I only wanted to travel, invest in stocks till I received a call from Xulfi: Faisal Kapadia

Faisal Kapadia, in his 33 years with Bilal Maqsood, has proven to be fully capable of churning out fruitful songs; the kind that stay in our thoughts longer than they stay in our hearts. He was very much the voice of Strings, the calmness of Dhaani, the pain of Zinda Hoon, the melancholy of Hum Dono and most recently, the longing of their ode to Khusro.

But even after appeasing three generations of listeners with Strings, Kapadia, like a mythological hero straight out of a pantheon, is not willing to rest as much as he had aimed to. In fact, the singer is now working on his solo act.

Dying and rising

“Strings decided to end its journey last year, I personally feel we were really fortunate to have made that decision,” the Duur crooner told The Express Tribune before the release of his Coke Studio 14 number, Phir Milenge. “In 1992, after releasing our second album Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar, we called it off, only to come back in 2000 to make more music. We did many seasons of Coke Studio too. But last year, we called it quits permanently after realising how far we’ve come and how much we don’t want to spoil.”

Kapadia’s first live performance with a revised version of the same team at the Dubai Expo, opposite Euphoria, also led to inquiries about his and Bilal’s live line-up going forward. Many in the music circles could swear they’ve sensed enmity growing between the two. 

The intensity of Kapadia’s voice did not leave his side even as he spoke casually over the phone about the decisions that led him to where he is today – in Dubai, partying and performing with the greats. “The turning point for me was when I got a call from Xulfi. It was the summer of ‘21, I was on a family vacation, he called to ask if I wanted to do this song and I told him, ‘Xulfi bhai, I never imagined myself making music after Strings.’ But that 30-minute conversation turned out to be so inspiring, I felt like destiny was calling me. The musician inside became excited again,” the Dhaani singer revelled.

Kapadia’s first live performance with a revised version of the same team at the Dubai Expo, opposite Euphoria, also led to inquiries about his and Bilal’s live line-up going forward. Many in the music circles could swear they’ve sensed enmity growing between the two. And that led to many questions about the duo wanting to perform Strings songs separately with the same old people.

“The songs Bilal and I made together, they’re there to stay. Gaanay hamesha zinda rehtay hain, even if the artists leave. I will perform them; Bilal will perform them. If you know us closely, you’ll know that Bilal and I have always been opposites. As Strings, we completed each other. Where I was weak, he was strong, and vice versa. So, because of that, we learnt so much from one another. We’re not letting that go. We will make something new from it,” he maintained.

Now that the two are busy carving their own paths, Kapadia also agreed, “It’s true, I wanted only to travel with my wife and invest in stocks. I even ended up losing a lot of money because of the latter. But now, Strings fans can get double the excitement.” He went on to reveal how he was the one, unwilling to carry forward with music at all, while Bilal was always persistent. The two, albeit, came to mutual agreement about Strings and are now willing to bring their fans more joy.

“Bilal always wanted to pursue music apart from Strings, we’d often talk about how long we will carry on with this. We were making money; we could have dragged Strings for 15 more years. But we didn’t want Strings to become a boring thing,” he sighed. “Music today has changed and Strings has a legendary rutba. We didn’t want to spoil that legacy by experimenting with it. But Bilal and I can and will be doing a lot of music. It will benefit Strings fans only,” he confirmed, hinting at their equation today as independent performers, and not rivals.

Thrice-born

After CS, especially while working with Young Stunners, I realised I have so much to learn.

As for his debut performance as a solo act, Kapadia recollected having a ball. “As Strings, we have performed several times with Euphoria, so it was exciting for me to be on stage with Palash [Sen] again. James of Nagar Baul is also a phenomenal rocker.”

But about his live line-up and as for whether he’ll be writing his own songs now, Kapadia added, “I worked closely with Xulfi, Abdullah Siddiqui and Adnan Dhool in writing lyrics for Phir Milenge. I am focused on creating melodies. But I want to take one step at a time. Even for the Dubai gig, I didn’t have a band set up, it all happened so fast and I was focused on CS. Fortunately, Adeel [Ali] and Haider [Ali] were there and they are now part of the band. I am still in the process of finalising a full-blown live act for future gigs though.”

As humans, failing is second nature but striving to survive is first, and in today’s jungle of electronic beasts, Kapadia wants his solo venture to be fresh as a beat drop. Especially since the artist, by now, has decades of experience in staying relevant. “After CS, especially while working with Young Stunners, I realised I have so much to learn. I’ve decided to work more with new people, young people. I even told Xulfi to direct me during the song. Because there are many areas I still haven’t explored yet. I’m not looking to make hits, I’m looking to experiment, to try. They say if you haven’t tried, you’ve already lost. But if you try, there is a chance you might win.”

Published in the print edition of The Express Tribune on March 28.

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