ilal Maqsood is almost like a new man. The 50-something singer-songwriter, composer, guitarist has been very active in recent past. He reworked a jingle and in its latest iteration he features alongside Shae Gill. But playing with jingles isn’t the only thing. He dropped an Urdu nursery rhymes album featuring eight songs this March and followed it up with two singles - a reintroduction to audience in solo format followed by the part-neon and part-monochromatic, experimental audio-visual surprise: ‘Naya Naya’ and ‘Zalima’.

While audiences gauge these songs, the question of Velo Sound Station lingers in the air. Will it come back, and if it does, who will make the cut after a successful debut season featuring Shamoon Ismail, Meesha Shafi, Aima Baig, Uzair Jaswal and many others? To say the first season was successful would be an understatement.

But, when asked if he is producing another season, speaking to Instep, Bilal Maqsood reveals why he doesn’t want to executive produce another season of Velo Sound Station.

“Season one had a much bigger reason behind it. It was to bring back the forgotten genre of pop.

So, I did that. But now I have something else on my mind,” says Bilal.

Bilal Maqsood not doing another season of Velo Sound Station after such success is almost baffling. When pressed about VSS 2, Bilal notes, “I’ve said no to Velo Sound Station. I designed the first season with a purpose in mind which was to bring back pop music. Post-VSS, we saw a sudden rise of pop in Pakistan. Everyone went pop! I’m happy and satisfied that VSS did what it was meant to do. But now I don’t want to do the same thing again. I just don’t feel like it. There’s something else on my mind,” confirms Bilal about his future association with VSS - whether the show itself comes back or not.

But after solo projects, what should we expect from Bilal Maqsood as an artist; is he planning to do a single, a jingle, music video?

Chuckling Bilal tells Instep that he’s doing all three but doesn’t want to drop hints and say more until they’re ready to release. Strings have certainly broken up with Bilal Maqsood now releasing more material than ever, while Faisal Kapadia is going with the flow.

While Faisal and Bilal may not work together again, the duo share a stronger bond now more than ever before.