September 2003
Web Rocks II-Lahore is at the heart of a new band revolution
by Salman Siddiqui
[ep]
Extreme Prejudice, Eternal Pain, Evil Purity, Endless Paranoia... that’s how the Lahori band Entity Paradigm or [ep] like to describe themselves when you log on to their website. [ep] blasted into the mainstream after making waves in the Pepsi Battle of the Bands contest held last year. Although losing out to their rivals Aaroh in the contest, the band made an intense impact on the listeners. Soon after BoB, the band launched their site - realizing early that in order to sustain their fan following an online presence was crucial. Today more than 1600 fans are registered at their site mainly because of the Eager Participation of the band members at the forum. Also the band has, a very slick fan site called Hypestation which has besides the usual news and bios of the band, ring tones and guitar tabs of the band’s songs. For the sites, the band employed the services of their friend and fan Safwat who resides in USA. This tech savvy band consists of eight members out of which Xulfi, Sajjad, Hassaan, Fawad, Waqar and Ali are all from the famed computer science university FAST-NU in Lahore. [ep] is actually a merger of two underground bands Entity comprising of the rapper Ahmed Ali Butt and Salman, and Paradigm consisting of the FASTians. They merged together for the BoB contest and have stuck together ever since. (for details on the merger check out the band history at the site)On meeting the band, I realized that Xulfi, the composer/guitarist, is regarded as the main entity of the band. He was encouraged into music by his elder brothers when he was 13. His influences amongst the western artists Tool, Linkin Park and Perfect Circle are also reflected in the band’s music. Sajjad who came across as passive has been greatly influenced by Led Zepplin and idolizes Jimmy Page. Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin topped Salman’s favorite list. He was glad to get a break with [ep] after being in the music scene for around 10 years. For detailed bios of other members visit their website.Xulfi, the more vocal amongst the lot, Enthusiastically Projected the Extreme Philosophy of the band’s music. When I asked him what he wants to achieve through his music he immediately stuck out his tongue with eyes ready to pop out and said “hein!..yeh kia howa?” I thought he read my mind but then he laughed and explained. “I want to influence people with our music by shocking them,” and Sajjad put in, “We want to stun people with our music.” Based on the concept of evolution, their debut album titled “Irtiqa” consisting of 11 tracks is all set to be released sometime in September which they recorded at Mekaal Hasan’s Digital Fidelity studios. Samples of their tracks are also available at their site. Having around 30 concerts under their belt within a span of a year the band’s reputation as Enigmatic Performers incontestably holds true. However it still remains to be seen whether their experimentation with heavy cords and tight riffs gels with the pop infested music listeners of this country. Besides details of the band’s upcoming concerts the site features some very creative wallpapers and interesting pictures of the band so go check [ep] out.
Mekaal Hasan
The first thing that strikes you when you see the name of the band and later when you visit the website is the vanity of the individual Mekaal Hasan. Instead of focusing more on the band altogether the site takes care meticulously on the details of Mekaal’s biography, his equipment, his studio, testimonials on his works by other renowned artists etc etc. Other band members, who are renowned musicians themselves, are given almost insignificant attention. Mekaal made his mark as an artist when he collaborated with world renowned multi percussionist Peter Lockett in March 2001 and enthralled the audience with his experimental fusion compositions. However even after his associations with other international artists he is still very much unknown to the masses. Besides his many traits Mekaal is extremely allergic to replying to e-mails and rarely responds to his fans at the forums hosted at the website. I e-mailed him around 10 times for this write up - he replied to none of them and I got hold of him only after much fankari nakhraas on the phone. And this from an artist whose debut album Samporaan is yet to be released in September! It’s rumored that because of the hot air around him the lead singer of his band Ustad Riaz Ali Khan left after which Mekaal found another brooding talent Javed (The new lead singer doesn’t even get mentioned on the site).He gave me an interesting answer when I asked his comments on the present music scene in Pakistan: “There’s a dearth of serious musicians in Pakistan. High caliber musicians like me are given no projection in the present scene. ep, Aaroh, Noori etc are good but to me they are just pop artists.”Giving an insight into his musical education he passionately tells me that, “In 1993, I went to Berklee School of Music in Boston but due to financial reasons I returned after completing only two out of the four years of study there.” Then he opened up his own state of the art recording studio Digital Fidelity in Lahore where all mainstream musicians in Pakistan have recorded their music.Some intriguing sample tracks from his upcoming albums are available for download at the site. But if you’re a MHB fan on the lookout for wallpapers… then tough luck. On this front all the site offers is some miniature sized pictures of his tours. If you overlook the evident narcissism, the site is worth visiting.
Berklee School of Musicwww.berklee.edu
Hypestationwww.hypestation.com
Pepsi Battle of Bandswww.pepsichill.com/bob/home.asp
Read Band Reviews at UPACwww.hypnotix-2000.com/upac/index.php
by Salman Siddiqui
[ep]
Extreme Prejudice, Eternal Pain, Evil Purity, Endless Paranoia... that’s how the Lahori band Entity Paradigm or [ep] like to describe themselves when you log on to their website. [ep] blasted into the mainstream after making waves in the Pepsi Battle of the Bands contest held last year. Although losing out to their rivals Aaroh in the contest, the band made an intense impact on the listeners. Soon after BoB, the band launched their site - realizing early that in order to sustain their fan following an online presence was crucial. Today more than 1600 fans are registered at their site mainly because of the Eager Participation of the band members at the forum. Also the band has, a very slick fan site called Hypestation which has besides the usual news and bios of the band, ring tones and guitar tabs of the band’s songs. For the sites, the band employed the services of their friend and fan Safwat who resides in USA. This tech savvy band consists of eight members out of which Xulfi, Sajjad, Hassaan, Fawad, Waqar and Ali are all from the famed computer science university FAST-NU in Lahore. [ep] is actually a merger of two underground bands Entity comprising of the rapper Ahmed Ali Butt and Salman, and Paradigm consisting of the FASTians. They merged together for the BoB contest and have stuck together ever since. (for details on the merger check out the band history at the site)On meeting the band, I realized that Xulfi, the composer/guitarist, is regarded as the main entity of the band. He was encouraged into music by his elder brothers when he was 13. His influences amongst the western artists Tool, Linkin Park and Perfect Circle are also reflected in the band’s music. Sajjad who came across as passive has been greatly influenced by Led Zepplin and idolizes Jimmy Page. Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin topped Salman’s favorite list. He was glad to get a break with [ep] after being in the music scene for around 10 years. For detailed bios of other members visit their website.Xulfi, the more vocal amongst the lot, Enthusiastically Projected the Extreme Philosophy of the band’s music. When I asked him what he wants to achieve through his music he immediately stuck out his tongue with eyes ready to pop out and said “hein!..yeh kia howa?” I thought he read my mind but then he laughed and explained. “I want to influence people with our music by shocking them,” and Sajjad put in, “We want to stun people with our music.” Based on the concept of evolution, their debut album titled “Irtiqa” consisting of 11 tracks is all set to be released sometime in September which they recorded at Mekaal Hasan’s Digital Fidelity studios. Samples of their tracks are also available at their site. Having around 30 concerts under their belt within a span of a year the band’s reputation as Enigmatic Performers incontestably holds true. However it still remains to be seen whether their experimentation with heavy cords and tight riffs gels with the pop infested music listeners of this country. Besides details of the band’s upcoming concerts the site features some very creative wallpapers and interesting pictures of the band so go check [ep] out.
Mekaal Hasan
The first thing that strikes you when you see the name of the band and later when you visit the website is the vanity of the individual Mekaal Hasan. Instead of focusing more on the band altogether the site takes care meticulously on the details of Mekaal’s biography, his equipment, his studio, testimonials on his works by other renowned artists etc etc. Other band members, who are renowned musicians themselves, are given almost insignificant attention. Mekaal made his mark as an artist when he collaborated with world renowned multi percussionist Peter Lockett in March 2001 and enthralled the audience with his experimental fusion compositions. However even after his associations with other international artists he is still very much unknown to the masses. Besides his many traits Mekaal is extremely allergic to replying to e-mails and rarely responds to his fans at the forums hosted at the website. I e-mailed him around 10 times for this write up - he replied to none of them and I got hold of him only after much fankari nakhraas on the phone. And this from an artist whose debut album Samporaan is yet to be released in September! It’s rumored that because of the hot air around him the lead singer of his band Ustad Riaz Ali Khan left after which Mekaal found another brooding talent Javed (The new lead singer doesn’t even get mentioned on the site).He gave me an interesting answer when I asked his comments on the present music scene in Pakistan: “There’s a dearth of serious musicians in Pakistan. High caliber musicians like me are given no projection in the present scene. ep, Aaroh, Noori etc are good but to me they are just pop artists.”Giving an insight into his musical education he passionately tells me that, “In 1993, I went to Berklee School of Music in Boston but due to financial reasons I returned after completing only two out of the four years of study there.” Then he opened up his own state of the art recording studio Digital Fidelity in Lahore where all mainstream musicians in Pakistan have recorded their music.Some intriguing sample tracks from his upcoming albums are available for download at the site. But if you’re a MHB fan on the lookout for wallpapers… then tough luck. On this front all the site offers is some miniature sized pictures of his tours. If you overlook the evident narcissism, the site is worth visiting.
Berklee School of Musicwww.berklee.edu
Hypestationwww.hypestation.com
Pepsi Battle of Bandswww.pepsichill.com/bob/home.asp
Read Band Reviews at UPACwww.hypnotix-2000.com/upac/index.php
posted by Salman Siddiqui | 7:43 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home