New age musicians: Rock on

You might not have heard of these new age musicians, but you should.

To grab the interest of an audience as a new band or artist can be a tall order. Raw talent and good music is often not enough to earn the mainstream attention needed to catapult a band into stardom. But the exponential growth of the online music community has opened up several alternative avenues for upcoming musicians to prove their mettle. We give you a list of the musical acts that may not necessarily grace your TV screens but nevertheless should be looked out for in 2014.

Jehangir Aziz Hayat

Photo: Zeeshan Parwez

Band Members: Solo

Genre: Grunge/rock fused with a Pashto influence

Influences: Nirvana, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Puscifer, Heatmiser, Velvet Revolver and Megadeth

Albums: Read between the Lines (2009) and Above the Fray (2014)

Jehangir Aziz Hayat from Peshawar is the first Pakistani grunge artist to have been featured on the national music scene. With the release of his debut single Never Change in 2004, Hayat became the youngest musician to be nominated in the ‘Best Debut’ category at the Indus Music Awards. Hayat’s aggressive yet melodious vocals fused with assertive riffs and serene Pashtun melodies have given him much prominence not just locally but globally as well. He has won three awards in the categories of ‘Best Alternative Record’, ‘Best Alternative Artist’ and ‘Best Alternative Video Under $5000’ at the popular Indie Music Channel Awards in 2012 and has also performed at several global forums such as the prestigious Gambia charity event in the Isle of Man. Various celebrated international music sites have also recognised him for his talent; he was featured on ReverbNation in February 2014. Hayat has also performed in associated acts with The baffled Penguins and Marg.

He can be looked up on his website:

www.jehangirazizhayat.com

Mooroo

Photo: Shahbaz Sumar

Band Members: Solo

Genre: Experimental

Influences: Music within itself is the inspiration. It was the means to an end.

Albums: Yet to release

Taimoor Salahuddin (aka Mooroo), an experimental independent musician from Lahore, started dabbling with music even before he started college. Fortunately, the risks he took with his compositions worked with the audience and earned him several hits such as Gharoli, Tasveer and Tere Bina along with the ‘Voice of the Year’ award in the Fifth Youth Festival and nominations in four categories at the Lux Style Awards this year.

Mooroo is known for his non-conformist music; he does not follow a fixed pattern and instead puts in a lot of time to bring in different tunes that can transmit and create the emotion he intends to induce in his listeners. A true solo act, Mooroo does not have a permanent band lineup and can play all the parts of his songs himself. This one man power house phenomenon is what makes his Coke Studio gigs all the more enjoyable.

He can be look up on his Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/mooroomusic

Lower Sindh! Swing Orchestra

Photo: Bunny cycle at T2F

Band Members: Mudassir, Omar, Asad, Suhaib and Sarim

Genre: Dreamy and psychedelic

Influences: Radiohead and Pink Floyd

Albums: Undercats United 

Lower Sindh! Swing Orchestra, commonly abbreviated as LS!SO, is a Karachi-based band made up of five talented friends who got together and began creating music in 2010. Their primary motive was to make music which did not fall in the category of “tried, tested and formula run.” Even though they have not received much acknowledgment from mainstream media outlets, they are content with the praise their fans shower on them after each live show.

To follow their music, log on to the following link
www.facebook.com/LowerSindhSwingOrchestra

//orangenoise

 

Photo: Humayun M

Band Members: Talha Wynne, Daniel Panjwaneey, Danial Hyatt and Faizan Reidinger

Genre: Psychedelic and noise rock

Influences: Radiohead, The Foo Fighters and Pink Floyd

Albums: //veracious (2011), //A Journey to the Heart of Matter (2012) and //remixes

//orangenoise is the Karachi-based band famous for its non-conformist melodies. Even though their music might come under the psychedelic noise category, they feel that they don’t let a genre restrict them to a particular sound. According to the band, they might end up winning the most random lyrics award too if there ever was one. The band has performed at about four to five shows a year, and very recently toured Lahore and Islamabad for the Khayaban-e-Lussun tour.

In 2013, their song Getaway was played on X Fm (London) making it the first time that a Pakistani band received recognition on the super talented Mary Anne Hobb’s show. 

You can catch them on their official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/orangenoisepk

Sikandar Ka Mandar

Photo: City FM 89

Band Members: Nadir Shahzad, Ali Suhail, Saad Shams, Faizan Reidinger and Danial Hyatt

Genre: Indie Folk Rock

Influences: The Beatles, ABBA, Jeff Buckley and Pearl Jam along with Middle Eastern Lebanese music such as Mashrou Leila

Albums: Self-titled album which was digitally released

Sikandar Ka Mandar is a Karachi-based band that mainly focuses on thought-provoking songs based on societal issues. Along with creating powerful music, the band has also garnered huge acclaim. They won in the category of ‘Best Video’ at the SZABIST Film Festival in 2013 and also performed alongside 25 stirring associated bands like Poor Rich Boy, Basheer & the Pied Pipers and Natasha Humera Ejaz.

Catch them on their Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Sikandar-ka-Mandar

Ali Suhail

Photo: Arsalan Pirzada at Storm in a Teacup, Lahore

Band Members: Solo

Genre: Grunge, experimental and indie folk

Influences: Foo Fighters, Freelance Whales and Ben Howard

Albums: Words from Boxes

Ali Suhail is a prominent underground musician, lead member for the band Jumbo Jutt and also performs alongside Sikandar Ka Mandar occasionally. As part of the Jumbo Jutt band, he has released three singles on Uth Records and released his solo debut album titled Words from Boxes on bandcamp in March 2013 which earned him critical acclaim from renowned Pakistani artists and Jack Conte, an American multi-instrumentalist. At the moment, Suhail is working on the release of his second album.

Take a listen to his album at: alisuhail.bandcamp.com

Traditional parametres like screen time, commercial endorsements and an endless number of albums may not always be the most accurate measure to gauge an artist or a band’s potential. And these new age musical geniuses continue to break these conventional boundaries with their edgy tunes, quirky videos and an overall refreshing approach.

Zara Hafeez is a strategic marketer by profession. She tweets at zara_hafeez  

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, March 16^th, 2014.

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, //orangenoise's song was stated to be Gateway instead of Getaway. The error is regretted.