Pak rockers inject new blood into underground music scene

Pakistan's new wave of rock bands are finding their voice fighting against social taboos, lack of media coverage, security fears and, above all, a deluge of Bollywood songs.
Rockers in Pakistan, who were at an all-time high till earlier this decade, are now trying to break into new areas.
Though rock music exploded in the 1980s and 1990s with bands like Junoon winning global acclaim with their sufi rock, it was only after 2000 that bands started getting fame and money within the country.
Kuch Khaas, a centre for arts, culture and dialogue in Islamabad, organised a month-long rock festival in January that attracted nearly 25 bands, most of them part of the underground music scene.

"We just wanted to revive the old music scene. Islamabad used to have great underground rock music about 10 years ago. But it slowly died down and bands were limited to gigs at colleges and schools," Tulin Khalid-Azim, senior programmes manager at Kuch Khaas, told PTI.
Salman Zaidi of the band Saturn said: "The boom was here but is gone now. You now have Indian music streaming into Pakistani homes and of course, you cannot dance to rock music at 'mehendis' and 'shadis'."

But he is optimistic after the response to the rock festival.
With neon lights and gigantic speakers, a crowd of youngsters head banged into the cold night as the band Qayaas set the stage on fire with its pulsating music.

"The country has great musicians and the boys are good. They need to be channelled and they are as good as any rock bands in the world," said Todd Shea, an American running an NGO in Pakistan since 2005. He climbed onto the stage in a rush of adrenaline and left people spellbound with his skills on guitar, which he played with his teeth.
"The Pakistani rock music or just plain music was at its all-time high in 2004 as there was a proliferation of TV channels. There were so many channels and at least five music channels were playing only Pakistani music. This gave a huge jump in popularity for bands," Taimur Rehman of Laal band told PTI.

Since then, many channels have shut down and new ones started focussing on Bollywood music. "Eighty per cent of their content is Bollywood," he said.
He, however, said the Pakistani rock scene is slowly making a comeback and cited the footfalls at recent gigs organised in Lahore.
"I am impressed by the youngsters and I hope the security scene improves so that they can play in open without any fear," Rehman said.
Asked about taboos in Pakistan affecting the growth of music, Zaidi said: "Generally yes, but family is supportive. It is hard to find a sponsor and there is lack of media coverage for rock music.