Underground band Nuts and Bolts launches debut music album

At a time when several emerging musicians as well as music shows are resorting to covers, it is interesting to see an underground band not just release an original music video but also launch an album. Though known only to a niche audience, Nuts and Bolts have been performing for almost a decade and have only now made their way to the mainstream with the song ‘Nuttan Boltan’. Launched over the weekend, the song has a catchy beat and is likely to grow on you, over time, but in terms of the composition, it doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Starring lead vocalist Abdul Basit and other band members Danyal, Awlee, Arsalan, Talal and Alishan, the video features the love story of a rural girl Nuttan and her turban-clad romeo Boltan. It is a bilingual song, sung in Punjabi and Urdu, and has a nostalgic feel to it, reminding us of the glorious ’90s pop scene. Written and composed by the band itself, the music is produced by DJ Ali Mustafa.

In a quick telephonic conversation with Instep, Basit talked about the challenges they faced in moving to the mainstream and perhaps echoed the sentiments of many others. “The problem was that people took us for granted, even after years of producing music, because we weren’t part of the mainstream. There are too many lobbies in the music industry where everybody is trying to pull each other’s leg,” he shared. He also stated that it was also challenging for them because they are a band and the concept of musical bands has deteriorated; case in point: the many iconic bands including Awaaz, Vital Signs and Junoon that parted ways to go solo.