Palash lauded Pakistani musicians for their art of fusing Urdu lyrics with Western melodies, a style that even Euphoria has adopted. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
The best way to understand Pakistani and Indian music industries is through cricket — fast bowling in particular. Over the years, several pacers have emerged from the sub-continent. Initially all of them are equally quick but while Pakistani pacers continue to test the speed guns, their Indian counterparts end up settling somewhere in the bracket of medium fast.
This desire for speed and curiosity to explore their craft is one reason why Pakistani fast bowlers continue to be a source of envy for Indian cricket fans.
A similar sentiment resonates in conflicting approaches of musicians from both regions. Despite starting off as independent acts, Indian acts eventually adhere to Bollywood music. One act that continues to defy this trend is the Indian band Euphoria, as it indirectly follows in the footsteps of its Pakistani contemporaries.
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“Bang on!” is how Palash Sen, frontman of the rock group, responds when asked if he has ever felt the same. “For me, it is a great compliment if someone says that Euphoria’s sound is very non-Indian and more Pakistani,” he tells The Express Tribune.
Having emerged about the same time as bands like Junoon and Vital Signs, Palash always felt that his band evokes a musical style reminiscent to the one across the border.
“Pakistan as a nation has always been more open to musical experimentation than India. The reason why bands like Vital Signs, Junoon and Strings have been so popular is because of their experimentation and the way they fuse Urdu lyrics with Western melodies — a style that even Euphoria has adopted.”
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Although the past few years have seen several Indian playback singers and composers come out of their comfort zone of Bollywood music, Palash was still of the opinion that the music being done was virtually the same as it was years ago.
“What new music? You talk about Yo Yo Honey Singh doing rap music but Baba Sehgal already did it 20 years ago. At the end of the day it is just bhangra music to a different beat,” he explains. “What I am trying to say is that you don’t get to hear an Arif Lohar in India.”
With India’s love for Pakistan’s version of Coke Studio well documented, Palash remarked that it was through such shows that new music and talent was coming through in Pakistan. “Look at Coke Studio Pakistan where you take established artistes and pair them with emerging or unknown artistes and they perform a song no one or very few people have heard of.”
Not hiding his love for the music show, Palash joked about how he had begged frequent collaborators Strings to feature him on the coming season of Coke Studio.
Despite being generous in his praise of Pakistani musicians, Palash believes that there is a lot of talent in India that doesn’t get highlighted due to a dearth of platforms.
“Coke Studio India was such a great initiative but then it went into hiatus and all that money was being diverted into films. And unfortunately, the Bollywood stamp is imperative to being recognised in India.”
Euphoria has previously collaborated with bands like Junoon and Strings and they recently recorded another cross-cultural venture, where Palash lent his vocals to Mizmaar’s song Yeh Dil.
Even though the band continues to perform alongside other Pakistani bands, Palash is eager to return to the country. “I tell all my fellow artists here [in India] that the love we received in Pakistan has been unparalleled. We performed in Karachi almost six years ago and that concert was huge and I’d love to go back.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2015.
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