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| Edited By: |Source: PTI |Updated: Jan 10, 2012, 02:39 PM IST
With an upcoming music album titled Aandolan, it might appear that Pakistan-based sufi group Mekaal Hasan is inspired by the recent series of public uprisings in the Middle-East and India. However, the rock band maintains a purely apolitical stance.
"None of our work has political overtones. What we make is pure music. The album is named Aandolan because of the way we composed the songs in it, every tune in this album is sliding from one to another", says Mekaal Hasan, lead composer of the Mekaal Hasan Band (MHB).
The rock music group which held a concert in Kolkata is scheduled to perform in the national capital on January 11 at FICCI auditorium at a Rock and Jazz concert organized by a Indian Council for Cultural relations and NGO Routes2Roots.
"We love performing in India. Indian audience always gives us a warm welcome", says Javed Bahsir, MHB member and a classical singer famous in Pakistan.
With previous album releases like "Sampooran" (2004) and "Saptak" (2009) the group believes their music a fusion of jazz, classical and sufi rock represents the culture of the subcontinent.
"Our music is inspired by Indian classical music. A lot of Pakistani artists knowingly or unknowingly base their music on Indian Classical music", says Hasan, the band's founder, composer, record producer, sound engineer and lead guitarist.
"The purpose of our band is to present culture of our subcontinent. Our albums have songs by poets like Amrita Pritam, Amir Khusrao, Faiz and Bulleh Shah, who transcended borders and belong to everyone", says Hasan.
