Mekaal Hasan speaks how music can bring the people of the two countries together
An Indo-Pak band line-up: Mekaal Hasan, founder-guitarist and producer, vocalist Sharmistha Chatterjee, bassist Sheldon D'Silva, Gino Banks with drumsticks and Muhammad Ahsan Papu with the flute. (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: Pakistani musician Mekaal Hasan is one among those few musicians who enjoys a big fanbase. In fact, when he decided to change the line-up to create a first of its kind Indo-Pak band, Mekaal’s Facebook page showed the anxiety of a few of his followers. But a handful tracks later, the fan reviews came in lengthy and positive.
The course for Mekaal’s music, a two-decade old journey was to change when he met his now band mate Gino in India in 2010. Having come from a tradition of Jazz, the high “standard” of Jazz that is made in India naturally fit into Mekaal’s journey.
Now, gearing up to release his new track, Ghungat from his new album Andolan, with his Indo-Pak collaboration on MTV Indies, Mekaal says, “The quality of musicianship in India drew me into making music with diversity of sounds and textures.”
Of late, Indian entertainment industry has increasingly absorbed a lot of talent from Pakistan. And most Indian enthusiasts have always held that Pakistani Coke Studio is much better than the Indian counterpart. “It’s a sense of mutual admiration,” says Mekaal, adding, “The fact is that there is a lot of talent on both sides of the border. We love Bollywood here and Pakistani musicians have always looked at India as a significant market. It’s just that till now, no band has brought the two countries together,” he notes.
Currently, Mekaal shuttles between his studio in Lahore and another set-up in Mumbai. “We do our initial work independently at both the studios. I do the writing here and send it across, and then we work on Skype. And when everything is put together, we lend the final touches in Mumbai,” he says, adding, “India and Pakistan share this history and mystery equation. The mystery comes in because we have come to a stage today where we don’t know exactly what is going on the other side and there is so much curiosity brewing across the geographical divide.”
( Source : dc )
Next Story
