Article by : Aizad Siddique Khan
Social change is inevitable as we all know. There was a time when music of Pakistani “Heer Ranjha’ was a greater hit than Indian music, whereas, today as we see it, cultural Panjabi music has totally lost its grounds and UNDERGROUND MUSIC concept came into being. In addition to that underground music charm and boundaries are getting brighter and wider day by day as compared to what they were earlier.
The underground music scene wasn’t a thing and very less quality music was composed from this sector of industry. But now underground bands and singers are set on fire. They are giving music new ways and logics which were never seen before. This experimentation with music is not only giving us quality music and singers hence are representing Pakistan’s music industry internationally in an epic way. Especially the fusions of pop and rock these bands and solo singers are coming up with are giving music new angles which were rarely seen in underground music in past.
Contrary to this, as we may see, underground music is gaining somewhat recognition and the audience that it has attracted has surpassed the number of the other state of line,i.e., Punjabi music. It seems that thus s0-called underground music is more audible, recognized and somewhat has a better future than its counterpart.
It is somewhat now acceptable more than the times it was just like the cat in the bag. The appreciation that it has gained in the past decades shows that it is apt to gain more recognition from the current and forthcoming generation than it was before.
ALL mainstream bands like, junoon, strings, Jal, EP, Call, even solo musicians like Atif, Ali Azmat, Shafqat Imanat etc start off in a mesh of underground bands until they get their necessary break in form of a contract from the record labels.
Therefore, in order to sustain a healthy music industry that carters to the interest of the masses and is self-sufficient, the existence of a strong and versatile underground music culture is absolutely essential.
Basically, in simple words, underground music is the backbone of mainstream music.
There was a time when hard rock music swept the younger generation off their feet back in the 2000-07, the era during which EP and Noori surfaced and defined a new dimension for music, but the credit cannot be given to these mainstream bands alone because meanwhile, the underground rock craze in the metropolitans of Pakistan was going crazy.
Gigs going all around from Caps cafe at mm alam to the sub-urbs of Peshawar is giving birth to many new singers. Due to changed music scenario and opportunities many music videos of some underground band and singers are coming from even places like Peshawar. Many of these underground bands now, unlike past, come up with music which is in demand internationally. Such kinds of platforms were rare in the past. But now these platforms inspire the young generation. The underground scene was basically the one that SET the TREND for rock music which lead to EP and Noori like bands being accepted by the masses.
So Pakistan’s underground music industry these days is giving birth to such music lovers who are doing experimental music which is really different from the monotonous music trends. And these are the people who staring from an underground band, usually reach up to international level and leave a trademark for Pakistan’s music industry. I believe music is all about passion and passion is all what these young guys and girls have which is driving Pakistan’s music industry to new levels and heights!!!
