This is a good time for Pakistani music. You may not hear it on traditional media like TV or radio, but the internet is booming with platforms putting out original Pakistani content — often pooling resources together to help each other out. There’s producer Kashan Admani’s Acoustic Station that just came out recently. And then, there is Bigfoot Music which came out earlier this year.

Founded by Hamad Khan and Sohaib Lari, two very prolific musicians and producers in the underground music scene in Pakistan who’ve pretty much played with everyone, Bigfoot Music is an enterprise focused on producing original music for free for the artists they take on — they’re trying to get a ‘big foot’ in the music industry. According to the duo’s previous interviews, it’s to fill the void created by the industry focusing too much on covers and not enough on original content.

Bigfoot Music’s latest offering is a simple-yet-beautiful ode to Heer Ranjha

Since March this year, they’ve managed to release around two original songs plus music videos every month. One of their latest offerings is a song called Jaadoo by Ahsan Iqbal. The song features Iqbal on vocals, Hamad Khan on guitars, Sohaib Lari on the bass guitar, Adeel Aamir on keyboards, Bezlial Albert on drums and Joshua Amjad on bongos.

Jaadoo has been arranged, mixed and mastered at Bigfoot Music. According to the folks at Bigfoot Music: “This track was a beautiful journey for us, from the day we heard it the first time to bringing it to life in the studio has been a magical experience. Jaadoo is a folk tale about Heer Ranjha.”

The music video for Jaadoo has been shot in Bigfoot Music’s studio. It’s a simple performance-based video in hues of blue and warm yellow. The arrangement is simple but that’s what makes it beautiful. Ahsan has quite a pleasant, well-trained voice. He doesn’t try to do too much or show off his vocal prowess — the song doesn’t demand it. There’s a distinct focus on the acoustic guitar, with the bass and percussions providing a soft cushion for the song in the background, rather than trying to dominate it. It feels like you’re experiencing a live performance of the song in a small intimate venue and perhaps that’s what the producers intended for it. Listen to Jaadoo if you enjoy desi music that isn’t ‘too much’.

You can listen to Jaadoo on BigFoot Music’s YouTube channel, Facebook page and on Patari.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 22nd, 2019