Bilal Ali, singer-songwriter, Usman Siddiqui, bass player, Zair Zaki, rhythm guitarist, Shane J.Anthoney, drummer, Vais Khan, lead guitarist and Ali Raza, keyboards, are presently promoting their new single, ‘Pari’ (that addresses depression).
To do so, they have to participate in press junkets. And yet, this slightly self-conscious group that laughingly dubs itself ‘The Awkward(s)’ hasn’t had its album released, which makes one wonder about Pepsi Battle of the Bands (2017) promise and deliverance.
While we investigate on that front in the coming days, Kashmir is both grateful for finding a platform that provided them an opportunity to showcase their music on a national level and thrilled about the money they got from winning Pepsi that allowed them to create their own studio.
But, the question of a full-length debut album, still not released, is alarming as PBOTB continues with its fourth season that made its debut this past weekend.
In the words of Kashmir, their debut album is coming.
In essence, four songs were first released; three were new, says Bilal Ali, with the fourth one being ‘Kaghaz Ka Jahaz’. The songs appeared and disappeared from the Pepsi website, and the band didn’t know when I first asked them many moons ago.
But now they have made a concrete list of songs that will be featured in their debut album that will be re-released as a proper record in two months. The songs that have made the cut include ‘Soch’, ‘Sab Saat Chaley’, ‘Parwana Hun’, ‘Khwaab’, ‘Pari’, ‘Kaghaz Ka Jahaz’, ‘Pareshaniyaan’ and ‘Bhaago’, bringing the debut total to 8 songs. Now that’s what I call an album. The response to ‘Pari’ has been strong while ‘Khwaab’ has fetched Bilal Ali from the group a Lux Style Award nomination. The music group never expected such response(s) to either music video.
“We don’t want to make music videos that are only performance-oriented and do not contain a narrative because our songs are also not without a narrative,” notes Bilal Ali.
He goes on: “Our lyrics are easy because we want everyone to be able to relate to them. Take ‘Buddha Baba’ (a song Kashmir performed on Pepsi Battle of the Bands 2) for example, not everyone likes it as much as our other songs and that’s okay. It is about the fear of darkness and is a myth used in every house. My mom would scare me with ‘Buddha Baba’; others may use ‘Allah Baba’ but everyone has a story and that’s what we are trying to portray. We have a style and if we imitate others, how are we separate from the rest?”
The band unanimously agrees that every release makes them nervous, even today but are thrilled that concert culture is returning and is no longer a rarity or restricted to invite-only shows.
After critically acclaimed releases like ‘Khwaab’ and ‘Pari’, Kashmir’s next release will be a song called ‘Bhaago’.
“The central idea behind the song,” says Zair Zaki, “is that while everyone celebrates with families or friends if it is a happy occasion and includes having a good time but the minute someone becomes dejected or upset, we tend to stay away from them on grounds that we don’t want any negativity in our lives. So it is about people who run away from the dejected.”
Adds Bilal Ali: “If someone is suicidal or depressed, we tend to go on with our lives but god forbid if that person passes away, Facebook is filled with posts about them. But, when they were alive, where were they? Why do you have to write about it rather than talk about it? It is a taunt and it includes us as well.”
When asked about how the spotlight tends to shift between the vocalist and lead guitarist as is the norm in the West in particular, Kashmir’s Vais Khan notes, “All of us are pushing the others forward,” because the boys enjoy making music and pushing it forward; the spotlightdoesn’t bother the rest of the group.
Bilal Ali notes, “Whoever manages to run away right after, say a gig, is happy and whoever hasn’t been able to, he’s stuck under the lights.”
A debut album is the identity of a band; you could make one great record and be remembered for years, make fans curious or release a mediocre record and get washed away from memory.
Well-aware that a first album is crucial to the identity of an artist as well as building a fan-base, drummer Shane notes, “Our debut album is like an experience so there are ballad-esque numbers, alt-rock, an indie track like ‘Kaghaz Ka Jahaz’; it is more of an experience with various genres.”
As for how music has evolved into an audio-visual landscape necessary to make an unforgettable mark, the growing idea is not lost on Kashmir. “Our goal is to do that,” says Bilal Ali, on a parting note.
