It’s a long way to the top
From sunrise to sunset, all living things need food to survive every day, every month, and every year.
Similarly, our souls are also constantly connecting with the energies around us. One such energy lies in music. The combination of vibrations and sounds creates a rhythm that attracts our souls, energizing them to the core. Not only is it relaxing and motivating, but it also leaves us mesmerized for long periods. Accompanied by lyrics, music can change the way you think. Sometimes, you may not even speak the language of the song but may find yourself banging your head to every beat of the drums in it – that is music.
For years, music has been affecting our moods significantly; whether you're happy and want to dance off to a hip-hop number or are in a state of great despair and doze off listening to a jazz song, music has always been a ray of hope for many.
Music profoundly affects our souls and emotions within minutes, which is why people creating music are called artists. These artists, whether a singer or a pianist, combine their voices, skills, talent, and creativity to form a band to work tirelessly on developing music for their audience and to touch every soul from afar.
But some things are essential to keep the band together and progressing. They rely on the bond between the members, finances, concerts, record labels, feedback, etc. Do the Pakistani bands have all this? Do they have enough support from the fans, society and its members to sustain? The Express Tribune talked to some emerging and senior bands creating music to keep pop and rock music alive in the country. The bands shared their journey, challenges, and opportunities in Pakistan.
Appreciation without acceptance
One of the biggest hurdles a band or a musician faces in Pakistan is acceptance by society. The concept of calling this profession Haram (forbidden) is still present. The decision to become a musician is a difficult one to make. First, as an individual, then convincing your family and society.
Faraz Anwar, the lead guitarist, vocalist and founder of the musical band Mizraab in 1999, talked about this challenge and said that the only solution to the biggest hurdle in the life of a musician is to accept music as a profession and stop calling it Haram. "Initially, when musicians started to learn instruments, society suppressed them by saying that you are doing Haram work. This kind of comment made one think if he was on the right track or not. This feeling itself is negative and fearful."
"A musician's life is very painful in Pakistan. Musicians can't open a bank account unless they lie. We get hurdles to get a place for ourselves on rent as our government doesn't accept music as a profession," he said, adding that people here enjoy listening to music and say it's forbidden at the same time.
The bassist of the Auj band Syed Hasnain Ali, got no support from his family, not for days, months or years, but for a decade. "As we were late 80's and early 90's kids, we had limitations, especially since I had never been appreciated by the family for more than a decade until Auj got recognition by winning Battle of the Bands in 2019."
"Even if the band is formed, considering the limitations in society, the bands don't often get a place to jam. After the formation of every band, the main hurdle they faced was finances, places to jam and record their music. In fact, some of us have to sell our instruments to record our first track," Hasnain added.
Bonds forged in music
The live music scene in Pakistan during the youth days of the band Kashmir was an incredible motivation for them and many young kids to get into music. The local artists and bands, mainstream and underground all inspired them to want to become musicians. It was a no-brainer for them as friends to form a band with each other as we not only got along as individuals but also had a shared passion for music.
But once they formed a band, the challenges they faced were not different from many of the bands in their early days. From struggling to find gigs to not being paid the whole amount, the Kashmir band also found it challenging to record multiple songs quickly because of the tremendous cost of recording music at the time.
"The initial struggle is finding a mentor who can give you the right advice. Everything is a learning process. Because of the nature of the music industry, it may be challenging to find a mentor who has the time to give bands proper advice, which may help them in further improving their skills and careers within the music industry," told the drummer of the band Kashmir, Shane J. Anthoney.
The band Auj, which was initially formed in 2008-09 by Hasnain, and the lead guitarist Nasir Zaka, was able to build a quick bond. "Our inspirations were totally different from each other. Somehow we managed to get close with different approaches on a single track as one unit," said Hasnain, who followed legendary bands like Vital Signs, Junoon, Karavan, Fuzon, EP, etc. and asides fan of LedZeppelin, Elvis Presley and U2.
The young band Osaid Tabrez and Team formed a band featuring his friends. "It's challenging for a group of individuals to work together in any area of life, but in a band, when each member is compelled to have a close relationship with the others, issues soar to a new level. The hardest aspect for me was maintaining the band's unity, reminding everyone of our mission, and encouraging tolerance and compassion. Finding the ideal manager, winning the backing of our family, and looking for gigs to exhibit our talent were among the other difficulties we faced," explained Osaid Tabrez, the lead singer.
"Composition, recording, mixing, and promotion are some initial challenges. While some are fortunate to have parents or other family or friends who support their ambition, most musicians aren't so fortunate. Finding someone willing to invest in a rising band is challenging since music is still not considered a significant career in Pakistan. The general public may not be aware of this, yet finance for endeavours and performances might impede any musician's ascent to notoriety. The only option, in my perspective, is to continue as long as the music is worthwhile of the effort and expenses are prudently controlled. Using the appropriate social media platform correctly might help one eventually get sponsorship," added Osaid.
Quest for exposure
In the 2000s, the Pakistani music industry was equipped with music channels that made many stars. Music channels like Indus Music (IM), Aag TV, and ARY Music were the channels that supported young talent. It is right to say that IM has created many stars by promoting them on channels and CDs. Since these music channels are not active anymore apart from ARY Music, emerging artists need a platform to showcase their skills and music.
"One element which we feel helped Pakistani music boom before was that many different music TV channels existed. It allowed many people to watch, listen to and discover new music," said Shane adding that this place has somehow been taken by the annual television music shows like Coke Studio, Nescafe Basement, Velo Sound Station and the music show from which Kashmir and Auj bands emerged – Pepsi Battle of the bands.
Hasnain of Auj believes that only Battle of the Bands is the only platform boosting the Band Culture in this new generation. "Other events and brands are more focused on solo artists, and as per commercial aspect and reaching to masses, they are doing a great job," he said.
These music shows were the reason Osaid made his own five-piece band. "I have had a recent experience at coke studio, and I was a part of the choir in two hit songs of the season, 'Tu Jhoom' and 'Beparwah'. It was a great experience and motivated me to kick-start a musical career of my own. We are about to release our first original later this month, and three more songs are in the pipeline in quick succession," said the lead singer of Osaid Tabrez and Team band having members including Drummer Sarmad Zaidi, Bassists Waeez Wajid and guitarists Zorain Shahzad and Tabish Tariq.
Record labels and festivals
One such thing that makes the artist or a band financially strong and promotes the music to the masses is the record labels. They go to concerts, gigs, and festivals, fetch the talent, take them on board and record and promote their music. This is not the case in Pakistan. The only record label company operating in Pakistan is EMI Records. They are not producing music but just making copyright claims on the music to earn money, shares a music expert.
"We don't have basic things like music labels, clubs, artist management companies, and now all music TV shows are mostly gone. It all ended before it started. During the 2000s and early 2010, we thought that music would last forever and then it all came back to zero," said Faraz.
Hasnain also reasoned the lack of record labels was a reason for the downfall. "There is a strong need for such platforms that just not do provide services for the sake of taking copyrights and royalties. There must be some mutual way of business in which bands earn as well," he said.
Waqas Ahmed Khan, the drummer of the band Khudgharz, also talked about the record labels saying that Pakistani bands don't have enough platforms to showcase their skills. "We don't have a gig culture in cafes and restaurants, and we don't have festivals where local bands and artists can perform. We don't have record labels to sign emerging bands," he said.
New media and hope
Comparing it to other countries where record labels are present, concerts are held and is a strong acceptance in society, the only opportunity that Pakistani bands get to promote their music is social media. Shane believes that after the mass adoption of social media in Pakistan, it is now easier to put music out to the people through various platforms, which helps grow an audience and, in turn, get more opportunities in the form of gigs or other opportunities like making jingles or OSTs.
"Social media and the lack of hassle of putting music out these days definitely makes building an audience seem relatively easier than before. However, building an audience is still not the easiest, and the key to it is consistently putting out music for the audience to listen to," explained Shane.
Hasnain of Auj says that the scenario has changed. It's not the old time people had to wait for a physical album record (Cassette or CD). "Time is moving fast in the digital world. Consistency with good music is required to build your audience. It won't come all of a sudden, but surely be by the time they build up," he said.
The young musician Osaid says that Pakistani bands have very few opportunities. All they can do is make original music, post it on social media and wait for the general audience to start resonating with their music. "Once they are successful. VOILA! You start getting shows, ads and collaborations. For that, you must always be updated on what the audience wants. So your research matters a lot, which would certainly lead to success or stunted growth," he said.
Cover Bands
Social media plays an essential role in creating bands too. One band that has made waves on social media is the cover band Khudgharz, and the cover band means the band is famous for doing overs of different Pakistani and Bollywood songs.
The seven-member band used to jam every now and then as a bunch of friends. Still, as soon as their first video went viral on social media, they started to take it a bit more seriously and formed a band, said Ahsan, keyboardist and backing vocalist.
The lead vocalist, Farrukh Siddiqui, talking about the challenges, said that being in a cover band is also not an easy task. "We haven't released our first album yet, but it's ready for release in two-three months. But being a cover artist hasn't been easy either. There are so many people out there who are making cover music as well. It's an added pressure when you cover a song or a bunch of songs because there's always a certain kind of sentiment attached to the original song. You not only have to live up to the expectation of the song but also present it uniquely so that people are drawn to it. And the fact that we have more than one singer (in fact, five) also raises some eyebrows because there hasn't been a mainstream band in Pakistan with so many vocalists in a group," he said.
The band captured not only the Pakistan audience but also cross-border audiences, which led them to do concerts in different cities and countries. Arsalan Ali, the band manager, shared that they have a fan base from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mauritius, the US, the UK, UAE and other parts of the world. But since they do most of their events in Pakistan, the fanbase at home has been an enormous support.
The lead guitarist and vocals, Asjad Khan, said that there have been multiple factors including social media apps for their success but the consistency and trust in the art they have played the most essential part.
The right balance
Pakistan has a rich pop and rock band culture, but if we compare it to the other neighbouring nations, the Pakistani band music has created a blend of different forms of music to create one of their own. The founding member of the famous band Strings said, "The art of making a melody in Pakistan is different. There is a mix of Bollywood touch and rock music. Not very rock, not very Bollywood-ish. You get both feels, and that's the forte of Pakistani music."
Hasnain says that Pakistan has its own Rich culture and values, and the "Band Culture" came from foreign countries. "All bands here are inspired by them, so most of the musician feels complex and confused while composing or producing songs whether they would be accepted or not. So, the balance is the main thing," he explained.
It is challenging to introduce a new form of music, and you have to be correct in every aspect to get your audience to like your song. Faraz, who in the initial days faced difficulty in introducing a new form of music, was able to convince people to enjoy his music. "Initially, we didn't get airplay on music TV channels. If you compare it to others, our video rotation was less. Most of the music critics published bad reviews of our album 'Maazi Haal Mustaqbil' at that time, but over the years, people realized that it was good music and people still listen to it," he explained.
They are small numbers, but they do exist and support a lot at their level. I truly admire them, and thankful to all those Pakistanis who keep their own music.
Need for live events
Meanwhile, the band that has been doing concerts recently, Kashmir, believes that the culture is reviving. "We saw more and more youth come out to concerts after we participated in the music TV shows and also after different platforms emerged. The number of concerts happening within Karachi and throughout Pakistan was incredible. The crowds that showed up to these concerts were immense, proving that the culture of going to live music events in Pakistan was being revived," said Shane.
However, they believe fewer concerts are a substantial hurdle to success when you must consistently put out music. "Playing concerts not only allows you to give someone a complete audio-visual and emotional experience, but it also allows that in-person interaction which is a benefit," added Shane.
For some, live concerts are not only necessary to gain popularity and connect with your audience, but they survive financially too. "Since the online streaming apps/websites are paying the very least amount, fewer concerts create hurdles in finances too. Of course, especially in a band scenario where every musician is bound to be a single unit and shares equal rights," said Hasnain.
Hasnain believes that the Pakistani music industry is going smoothly and correctly. However, there is still a need for support from the government to look after at the ground level, especially for the next generation, what should be done and what should be avoided.
Faraz adds that live shows and festivals are the only way to bring back the music scene. "I don't know if it's going to happen or not cause brands like Coke are not interested in festivals or live shows right now. Many good albums came out last year in Pakistan, but there are no opportunities to play. Coke studio or other music TV shows can't accommodate all artists. It can only happen at festivals," concludes Faraz.
Apart from this, Art Council Pakistan is also promoting Art, Music and Talent. It gives opportunities to upcoming musicians by holding concerts like Sound Spirit with well-known artists. Still, there is much room for festivals and gigs to boost the music industry and emerging bands.