Having emerged as a rock band during the mid-2000s, the group went on to release two albums titled Jilawatan and Dhoom. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
KARACHI:
The two instances that seem to be part of almost every rock band’s career graph are disbanding while at the top of their game, and then reuniting at the insistence of the audiences. The story behind one of Pakistan’s most fabled rock-and-roll bands, Call, seems to be no different as after an extended hiatus following their disbandment three years ago, the group has decided to recall past memories and reunite on the musical front.
The band took to their official page on Facebook to confirm the reunion. “To all Call fans: Re-Call is now official! Today, Call jams after three years,” they posted. Speaking to The Express Tribune, lead guitarist Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, colloquially known as Xulfi, shared why they took this call. “People used to meet me and one thing they’d always inquire about was when Call would reunite. So, we finally decided to give in to their demand,” he said.
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The reunion of the trio, which features Xulfi, Junaid Khan as vocalist and Sultan Raja as bassist, had been in the works for some time now. Having met Junaid a few months ago, the group had contemplated the idea of returning to the stage and then one thing led to another. “First, our bond as friends is stronger than anything else and second, all three of us are musicians, so we couldn’t resist the idea to jam, make music and perform together on stage,” stated Xulfi.
In between the disbandment and the reunion, Junaid has managed to rack up a sizable body of work as an actor. Despite gaining ground in his ‘other’ line of work, he considers himself a musician first. “Acting is a field that I wanted to explore and hope to continue exploring, but whenever I look at myself in the mirror, I always feel I’m a musician,” he noted. This is perhaps why the vocalist went on to make music on his own, even recording a song titled So Close So Distant with US singer Jennifer Jandis.
Now that they’re back together, they don’t want to get carried away and hope to take one step at a time. “We’ve started working on a few lyrics, mixes and songs and hopefully, the audiences will get to hear something new from us in the near future.”
Owing to Junaid’s frequent travelling plans for acting projects, the band could possibly face difficulty scheduling jamming sessions, but he is confident that he’ll be able to give sufficient time to his “boys back in Lahore.” He explained, “While Karachi is my workplace, Lahore has always been my home. Given the technology in place these days, I can continue to contribute to the band even when I’m out of town.”
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Having emerged as a rock band during the mid-2000s, the group went on to release two albums, Jilawatan and Dhoom, in addition to contributing songs to a few Bollywood movies. In their latest incarnation, the group hopes to stay true to their original rock sound and are unwilling to compromise on it. “Call is a rock band and we will continue to make rock music. If any opportunities, such as composing for a film, crop up, we’ll definitely give them a shot on the side,” said Xulfi.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2015.
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