Here is an interview with another band from Lahore Keeray Makoray.1. A bit of background about the band,Who is in it,Date formed etc.?
Well..Me (Misbah) and Altamash started the band. I had been playing with Takatak, an underground heavy metal band for quite some time when i was asked by shahmeel, the drummer, to play a gig for their band saya (composed of altamash on vocals and guitars, shahryar baig on bass and Shahmeel on drums). I wanted to do something besides heavy metal so i decided to go along and play. The gig was a Beatles tribute night at LGS and it was sometime when we were jamming for the gig that me and Altamash were travelling in a rickshaw thinking of a band name (Because the previous one sucked) and we decided to call ourselves keeray makoray for it was closest we could get to an urdu translation of the Beatles. The gig was in November 2011 and that is the month in which the band was formed.
2.How easy or how hard it is to be a rock/metal band in Pakistan?
Its definitely not easy being a rock band in Pakistan because you usually have a really limited following. Unless rock music, or any kind of music for that matter, is performed in urdu, the music never appeals to the masses which is quite understandable. Its also fun in a way because those who do follow your music tend to be hardcore fans whose encouragement is what keeps the band going, but to make it big in Pakistan one has to sing in the native language and that is what we plan to do in the future.
3. Do you have any Cd's etc out yet? Any planned? and if so how hard was it to get a record deal or are you D.I.Y.?
Right now were completely D.I.Y. Pakistan is not the kind of country where bands are approached by record label agents with money making offers at hand. In our country even established artists have troubles with record labels that in most cases reserve the right to all the music that the artist composes. So underground bands who have any idea of how the music industry here works would take the much more safer D.I.Y route. So yeah, we are planning to release an album, we have most of the material ready and all the production is done by ourselves in my room.
4.Do you gig much or is it difficult to get gigs in Pakistan or is there a decent enough scene to be able to do this.
I would say there is a decent enough scene in Pakistan. Small gigs are frequently taking place in Lahore at venues such as guitar school, Peeru's cafe and the newly formed true brew records. Large gigs are however not so common mainly due to the political situation in the country. In many cases, huge gigs have been cancelled due to a bomb threat or political instability in the country.
5. Where do you think this band will take you? do you think it is possible to travel outwith Pakistan with your music?
As i mentioned before, for a band to make it become it big in Pakistan it is vital for the band to sing in its native language to appeal to the masses. It is only when a band makes it big on its home country, that it is able to travel out. In our case there are a few hundred fans who support our music and the only means we have of reaching fans across the globe is through Internet. So unless we have a huge fan base in Pakistan i don't think we could get out.
6.Who are you influenced by musically?
Pink Floyd, Opeth, Tool, Porcupine tree, Iron Maiden and Junoon and ali azmat...its a never ending list. Altamash is a HUGE iron maiden fan bringing in the maiden feel in the band.
7. Is equipment easy or hard to come by in Pakistan?
To get the right equipment one needs to know the right places. There is a huge influx of fake material sold by fake retailers with fake faces all over Pakistan but if you know what you're looking for and you want what you are looking for, you would most certainly find it. Of course we don't have guitar centres at every corner but that's just something we all have to get over sometime and accept that we live in a third world country.
Cheers!
Syed Misbah Uddin
Many thanks for the interview and keep your eyes open for this band.
No comments:
Post a Comment