Pindi boys have got an ‘Isloo lady’ and they are celebrating

Band’s frontman talks about new song and surviving in a chaotic music industry

KARACHI: Tongue and cheek songs have been the It thing in the year so far. Ali Aftab Saeed’s Pain Di Siri was a melodious ode to the times that are not changing and Mehdi Maloof’s Gandi Si Building, an irritatingly catchy sketch of the apartment life in Karachi. Perhaps things have really come to a standstill. And all we are left with are memories of the better days or the fear of the night getting dark before it turns pitch black.

Make some noise for the Pindi boys

However, there’s one archetype of Pakistani society that adheres to zero notions of pessimism and they are the Pindi boys.  Their persistence to breach social barriers and class divide makes Pindi boys a force to reckon with for the ones living in Islamabad – or so goes the story. The band Jasim Haider & the Pindi boys not only features members from Rawalpindi, but their new song revolves around pursuing an ‘Isloo girl’ who is going to fix their life once and for all. A little funky and a little bluesy, the song is the third release from their upcoming album Pindi Blues.

PHOTO: PUBLICITY

“As a Pindi boy I can relate to the desperation of getting an ‘Isloo girl,” quips Jasim Haider, the front-man of the band. “It’s not only a search for companion, it’s a matter of making the impossible possible and proving a point to your friends. ‘Yes, even a Pindi boy can get an Isloo lady.’” The video is shot vertically on a mobile phone and shows the band members arriving in a local restaurant where the frontman runs into an ‘Isloo lady’ and they start singing about the many possible ways in which their lives are going to change after that.

PHOTO: PATARI

“We had to keep the video simple and performance based because that’s how Pindi boys are,” laughs Haider. “On a serious note, I don’t think the audience takes you seriously if you just release singles or lyric videos. You have to engage them in as many ways as possible and making a proper music video really helps.”  Although the band didn’t make it to the grand finale of the battle of the bands they participated in last year but that gave them a big enough platform and put them on the map. With three back to back videos in a year, Jasim Haider and The Pindi boys are the only participants of the battle of the bands that have managed to release music consistently.

PHOTO: PUBLICITY

Haider thinks the music industry is in a state of chaos and artists have to come up with their own business models. “You have to keep investing both money and your creative abilities for at least ten years for the model to become sustainable. I know this is too much to ask but we are trying our best and don’t blame the ones who fail in the process.” Haider is at peace with the fact that so far only one band member among the four has a day job and the rest are relying entirely on music as their source of income.  The band also comprises Eimaan Haider on drums, Adeel Haroon on guitars and Syed Mohsin Raza on the bass guitars and they are currently working on more music videos from the album.

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