Being in the business for over 20 years, Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia of Strings have given us quality music many times over, and it is in acknowledgment of their contribution that the Levi’s the Originals project was recently launched with the video producer of Coke Studio, Adnan Malik.
“Strings and Levi’s are a natural match, because they both are original, innovative and timeless. Strings have had a huge influence on the Pakistani music scene over the last two decades, so it made sense to call them so,” said Adnan.
The project also witnesses two upcoming musicians of the current epoch, Bilal Khan and Zoe Viccaji. Both have come out with super-hit singles and they have made inroads to CS early in their careers. “While looking for the newer artistes, I sent Strings a bunch of names of up and coming artistes, and we mutually agreed that Bilal Khan and Zoe Viccaji are two of the most talented, young musicians around. They became the second part of the campaign titled Levis the Originals: Inspire.”
The project has two Strings tracks: first Zoe joins voices with Bilal Maqsood on Mera Bicchra Yar with Bilal Khan humming in his trademark husky voice. Zoe, better known for her English numbers, takes listeners by surprise here by singing in Urdu. She says, “We were asked to take a Strings song of our liking and interpret it in whatever way we wanted to. Before I chose the song, I knew I wanted to do an acapella (vocals only) version. The idea of taking old Urdu songs and turning them into acapella pieces has been in my mind for a while.
We took it into Gumby’s studio where Omran Shafique and I polished it further. It was at this point that Adnan asked me what I thought about having Strings be a part of it in some way. At first I was apprehensive because I was singing in a completely different key, but when Bilal and Faisal came in, a whole dimension to the song evolved. I was thrilled to have their support even though it felt really strange delegating parts of their own song to them. They were very easygoing and encouraging throughout the process, and put their faith in us.”
Bilal Maqsood seems impressed with this re-do, “Suddenly, we have fallen in love with the song all over again. We had never thought the track would take this sort of direction. I think Zoe has done a marvelous job.”
The video has been beautifully filmed. “There are two main goals in the video: the first is to introduce the audience in Pakistan to the musical form of acapella — a style that utilises layers of vocals instead of any instrumentation. I shot Zoe singing the main vocals as well as the harmonies and used those simultaneously in the video. This also worked well with my second goal, which was to try and capture the soul of the song. It has a haunting, lonely quality that I wanted to accentuate. It’s about loneliness; it’s a parable for our existence.
We are born alone, thrust into the shock of the world and our lives, constantly trying to fill that void of separation. Initially, Zoe only has the various facets of her own personality to keep her company. She is in darkness and alone, and in the second half of the video she finds a memory, or a dream, and basks in the sunshine of others — in this case, Strings.”
The other track, Anjane, sung by Bilal Khan and Zoe is a faultless jam. It also features a mash-up of his identity track, Bachana. Both singers share excellent chemistry and the track is definitely worth a listen.
Images on Sunday asked Bilal Khan regarding his experience of working with Strings, Zoe and Adnan Malik. “Strings were great to work with. I think there is some Zen-like mystery and quietness to both Bilal and Faisal. Bilal has a great sense of humour and Faisal has precious bits of advice.
“I first worked with Zoe on CS and she is an amazing vocalist as well as a musician.
“Adnan is not only technically brilliant but is also aesthetically and conceptually well-versed.”
And finally, how do Strings feel on being labeled as Originals? “It feels good because it’s been 20 years and you feel that now is the point that you want to be known as somebody who have been there and seen all the good and bad phases of the industry,” said Faisal Kapadia.
“Pakistan’s underground scene is doing a very good job. When we found that Zoe Viccaji and Bilal Khan are re-doing our tracks, we had this surge of excitement as they both are very promising upcoming artistes,” said Bilal Maqsood.