Mekaal Hasan stands tall in the tight knit Pakistani rock scene which is eagerly awaiting Saptak, his band’s second album. EMI will release the album in India soon, so fans across the subcontinent will get a chance to judge how far the Mekaal Hasan Band has grown since its first album, Sampooran. Hasan, who headlines […]
The ever reclusive Aamir Zaki recently resurfaced alongside Omran Shafique, Gumby, Khalid Khan and a few others in a summer jam gig. Think of Aamir Zaki, and the ability to make guitars dance, mourn and fly with a natural instinct and style isn’t the only thing that comes to mind. His super-hit cult favourite, a […]
Summer Jam was also plugged by numerous solos by Aamir, Momo and Gumby. These displays were a method through which the musicians communicated not only amongst themselves but also with their audience.
They are the players who help create the sound that echoes out of Coke Studio and beams into our homes via television screens, radios and the Internet. These are men and women who may not be in the starry spotlight but without them Coke Studio would be incomplete. Instep gets to know the faces behind […]
The King of Pop’s impact on our local music industry is undeniable – from dance moves to disco beats. Here, some of the top names in Pakistani pop revisit their relationship with Michael Jackson, the man and the music. (Interviews by Madeeha Syed. Photography by Rizwan-ul-Haq, Kohi Marri and Fayyaz Ahmed) Salman Ahmed (Junoon) My […]
All I want to do is rock! Musicians par excellence Gumby, Omran Shafique, Khalid Khan and others come together with the reclusive and legendary Aamir Zaki for a musical fiesta Sara Zia Khan Karachi Sunday night, Karachi experienced something, which doesn’t happen a lot. A spontaneous, chilled out blues, rock jam session for a niche […]
The legendary guitar player of Pakistan is back. Aamir Zaki performed on Sunday at PACC with Gumby, Omran Shafique, Yasir Qureshi of ADP and Khalid Khan. Singers Sheldon and Sara Memon also featured but this night was all about the guitars Omran Shafique, who swaggered onto the stage to face a horde of screaming fans, […]
Coke Studio and beyond: The wonderful world of Umber and Rohail Hyatt Behind every successful man is a woman and Rohail Hyatt is the first to admit it, as he and his wife Umber let Instep in to their home and life at the height of Coke Studio fever. By Maheen Sabeeh Meet the producers […]
Madeeha Syed gets through high security for a backstage peek at the most elusive recording studio in town. I drive several miles out of the main centre of the city, cross a bridge into an area dominated by warehouses and industrial mills and arrive at a venue marked only by a tiny sign. The only […]
Forming a union for musicians is a noble initiative and one which has also been taken in the past [Association of Music Professionals of Pakistan (AMPP) formed in April 2006] albeit without any visible success. There is again talk of a section of the musician community in Pakistan getting together to form another union — […]
