Dance music: Changing the game

EDM group SomeWhatSuper plays concert organised by Patari

LAHORE: Emerging EDM sensation SomeWhatSuper has been surfing on the waves of success and the latest feather in its cap is its very first nomination in the upcoming Lux Style Awards. While other nominees in the ‘Emerging Talent’ category are also breakthrough musicians, SomeWhatSuper holds the trump card for their single, Bandook, which is the most played song on Patari. To celebrate the act’s success, the music streaming portal organised a concert at a Levi’s apparel store in Lahore on Monday evening.

SomeWhatSuper is the brainchild of Feroze Faisal and Talha Dar; the latter spoke to The Express Tribune at the event. “EDM often gets associated with the rave culture and narcotics and we can’t risk that — our music is too important to us,” Dar said in response to a question about the group’s numbered public appearances. “We don’t normally do concerts, we usually play at schools and universities,” he added. He also revealed that the band used to play all kinds of events in the beginning but then they decided to be more careful.





At the gig, they played plenty of mashups before eventually treating fans to their well-known tracks. “When we are in the studio, we’d rather make originals but in a concert one can’t play one song for more than a minute or two,” explained Dar. “That’s why we chose to play around 50 reworked songs at the concert.” The duo plays around with viral internet recordings and videos, such as their version of the TV reporter Chand Nawab’s recording, as well as that of the infamous celebrity Ayesha Sana.

But for how long exactly can one keep cashing in on viral recordings without putting out something original for the audience? Dar revealed that a number of new collaborations are in the works so the duo will not be “wasting time with viral videos.”

He shared that the band will soon be releasing songs with Josh, QB, Iqbal Shafi, Faris Shafi and Kanza Munir. Although it took the band a while to get the artists on board, in the end it all worked out.

“The EDM trend is new, so bigger artists are hesitant to change their sound. The benefit we have is that we are one of the [LSA] nominees, and we have a solid rating on Patari. When we sit down with more established artists, we tell them that we have proof that our songs are successful,” said Dar.



The musician was also quick to acknowledge Patari’s contribution to his band’s success, whose page currently displays three of their songs; Anday Wala Burger, Patang and Bandook. However, they only consider two of these tracks to be their originals. “We don’t consider Anday Wala Burger as an original, it was just an experiment.” SomeWhatSuper has not released reworked songs on Patari because they prefer to only release originals.

If their songs staying atop Patari’s charts wasn’t indication enough of their success, they feel the nomination has created a firm base for them. “We are the only EDM artists to ever be nominated for the award and it is a milestone for us because this means EDM is becoming more acceptable in the mainstream.” He feels that the nomination will give more people the confidence to take up EDM.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.

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