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Rock’s new kids in town
Entity Paradigm has covered a lot of ground. From what seemed like a novelty act cobbled together to sing the theme song for slapstick TV show Jutt and Bond, this group of seven individuals, known as EP for short, have, in a relatively short time, established their credentials with loud guitars and not a love song in sight. Representing the new wave of pop and rock musicians in Pakistan, they bring to the table a different agenda.
Gone are the pouting, prancing models, the twirling teacups and other lame manifestations of the sponsor-backed, sugary sweet (soda) pop machine. Though EP sport a sponsor’s insignia on their cover, they have introduced a noisy new (actually, it’s mostly standard nu-metal riffs repackaged for the local market) programme that will either help break new ground for other ‘underground’ acts, or it might go down like a burning zeppelin of profane sounding noise. Whatever the result, EP’s own evolution is unfolding itself on the multi-media stage, and those connected to the local music scene are watching and waiting eagerly to see in which direction the Lahore-based act’s pendulum swings.
The band was in Karachi recently to celebrate the launch of their debut album Irtiqa with a live performance and meet-and-greet session with fans. The interesting record mixes hard riffs, rapped vocals and a sprinkling of philosophical mumbo-jumbo to create a sonic smorgasbord of modern Pakistani rock that is eagerly being lapped up, especially by adolescents. From an analytical point of view, the band is on the right track, but they need to refine their melodic sense if they truly want to break on through to the mainstream (one guesses that is the ultimate motive of most bands). But the kids seem to like it, as was witnessed at the launch, where the band was mobbed by their young fans.
The band is an amalgamation of musical styles, as each member has different influences. Since he is the grandson of Madame Noor Jehan, it is easy to understand how Ahmed Ali Butt decided to take this path, but the others also have solid musical moorings
Post-performance, four of the band members: rapper/keyboard player Ahmed Ali Butt; vocalist Fawad Khan; lead guitarist Zulfiqar ‘Zulfi’ Khan and drummer (one of two) and sometime rhythm guitarist Salman sat down to explain EP’s own irtiqa or evolution. Rhythm guitarist Hassaan Khalid, bassist Sajjad Khan and drummer number two Waqar stayed behind, probably sensing that the Images office was far too small to accommodate 20 or so people, which would have probably been the total if the whole band, plus their travelling entourage, had decided to make an appearance.
“Entity and Paradigm used to be two different bands, both active in the Lahore underground scene. Fawad and I were also working in the sitcom, Jutt and Bond. The director of that show asked us to come up with a song for the soundtrack so Fawad, Zulfi and I got together at my place and came up with Hum ko Aazma. After the video was shot and released, the song did pretty well and within a year, we had made somewhat of a name for ourselves. The Battle of the Bands programme was also happening around the same time, so we entered the song in the competition and EP ended up as runners up,” Butt says, explaining how it all began.
The band is an amalgamation of musical styles, as each member has different influences. Being the grandson of Madame Noor Jehan, it is easy to understand how Ahmed Ali Butt decided to take this path, but the others also have solid musical moorings. Zulfi received his first keyboard from older brother (and now band manager) Khurram, at age 11. Fawad also started early, earning his stripes at age 10 when he started singing in the choir of his American school in Saudi Arabia, as did Salman, albeit at age 13, in his church choir.
EP is heavily influenced by progressive and thematic rock music, with particular emphasis on the twisted genius of Maynard James Keenan, the son of a former minister. Keenan, one of modern rocks’ most unique voices, is the front-man of the band Tool. His group has consistently flirted with the mythical and the occult, singing about, among other things, ancient Egyptian Ritual Magik, lachrymology, or ‘the art of catharsis through crying,’ and praying for a giant tidal wave to wipe the US state of California off the face of the North American map. Tool also manages to make rock hard, intelligent music in the meantime, anchored by guitarist Adam Jones’ rich, otherworldly riffs. That, perhaps, explains why EP has also chosen to release a concept album. What, if anything, is the philosophy behind the music?
“Our philosophy keeps morphing. Over time, one makes mistakes and concepts come out with time. When the album was complete, we were linking the songs and thinking about how we should explain the concept. We built it around three tracks, Irtiqa I, II, and III, and put the puzzle together. We focused on a hypothetical character and followed him in his transformation from birth to death. It showed that purity in life is actually impurity. Purity kills and impurity helps a person survive,” enlightened Fawad.
Whoa. What was that? Everything was kosher until the death part, but as soon as the band started waxing Confucian, it all became Greek to this writer.
“Whenever I compose, I try to channel my experiences, both painful and pleasurable, through the playing, as I’m not too good with words. But lately, I have started writing lyrics as well,” Zulfi adds, bringing the conversation back to planet Earth.
“The concept of the album is not something you can state in words. It’s a million things in one package,” vocalist Fawad concludes.
All the band members contribute to writing songs and lyrics, so the album is a sort of hybrid of different ideas.
“We wanted to write the material ourselves, or at least have it written by like-minded people. As long as it’s our original expression, we are happy,” says Zulfi.
Another interesting revelation that the members of EP made was that whereas most other local artists are bent on perfecting their melodies, this band would rather concentrate on the beat.
“We all think that the basic concept behind music is beat. Without the beat, music is nothing. People always criticize us, saying that we shout too loud and that we should concentrate on our classical heritage. They aren’t aware of the background of music because they don’t realize that if you look even further back in time, music was just beat. It was a mechanism to communicate. That’s what we are doing. We’re using the historical way of sending a message. And the album is the message,” Fawad says, with confidence in his voice.
With the new album doing relatively well, sales-wise, it seems EP has passed the first few hurdles that litter the course for upcoming bands. Whether they display any staying power, remains to be seen.
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