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But that changed with the very famous “battle of the bands” airing on national television.Sponsored by Pepsi and having Ex-Vital Signs members Rohail Hayat and Shehzad Hassan as judges along with media person Fifi Haroon. The show saw some of the best bands come up. Bands like The Mekaal Hasan Band, Aaroh, Entity Paradigm to name a few. Ever since then lots of people have stepped up to the forefront backed by the ever growing styling industry and a large number of Music Channels and “apparent” record labels. Only a few have actually maintained a qualitative approach making good music, good videos and playing good live shows.

One such band is Overload. I remember when they came out with their first album I heard many critics deem them “short-term fun” and giving out remarks like ” who will listen to an all percussion band”. But they defied all “critics” and made their way into the Industry and quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Not only did their album get acclaimed by avid music listeners, their live concerts were an experience. Overload has since then played concerts all around the world making Pakistan proud.

They have recently released their second album titled “Pichal Pairee” through their own record label and it’s available for download on their website:-

I got the chance to interview their new vocalist Meera Rahman and talk to her about her role in the band, their new album, the new sound and the plight of the current music industry:-

1) Being a painting graduate, a model, and now the vocalist for Overload, do you think that these three forms of expression differ in their approach even though the core of all three is “creativity”. If yes, then how do you approach them differently?

The three are actually very similar, each is a creative process which develops steadily after you realize what it is you are trying to express. Writing a song or figuring out what to paint on an empty canvas can be quite alike. The only difference is input. When producing a song, I’m working with the other musicians in the band. Their input can influence me to steer the lyrics into a different direction. Or to soften the melody, build up the tempo etc. Every painting is a completely solo project. Even if there are influences or inspirations that show in a painting, an artist has to seek them out for him/herself. Modeling is probably the most different of all. Often, a fashion model has little or no creative control. Although, I have observed over the years that if your opinion is credible, your team will be very receptive.

2) Who are your favorite singers/musicians and who did you listen to when you were growing up?  Being a musician myself I know how your first influences have a deep impact on the way you make music.

I grew up listening to any and all kinds of music. But what always appealed to me more as a vocalist were big, powerful voices. Vocals that come from the pit of your stomach, as opposed to hoarse, whispery crooners. Breathy vocal delivery and acoustic guitar strumming type songs which became very popular in the early 2000s were not my cup of tea. To name a few, some of the artists I have been listening to for many years now are Fiona Apple, Jill Scott, Robin S, Erykah Badu, Laurin Hill and more recently Moloko, now a solo artist calling herself by her real name, Roisin Murphy.

3) How did you come across joining overload as their vocalist? How do you think you added to the sound scape of the already very unique overload sound i.e their first album which had ethnic beats and papoo sain magic on dhol?

The band wasn’t looking for a vocalist, neither was I looking for a band, we both realized that their was an exciting potential in putting together my vocals with the band’s sound and we took it from there. The biggest difference obviously is that before, Overload was an instrumental band, and now it has lyrics, vocal melodies and a more user friendly language. We are musically very complex and our compositions can be quite complicated, I feel that my band members have become a little less intense on some tracks because some of my lyrics and melodies are happier than the moody music they are known for. But we still have many intense, brooding tracks on the second album.

I joined an already very well established band. So I have had to carve my way into their signature sound which was challenging but exhilirating at the same time. Their sound was unique before I joined them, and is unique still. This was one of the biggest reasons I was proud to be on board. The band consists of musicians who have been playing their respective instruments for over a decade now, they have immense knowledge, aesthetically, they have very high standards and they do not compromise on their music for popularity. The sound has reinvented itself with the second album, but in order to keep your work from stagnating, it has to evolve with time. That is what I have seen since starting jamming and then recording with them. The new album has a lot more electronic music, has a lot of heavy guitar parts, and is less dhol intensive. But without a doubt, it is still loud, fun and sometimes aggressive.

4) “Pichal Pairee” is a rather interesting name for an album. What made you guys name it that and having said that, is the music on the album as unique as it’s name?

The music is definitely unique. Altogether, the tracks on the new album make for a very eclectic sound. Everyone of us has very different tastes in what we listen to, what we have grown up listening to, what has influenced us and inspired us. Pichal Pairee is not the only unique title you’ll find on the album. The album is named after the title track, which is actually an English track but has a desi name. This track has vocals that we thought sounded a bit haunting and crazy. In Punjabi folklore, a pichal pairee is a mythical witch with inverted feet.

5) Having seen the first video titled ‘pichal pairee” I can’t stop but think how slick the camera angles and the overall production were. Who directed the video and is it just your usual performance based video or does it have a theme?

No theme, no storyboard, no characters. Personally, I am quite sick of everything having a theme just for the sake of having a theme. I think it helps people decide where to start when developing an idea. We wanted a very clear, crisp, no-nonsense video and we got it. The video was directed by Hasaan Ashraf. He is a film making major at the National College of Arts and was our junior. We picked him because he is formally qualified and trained in film making, and understands music since he himself plays bass and has great musical taste and plenty of exposure.

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6) You guys decided to release the album via your own label. Do you think releasing an Album in Pakistan is tough business keeping in mind the expenses are way more than the actual income?

The state of affairs as far as the legal infrastructure of our music industry are appalling, virtually non existent and highly useless. There is no copyright law, no royalties, no payback even if you go through a distributor or a label. We’re at least a hundred years behind the rest of the world as far as artists’ rights are concerned. Our primary objective is to get our music across to as many people as possible, that’s what makes us happy. Our audience and our fans are what motivate us. Releasing the album online on the 5th of October on www.overloadbeats.com is the way we want to do this.

7) Being the daughter of one of the best Actresses Pakistan has ever seen, do you see yourself acting or have you ever tried your hands at acting?

I have done a lot of theater and some T.V. Both take a lot of time and I have too many other things to concentrate on to be able to take out that kind of time for something I don’t have too much passion for. I don’t want to be a jack of all trades. When God blesses you with talent you shouldn’t be ungrateful, you should master what you are good at.That for me is not T.V. Besides, Pakistani T.V is not what it used to be, there are some great plays being made these days, but the glory days of our plays are gone. Maybe they’ll be back, when we stop following in the footsteps of all the horrific Star Plus, Zee T.v soaps.

8) Since this IS for the Islamabad Metblogs, have you performed in Islamabad? If yes, how was the response, if no would you like to perform here?

We have indeed. Since I joined the band, we’ve only performed once, but what a night that was. The crowd was a lot cooler than I expected, but it was a very select crowd, consisting of only the rich and famous, the movers and shakers, whatever you want to call it. Also it was invitees only, I’d love to get the true feel of the average Islamabad crowd at a proper, big concert. Besides, the youth is where the energy always is!!!

9)How do you feel about breaking the norm of the female pop star image (hideous make up, no substance, out of scale vocals) and standing out in a genre where girls in general are virtually non existent?

I’m not moving towards becoming a pop star at all. What that asks for and represents in Pakistan specially, I am not ready to do. My standards are high and my quality control very strictly administered. I’m all for doing crazy things and taking chances, but sub-standard and tacky are words you will never use to describe me. And that’s a promise!

Competition is always a good thing, unfortunately I don’t think I have any. The only successful female artists we have are making very different music from mine. They and their music is in a whole different catagory. Besides I’m the only girl I know who’s part of a band and not just playing with session players.We write, produce and record together, we make videos together. That in itself is a first, and yes, it does challenge the norm here. I joined Overload to sing, not to become famous. I see a lot of girls in this industry concentrating on everything but how they sound. Very sad.

10) Any message for the Youth?

With the passing of youth, start focusing on what your strengths are. Work towards realizing what you’re good at and what you’re great at. When you’re young, you want to try giving everything a shot, which is great. But with time, It’s essential to prioritize and focus on what you can really achieve. Otherwise, you’ll just end up being mediocre at a lot of things and outstanding at nothing.

I also want to take this opportunity to tell everyone who’s reading this that we have released our album for free, and you can all download it at www.overloadbeats.com

This is the “largest bird cage in the country” under construction at the Lake View Point Park. When it was opened, it was a neat and clean place for people to go and enjoy the serenity and the calm of the water currents. Now going there on a Sunday is like paying a visit to Murree on a national holiday = HORRENDOUS.

Absolute chaos. Someone like me can’t help but wonder, if this IS supposed to be an attraction, what will become of the birds in this cage? The same fate that the Zoo animals meet or will the CDA maintain something for once?

What is it then? Politics DOES play a very major and massive role in the entertainment industry. Contacts, money flowing right left and forward, other acts of kindness (all pun intended) are just a few of the keys that the a person can get hold of to make it big.

The reason for this series of articles is to showcase what Islamabad has to offer when it comes to entertainment. Whether it is models, photographers, musicians, artists, writers etc.

(A scene from a short film called ” My November in Chains” )

One such person that I would like to introduce is Fatima Salim. Fatima is in her last year of a bachelors degree in marketing from the American University in Dubai and is a true “Islamabadi”. (Whatever that word means to all of you). A 22 year old who believes that every individual should work towards their goals. Something she realized when she was away from home in Dubai trying to study and work at the same time. Fatima is an aspiring model/actress who has had a fair bit of experience when it comes to both modeling and acting. She has acted in numerous plays in her school life and has done a few shoots here and there.

She recently got approached by the Makeup mogul Tariq Amin to do a show with him but due to some unforeseen circumstances she had to turn it down. She has had to face the big fist of the “big fish” in the industry because for her it seems impossible to make it through the swampy modeling business in Islamabad. And to be honest, according to me all it takes is “one” break. But that one “break” comes at a point when either the person in question has given up. Fatima has a very solid career waiting for her in the field of Marketing but it is the dream that keeps her wanting to do something.

I think being from Islamabad, Fatima deserves the chance to showcase her talent and be appreciated in this field which is Governed by the heiresses of the Karachi/Lahore union.

Viva la revolucion :)

Being someone who was born and raised in Islamabad, the recent plethora of construction, development, drive towards being a metropolitan just make me sad and angry at the same time. What happened to the Islamabad that was there say 5-6 years ago. The map has changed, you barely see the small roads you used to now. I honestly can’t differentiate sectors because to me they all look the same or maybe it’s the roads that run through them. I miss turns, I sometimes can’t tell what road to take to go home even when It’s just one straight road. I’m not saying development is a bad thing but there was something unique about Islamabad that slowly and alarmingly is just depreciating to a level where the smoke, rubble, bridges, under-passes and towers will over-shadow the green Islamabad that was. Seems like eons now. I fondly remember when we used to live in G-9/4 me and my mother would walk around g-9/3, g-9/1 and back home. It took us an hour and we’d see the same faces, the same khokha, the same “secret building” which I thought was cool because of the satellites and stuff. And now, walking there is considered a cardinal sin. Road blocks, security checks. It seems like a fortress rather than the place I used to walk everyday. And it just makes me wonder what the need for all this was. True security is an issue but doesn’t a “democracy in books” mean that the people are to be taken care of. These road blocks just jam traffic, cause nuisance to people who after a long day at work just want to get home without any complications. Getting stopped and asked for documents is even worse considering the same police walas see you everyday. But they’re just doing the job they were assigned to do so to speak.

7th avenue, 9th avenue, whatever avenue. It may streamline traffic but it has made the Islamabad I loved crap. In all honesty I miss the citibank chowk with the four roads and the signals where there were hardly 10 cars in the waiting. I remember at the zero point signal my dad used to stop even if our car was the only car there. And now the zero point interchange has changed the scenery. Whatever happened to the signal we stopped at just to see the white dove?. And now the white dove is usually covered with political slogans and kudos to Mr Rehman Malik or countering terrorism in Pakistan by one of his many chamchas. Islamabad is now in my humble view a city fortress where the rich and famous rule and the not so rich and certainly not famous people suffer. Tower upon tower. When will it all end? Where did the serenity go?! where on earth is the peace? Even haji restaurant eating areas are smaller because of a new tower being built. Hehe. That is in my view a major loss for Haji restaurant is a prime restaurant which too has lost it’s charm because people just won’t let them be.

I guess time changes everything and the crux of my rant was that the Islamabad that “Was” in my view is and will always be better than the Islamabad that “is” and “will be”. Give me a peaceful sector not a Centaurus. Give me a good khokha not a telecom tower. Give me a small but calm road, not an avenue where there is nothing but chaos (literally). To think this small semi-path/street will no longer be in a few years time makes me even more sad.

Time warped or plain simple conforming to social needs and adhering to the principles of the rich.famous.moustached.demented?

Reflections,
Prepositions,
Intentions,
Interventions.

Life perhaps?!~

“Picture taken at an apparent lake in Bahria Town”

Landscaped, more flowers, more shades, but that feeling just wasn’t there. I guess it comes with age. But as it stood, it was a very safe haven, for people expressing their wishful thinking and unprecedented love for one another. Hallelujah. Merry making has taken a whole new twist, but then again so has the whole city so it wasn’t a surprise. But a public children park? really? *shakes head*

On to the real intention of this post, I went to the zoo hoping to see animals having “fun” or maybe that’s what I thought happens in a zoo but the animals are trapped and caged but they can be taken care of. Which is one tenet that the administration does NOT follow. The animals looked half dead, there was no one around them, people were throwing stuff inside their cages, throwing water. This one trip from some out-station university even had the guts to throw ALL their garbage inside one of the cages because they thought it was funny. I mean how is that even remotely funny? Maybe the 30 odd girls with amazing “poise” and utmost “beauty” thought it was, but it was rather sad to see them doing it. I bet they wouldn’t be this happy if they were in the cage.

Look at this elegant work of nature. An elegant bird. It should be free, but then again so should the rest of the animals be but the point is, they’re not being taken care of. It’s sad that they can work on the “outlook” of the place but not feed these poor animals properly? Or perhaps stop stupid people coming and harassing the animals. You thought outstation universities were through with harassing local people, specially women. Well guess what their new mission in life is.

Very sad state of affairs and to top it, when I went to the man apparently in charge inquiring as to why there was “no” water in the pelican place he said “Pani jaisay he aiga dalaingay”. I was baffled, and well, speechless.

*shakes head again*..

She was brought into the street, people were watching as if it was an exhibition football match. No one uttered a single word. The girl cried, plead, begged for them to let her go. Inhuman people. This is not what Islam is. Sufi Mohammad, Taliban, Shariah, peace, drones, swat, attacks. Where the hell does this all stop?!

Without evidence, without asking people, without any witnesses, they treat her like an animal. How in the world is THIS Islam I ask. Apparently Mr. Muslim Khan thought that “it was necessary”. It’s said to be quite an old video that has surfaced but here is what I have heard from the “said badshahs of knowledge”

“It had to be done”

“Where was the world when 500,000 people were displaced in SWAT”

“No one condemns the drone attacks”

“I agree, it shouldn’t have been done in public”

Various alim-e-deen gave their verdicts. What I fail to understand is that these head honchos brainwash little kids and tell them to do Jehad. Why not go THEMSELVES. No one asks them why THEY don’t go. Why do they have to send kids..

Why does a girl have to suffer because they have to make a point AGAINST the drone attacks?

This is inhuman. This is barbarism. This is just SAD.

Then we say “We’re not that bad, our image is kharab”. With things like this happening, we can’t really say anything about it no?

I thought that I would write a proper review on the play but then I read the handout and it had a summary of the play and one has to see it to enjoy it fully so I took the liberty of “copy/paste” typing the handout summary =D :-

“Inspired by the well known French comedy Le diner de cons (dinner of idiots) known as The Dinner Game, is a theatrical comedy which has been praised by viewers all over the world.

Then, one day, Hassan meets Ashraf, a self promoting talkative person who wants to become a singer. In Ashraf, Hassan believes he has found the perfect idiot for th enext dinner. Unfortunately, on the night of the event, Hassan throws out his back and is unable to attend. His newfound friend, however, insists on staying around to “help” him, resulting in a series of mini disasters that leave Hassan’s comfortable life in ruins. Call it the idiots revenge.”

I specially loved a few characters which were brilliantly presented. The Doctor, the Tax officer, the self proclaimed singer. All was done with ease. Not to mention it was a flawless performance with everything in the right place. Except for say 2% of the play, the rest was fast moving and totally not boring with good jokes that would make you laugh.

The slogan of the play was ” The play will end, but your laughter won’t” . And even now I’m laughing at a few scenes which in my view were very well presented and actually funny.

This was just a brief overview so that all you can go and watch it because I think everyone should go, buy a ticket and go see the play because as mentioned by the Director at the end, economic crisis and political crisis are major factors because of which sponsors don’t invest in such activities. Channel 7 did and they were rightly thanked.

Much Recommended :)

Oh and the play is in URDU :). Which makes it funnier because you can actually relate to the jokes.

The day thousands of people were expected to storm the Federal Capital City in order to lodge protests in front of the Presidency to pave way for the Restoration of the deposed Judges. People had already seen chaos in the city of Lahore when the PML-N started it’s journey and in the early hours, we saw our Prime Minister address the nation. He told the nation that the orders for the restoration of the judges had been sent, the anti-protest Section-144 was taken back and that the disqualification of the Sharif brothers would be formally sent into an appeal by the Government itself.

One could see thousands of people out on the streets rejoicing their victory. The lawyers movement that started two years ago had transformed into the movement of the people and one could easily tell how frustrated the nation was the past two years. The power of the people paid off.

17th’March’09

In order to celebrate the restoration of the judiciary, Geo Television network took the initiative and organized an ‘open for public” concert by “Laal”. (A band that has been in the limelight mainly due to them being workers of the movement against the Governments wrong doings and the fact that their music is based on the revolutionary writings of Habib Jalib and Faiz Ahmed Faiz which are applicable even today).

The proceedings of the concert finally started at 10 when Hamid “Capital talk” Mir introduced the band and welcomed the audience which mainly constituted people from all ages and walks of life. Aunties, Kids, Uncles, young people with flags etc. They started with the title track of their album “umeed-e-sehar”. Brilliantly executed, absolute class. The notes ringing on the guitars, the dholak and drum beat at the back and the flute man airing away on his flute. The song was immaculate. The vocalist delivered it perfectly and extended the song, asking the crowd to participate which they did. Umeed-e-Sehar is the 2nd single by them which is on air these days on various music channels. The video itself is very touching and does justice to the song but I could see people smile, rejoice, even shed tears when he sang ” umeed-e-sehar ke baat sunno”.

Next they did the Habib Jalib classic “Musheer”.. Meinay us say yeh kaahaaaaa yeh do dus karoorrr hein, jehal ka nechorrr hein. People shouted “Rehman Malik” out loud and the vocalist carried on their chants by saying ” this is what Rehman Malik tells Zardari behind closed doors”… It was a lovely number with the Guitar player, Taimoor messing around with the voice box and catching the attention of the audience.

The last song that I heard, was the song penned down by Aitzaz Ahsan which became the anthem of the Lawyers movement called “Kal aaj aur kal”… Jeet humara mustakbil hei :)

Very well rounded performance, extremely neat aura and rejoice all around. Laal, gel together as a band and I suppose it was their first performance in Islamabad, and quite a memorable one it will turn out to be..

Umeed-e-Sehar ke baat sunno =)

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!