[ STRINGS ARTICLE - REGULAR NEWS IN INDIA ]

Pakistani pop-rock band Strings has regularly made news in India. About 11
years ago, when it was a four-member outfit, the song Sar Kiye Yeh Pahad
became popular. Then, in 2001, when they were down to two members, the group
impressed with its album Duur.Karachi-based Strings is now back with Dhaani,
a 10-track set released by Sony Music. In town for a promotional gig at the
ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton Hotel tonight, band members Bilal Maqsood and
Faisal Kapadia look chilled out even after a long line of interviews.Bilal
explains how they prepared for the new album. He says: “It came
automatically to us. After we released Duur, we kept touring and writing
songs simultaneously. And as we grew a bit tired of playing the songs from
that album, we realised that we had 30 or 40 other songs with us.”According
to Faisal, Strings wrote the title track on one of its earlier visits to
Mumbai. “Like most of our songs, the melody came first to us, before one
could think of the words,” he says.Dhaani has two guest appearances —
Sagarika on the song Pal and Hariharan on Bolo Bolo. Says Bilal: “The song
with Sagarika was part of Channel [V]’s Jammin’ project. As for Hariharan,
we had met him before. When we thought of this song, we felt he’d be ideal.
So we approached him and Sony had his track recorded here.”Earlier this
year, Strings had tied up with Delhi band Euphoria on the song Jeet Lo Dil,
which was the anthem of the Indo-Pak cricket series.Says Faisal: “We really
liked the idea. Pakistanis have always followed Indian culture and films,
and Indians have listened closely to Pakistani artistes Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam
Ali and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But with this cricket series, things have
opened up, and it was nice to be part of a song that said winning hearts was
important.”The two musicians point out that within Pakistan, there has been
a greater following for pop music. “Earlier, the pop industry wasn’t so big,
but now everything is well-defined. The industry is getting stronger and
stronger,” says Faisal.Considering that they’ve been together for a while,
what makes them click? Says Bilal: “Even if we have arguments, it is for the
betterment of our music. We don’t think of anything else other than the
band.” That’s the right approach, we guess.