Kokaaf: Mending broken hearts

Local rock & roll band focuses on blues.

KARACHI:

After performing casual jam sessions and gigs for a year, Karachi-based underground band Kokaaf finally went mainstream in 2009 with the release of their debut album titled Naya Jahan.

Shumraiz Awan, the band’s guitarist, vocalist and songwriter is mainly influenced by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Mr. Big, Aerosmith and Skid Row’s music. Apart from Awan, the band comprises two other members, Giles Goveas and Alan Dcruz, who play the drums and bass respectively.

Goveas was formerly associated with Aunty Disco Project (ADP) which recently disbanded. The band plays a potpourri of genres including punk, blues, rock & roll, hard rock, pop metal ballad and pop rock.

Naya Jahan, produced at the Big Blow Studio, has a variety of rock & roll songs, which are essentially progressive melodies with a classic touch. The album also includes singing harmonies by Mubashir Admani, who is basically a keyboard player.

Apart from the title track which focuses on hope, most of the songs in the album, including “Barish” and “Meray Dil”, narrate the experiences of broken-hearted individual.

Awan explains his inspiration and his love for blues, “I started playing music at the age of 12. The genre I started playing was Blues because as a musician I believe it’s the mother of all the rock & roll genres.”

He passionately adds, “I love Blues. Hence, putting my feelings into a song or an instrumental is a gift I’m naturally endowed with. Everyone on earth has gone through heart breaks and people in that state search for nostalgic songs.”

However, Awan also says that the band deliberately kept it slightly commercial so that people could relate well with the music.

Awan adds that the journey of putting their band on the map was a long and difficult one due to the dismal state of the music scene in the country. “It hasn’t been an easy journey, and we know we have more struggles ahead. It was hard as I had to record the album with my own money and not through sponsorships,” he said.

Yet finally releasing an album was a crucial juncturefor Awan, who rues the lack of support for new musicians in the country.  “My dream to produce and release an album of my own came true. It was a wonderful experience.

“I have already composed two more albums which I haven’t recorded. One is English and the other is an instrumental album. There is a lot of music in our heads, but we don’t get enough support in this country.”

Meanwhile, Awan, who has played without monetary compensation for years, regrets the fact that music cafes in the country misuse underground bands by not remunerating them at all for their effort. This disrespect for music, according to Awan, is hampering the process of growth and promotion of music in the country. “I request all the music cafes in the country to kindly start respecting and valuing musicians by paying them for a performance.

Next up, Awan admitted the band is looking for a good record label, promoters and sponsors. “We’re playing at shows that we essentially sponsor ourselves.” Although there is no active record label company in Pakistan, the band members insist they will continue to play music and write songs to keep the passion alive.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2011.