KARACHI: Pakistan’s vibrant music scene has now come to a standstill. Once known for its potential and happening buzz, the industry seems to be lapsing through time without any creative input. The growing insecurity in the country has taken a toll on everyone from musicians to the entertainment starved viewers. Fortunately, no matter how dismal the state of affairs are, musicians’ always find a way forward- Fuzon is one example.
Reportedly, the three- member band has just recently returned from Dhaka after performing at the annual sales conference for the Standard Chartered Bank in Bangladesh and the band managed to draw in a crowd of nearly 3000 people.
With Shallum Xavier as lead guitarist, Momina Imran more popularly known as Emu on keyboard and Rameez Mukhtar on vocals with additions from Jason and Khalid Khan on drums and bass guitar respectively, the band took the Bengal capital by storm and enchanted the audience with their contemporary take on classical music.
“Dhaka was a mind-blowing,” an excited Xavier told The Express Tribune upon his return. “ It was a three-day trip but the kind of response and appreciation we received over there for a 90-minute performance was far more than what we expected or could have anticipated for a corporate show,” added Xavier.
Band member, Xavier has been a fan of the Bangladeshi crowd because he strongly believes that the audience of the East is more mature in terms of music sensibility. “Its not our first time in Bangladesh and whenever we have performed, the audience understands what we are trying to do through our music, considering we share a part of our heritage with them, it somehow becomes more relatable,” said Xavier.
Fuzon played around 15 songs in one and a half hour including songs from their past two albums, Sagar and Journey. The band brought a Sufi touch to their concert with a few unheard covers of Abida Parveen and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s songs.
However, Xavier is not the only band member who is impressed with the quality of music in Bangladesh, other band members also adhere to the concept that the music of the East has great potential.
The band said that they are also looking forward to future collaborations with musicians in Bangladesh which could prove to be beneficial to both countries.
Xavier admits that he was initially of the opinion that the Bengali music industry is going through a breeding period, a phase that the Pakistani music industry has undergone and said that he was happy to see that there are progressive rock bands in Bangladesh now.
“You take the band Shunno that has sung ‘Shoto Asha’ the Bengali anthem for the World Cup, they have created some fantastic music. We have spoken to their drummer about translating songs to Urdu and releasing them here, since language is one major reason that currently limits Bengali musicians, ” added Xavier.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2011.
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