities resulting with her hiding with the children in the desert along the highway. The Japanese father finds it hard to reach out to his daughter who on the other hand is desperate for any connection with the outside world.

In some parts of the movie we get to see the world through her eyes where a possible connection can be established only visually but once her eyes are closed, it’s lost. This is perhaps most evident when she walks into the club, a place where dancing to the music that an attendee can ‘listen’ to is considered the norm. Instead of the music we’re confronted with bright, flashy lights. In the end, she doesn’t dance to the music; she dances to the rhythm she feels from the artificially-induced high she receives from the drugs she takes and the movement of the lights. One flicker of an eye and we’re there and then we’re not.

An interesting point made in the movie was that Babel doesn’t have to be between people who can ‘hear’ other people talk in a strange language, Babel truly exists when a person is unable to make sense of or communicate with those whom he/she wishes to. In one movie it displays the diversity of mankind, our vulnerability in a foreign land and our intrinsic desire to, putting it simply, ‘communicate’; to understand and be understood.

The movie deserves every bit of Oscar nomination it received this year. There are points in the movie when it may appear to be confusing for the viewer, but then, that’s Babel for you.

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June 10, 2007

reviews/previews

Perfume: Story of a Murderer

The movie Perfume: Story of a Murderer is based on the book by the same name by the German writer, Patrick Suskind. Kurt Cobain from Nirvana wrote a song based on the book, titled Scentless Apprentice, Steven Spielberg stated that the movie-version was impossible to make. Just when you’d think that the movie adaptation of the incredibly successful book was going to be shelved forever, along comes Tom Tkywer, a director bold enough to try. The end-result of his efforts is nothing short of pure, heart-felt genius.

Set in 18th century Paris, the movie centres round the perfumer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an incredibly gifted individual blessed with an extremely accurate olfactory sense. Not only can he remember every single type of smell that his nose comes across but can also differentiate the different kinds of scents that make a certain type of scent up. Keeping that in mind, it’s ironic that he is given birth in the most foul-smelling place in Paris, the fish market and that at the age of 13 he’s sold into servitude at a tannery thereby becoming surrounded by putrid scents for most of his growing years.

Another thing that becomes immediately noticeable while watching the movie is that all of those who come in contact with Grenouille and are left in charge of his life end up mysteriously dying in one way or the other after Grenouille leaves them.

In an opportunity that would change his life, he ends up gaining an apprenticeship with a has-been perfumer, Guiussepe Baldini. With his talent, skill and unconventional style of making perfumes, Grenouille ends up turning the perfumer’s fortunes again for the better. In return all that Grenouille asks him is to teach him the art of perfume making; the art of capturing scents.

His quest in attempting to create the perfect perfume leads him to Grasse — an idyllic town whose primary source of income is via perfume-making. Eleven or so mysterious deaths later Grenouille does manage to create the perfume: a perfume so powerful that it has the ability of transforming whoever smells it an illusion of being in paradise. What Grenouille learns in the end, however, is he can make a perfume that has the power of extracting pure love from those who smell it but he, on the other hand, is incapable of any feeling any by himself.

Kudos need to be given to the director for the incredibly beautiful way in which he managed to translate the storyline graphically vivid enough for a viewer to ‘feel’ a sense that otherwise has no graphic connotation. The character seems tailor-made for Ben Whishaw as the scent-driven Grenouille has a hapless romantic air about him of a man resigned to experiencing the limits of his gifted olfactory sense. At the end of it all, a viewer of this movie doesn’t just ‘watch’ the movie, he/she ‘experiences’ it.

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June 3, 2007

STARBUZZ

LSA off to Malaysia

This year’s Lux Style Awards will mark six full years since the awards first came to be. And for the final bang, LSA 2007 will be hosted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was announced last week at a press conference in Karachi attended by the likes of Reema, Nirma, Humayun Saeed, Saqib Malik, Ali Zafar, Shakeel and others related to fashion, music and television. More on the ceremony is that it will take place on July 20 at the Genting Highlands.

It wouldn’t come as a surprise to say here that the LSA hasn’t been an easy ride. In fact, for one of the first entertainment-related award functions to establish themselves in the new media boom, they have certainly come under a lot of scrutiny. And have suffered the most critique.

It’s also no secret that most people within and outside the showbiz industry believe that the awards ceremony is ruled by a lobby. In order to be considered truly transparent, the LSA will have to take drastic measures, especially where their judging policies are concerned.

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June 3, 2007

Anatomy of a concert

Artistes are often critiqued for their absence in the live music scene. They are often blamed for not going on 'tours' or performing 'consistently' as is the norm abroad with artistes who have strong, loyal fan followings. I am of the opinion, however, that before critiquing an artiste for lack of concerts, one should delve deeply into the details regarding the anatomy of a concert and how that applies to the local music market.

There is little doubt that a concert solidifies the bond that exists between a musician and his/her fans — watching a live performance encourages interactivity between both — and it is also an opportunity for the musician to display his musical skills (whether vocally or with an instrument) on improvisational techniques, thereby displaying a side to him/her that may not be apparent in a music video or album. Organising a concert or going on tour isn't exactly a piece of cake.

To begin with, there are massive costs involved in organising a concert. They include renting the venue, arranging the sound system and lighting, preparing the venue for attendees (arranging seating if any and so on), costs of hiring musicians, hiring a stage manager, printing the tickets and the costs that go with the overall promotion of the concert: advertising in newspapers, billboards, radio and in some cases, even television. These costs are doubled when a musician goes on tour: add expenses incurred for food, travel and accommodation for not just the musicians, but their manager, their roadies, their backup band — in short their entire team or entourage.

So, in a 'regular' concert, who pays for all of this? Most of the time it's either the record label that is interested in promoting its artistes, venues who are interested in hosting the event and then you have other parties such as event organisers and firms interested in hiring these artistes. In a 'regular' music industry, where there are established (and implemented) rules and regulations of how the industry is to work, record labels and venues often cover these costs and make profits out of them via adequate ticket sales, album sales (yes, musicians are paid proper royalties for their albums), etc, and can then in return afford to promote their artistes not just locally but also worldwide.

In desi land, although it's in-the-making, we don't have such a system in place. Record labels, unless they're backed by an electronic media such as a television channel or radio station, cannot afford the financial costs incurred when organising massive and numerous gigs in order to promote their artistes — no matter how much these gigs will benefit them. With the un-surety that is prevalent in any new venture (and re-booming industry) it's simply too much of a financial risk for them to take.

Says Danish Khawaja, the vice-president of The Musik who is also overseeing their record label, The Musik Records: "One of the primary reasons that record labels are not doing gigs is because, in the true form, record labels launch an artiste and make money from album sales. We're hardly able to cover our costs by that due to piracy. For a record label there is no other way to recover costs.

"Record labels have never been an organised industry in Pakistan. In the last year or so we've seen the emergence of record labels, backed by electronic media. Surprisingly the biggest record label of yesteryear was the biggest pirate and they didn't need to promote their artistes by gigs.

"Every artiste has his own niche which has to be catered intelligently. We've arranged launch shows, album signing and have been putting artistes on television. That's how we've been covering our costs; we've not been making money from album sales anyway. Also, the market for the kind of pop music that we're tying to promote is very small. The only artistes who have a massive market are Abrarul Haq, Jawad Ahmed, Rahim Shah and so on," adds Danish with finality.

And then there is a severe lack of venues. Karachi has the Bahria Auditorium and perhaps the Finance and Trade Centre where only moderately-sized concerts can take place, and in Lahore there is the Alhamra Hall. When it comes to Peshawar, you either have the PC Peshawar which charges an exorbitant amount for a booking or you have the Peshawar Club, which comes under the army but which also requires 'special permission' for an event such as a concert. Our concert-going audience isn't big enough to consider booking a stadium for and what about venues in other cities? There are hardly any.

A major hurdle that one comes across when organising a commercial concert is ticket sales. In a country where a Rs750 ticket is considered to be expensive, how do you expect to sell enough tickets to generate enough revenue to cover basic organising costs? Most importantly, where do you sell these tickets? There are no proper ticket booths from where you can buy tickets or firms that specialise in such.

In the US, firms such as Ticket Master are responsible for selling and distributing tickets for events taking place in a host of venues across the country and in some cases, internationally as well. In Pakistan, you have nothing of the sort and organisers often resort to placing tickets in popular super stores and fast food franchises.

In the face of all of these hurdles, one party that is considered to be the mother of all evils where artistic creativity is concerned comes to the rescue: sponsors. Sponsors provide the organisers the financial backing needed to execute a plan for a concert. They're also the ones who enable an artiste to expose themselves to their fans by performing a series of concerts in different cities. Keeping that in mind, it should also not come as a surprise that most events comprising a performance by artistes are gigs catering exclusively to different corporations.

Also, prior experiences — where gate-crashing, riots and misbehaving with female attendees is the norm — have discouraged most organisers from working on commercial gigs. Most large-scale gigs are also an invitation-only affair. Nowadays, there are very few individuals who are ready to take risks with organising a ticketed concert.

When it comes to the musicians themselves, who wouldn't want to perform onstage as much as they can? This, of course provided they get a team of organisers willing to pay their band fee and who are interested in hiring them for a concert. How did bands such as Junoon manage to perform numerous gigs in the early 1990s? They didn't have any competition to begin with as there was no other alternative other than perhaps Vital Signs, but then that's another story altogether.

Until and unless we have an industry where paying for and attending a concert becomes an accepted norm among the masses, where piracy can be curbed to a greater extent and unless we have an infrastructure from where a record label and/or venue can expect to profit out of the promotion they give to their artistes, we cannot hope to have 'touring' musicians as part of the music industry norm or 'consistent' gigs for that matter. Till then dates for gigs will always depend on when the organisers can manage to find sponsors to back them and whether the date is agreeable with the sponsor and the band-members themselves.

When it comes to 'niche' artistes, Co-VEN — the latest bang in the industry — has been performing gigs consistently from the day of their album launch, both in Karachi and Lahore. Overload has managed to perform approximately 60 gigs around the country last year out of which 12 were in Karachi. They have several other gigs planned out in the next couple of weeks. Sajid and Zeeshan have performed several times in both cities and have three major gigs coming up in the very near future.

Recently, it was mentioned in a section of the press that these artistes are 'missing in action'. There might not be a definite uniformity where the gaps between concert dates are concerned, but keeping all of the above in mind, can anyone put the blame squarely on these bands for missing from the live-music scene?

photos:

— Co-VEN by Madeeha Syed
— Sajid Ghafoor by Fayyaz Ahmed
— Zeeshan Parwez by Fayyaz Ahmed
— Puppo Sain by Amean J.

First Published:
Images
May 27, 2007

STARBUZZ

Mickey Stardust

The Mekaal Hasan band is set to release a first ever full concert DVD. Titled Live at the Bahria Auditorium and courtesy ARY, the DVD depicts their older style of performing. According to Mekaal Hasan Band, the performance in the DVD is from 2005 and there have been slight changes in the line-up since then.

Another upcoming release from the band would be a video directed by Peshawar-based director, Zeeshan Parwez, on the MHB song, Hunsdun. According to Zeeeshan, the bits where the band makes an appearance were shot in Lahore last year. The concept of the video is focused around the Aghan refugees settled in the Northern Areas and their official repatriation which was supposed to have taken place sometime in 2005.

Shot in the tribal areas in the Khyber Agency with some of the footage from Bajaur, the video focuses around three Afghan friends who embark on their journey home. Coming up with the concept himself, Zeeshan says that the footage is very happy-go-lucky and goes with the overall theme of the song. The video is expected to be released on the airwaves shortly.

Overloading to new horizons

Masters of the unconventional — they came out with a mostly instrumental album, are a percussion-based band without a vocalist and have proven to all that this somewhat unconventional formula when it comes to the desi music market can work — Overload seems to be doing 'it' once again.

Taking the Sains place for a couple of their jam sessions and gigs has been Chet Paserella, a seasoned saxophone player who was previously teaching at The American School in Lahore. Having been in Pakistan for almost five years, Paerella has to his credit performing with the king of upbeat, high-energy performances, Bruce Springsteen.

Extremely happy about how the musical collaboration between Overload and Paserella is working out, according to Farhad Humayun, the drummer for Overload and spokesperson for the band, he might even be featured in Overload's second album.

Paserella isn't the only one Overload's been working with. According to Farhad Humayun, the popular model Meesha's vocals will also be featured on several tracks in their album. Preferring to sing in English, she has already performed with them in a couple of gigs.

"I didn't really plan it, and I've wanted to. I've been singing since I started talking. I like working with people who make my kind of music and share my kind of sound. I've been singing underground for a long time but I haven't been able to bring that out", she says on coming out as a singer.

On collaborating with Overload she says, "It's great because they're very polished and they're extremely trained and they know what they're doing. They're very good friends of mine as well and we have good coordination between us, which makes every session a lot of fun as well" —MS

photos:

—Zeeshan Parwez by Madeeha Syed
— Farhad Humayun by Amean J

First Published:
Images
May 27, 2007

Something more than music

Shazhad Roy seems to be developing a knack for working on projects that are destined to create somewhat of a bang. His latest offering comes in the form of a musical collaboration between him and queen of Sufi soul, Abida Parween, rooted on his latest venture – Equality in Education.

Ever since the establishment of the Zindagi trust some odd five years ago, Roy has been focusing on providing education to those who need it but when it comes to Equality in Education, moves a step forward in that he now attempts to eradicate boundaries and differences amongst individuals in our society created by the different kinds of education systems prevalent in the country.

Talking exclusively to Images, Roy spoke about how he approached Abia Parween for lending her vocals to the song after he had composed the music for it. When it first begins the song seems to be somewhat of an instrumental with soft guitar riffs that build up momentum gradually, however, not too much. Shahzad Roy isn’t the primary vocalist, leaving that to Abida Parween, and prefers to sing only one line throughout the composition: aao dey dein inhay zindagi (come, let’s give them life).

Abida apa, as he is prone to calling her, listened to the composition and consented to sing for the 'Aao dey dein inhay zindagi'. Previously before this, Abida Parween has never collaborated with any other musician on any project and this is also her first proper music video to date. The introduction of her vocals come as a burst of energy into the song and the overall effect may be considered to be somewhat brilliant. According to Roy, she’s added an amazing spiritual element to the song.

During the interview Shahzad also spoke about a conversation between him and Bryan Adams during his last visit to the country, in which Adams pointed out that one need not look for inspiration elsewhere when it came to material for music, there was so much to write and sing about, right here.

Directed by Sohaib, the video is simply done with Roy in front of a chalk board and Abida somewhere near him, in other frames books, children and an abacus also make their appearance in the midst of text scrolling across the screen with messages in them. The video is expected to be released on the airwaves shortly.

But this is not the only thing that Shahzad Roy has up his sleeve. The heir to the English throne, Prince Charles has offered to send representatives from the Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) to help train teachers working for the Zindagi trust as well. A workable plan is being formulated currently to help get this in process.

Also joining in the Zindagi Trust team is Sami Mustafa, the principle of the Centre of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Karachi. Shahzad acknowledges his contribution and is pretty excited about having him on board. Shazad speaks very strongly about education and how it can help to not only change a person’s life but also their overall civic sense. At the end of it all, it can easily be said that not only does Shahzad Roy has a vision (or several visions enclosed in one), he has the focus, determination and most importantly, the heart to try and realise it as well. His collaboration with Abida Parween might just be a little peek into how he plans to go about it.

First Published:
Images
May 20, 2007

Between Rock and a Disco place

[ original ]

What is becoming an increasingly common feature in most events in Karachi is that a certain number of people are to be found in almost every other gig in Karachi. Perhaps we all share a mutual love for music and the musicians in question although it does make one wish for a little more diversity in terms of the attendees. This does raise one question, however, and that is that are these gigs limited to the viewer ship of only a few select individuals? Is this done intentionally or does it just end up that way? What about those hundreds of entertainment-starved, self-professed, die-hard music lovers who at the moment, happen to live in obscurity in the masses?

The performance in question had been eagerly awaited for several weeks for two reasons: it featured one of Karachi’s most popular underground acts, the Aunty Disco Project (ADP). ADP consists of Omar Bilal Akhtar – “Oba” – on vocals, lead and occasionally, on bass as well. One can safely say that Omar (Oba) possesses one of the best vocals in the country, a quality immediately discernable every time one sees him perform live. He’s been performing university days in the States, his previous non ADP-related claims to fame include performing as a part of the French Kissers at the World Music Day last year and performing his song Nazar at the K’la play ‘Tihai’ last year as well. Needless to say Nazar scored a massive hit with the audience and is featured in the upcoming ADP album.

Imran Lodhi is featured on bass, lead and in some songs, on vocals as well. Imran is known in the close-knit music circuit as having jammed with several renowned musicians during his university days in Lahore. Next up is Yair Qureshi, the real star of the band, who is also known as Al-Fatah, an on-radio name he acquired during his City FM89 days as a producer there. He is now associated with Radio1 FM91 and most of the time, prefers to stick with ‘Al Fatah’ – the identity has clearly grown on him. Yasir is featured on the darbuka (Egyptian drums).
What’s even more interesting to note is that Yasir acquired his darbuka-playing skills by observing a Lebanese darbuka played who came to play for his neighbour’s belly-dancing sessions back in Riyadh. Keeping in mind the ease with which he plays darbuka, it is not surprising to learn that his neighbours subsequently replaced the darbuka-player with Yasir himself. According to him, “the first massive darbuka player I saw was in a place called Taif in Saudi Arabia. From there on I was in love with percussion”.

Omer Khalid (OK, pronounced “Okay”) is featured on drums. A somewhat quiet, graceful person, to those who observe his drumming during gigs will notice one thing: OK has a habitually drops one of his drum sticks during performances and continues playing with only one while searching for the other. What’s more is that even with one stick, he doesn’t seem to miss a single beat!

The second set of musicians doesn’t need an elaborate introduction: their work speaks for itself. Mauj is growing into one of the most popular commercial acts in the country and features Omran Shafique on lead guitars and vocals. Omran might not have powerhouse vocals like Oba, but they are well suited for the songs that Mauj performs. His guitar playing skills however, are par excellence. Hailing from Houston, he’s performed countless gigs over there and currently tours with Ali Azmat as well as with Co-VEN. Off-stage and in person he is considered by many to be one of the nicest and easy-going musicians in the industry.

Sameer Ahmed is the somewhat shy, quiet bassist of Mauj and he is also a permanent part of the Mekaal Hasan Band. Not many can claim to have a close affinity with him – to most, he is somewhat of a mystery. Preferring to hang out with those he feels comfortable around, he is not a known feature in most social circles. One of the best bassists in the country, he appears quite serious off-stage – the only time a smile breaks on his face is when he’s performing and truly seems to be enjoying it.

On drums we have Sikandar Mufi. Not one to talk about himself, but having quite a few media-related accomplishments of his own, Sikandar’s been at the drums on and off since he was 14. Holding an avid interest in film-making, photography and in the creative side of things his forte also extends to theatre – graduation from college was followed by a short stint at West End (London) where he worked in stage management. With music as his first love, Mufti has delved into it full-time.

The performance itself started two hours later than the stated time and following the announcement that the opening act, ADP were going onstage, the auditorium filled up quickly. It must be mentioned here that band-members from both bands were going through somewhat of a health crisis: Oba was running a high fever; Omran had a sore throat and so on. But as they say, the show must go on and in this case and it did.

ADP opened with their rocked-up version of Prince’s “Kiss”. Which literally spilt energy off their performance and had everyone grooving to them, and yasir’s darbuka beats had everyone tapping their feet well into the performance. Despite being ill, Oba delivered a powerful vocal rendition of “Kiss” and soon had everyone singing along. The song ended with a solo on the darbuka by Yasir followed by a comment from Omar that “yes, sometimes we let him out of his cage”. It was during this song that OK dropped his drumstick and found it again – becoming somewhat of a signature antic.

The second song was Sultanant, an ADP original for which they have reportedly shot the video. a somewhat mellow number, Sultanant has somewhat of a catchy tune to it. One of their covers included “Rock the Casbah” by The Clash where Yasir simply outdid himself on darbuka – his fingers tapped undiscovered beats inviting hoots and applause from the audience. Oba then took centre stage to sing his solo song Nazar but one must mention here that the performance, understandably so, was only a shadow of the intensity pertinent when he first performed it for K’la.

Amongst the other songs that they performed including Ho bhi jahan, another ADP original; the band had incidentally stayed at the PACC (the venue of the performance) all day in order to finish shooting the video of this song. They concluded their performance with the Rolling Stones classic, “Sympathy for the devil”, with the auditorium resonating loudly of their performance.

Having had the crowd all worked up, ADP made way for Mauj. Not to be outdone, Mauj launched into an electrifyingversion of Khayaal. With the Karachi audience having been exposed to Omran for the first time, watching him play his guitar proved to be somewhat of a treat. They performed some fresh originals which included Baat barhti gayee and Awaz. Both of these songs were very strong musically with Omran taking a break whenever he thought his vocals couldn’t stand the strain and encouraging the audience to sing by repeating the lyrics for them. These little interactions with the audience encouraged some laughter with some attempting to help him along, vocally.

Mauj also performed a cover of Zoheb Hasan’s Pyaar ka Jado. They customised it in such a way that they made it theirs. One hopes it might just end up in their album as well. Amongst their more popular numbers they performed Khush Fehmi and Pahelian – the latter a recent release on commercial airwaves. In fact, perhaps out of all of the Mauj songs, Pahelian was probably the most awaited by members in the audience.

In conclusion one would like to say that the musical types of Mauj and ADP gel well. They’re both into high-energy rock but with a bit of fun added to it as well. They both rely on audience interactivity and they both have their own set of skilled musicians and overall musical sound. With ADP’s video on the brink of release and Mauj’s next gig in Karachi just around the corner, one can safely say that this ride hasn’t ended yet, thankfully.



[edited version]

Featuring one of Karachis most popular underground acts, the Aunty Disco Project (ADP) along with the increasingly popular Mauj, a much awaited gig was held in Karachi recently. ADP comprises Omar Bilal Akhtar on vocals, lead and occasionally, on bass; Imran Lodhi on bass, lead and in some songs, on vocals as well; Yair Qureshi, the real star of the band, who is also known as Al-Fatah, an on-radio name he acquired during his City FM89 days as a producer there, on the darbuka (Egyptian drums); Omer Khalid (OK, pronounced ‘Okay’) plays the drums.

The second set of musicians doesn’t need an elaborate introduction: their work speaks for itself. Mauj is growing into one of the most popular commercial acts in the country and features Omran Shafique on lead guitars and vocals. Omran might not have powerhouse vocals like Oba, but they are well suited for the songs that Mauj performs. His guitar playing skills however, are par excellence. Sameer Ahmed is the somewhat shy, quiet bassist of Mauj and he is also a member of Mekaal Hasan Band.

On drums was Sikandar Mufi. The performance started two hours later than the stated time and following the announcement that the opening act, ADP were going onstage, the auditorium filled up quickly. ADP opened with their rocked-up version of Prince’s ‘Kiss’ which had everyone grooving to them, and Yasir’s darbuka beats had everyone tapping their feet well into the performance. Despite being ill, Oba delivered a powerful vocal rendition of ‘Kiss’ and soon had everyone singing along. The song ended with a solo on the darbuka by Yasir followed by a comment from Omar that “yes, sometimes we let him out of his cage”.

The second song was ‘Sultanant’, an ADP original for which they have reportedly shot a video. A somewhat mellow number, ‘Sultanant’ has a somewhat catchy tune to it. The next performed ‘Rock the Casbah’ by The Clash where Yasir simply outdid himself on darbuka — his fingers tapped undiscovered beats inviting hoots and applause from the audience.

Oba then took centre stage to sing his solo song ‘Nazar’ but one must mention here that the performance, understandably so, was only a shadow of the intensity pertinent when he first performed it for K’la.

The other songs that they performed including ‘Ho bhi jahan’; another ADP original. They concluded their performance with the Rolling Stones classic, ‘Sympathy for the devil’, with the auditorium resonating loudly of their performance.

Having had the crowd all worked up, ADP made way for Mauj. Not to be outdone, Mauj launched into an electrifying version of ‘Khayaal’. With the Karachi audience having been exposed to Omran for the first time, watching him play his guitar proved to be a treat. They performed some fresh originals which included Baat barhti gayee and Awaz. Both of these songs were very strong musically with Omran taking a break whenever he thought his vocals couldn’t stand the strain and encouraging the audience to sing by repeating the lyrics for them. These little interactions with the audience encouraged some laughter with some attempting to help him along, vocally.

Mauj also performed a cover of Zoheb Hasan’s ‘Pyaar ka Jado’. They customised it in such a way that they made it theirs. One hopes it might just end up in their album as well. Amongst their more popular numbers they performed ‘Khush Fehmi’ and ‘Pahelian’ – the latter a recent release on commercial airwaves. In fact, perhaps out of all of the Mauj songs, ‘Pahelian’ was probably the most awaited by members in the audience.

In conclusion one would like to say that the music styles of Mauj and ADP gel well. They’re both into high-energy rock but with a bit of fun added to it as well. They both rely on audience interactivity and they both have their own set of skilled musicians and overall musical sound. With ADP’s video on the brink of release and Mauj’s next gig in Karachi just around the corner, one can safely say that this ride hasn’t ended yet, thankfully.

First Published:
Images
May 13, 2007

Denim Delight

Getting to the Commune Artiste Colony isn’t as difficult as it is interesting to watch the low-income residents of that area stare at whoever passes by to get to the Commune. The time on the invitation card stated 10pm, but as anyone residing in Karachi knows, nothing begins till at least two hours after the stated time. And so it was in this case too. It wasn’t until near midnight when a jeans manufacturer began celebrating the day they dedicated to their classic line at the Colony.

Courtesy of Radio1 FM91, the event managed to generate quite a buzz with the who’s who of the entertainment industry in full attendance. From Ali Jafri and Salma Jafri to Ayesha Toor, Uns Mufti, Faizan Haq, Anoushey Ashraf, Laiqa Hasan, Umbreen Butt (who we discovered later was also an official part of the event), all were present.

Kudos need to be given to Levis, the organisers. The warehouse in which the event took place was tastefully decorated with an extended bar towards the right side of the entrance. The stage was on the wall opposite the entrance with a larger than life, floor to ceiling illustration of the jeans line dominating the background. Coupled with posters of Co-VEN, the featured artistes of the night, Levi’s and Radio1 FM91, the ambience was enough to whet one’s appetite and build anticipation about what lay in store for the evening.

From the moment that they quietly walked into the warehouse, seemingly unnoticed, to when they actually got on stage and began to perform, the band blew everyone away. They were loud, they were noisy, they were good eye candy and most importantly, musically they were very good. And they performed like it was nobody’s business.

They opened with an instrumental that had Sikandar mostly notably thumping away on his drum set, building the beat and setting the tone for the rest of the performance. The band started somewhat slowly and then coupled with Sikandar’s beats, Sameer’s bass, Omran’s lead and Hamza’s rhythm, they quickly built up the instrumental into a rock-inspired musical frenzy before launching into their second composition of the night, Co-VEN’s original song, Breakaway. Sameer Ahmed lent his backing vocals to the song and the band soon had the crowd hey, hey-ing with them.

Perhaps the most memorable piece that they performed that night, which came as pleasant surprise to many, was their version of Misirlou by Dick Dale – made increasingly popular after it appeared in the soundtrack of the Quentin Tarantino film, Pulp Fiction. The warehouse loudly echoed with the sound of the band’s performance and the band members themselves seemed to be having a good time while performing.

Move over Aamir Zaki impersonators, we have a new maestro in town: Omran Shafique was, if anything, brilliant on lead. His masterful versatility on the guitar was not only visually appealing but was oddly exciting to listen to as well. And what was interesting to note was that he had a tendency of moving his body to the tune he played.

Hamza, who was centre stage, would go towards Sameer and they seemed to make a connection while playing till Hamza moved towards Omran and they collectively plucked their guitar strings in a way as if determined to make them sing new, undiscovered notes. Hamza then proceeded to what seemed to be an attempt to physically fuse his guitar into Omran’s. Omran, on the other hand, looked slightly amused and without missing a beat, continued playing despite Hamza’s attempts.

Hamza then jumped onto the platform for Sikandar’s drum set and with the band continuing playing their music, he thanked all those responsible for the event, timing each name to the beat of Sikandar’s drumming. He then let go of the neck of his guitar and proceeded to play with his left hand also towards the front side, higher up the fret-board, while continuing to strum with his right hand. Following that, he jumped off the platform and concluded the performance with one final roar into the microphone.

One must mention here that there was an odd energy on stage, without it being blatantly explicit. All in all Co-VEN’s performance was definitely the highlight of the evening with bits and pieces of it resonating in one’s ear till long after the performance had ended.

Following the band’s departure from the stage were three female models in jeans and incredibly large, button-down shirts. With Get Your Freak On by Missy Elliot blaring in the background, they proceeded to doff their T-shirts, under which they wore another, relatively smaller shirt which had the benefit of displaying their flat stomachs. The models then got off stage and one by one made their way through the crowd to the changing room.

Towards a blue arch there appeared another female model, who came and sat down with another male coming up to her. They seemed to give the impression that they held a mutual interest in each other. The male model left and another female model appeared, who got into a choreographed cat fight with the model that was already there after which they too, made their way through the crowd.

At that precise moment, VJ Faizan, who happened to be standing on the stage where Co-VEN had previously performed, attracted attention towards himself by waving to someone. Taking the cue, the crowd moved towards him only to discover that the ‘fashion show’ continued to unfold at the blue arches. Models came and shovelled some of the gravel that lay on the ground, a male model appeared from another corner, shirtless and seemingly covered in sweat. They all, at some point or the other, made their way through the crowd to wherever they had to go.

The choreography and the concept of the fashion show itself were definitely unique, in case of the first couple of models who appeared under the blue arches. It even followed a definite story-line. However, keeping the benefits of audience interactivity in mind, it would have helped to erect small platforms for the models to prance on, without which it became somewhat of a pain trying to peek over people’s shoulders in order to see what was going on and figuring out where it went next.

The end of the fashion show signalled the beginning of the party, for which almost no one stayed. Within an hour-and-a-half, everyone had gone home hence signalling an end to the event and to the misery of the residents outside the Commune who, with the noise the event had generated, would have found it difficult to sleep at those hours.

All in all, the 501 day celebration was a welcome step away from the norm that events in Karachi seem to follow. Incorporating a gig, a fashion show and a party in one, it clearly sent the message that those who chose denim definitely had more fun.

photo credits: Madeeha Syed

Photos:
– Hamza Jafri (right) and Omran Shafique (left)
– Sameer Ahmed (bass)
–Sikandar Mufti (drums) and Hamza Jafri (rhythm)

First Published:
Images
May 6, 2007

Where are they now?
Unlike how it was in the early nineties, forming a band is not an alien concept anymore. In fact, one glance at a couple of music television channels out there depicts the growing clutter that up-and-coming aspiring bands seem to be making on-screen. With each passing day, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sift through and find a new act that really does stand out in terms of melody, lyrics, concept and most importantly, substance.

Popular bands made their reappearance in the Pakistani music industry not too long ago. The year 2002 is significant in the sense that it was in that year that well-known bands such as Noori, Fuzon, Aaroh and Entity Paradigm (eP) established themselves as strong acts in their own right, sparking off the youth’s movement towards popular Pakistani music, and each had its own loyal fan following. Out of the bands in question, Noori and Fuzon were bigger in terms of their fan-base, and for their fans, everything that the band-members did was their business. Perhaps the real question is: five years after bursting onto the music scene, how far have these bands come and where are they headed?

Noori: For Noori it’s been a tumultuous ride. Their debut album Suno Kay Mein Hoon Jawan was a massive hit throughout the country, which saw the group performing one of the largest number of gigs ever performed by a band throughout the country, courtesy of a convenient sponsorship by a mobile company. It also saw the band appearing in a mint candy sponsored show on Indus Music. And if that wasn’t enough, there were billboards scattered throughout the country, which showed the band members smiling down at passers-by endorsing the candy. That move invited criticism for the band from those who thought that the endorsement was a little too much and overexposed them. But at the end of the day, their music was great and so were their performances, although Ali Noor faced another round of criticism from those who thought his energetic moves on stage were a little too much.

Then Ali Jafri left the band. The departure was somewhat expected and amicable and did not result in any bad blood between the band and him. The subsequent launch of Noori’s second album, Peeli Patti Aur Raja Jani Ki Gol Dunya was considered by most to be their best work yet and saw Noori’s transition towards a more mature sound. The thing with album launches is that they’re normally followed by post-launch performances. In the case of Noori’s second album, there weren’t that many. Several months later, Gumby left the band and all hell broke lose.

Posted on the Noori website were claims that because Gumby played as a session drummer for various other bands, and could therefore not give time to Noori, Noori was ‘letting go’ of him. Gumby preferred to keep his silence and did not issue any official statements regarding what was posted on the website. Gumby’s departure from the band, for whatever reasons, was the last straw and signalled the end of the Noori that once was. Noori now employs the services of Fahad Khan on drums but lack the same impact that the original line-up had.

Fuzon: When it comes to Fuzon, they revolutionised pop music as we know it by fusing classical tunes with modern music. The brainchild of Immu (Imran Momina on keyboards) and Shallum (on lead guitar), Fuzon employed the vocals of Shafqat Amanat Ali from the Patiala gharana. They scored massive hits with songs such as Aankhon Kay Sagar, Khamaj, Akhian etc., and toured extensively.

Last year, the band was supposed to release their much-anticipated second album, which was reportedly complete and awaited a contract with a suitable record label. Trouble seemed to be brewing when earlier that year; Shafqat allegedly travelled to India with his own set of musicians and gave a performance with the band as Fuzon. Upon his return, the band seemed to have patched things up and everything seemed to be going in the right direction.

And then the inevitable happened: the band broke up, with Shafqat bidding farewell to Fuzon and going his own way. Shafqat’s departure saw the arrival of Rameez Mukhtar, a talented new vocalist also trained in classical music with the added skills of a harmonica player. Needless to say, Rameez had some pretty big shoes to fill.

It remains to be seen whether Rameez can hold his own against Shafqat’s legacy. What can be said, however, is that if Immu and Shallum can manage to come up with a band like the original Fuzon, who’s to say they can’t do it again?

Aaroh: Amongst the other bands that made it big in 2002, one of the most notable was Aaroh. Their debut on TV was as winners of the Pepsi Battle of the Bands. Some felt they took a tad too long to release their critically-acclaimed debut album, Sawal, which was officially released in 2003, which skyrocketed them into commercial success with hits such as Sawal, Jalan, Jeeay, Na Kaho etc.

Like most acts which attain fame overnight, they also experienced conflicts within the band with Nabeel Chisty and Kamran Khan (the then lead guitarist and keyboardist) running off to India and signing deals with industry individuals allegedly using the band’s name. A court case ensued, which later awarded Farooq Ahmed (vocalist) and Khalid Khan (bassist) the rights to the band’s name and their songs and marked Nabeel and Kamran’s departure from the band.

Haider Hashmi from the Lahore underground band, Mind Riot, replaced Nabeel as the lead guitar player. The reconstituted Aaroh’s hits such as Pyaar Ka Jaal, Yaara and their latest tune, the funky Raag Neela, solidified their position and proved that Aaroh still has a lot of the same substance that made them a hit in the first place. They’re one of the best live acts in the country and with the sheer number of gigs they have been performing after their album launch, it shows that they are not only very much together as a band, they’re also very much in demand.

eP: Toward the end of 2002, there was another band that had begun to make waves in the industry: Entity Paradigm (eP) was an amalgamation of two very popular underground rock bands from Lahore, Entity and Paradigm. Ahmed Ali Butt and Fawad Khan were working on a sitcom titled Jutt and Bond and were asked by the director to compose a song for it. Hence Hum Ko Azma was given birth.

With the soundtrack becoming a humongous hit and with the Battle of the Bands just around the corner, the band-members decided to fuse both bands and enter the competition. They ended up becoming the runners-up, losing to Aaroh, which was enough to get them working on their debut album, Irtiqa (Evolution), which became a massive hit after its release the following year.

Perhaps what set the band apart, other than the extremely large line-up (eP was an eight-member band in all), was that their music fused rock and rap with soulful lyrics for what can be considered Pakistan’s first concept album. Their live performances were also a visual treat in itself. It isn’t often that you come across a large band that has every member perfectly synchronised to each other’s performance.

Their break-up earlier last year was a source of heartbreak for many, and since then people have speculated as to its cause. The only plausible explanation that one can think of is that the band was just too big to manage. It’s difficult enough hiring a band with that many members and disagreements amongst the members themselves are bound to spring up.

Noori, Fuzon, Aaroh and eP were one of the first bands to come out in the new wave of the Pakistani pop industry boom. Each one of them added something unique to the local pop industry in terms of the kind of music they played, while setting the groundwork for bands that came after them. Where eP could not stand the test of time and preferred to disintegrate while they were still going strong, Noori it seems, is still holding on to the threads of glory of their earlier days. On the other hand Fuzon needs to make a move in order to determine whether they still have what it takes. Out of all the bands in question, Aaroh seems to be the only one who’s managed to work through their highs and their lows and still come out strong.

photographs:
— Ali Hamza and Ali Noor by Jawad Zakariya
— The good ol'Noori days
— The original Fuzon
— The new Aaroh
— eP in all it's glory

First Published:
Images
May 6, 2007