Looking for the missing groove
Organisers hope to bring back trend of live music in the city by organising a series of discussions, live performances
Interested candidates can apply for these workshops by filling a form available on facebook.com/iakmf15. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
KARACHI:
With the dearth of live music-related activities in Karachi, the organisers of the I Am Karachi Music Festival couldn’t have picked a better time to right this wrong.
The festival which is being jointly co-hosted by Fuzon alongside Nida Butt and Hamza Jafri (of the Music Art Dance School) will be a four day-long affair and is set to feature performance by several musicians and discussions on different topics.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mekaal Hasan — the festival director recalled how the idea for such an event actually came about. “Over the past few years there has been a decline in music activities in the city of Karachi and this is an attempt to restart that tradition. We all know how vibrant the music scene used to be in this city,” Mekaal told The Express Tribune.
Read: Community concert: Raising political awareness through music
Even though events of similar nature have been held in Islamabad and Lahore — like the Music Mela — Mekaal was of the opinion that this event would be very different, particularly due to its “diverse line-up of musicians”.
“I don’t think a music event of this stature has ever been held in Pakistan. We have about 60-odd artistes of various genres, who would be performing at the event,” he added.
Read: Making music-streaming mainstream
Imran “Immu” Momina of Fuzon, seconded Mekaal’s views, noting how unlike the events that had been previously staged, this music festival will also feature music dialogue sessions and workshops.
“Apart from the panel discussions that would take place on the first few days of the festival, there would also be a number of music workshops,” stated Immu.
“The reason why we want to conduct such workshops is because we want to encourage fresh talent.”
Mekaal believes that the festival would not only be a source of entertainment for the audience, but, it would also gather different musicians of the region on one platform, so that they can chalk out a strategy to revive the city’s arts and culture scene.
“The music scene is not declining it is almost finished, and this festival would serve as a great platform to get all the musicians in the city on the same page and identify the mistakes and problems that are there and make sure that they are not repeated,” said Mekaal.
The festival which would be divided in to two parts will begin with discussions on August 4 at Beach Luxury Hotel and will be followed by the Music Festival on August 8 and 9 at Port Grand.
Some of the artistes to perform at the event include The Sketches, Sounds of Kolachi, Mai Dhai, Janoobi Khargosh, Mauj, Shehzad Roy and Natasha Humera Ejaz.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2015.
With the dearth of live music-related activities in Karachi, the organisers of the I Am Karachi Music Festival couldn’t have picked a better time to right this wrong.
The festival which is being jointly co-hosted by Fuzon alongside Nida Butt and Hamza Jafri (of the Music Art Dance School) will be a four day-long affair and is set to feature performance by several musicians and discussions on different topics.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mekaal Hasan — the festival director recalled how the idea for such an event actually came about. “Over the past few years there has been a decline in music activities in the city of Karachi and this is an attempt to restart that tradition. We all know how vibrant the music scene used to be in this city,” Mekaal told The Express Tribune.
Read: Community concert: Raising political awareness through music
Mekaal Hasan
Even though events of similar nature have been held in Islamabad and Lahore — like the Music Mela — Mekaal was of the opinion that this event would be very different, particularly due to its “diverse line-up of musicians”.
“I don’t think a music event of this stature has ever been held in Pakistan. We have about 60-odd artistes of various genres, who would be performing at the event,” he added.
Read: Making music-streaming mainstream
Imran “Immu” Momina of Fuzon, seconded Mekaal’s views, noting how unlike the events that had been previously staged, this music festival will also feature music dialogue sessions and workshops.
“Apart from the panel discussions that would take place on the first few days of the festival, there would also be a number of music workshops,” stated Immu.
Zoe Viccaji
“The reason why we want to conduct such workshops is because we want to encourage fresh talent.”
Mekaal believes that the festival would not only be a source of entertainment for the audience, but, it would also gather different musicians of the region on one platform, so that they can chalk out a strategy to revive the city’s arts and culture scene.
“The music scene is not declining it is almost finished, and this festival would serve as a great platform to get all the musicians in the city on the same page and identify the mistakes and problems that are there and make sure that they are not repeated,” said Mekaal.
The festival which would be divided in to two parts will begin with discussions on August 4 at Beach Luxury Hotel and will be followed by the Music Festival on August 8 and 9 at Port Grand.
Some of the artistes to perform at the event include The Sketches, Sounds of Kolachi, Mai Dhai, Janoobi Khargosh, Mauj, Shehzad Roy and Natasha Humera Ejaz.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2015.