Here to launch their new album Pyaas, Goher Mumtaz, lead vocalist of the band, spoke about how they keep things fresh
It’s their music, rather than their identity as Pakistanis, that has made Jal a hit on YouTube, and have them get picked by Bollywood biggies. The band, who played at Hard Rock Cafe yesterday, is very popular with young people in India, and also back home in Pakistan.
“Our first song Aadat, was big in our country. I feel the launch of the Aadat video, was a turning point for us. In Pakistan, pop was really huge then and we got our share of popularity in India, when our tracks were chosen by Mahesh Bhatt. That was the time when you needed Bollywood backing to have a platform,” shared Goher Mumtaz, lead vocalist of the band.
They formed with three members initially, Atif Aslam, Goher Mumtaz and Omer Nadeem.
Jal used to perform cover songs of famous local rock bands like Junoon and Strings. Then they started performing at bigger concerts and college events.
After the release of Aadat, there was no looking back.
Currently Jal is a two-member band, with Goher and Shazi (Aamir Sheraz). They recently launched a new album, Pyaas in India and Pakistan and were in the capital to promote it.
“We made a lot of compositions while on tour. This album has all those recorded compositions. It is the first time that we have produced our album because the quality of sound we wanted, was of a certain standard. We experimented with the music and incorporated some Arabic tunes and instruments. We also used rubaab with shehnai. And we tried different things, choosing what was best. It also has our title track Dil Haara. I practised for over a year on my singing, to get the desired results. I have also learnt classical music for this album,” said Goher.
He added that members have kept coming and going. But what has kept the band surviving, is their dedication to create soulful music.
“After initial recognition, it was a challenge to be in public memory. But I think platforms like YouTube helped. Sajni became a hit and was shared by many Indian and Pakistani bands. We never planned anything, but we keep making changes to our music so youngsters connect,” said Goher.
The vocalist explained that many awards, like MTV Favourite Artist India and Best Ballad Song for Moray Piya, Best Album awards for Aadat and Boondh and Best Song awards for Sajni, brought them lots of popularity. “It is not easy to leave a mark on the independent music scene. You have to try out different things to prove yourself. But in our case, good music always helped. The challenge is to meet the expectations of fans.”