Rushk

Omran is working with Rushk — (Uns Mufti, Sikandar Mufti, Tara Mahmood, Ali Jafri and Ziyyad Gulzar) — in the studio these days.

“They’re friends and its great fun. Its experimental and very good,” says Omran of the new Rushk songs.

Release: “Possibly around Eid ... as a single, with an album later on in the year.”

Coke Studio

By all accounts, Coke Studio, heralded by Rohail Hyatt and now in its sixth season, is headed for a massive revamp.

Omran Shafique, who has been a steady party of the show since its inception, tells Images on Sunday: “Rohail wanted to do this for two seasons. But it’s hard to get off the rollercoaster and its hard to get started. We tried doing it last year, but it’s really taken off this season. We were bored as well.”

With Ali Azmat and Ali Zafar returning for another stint and Alamgir joining in, Rohail, as Omran puts it, is going all in.

Release: The show is slated for release later this year.

Chand Taara Orchestra

The original line-up of this band consisted of Glen John (Guru’s Trilogy), Babar Shaikh and Rizwan (Ganda Banda). While Glen has migrated, Omran Shafique has joined the line up alongside Sikandar Mufti.

Describing their sound as “experimental, improvisational, ambient”, Omran says Chand Taara Orchestra is best experienced live.

Omran hopes to put down some tracks with the unit during Ramazan in his studio.

Zoe Viccaji

“I’ve worked with Zoe on one song in addition to the track for Seedlings (Lamha).”

Zohaib Kazi

“Zohaib’s a friend, he calls me and I work with him.”

E Sharp

Omran has produced two songs for the young musical outfit, E Sharp.

He describes them as “very cool-sounding.”

“They’ve got a retro, classic rock sound. And they’ve got good harmonies.”

Release: The songs, explains Omran, will be released by the band, E Sharp.

Mauj

“I have hundreds of songs but nothing solidified. Mauj left a weird taste in my mouth with the way the album was eventually released. There is trepidation on my part. Once that’s sorted, the songs will happen very fast,” confesses Omran about the band he fronts.

Mauj members continue to shift, ranging from Mohammed Agha, Shuja Yasin, Dennis Harvey and Mohsin Atif to home-grown Co-VEN men Hamza Jafri, Sameer Ahmed and Sikandar Mufti although the Co-VEN members have nothing to do with the songwriting/recording of the first album.

Mauj’s debut album was, says Omran, recorded in isolation. Since then, Omran’s worked with and been influenced by musicians like Ali Azmat, Mekaal Hasan, Rohail Hyatt, Shahi Hasan to name just a select few. And Omran doesn’t enjoy singing either. So the Mauj record could take many different directions. — Maheen Sabeeh