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Underground’s death knell?
To most people, popular music is little more than a fizzy distraction. However, for those who consider pop and all its accompanying sub-genres (rock, techno, adult contemporary etc) to be more than just ‘noise,’ the development of modern popular music is a serious subject. Much brouhaha is raised about the impending ‘death’ of classical music, but if one listens closely, pop, good pop at least, is faring only slightly better than its older classical cousin. And just as state patronage is touted as the panacea to classical’s ills, the survival of pop and rock music lies in a vibrant underground scene.
For those not in the know, by underground one does not mean the music has to be played below ground. Rather, underground is a term coined many years ago (more than one would care to count) to classify all musical activity operating beyond the pale of major record labels, or to put it in a localized perspective, free of sponsors. In the underground scene, bands are free to experiment with genres, lyrics, styles, arrangements and yes, even image, as David Bowie has taught us. In short, the onus is less on delivering the ‘hits’ and more on playing what you like, how you like.
More of these sorts of gigs need to happen to keep the underground wheel turning. But the folks who organize these events and the bands who perform at these shows seriously need to sit down and put their grey matter to the test and come up with better planned, better executed shows
Now focus, if you will, your attention on to the Pakistani underground scene. What are things like here? Is there any hope, or is darkness blacker than night in store for the local movement? After attending a Karachi underground gig recently, this writer realized that despite all the high-wattage being generated by these kids (one isn’t being derogatory, they really are mostly kids), most of it is hot air and musical progression is non-existent.
Playing music is not about acting hard. Playing music is not about impressing women. Playing music is not about speaking in your best Beverly Hills accent while living in Karachi. All these things are secondary, tertiary benefits that follow rock stardom. What you’re playing comes first. And from what little one heard (the show started only two hours late), what was being played seemed to be the last thing on the bands’ ‘to-do’ list.
You see, the underground scene is essential. Without the freedom that it gives individuals to experiment, it would result in the mainstream industry churning out clone after clone of monotonous, plastic-looking, bland sounding automatons. If Ali Zafar scores a mainstream hit by channelling Kishore Kumar and marketing his good looks, the music industry goes into overdrive trying to come up with similar good looking boy-toys who can throw down a melody quicker than it takes to pick up a guitar. But if there is an active underground, there will be more Mekaal Hasans, more Rushks, and maybe even an Amir Zaki in the next hundred years or so to challenge the industry’s pop idols.
More of these sorts of gigs need to happen to keep underground’s wheel turning. But the folks who organize these events and the bands who perform at these shows seriously need to sit down and put their grey matter to the test and come up with better planned, better executed shows. For without fear of exaggeration, nearly every underground gig is beginning to sound unremarkably stale, what with lumpy covers of Creed, Iron Maiden and Korn played at every show.
But then there is the argument that today’s kids are exposed to mostly trash (foreign and local) that passes itself off as music. And one isn’t talking about the gaggle of Britneys, Beyoncés and Justins. One is talking about rock bands such as Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Nickleback, which might be hugely popular with today’s generation, but are largely vacant in the creativity department. Kids who came of age in the roaring ’90s had it way better, with Nirvana, REM and Soundgarden as their tour guides to the alternative nation. Children of the ’80s had it even better, with new wavers New Order, punkers the Clash and goths the Cure to look up to. They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to. So if today’s up-and-coming musicians are listening to weak bands, they’ll end up regurgitating third-rate riffs.
The underground can be sloppy, but it cannot afford to be vapid. Otherwise, Symphonia (as the gig was billed) and others like it will remain out-of-synch. It must have been a learning experience for oranizers Scion.
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