What were the chnages that took place in the music industry?

Pakistan music industry throughout this last decade or we could say that since it was founded has seen a lot of changes. The music that exists in Pakistan now is completely revolutionized after a thousand changes or so.

The first Change that took place was that the music changed from pure pop to and impure form by emerging into new genres or fusion of music. This trend was started by the band called junoon in Pakistan by introducing the genre of Sufi- rock in Pakistan hence creating a benchmark for the music industry in Pakistan. Almost all of the new talent is following their footsteps. Another change that was brought was that the band culture started to initiate and many new bands were formed after vital signs such bands were jupiters, junoon, awaaz and many others. This culture was never practiced in this part of the worlds and became quite famous during those days and even now it is moving at a great speed almost all of the musicians are forming a band and solo singers that once existed are now dying a natural death by the hands of the band members.

Many famous bands were formed in the 90’s but now most of them broke up due to certain reasons the most famous examples would be of vital signs, junoon and awaz breaking up and all of the singers started to sing solo, but they did not managed to make a name for themselves except some so this culture was also one of the changes that took place.

The music now is turned into a full fledged industry. Firstly it was just the singer or a composer or a song writer but in order to succeed now you need to have many more things done to so this field is now an industry. There are a lot of people to support you in this field you can count on a composer, musicians, song writer, and a lot more crew all you need is to speak and even if you are not a great singer your voice can be turned into a great one and you can easily become a renown singer in this industry.

The music produced now is influenced from the west and all of the musicians are trying to produce the music that is being produced in the west instead of following our own culture and produce what was once a name for Pakistan. All the youngster are energetic and try to do something fast and this is their way out of everything to produce, listen to western influenced rock, metal or any other genre of music having a fast beat even if it doesn’t have a rhythm or even if it doesn’t have any lyrics.

The music industry now is given plenty of sponsorship when the media opened up this caused quite a heavy investment in this very field or industry as I can say. There are many companies that are willing to invest their money in the industry some very good examples could be of Cocacola which was sponsoring abrar-ul-haq and many other musicians in launching their albums and Colgate which was giving away free albums of junoon with their product and Pepsi which was sponsoring String in the world cup cricket and many other events. Such a things help to boost up the pace and quality work in this industry so that everyone could be sponsored by the best companies in Pakistan.

Now a days our singers are trying to copy the western style and culture forgetting their own culture of pop music. They just want to get fame in short period of time without any afford. They must be groomed before releasing their album. They are just copying west without any particular reason. There are so many role models present in our music industry from which we can get influence in promoting our pop music. As been told before that we want everything to be fast now with this fast paced life, even the music that we listen to.

Now, another change is ‘Plagiarism’. Plagiarism is considered a crime in all of the countries except for South Asia, where it is practiced every now and then. Those of the music fans that only listen to Pakistani music or those who just listen to lyrics considered many of the songs to be good ones what they don’t know is that the music the Pakistani musicians produce is mostly plagiarized or copied from the western musicians, only the lyrics and a little bit of music is changed because Pakistan do not have that kind of music producing equipment that those western artists have. All the credit is taken by the Pakistani pop musician and being in Pakistan none of the credit is given to the western musician who was the original composer of the music. However these Pakistani songs do not go into the international market so no one except some of the people in the country who listen to both the music, i.e. western and eastern know about this plagiarism. No one can do anything about it because it is not a crime in Pakistan and the cheater gets away with it. Example could be of ‘Call’ which copies entirely from the English band ‘creed’. Another example could be of ‘Atif Aslam’ which copies from very old Malaysian songs only the lyrics are different. An example would be of his new song in the bollywood movie ‘Race’ called ‘pehli nazar main’. And many new singers are also copying from the west and giving it the name of western influencing which in reality is plagiarism.

The technological advancement is also one of the major changes in the music. Now anyone can produce a song while sitting at his/her home. Computers are now doing 10 men job and now there is no need to hire a lot of technical staff. Hire a computer expert and all your worries are finished. We went to the studios or so called studios of some famous artists all they had was a fancy computer with a lot of hardware and that is all, they record, mix and do everything their that one room studio or computer room. Computers can make anyone’s voice sound very sweet and anyone can be singer now. The older artists use to rehearse days if not months to record their sounds as they want them to be perfect, but now as soon as the lyrics and music is ready the sound is recorded and the song is ready and that is the reason that every singer is producing too much songs in a very short period of time as the previous one’s where it would take years to record an albums. It is a matter of hours now to record and album.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Pakistani music is now available at a 24/7 basis on the Net. And if you are looking for a web site on Pakistani music, well there isn’t just one. There aren’t plenty either. But of the few that there are there, hold high Pakistan’s contributions in the world of music.

The change also took place when some of the Pakistani musicians traveled to India to perform and record their albums. These artists became very popular in India as India being a film loving nation these songs went on to hit the silver screens and became hits throughout the world. This made the very famous and because of this every musician has dream of going to India and had is song selected for a movie so he can earn some money and fame.

Another culture is emerging which as far as I m concerned is a positive change; it is of the underground bands. These are those musicians who are amateurs or don’t have enough finances to produce music in the industry produce it in underground where not much funds are needed. The music in composed mostly in houses and are performed at different concerts if the song is good then it gets a sponsorship and it is released as a regular song ‘over ground’. This Underground scene was not here 10 years back and now it is flourishing and has very string roots in Lahore. Most of the youngsters attend these concerts because as per them quality music is produced underground

by (Abu Bakar)

Under Grounds bands of Lahore

Lahore is the birth place of many underground bands. All started there career here and reached to the highest levels of fame in both Pakistan and Abroad. Here is the list of present underground bands of Lahore and they are on their way to rock the world after "Rocking Lahore".

Arieb Azhar
Genre: Sufi Rock

Black Warrant
Genre : Heavy Metal / Industrial Origin : Pakistan

Band Members Kashif Khan : Lead Vocals
Ali Raza : Lead Guitars & Vocals
M. Ali : Rhythm Guitars
S. Brett : Bass
Daniel Simon : Drums

Brain Pilot
Band Members: Abeer Vocals Hamza Nadeem Guitars Cross
Genre: Alternative Rock

Status: Active

Band Members: Saad Ahmed Vocals ,Sameer Iftikhar Guitars, Hasnain Abbas Backing Vocals,Sameed Ifitikhar Drums C

Jukebox-CJB

Genre: Alternative Rock

Status: Active

Band Members: Ali Asad Malik Vocals, Raza Malik Lead Guitars, Waleed Hussain Rhythm Guitars, Hassan agha and hassan majeed Bass, Saqib Hussain Drum

Drainage
Genre: Rock/Grunge

Status: Active

Band Members : Waqar Nasir Guitars, Haider Behzad Vocals, Khadija Nasir Drums, Hassan Ashraf Bass
Elysium
Genre: Progressive/Heavy Metal

Status: Semi-Active. We are not gigging, but we are jamming & writing new material.

Band Members : Ghazanfar Abbas Guitars, Jibran Mehmood Guitars, Raafae Khan Vocals,Ameer Aftab Bass

Enstranged

Genre:Heavy Metal

Status:Active

Band Members: Saboor Gohir - Lead Vocals, Ahmed Waqar- Lead/Rhythm Guitars, Ali Imran - Lead/ Rhythm Guitars, Irtiza Shafaat - Bass Guitars ,Yasser Mirza- Drums.

Lithium
Genre:Grunge

Status:Active

Band Members: Junaid Vocals, Aun Baig Lead Guitars, Shahrukh Ali Rhythm Guitars, Ali Baig Bass, Danny Drums

Metal Oxide
Genre:No specific genre..

Any kind of gud music will do.

Status:Active

Band Members: Zain Ali Guitarist, Zawar Haider Drums, Muhammad Ahsan Guitarist, Xain Javaid Vocals

Orion

Genre: Heavy/Thrash metal with progressive influences.

Status: Active.

Band Members: Hussam Raza - Rhythm Guitar/ Lead Guitar Waqas Ahmed– Rhythm Guitar/ Lead Guitar Imaad Manzar - Bass Bilal Nadeem - Drums Ameer Hamza– Lead Vocals/ Backing Vocals Hammad Khan– Death Vocals/ Backing Vocals
Paranoid
Genre:Metal

Status:Active

Band Members: Moghees :Guitars Hussain :Guitars Amir:Bass Taimoor :Drums

RoadSide Bride
Genre:Psychedelic punk Grunge

band Status:Active

Band Members: M.Fazal Ahmad Vocals, Muhammad Ahsan Guitars, Omer KhushnoodDrums, OmerBass

Nirvana Tribute band
Genre:Grunge

Status:Active

Band Members: Shahrukh Ali Vocals/Guitars Ali Baig Bass Danial a.k.a Danny boy Drums Thirteen
Genre:Rock/Grunge

Status:Active

First female drummer oriented Band
'Ian Eldred Vocals and Bass Guitars Faraz Ahmed Lead Guitars Hassan Taimur Rhythm Guitars Mehreen Bazm Drums

Za'ar
Genre: Alternative Rock/Metal

Status:Passive

Band Members: Abdul Rehman Ayyub Drums,Shams Ayyub Vocals, Rameez Chohan Bass,Amsul Naeem Lead Guitars, Azeem Rashid Rhythm Guitars

If your band is an undiscovered band then post your name here now and get discovered.

POSTED BY UMAIR ZAFAR SIDDIQI

Underground Act: Lahore

There is only one way to experience good music: live, raw and in the flesh. Here is a tribute to the underground musicians in Lahore who not only promote the art of performing live, but have in the process produced some truly good quality music. Whenever a concert lacks big names, it’s always a treat for the attendee; performing at local clubs, schools, coffee lounges, schools and universities these bands are the pioneers and promoters of rock music in the city. Moreover, they have been integral in revitalizing the rock culture in Pakistan being the birth place for many, now gone commercial bands, such as Noori And EP. While the mainstream music industry in Pakistan has become a shameful corporate sell out, let these underground musicians provide you with a breath of fresh air. Talented and young, here is a forum for them to interact, and share their music with the world.

Welcome to the Underground Act: Lahore!

http://www.aboutus.org/Portal:The_Underground_Act:_Lahore

POSTED BY UMAIR ZAFAR SIDDIQI

ZEEK

ZEEK is a young talented” Lahore based band”. With there new song “AAG” they have rocked the music culture of Pakistan. They are setting new trends here. With Ahmad on Vocals, other team members are Rameez on guitars, Mustafa On Bass and Saad on drums.

ZEEK members say that

Our Goal is to become one of the top bands from Pakistan.

With their first form of music have rocked many battle of the bands and live performances.

Some achievements by ZEEK :
The band was awarded by THE MUSIK as “THE BEST YOUNGEST UNDERGROUND BAND”
Winners of the Lums Olympiad 2008
Winners of the Mobilink Battle Of The Bands 07
Saad Arshad awarded as the ”The Best Drummer” at Levi’s Rock Club

The band was awarded by THE MUSIK as “THE BEST YOUNGEST UNDERGROUND BAND”
Winners of the Lums Olympiad 2008
Winners of the Mobilink Battle Of The Bands 07
Saad Arshad awarded as the ”The Best Drummer” at Levi’s Rock Club

Posted By Umair Zafar Siddiqi

NERVE BAND

In such a competitive environment, my band, Nerve, has made a humble effort to enter the music arena. Still struggling to find the correct balance between academics and music, we are striving to carve out our own niche in the industry. We started out as performing cover songs of almost all bands, but gradually we are trying to give music our own touch and make some new music. I believe, to achieve early success, it is difficult to be experimental so we would stick to the basics at first. Once established we would definitely give our listeners something new to relax to. However, that by no means implies that our music is typical and boring. In other words we are playing it safe in the early days. The reason for my unheard honesty is the simple fact that in our age and society adopting music as a career is indeed an impossible task. All parents typically want their children to run the family business or join some multi-national. Nobody would allow their children to head bang on TV on some ‘lousy’ song-unless of course there is some certainty that they’d make it to the top! We are just providing that certainty to our parents before we burst onto the music scene with full force. We would never want to crash out before living our dream, in just an attempt to be ‘unique’.
I wish Rocking Lahore, Rocking Success and sincerely hope there are more such blogs to promote quality underground bands!

interveiw done by USMAN

RISING OF MUSIC IN PAKISTAN

Be it Atif’s conquering our neighbor country or bands such as Noori discovering a new a side in coke studio 2 , the music scene in Pakistan is soon becoming a force to reckon with. Even our videos are fast catching up with the international standard, which is clearly demonstrated in projects such as Meekal Hassan’s Band’s latest -Chal Buleya. And then of course are the underground bands that provide the cut-throat competition enabling our Music Industry to explore new horizons. Rocking Lahore is another such effort to popularize and support our Music scene. Any field, may it be sports or education, needs a decent internal structure to flourish. Digressing for a moment, take the example of Cricket. A team is as good as its domestic structure. Hence when it comes to music, the underground bands provide that structure our industry needs to prosper. Blogs such as Rocking Lahore hence are doing a fantastic job, as they’re promoting and acknowledging the underground Music scene. It might be too early to predict the success of our music industry but the future certainly seems positive. The reason why I am not too hasty to pass a judgment on our Music industry is the rise and fall of the closely related Film industry. Our movies were acclaimed across the border in the old days but then we pressed the ‘self-destruct’ button and we are still struggling to find our way into the entertainment industry. However, the recent success ‘Khuda ke Liye’ gives a glimmer of hope and re-enforces the fact that Pakistanis have incredible potential-It’s just a matter of exploring our talents. So, all good wishes with the Music industry and hoping that there’s only rise and rise as far as our music in concerned.

How The Streams combine to make ONE...!

The story of four masterpieces of the band started in the year 2006 when Muddassir Khan the rhyme guitarist of the band who had a bundle of attractive compositions, thought of forming a musical band and he came up with the name ALAG, he met a guy named Farhan Azmat in a random jam who previously was practicing with his own band with the name AMD, Mudassir felt that Farhan is the right guy which he is looking for, so he offered Farhan to join with him on the vocals and to form a band which they both had ambitions for. Farhan accepted his offer and Alag was formed.

There work shows that they are inspired from bands like Metallica, Linkin park etc .They wanted to bring a fusionary change in the present musical scene of Pakistan, After some time the first track of the band was remixed by a man who was already famous in underground bands for his skills of remixing; Umair who is familiar to the music domain as AJ. He has already made many remixes for underground bands like IRTAASH, KAFFAS, MAX PROJECT and many others. His fabulous skills were appreciated by Muddassir who really loved the work and wanted him to become a part of the ALAG team. And thus team got an admirable DJ .
As is stated at there official site “ They started working together, Recording of their tracks was needed, and for that purpose they went to many studios and recorded their music but they were never satisfied with the quality that they were being given as per the quality that they wanted, So after going through many studios they learnt that they should record their own stuff by themselves.Atlast they came up with the quality of the music that the band wanted.”
The most recent super performance showed by the band was at Battle Of The Band,ROCK FIESTA 2008 where they defeated all the 12 participant and won the first prize

So a new journey has begun ………………….
With new thoughts ...........................
Lots of creativity……………..
Lumped with hardwork and passion………….

Band: Alag The Band
Date Of Birth: 28th November 2006
Place Of Birth: Islamabad
Official Website: www.alagtheband.com

Band Members:
FARHAN AZMAT: Lead Vocals, Lead Guitars
MUDDASSIR KHAN: Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitars, Music composer + Recordings
HASAN HAIDER: Drums
UMAIR a.k.a AJ-DJ: Disk jockey, Sequencing, Remixes

Meekal Hassan Band

The Music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from various parts of South Asia as well as Central Asian, Persian, Turkish, Arabic and modern day American music influences. With these multiple influences, Pakistani music has emerged as a "fusion" of these elements, to form a distinctly Pakistani sound.
In music industry underground bands have played a very vital role. Pakistani musical group are very popular and started to spring up with pop music and rock music becoming more fashionable with the younger generations.
This article contains the information about famous musical group based in Pakistan, which is the Mekaal Hassan Band.
Mekaal Hasan Band (MHB) was formed in 2001 by guitarist/composer Mekaal Hasan.The music that MHB plays is a fusion between the melodic sensibility of the East and the harmonic sophistication of the West. Mekaal Hasan Band features the artistry of musicians from Pakistan and abroad, and with fellow bandmates Javed Bashir on vocals and Mohd. Ahsan Papu on flute, The Mekaal Hasan Band is continuing to explore this exciting blend of East and West, in a series of live performances, studio recordings and videos that are drawing music enthusiasts in large numbers. MHB is Pakistan’s most critically acclaimed act as well, winning numerous awards and nominations for it’s recordings,videos and live performances.
Meekal hasan band has two albums by now including SAMPOORAN and SAPTAK. SAMPOORAN was released in 2004 and after a long gap in 2009 the band gave a wonderful pleasure to the fans by releasing the second album named SAPTAK.
The tunes on Sampooran were written incorporating traditional material from the eastern classical tradition and adapting these with music which was based on the jazz rock fusion explosion of the seventies. To this end, the album features two Shah Hussain Kaafi's, Raba and Sajan , two traditional classical ragas, Ya Ali, associated with Ustad Salamat Ali Khan and composed for the most part, in Raag Verag Todi, along with Raag Darbari (Yaray Mun Biya Biya), which is most closely associated with Ustad Amir Ali Khan Sahib of Indore. The great poetess Amrita Pretum, is paid a loving tribute by a unique rendition of Waris Shah, set in Raag Mehg. Raag Charokashi, is featured in two tracks, namely the instrumental Late Moon and the tune Sanwal, which features lyrics by Farhat Abbass Shah. Finally, the title track, Sampooran is written in Raag Aiman, and incorporates the progressive nature of this band by moving through a few time signatures and themes before resolving to its main melody which each soloist uses as a cue for the start and end of his solo.
The band has its official website as below:
http://www.mekaalhasanband.com/
and are also well communicated by there face via different blogs and groups like facebook etc.
Indeed MHB is providing magnificent entertainment and an edge to the music industry.

Ep is a rock band. The biggest proof of that is their album IRTIQA which is any other effort made in the music history of pakistan so far. From the album's cover inlay art to the highly intellctual lyrics to the musical moods set by the songs, Irtiqa is highly cohesive concept. The guitarist and the mastermind of this album said tht it is "about the evolution of new born". The caltter of this idea is evident of the fact that gang have been influenced by the variety of sources. THe songs flow cohesiveely the story flows and masterfully crafted within each song. Creating such a thing requires a lot more effort and intiative. it will not be an exaggeration to say that this album is a labour of LOVE. It is true that EP and their ideas have come a long way form Hamien Azma their debut over a year ago. It got them to the finals of "Pepsi battle Of Bands". This strenghtened their ressolve to make themselves and their ideas heard on a wider basis. This is only evidence of EP's commitment and faithfulness to their art and ideas.

List of Tracks:

1. Irtiqa 1
   
2. Hamien Azma
   
3. Kahan hai tu
   
4. Hamesha
   
5. Waqt
   
6. Aghosh
   
7. Irtiqa 2
   
8. Rahguzar
   
9. Fitrat
   
10. Barzakh
    
11. Irtiqa 3

Event: ROCK FOR PEACE

In the present times terrorism is the major issue for the world and Pakistan is the biggest Victim of it. So, we have taken an initiative to show that our youth is against violence and terrorism.

Date: Sunday, December 13, 2009
Time: 3:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Bahria Town
Ticket Price: Rs.750

HELLBOX and CORE Proudly presents "ROCK FOR PEACE"
Their first collaboration
Bringing their expertise and huge portfolios together
The biggest Charity Event of the year
An Unforgetable Night With Notching Stars
FEATURING

ATIF ASLAM
NOORI
CALL
OVERLOAD
ANNIE
FALAK
RUIN the band
&
AN the band

Bahria Town, Known as One of The Most Prestegious and Safest Venue, Invites You to Show Your Dedication for Promotion of Peace
Come to Join Hands to Tell the world
We Want Peace

posted by: Muhammad Salman

Back with a bang

The Pakistani rock band familiar with the audiences and viewers all around the globe "Inteha" needs not much introduction. They came into limelight internationally after there song Pyaar which was declared best of week on BBC radio in U.K.. This was a huge achievement for a Pakistani singer and for Pakistan.
The band, Inteha is basically a rock band consisting of two talented brothers Naukhez Javed and Nausher Javed. Recently, their fourth video Kuch kehna chata hoon from their first album has been released. This is also the title track of the album. So far, the band has come up with three videos. Their first video was called Daastaan and was directed by Marium Aziz whereas Munib Nawaz did wardrobe and styling. The second video of the song titled, Anjana was directed by Xulfi (Call band), which, is one of his best videos. The wardrobe was maintained by Ammar Bilal and styling by Nabila. The third video was directed by Abrar-ul-Hassan and Munib Nawaz did the wardrobe. These videos have topped the musical charts and received a huge appreciation from their fans.
This is a major success for Nausher Javed as a Director, a marked improvement from there last video. Mahid Khawar has done the wardrobe and styling is done by Rhizwan and post by Post House. The video is diverse new and fresh. Both the members share the same number, amount of shots and a significant change from the last video. This is also a debut music video of the model Kiran.
The video highlights the concept of physical beauty and elegance. A beautiful girl is dressed in Eastern style and singer tries to express her beauty in words. Nausher Javed, is the main force behind this video.
Apart from playing guitars and bass, he composes music and pens down most of lyrics. Individually, he is gaining tremendous respect as a musician. He has done a tremendous job as a Director and proved himself as a competent musician.
The video is shot at a farmhouse and Nausher has used natural surroundings like greenery for his work. No special effects have been used and songs are a combination of Eastern and Western influences. Instruments played in the song are guitar, violin, drum, keyboard and bass.
According to the vocalist Naukhez Javed, ?We are pleased to hear the positive reviews of our latest song Kehna Chahta Hoon. The song expresses the theme of love and passion.? Nausher Javed, the director of this song said,” It is supposed to be direct and goes well with the guitar.?
They are relasing the first video of their much-anticipated album. Kuch kehna chata hoon has become one of the best selling albums of this year. Violin, Flute and tabla are used in this album.

posted by: Muhammad Salman

Pakistan's Music Still Rocking

Pakistan music industry is also suffering a heavy loss as the other industries in Pakistan because of intense security issues and economic fall back of the country. Pakistans music has been around for longer than that of tibalans and mujhadins. in 1960s Pakistans cities rocked because of huge availability of vanues and mostly the bands came forward at that time were from Christian Community.
In Lahore music battered in 1080s with the help of audio/video cassettes of rock albums and videos footages of concerts. Newly formed bands used to gether at AlHemra Hall Non 1 for the most of the concerts and regularly staged "Battle Of Bands". Vital Signs (1987-1995) managed to seep through the cracks and were signed by Papsi for the first time to bring rock/pop music into mainstream. They were fallowed by a string of boyish pop acts, which set the stage for Junoon's mass success.
In 1990s scene became populated by independent acts performing some original compositions of english bands such as Black Sabbath and others. This independent music scene attracted a lot of media attention. All of a sudden media changed the outlook of Pakistani Music in 2000. From Pepsi Battle Of Bands and talent hunt show a band named Entity Paradigm came forward. They further changed the outlook of rock music. They introduced english rap for4 the first time in Pakistani music.
Corporate interests aside, the live music scene since 2001 has come under threat of terrorist attacks on large gatherings. Bands have been complaining for years that they are unable to put up shows because lack of funding, and that revenue from ticket sales is inadequate due to security concerns.It is true that rock has served as an emotional outlet for youth in Pakistan over the decades. And while kids these days seem up to the challenge of using their instruments to express themselves, a lack of venues and limited public access is shutting them out of the cultural space.
With only a couple of record labels, and prohibitively expensive recording studios, rock music doesn't enjoy much support. A band's only real hope of hitting it big is corporate endorsement, and we all know marketing money usually goes on safe bets, rather than unruly, politically charged and opinionated youngsters. The double whammy of the recession and security concerns has further stifled the growth of such creative movements.

Underground History

The term underground applies to different artistic moments such as psychedelic music moments of mid 1960s.This term is now more related to artists/bands who avoids becoming mainstream. In modern popular music the term underground refers to bands and artists that are signed with independent record labels, and they typically perform in small venues and promote their music through word-of-mouth and internet sites. In some cases the content of music is illegal and controversial.Shalom Sheer’s "philosophy for artists" argues that there are three common misconceptions about the "underground": that it refers exclusively to the rave/electronic scene; that it can be described with a vague, broad definition of "anything which is not mainstream"; and the myth that underground music is kept secret;he points out that no band or performer "exclude virtually anyone or anything" using "secret passwords and hidden map points".Even some musical styles that eventually became mainstream, commercialized pop styles started out as underground music. Late 1970s disco is often considered to be a much commercialized type of pop music. However, before discos mainstream adoption in 1977 and 1978, disco records were underground music created by nightclub DJs for the gay dance club scene. Similarly, hip hop began "on the streets"; in the early 1980s, rappers did beat boxing and made up rhymes for tiny underground labels. Genres such as new wave, alternative rock, grunge, various forms of heavy metal, grind core, electronic, outsider music, and experimental music, also trace their roots to underground scenes.

Introducing ‘13’

Critics now a days would say that local music scenes growth curve has tipped its way into chasm of coexistence of opposing attitudes or feelings, but the fact is that most these video makers are not aware or bother to do something new and eye catching. This case is same for both old and new people in this field.
Now a day it only matters that how aggressively your music or your band is “promoted”. Probably this is because these days no one has time to sit in front of TV for hours and switch between local music channels to watch videos. Instead people are more tuned into the “World Wide Web”. This the way by which local bands like Zeb and Haniya, Sahil, Arooj Aftab and many others got promoted by newspaper agencies, radio stations and television channels.
This story is somewhat similar for this new band "13" also. They haven't hit media jackpot yet but they hope to.
Comprising of Faraz Ahmed, Ian Eldred and Wahaj. Three of them have some associations with the music field before.
“The band ‘13’ was formed in 2006 with myself and Hassan Taimur”, Faraz states, “We’d been playing with a lot of underground bands in Pakistan such as ‘The Trip’, ‘Noori’ and Mekaal Hasan's project ‘Bare Chords’, among the lot. In 2005 Hassan and I were asked to play with an American Opera singer called Heather Schmid who was touring Pakistan and raising funds for the earthquake victims at the time.”
Soon after, Hassan left Pakistan to pursue higher studies abroad, resulting in the introduction of Ian and Wahaj to ‘13’.
Interestingly, via 13’s internet promotion, I’d learnt that the band also included a young female drummer called Mehreen Baxm.
“She’s Pakistan's first professional girl drummer who is also involved in composing, lyric-writing, designing and promotions for our band”, Faraz states, “But currently she’s on indefinite hiatus due to a demanding program at a university in Georgia, United States.”
So considering the band’s played at public and private gigs, do they plan on releasing an album (since that stands as Step Number 2 for any new band entering into the local music scene)?
“With there being only one major record label in the country”, Faraz answers, “The window of opportunity has constricted which means less variegation within the music industry. Foreign labels are a hard deal because without an agent most bands get lost in some corner of the information highway.”
Fair enough. But a music video, then? “Yes we plan to make a video for our debut song and we’re currently looking for sponsors, even though the rubrics most of these potential sponsors we approach are addling at best - for example we had two different people within one corporation tell us that our music was not commercial and grunge enough but yet was also too commercial in nature to be considered marketable rock/pop”.
Faraz then goes on to state something which has been echoed by our local musicians, young and old, over the years; “You see it’s a very discernible and disturbing phenomenon, if you want to be a sure fire hit today and have the backing of a host of sponsors then unfortunately you will have to sell your ideals and principles by letting go of the music that you truly want to play and share with other people. Eventually you must become a cardboard cut-out that can be stereotyped and easily packaged by people ‘showing you the money’. It is terribly deleterious and can only mean the slow and attritional emaciation of diversity and heterogeneity.”
Part of the rock scene in Melbourne, Australia (in the 90s), Faraz, on his arrival back in Pakistan joined the Lahori underground scene in 2001 (and played with a few bands as mentioned earlier).
“Music had gall back then – from the late 90s to 2003”, he says, “Music was more than just an end to a means, it was collective consciousness, everyone was part of something, something that was just invigorating, facultative and binding. It wasn’t just a bunch of snooty-nosed kids playing guitars and indulging in all sorts of bourgeois nonsense”.
But of the music scene as it stands currently? Faraz remains optimistic. While the political and economic vista of the country may appear to be in shambles, Pakistani musicians – like each of us - have developed a to-hell-with-it attitude...carrying on with what they know best, yet dealing with it pragmatically on a day to day basis.
So whether or not the returns don’t flow in as soon and/or as much as they should, and whether or not record deals are struck (or lost) the local music scene is and always will be, in constant metamorphosis.

Posted By "Umair Zafar Siddiqi"