The end of Aunty Disco Project

Aunty Disco Project is breaking up. We've been sitting on this decision for a long time. Now's the time to tell you guys. Here's our official statement.

To all our fans and friends,

It is with a heavy heart that we're announcing our decision to end Aunty Disco Project.

We are in no way breaking up because of personal animosities or differences. We will always be family to each other. We're breaking up because the demands of real life were too difficult to ignore and because of our duty to fulfill individual personal and family commitments. We have decided to give each other the space to pursue our own ambitions.

We never in our wildest dreams imagined we would achieve what we did and we've savored and cherished every single moment. All we ever wanted to do was be in a rock band and play the kind of music that made people feel something. All we have ever wanted to do is give people an experience at our shows that they would always hold on to. It has been one of the greatest, most rewarding and magical experiences of our lives and it is time for us to leave while we can still hold our heads high.

We aren't ruling out the possibility of performing together in the future but Aunty Disco Project will formally cease to exist as of this summer.

In the coming months we will try to release several recorded songs, some of which you've heard at our shows, some of which are brand new. We'll also continue to be active on our Facebook page.

We will be performing one final time on June 25^th, 2011 to say goodbye and thank you for all the love and unending support you have shown us for the last 5 years.

Thank you all for your love and understanding. We truly hope you'll continue to listen to our songs and tell your kids about us someday.

Most of all, thank you for the memories.

Love,

Aunty Disco Project.

My band, the Aunty Disco Project is breaking up. 

The editors at ET were kind enough to let me use this space to give a personal take on things.

Now this might not be big news to most of you, but it's a big deal for me. It's a bigger deal than I had previously imagined. The band and I have known about this decision for a long time, but after putting it in words, there is a deafening finality to it. I'm sadder and more affected by this than I expected. I don't think I had seriously considered what this meant until now.

Last year, I decided I wanted to be a journalist. Sure I've already been writing for a while, but given that my two most popular articles were about dating insane women and Shahid Afridi's sex drive, I didn't have much credibility. I decided I wanted to be a real journalist and write about, you know, the issues man. To that end, I'll be attending grad school this year pursuing a master's degree in journalism.

While I could potentially take a hiatus from ADP and come back and resume things, I really felt that personally, this was it for me. This year I'll turn 30.  I was never a full time musician, indeed it's extremely difficult to be one in Pakistan. When you're 30, there's only so many things you can juggle side by side before you burn out. The adulthood I'd been trying to delay for so long began quietly tapping at my door and eventually threatened to break it down. I don't think I have it in me to pursue music full time in Pakistan and and while I hope to always be making music, I don't think I will be pursuing commercial success anymore. Then again, who is?

When I started the band five years ago, I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would get to play music in front of a live audience singing songs that I had written. I  know I'm amongst the privileged few to have experienced the electric rush of taking the stage at a rock concert, to feel the goosebumps  when everyone in the audience is singing along to the words you wrote, to feel the incredible energy pulsating through my body with every crashing drum and every screaming power chord. I know how lucky we have been and how blessed we are to receive the kind of love and devotion that most people can only dream about. I have loved every second of it and never taken it for granted.

But the time has come to say goodbye. We all knew it was going to end. When the time came, all of us accepted it. It's time to preserve the memory of ADP exactly as it is right now. These have been the five best years of my life and I want to leave on a high.

Through all the crippling lows and sublime highs we've had, the guys have stuck together. The guys in ADP were always fiercely loyal to each other no matter how much we may have disagreed in private. It was always us against the world and I am proud to have shared the experience with them. I know they'll continue to be the amazing musicians they are wherever they go.

I didn't realize how sad I was until I started writing this. Ending are always sad. I'm sad to be going away from the fans that gave us their unconditional support and grew up along side us. All I can hope for is that people will still listen to our songs when they're older.

I hope our songs will remind them of their youth. I hope they'll tell their children about us. Maybe they won't remember the tunes. But I hope they'll remember the way they felt at the time, the girls they had crushes on, the classes they attended, the uninhibited dancing and the simple, pure joy that comes from screaming the words to your favorite song.

To think that ADP, in some small way contributed to those amazing memories is the most incredible feeling anyone can ever have and I am forever grateful for being given that amazing opportunity. I will cherish it forever.