Such noise

in life all the time don't you think?. Its like you travel through noise for months and at some point you realize you are surrounded by it. In fact you re breathing it, feeling it on your fingertips. Its the ways we escape from our own selves that builds up into this noise.

There are times though when they disappear, some moments of music are just surreal. I know some people can relate to it and some can not. Like listening to half light in your car and suddenly you feel you re not a part of the world outside the window. Clouds of sounds just make their way in and you can see so much. The desperation in every push of leg by the old man on his cycle when he is already tired and needs to go home and pray to the loneliness in the eyes of the eloquently suited young man with a gorgeous wife in his car. The lack of innocence in 14 year olds running out ready to clean any car window that might come in the way to that of fear in the eyes of the Aunty in her mid 30s riding with her husband on a bike. This spectrum of emotions seem to come through, having no relation whatsoever with the lyrical content of the song. Just the texture of the sound, the rhythm and the lack of noise.

wapis ajao, wakt hogia hai

This feels very weird. It is almost like I have forgotten what it is like to sit down and write down a post. It is not like I have been totally non reflective the past year or so but I do think I am pretty much out of touch with this whole process of writing your own blog.

I am a mixture of fear and excitement. Maybe this is it. This is what I have been waiting for. The first mainstream step for my band. This is where I need to bring my A Game, work harder on the audio, find that sound we re looking for as a band for the album.

I think I have pulled myself so far away from who I am this past year or so that its hard to sit down and be that person again.

But I think, Now is the right time to bring myself back again. Maybe thats the only way I can give my honest input to the music and honesty is what any sound needs more than anything else.

To focus and push myself every step of the way and push the band members around me. A few words for the band members. In fact let this blog post be a dedication to my band members.


Junaid Syed:

The most underutilized talent I know in music. You have not heard what Junaid Syed can bring to the band sound yet. You will in the album but not in the singles released so far. He is, by far, the nicest person in the band. I can not really stress on how much I value his opinion every step of the way. It is my belief that Junaid Syed, in the next 10 years, will become one of the best musicians of this country. He will, whether the band is able to make an impact or not, make his mark not just as a skilled player BUT as a musician. He has and will continue to motivate me with the smallest of gestures. He has provided in the album ingredients, riffs, melodies and in one instance a verse that I could have never brought. That is why we will sound, inshAllah, the way we will sound when we come out with our album one day :)

Faizan Zaidi:

It was around 2.5 years ago when Usama Hasan, kya banda hai waisey usama, sent me a clip of Faizan performing Khamaj. I have felt myself attached to the texture, tone and sensitivity of this voice since than. Since day one of our jam when I pushed the poor guy to the limits [the pain in the ass that i am haha] till today. He came in and wrote the lyrics to one of the best songs in our album, i had the melody composed for ages but could never find the words which told the right story. He did. I think Me and Faizan work really nice as a team in terms of song writing. In a lot of ways he is one of the most intelligent people i know in terms of identifying the mood of a sound, giving it a word, a theme. He can come out of nowhere and inspire everyone to get off their behinds and create.

There is no voice that I love in this industry more than Faizan Zaidi. There is no voice in this industry I would rather have singing the songs I wrote


Sohail Qureshi:

The guy with principles. He will always do the right thing. I trust him to do that. I trust him to always keep us together. I trust him to make sure we do not fall apart and only mature as a band. I trust him to keep us on track with the vision that we have. I don't think a lot of people can appreciate whats so great about Sohail. I think the band can and maybe some other people too :p. He can come in with the most magical moment of grooves out of nowhere. Wait for the title track of the album to come out next year. Wait till you hear the groove in the chorus. You just wait and you will see the potential that is Sohail. Loads of potential. Our band takes a huge step forward in its sound every time Sohail adds something.

Thats my band folks. Thats the three people I want to make music with, play concerts with, sign records with, make money with. Thats the three people that I trust can evolve into something exceptional. There is no one else, no matter how much more skilled, that I would rather have. I must be the luckiest person in the world to have such great people in my band, not just musicians.

This should be the return of my blogging days. Hopefully a few months down the line, I can feel more comfortable with this again. I think its time for somethings to come back the way they were. Hm?


Have a great day everyone. and for those who haven't heard my band, you can hear the two singles from here http://www.entertherising.com/media.html