Pakistani band Strings have long been ambassadors of peace for the country. Known for their cross-cultural collaborations, they recently performed live at the Red Bull Soundclash in Dubai in conjunction with Indian band Euphoria.
They have collaborated with an array of Indian stars and musicians such as classical singer Hari Haran, and have also made songs for notable Bollywood films such as Zinda and Shootout at Lokhandwala.
Faisal Kapadia, vocalist of the Strings band spoke to The Express Tribune about the event and termed it as “a great concept”.
The front man for the band beamed about how citizens of both countries look forward to such collaborative events and joint efforts, “Music is much bigger than anything, and Pakistan and India have been doing a lot of collaborations in music which eventually does make a difference,” said Kapadia.
The singer-turned-producer for Coke Studio revealed the real message behind the affair, “Music is beyond everything.”
Strings, competing against the Indian band in the Soundclash performed some of their most popular numbers in the contest. The event consisted of two rounds; a cover and a genre round.
The cover round had both bands perform the same song in their own respective styles. The song both groups rocked to was the spiritual piece Dama Dam Mast Qalandar. The cover round was followed by the genre round, which had the bands perform three songs in diverse fashions.
Strings chose the numbers Dhaani, Sir Kiye Yeh Pahar and Sohniye and executed electronic, Latin and unplugged/ reggae versions of the song.
Kapadia praised the concept and format of the concert as “amazing.” “For the audience, the concept and experience is even more fun and exciting because they don’t have to wait for a minute; they see one band performing and as soon as this band finishes they just turn and face the other band that starts immediately.”
He recalled an instance from the concert when Euphoria took over halfway into String’s performance of the song Chaaye Chaaye and finished off with the song Koi Aanay Wala Hai.
Regarding their chemistry with the Indian band, Kapadia said that, “Strings has performed many times with Euphoria, five or six times in India where we have shared the same stage.”
This time though the bands were not performing alongside each other but rather in opposition to one another. About any rivalry or competition between the two bands, Kapadia clarified, “Yes it was a kind of a competition but the way we [Strings] are with Euphoria it was more of a friendly competition than rivalry.”
Kapadia, who took over as the co-producer of Coke Studio alongside band mate Bilal Maqsood for Coke Studio’s season 7 was overwhelmed by the response to the first live performance after the Coke Studio hiatus.
“Strings were performing for the first time for Red Bull Soundclash. Having two bands facing each other on two different stages was a whole new concept and experience for us altogether,” exclaimed Kapadia.
He also encouraged fans to experience these types of concerts because he had a great time, both as a performer and as an audience member.
Foreign accolades for Strings
1. The song Pal from Dhaani featured the vocal talents of Indian singer Sagarika.
2. Bolo Bolo from the album Dhaani was the band’s collaboration with Indian classical singer, Hari Haran.
3. In 2004, the band released a promotional single with Euphoria for the India cricket teams tour of Pakistan titled, Jheet Lo Dil.
4. In 2005, the band made their bollywood singing debut with the song Zinda Hoon for the Sanjay Dutt-John Abraham starrer Zinda.
5. The band released the song Aakhri Alvida which featured in the movie Shootout at Lokhandwala.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2014.
Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.