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RAW 
THE MAGAZINE
Mekaal Hasan
The Insider -Interview withMekaal Hasan
by Nabeel Aejaz
the Noori interviews, he was present atthere every shoot. So now, he has someserious problems to deal with, like hismom and aunt, who happen to be illand it’s his duty to provide and careor them. The public doesn’t realizesuch personal problems when they lookat bands and stars. Noori should havemade it clear to their ans themselves.That’s why it’s really hard or Gumbyto keep up with everything that Nooriis doing nowadays. It’s important orGumby play more. Due to this, Noorihasn’t been playing as well as it usedto in the last year. Even i Gumby isn’tas dedicated as he was beore, he stillkeeps Noori as a frst priority or himsel.There was a Noori concert a ew daysbeore and he was present there. It wasa rocking show. My bass player, Sameer,is playing rhythm guitars with Noori.This is how it works in our business.Our relations with each other in themusic scene are really riendly andwe’re always playing or each other atparticular occasions when necessary. Just because one sees a member o aband playing with another band doesn’tmean that the bands have broken up. Ihave mysel have done a ew shows withNoori. One cannot say that our bandhas broken up because we are reallygood riends with Ali Noor and I’ve beenworking with him or the past 10-12years. I also know Salman very well likeI’ve known Ali Azmat since childhood.It’s such a small scene in the musicindustry here, so everyone workinghere knows each other in one-way orthe other. There is rarely a person in thisindustry with whom I haven’t workedwith. People don’t see the practical siderom where they observe and they talkabout Gumby leaving Noori or Nooritaking Gumby out o the band. Gumby just can’t be as involved now as he wasbeore and or very practical reasons.
How was your last night’sperformance? (Asian Buzz 2006)
It was great! A lot o people came. About5000 people attended this concert. Itwas a big concert or Junoon. The bandperormed wonderully and we playedsongs rom both Ali and Salman’s soloalbums. It was really nice. It was aperect arewell concert; the sound andlightning eects were nice. I’m reallyhappy about it. All the band memberswere present at this memorable event.
Was this really their last one? Is it really Junoon’s ‘farewell’ concert?
For now, it is sae to say so becauseboth Ali and Salman have great utureplans or themselves. One can considerit to be their last concert. However, Ipersonally think that they might dosomething together again in a year ortwo. Hopeully, all three o the originalband members will be working together.
Is it also true that Gumby has partedwith Noori these days?
No, actually Gumby hasn’t been alongwith Noori much because o logisticaldierences. Gumby lives in Karachiand Ali Noor has been moving aroundor the past ew years. He, along withhis amily, frst moved to Lahore. Thenthey took o to Karachi and stayedthere or a while. Then their amilyshited to Abbotabad. They cameback to Lahore and sold everythingand shited to Abbotabad or good.Due to the earthquake, they had toshit back to Lahore. For a person likeGumby, who is the sole provider or hisamily, it’s impossible or him to movearound so much. He isn’t able to takepart in the band activities as much ashe used to beore. He used to be in all
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RAW 
THE MAGAZINE
Mekaal Hasan
How are things going on with yourown Mekaal Hasan Band?
Our new video Jhok Ranjhan is out.We’re known or playing live and wenever had a video showing us playingtogether. In Rabba, everyone is seenstanding separately. In Sajan, we all haveseparate shots; none o us are showntogether. Gumby has played drums inboth songs but we didn’t include himin either o these videos. I’m very closeto each and every member o my band.For instance, I’ve been working withGumby or the last 6-8 years. I thoughtit was only proper to show him alongwith the band in our latest video sincewe’ve been playing together or so long.
When will your new album, Andholan,be out?
Andholan will be released by September.I not, then it should defnitely beout in this year. I can’t really makeany defnite statement because I ama single individual working with somany people. Since Junoon’s takinga break now, I have more time toocus on the release o Andholan.
Which record label are you planningto be releasing your album on?
Actually, Sada was down or about 5months and the whole problem starteddue to the act that they own thepressing plants where CDs are made.All o the companies were aected bythe seizure o the pressing plants. I’maware that some people are gettingtheir CDs pressed in Malaysia aterwhich they’re sent back here. Doingit this way is very expensive. Due tothis, the plants have been reopened.The frst album that was released aterit’s reopening was Noori’s Peeli PattiAur Raja Jaani Ki Gol Duniya, whichis an outstanding record. Fuzon willbe releasing their new album withSoundmaster by this month. These arethe two major releases ever since theplants have been reopened. Ours hasn’tbeen decided yet. We‘ve spoken to aew people. Whoever you work with,it’s the same network, the same peopleand the same venues. You have toconsider everything beorehand. So, it’ssmarter to get everything ready and seewho gives you the better oer. For thatreason, I am going to do it entirely on myown, like I did beore with Sampooran.
You worked with so many new artists.Which upcoming band or artist doyou feel has the most potential?
A new artist whom I believe has themost potential is Nabeel Qizalbash.We did a project with him and he’sreleasing a new record. He’s the onewho did the frst song o the ABCD’s.He is a very talented person. Hamza Jaery (Co-ven) has recently movedback to Lahore and he is working onsomething here. These two are the latestexciting developments o the industry.I we consider the commercial scene,then there are a lot o new artists, butthey’re a bit conused about whichdirection they want to go in. Everyoneis trying to copy Ati or Jal. It’s quite anunproductive scene. However, I eel thatthe two artists I’ve mentioned abovewill go ar. I they keep working hard,then they are bound to succeed. Sahilis also doing their recording; Gumbyhas done 3 songs or them. They arevery nice songs; just wait till they’rereleased. They’re working well, butpeople aren’t properly seeing throughto their work. I’m hoping that Sahildoes well because they have very goodsongs. Their songs are excellent pieceso work and they I can oresee thembecoming hits. They’re both originaland artistic. Grafti is a bit on the limbobecause Faisal, who runs Grafti, hasgot an event management frm thathas been quite successul or him. Hehas been really busy with that. Theywere working with Mobilink and they just did Lahore marathon, so he’s beenextremely busy with that. So Grafti ison hold or the moment. It dependswhen they’ll start working again.
Are you playing any concerts for therecent Earthquake victims?
We are playing two charity concertson March 11th and 18th. The showon the 11th o March is with Nooriand Fuzon; we are playing at Carltonhotel. All the proceedings will go tocharity. Nadeem Islam is handling theproceedings. On March 18th, I have ashow with my Sampooran Foundation,which is also or charity being run bySafa Baig. She’s Rehan Baig’s mother.We also have one on March 17th orShaukat Khanum. Abida Parveen,who is a very talented singer, will alsobe starring in this show. So, these area ew o the things lined up or us.
Something regarding current affairs,what are your views on the recent cartoon controversy?
Mera opinion yeh hai key agar yehcartoon bananey say agar log intnayinuriate ho saktay hain tou, its sadman , its sad. In logo ko protest karnachaiye .. bilkul theek hain, jaiz hain,karna chaiye. Magar apnay logo ko katalkarney say aur Lahore main jo halaathoway, its scary bahut boray law andorder situation hain. And whoever thesepeople are, they are not patriots, theyare not Pakistanis! I don’t think theyare working in the interest o anythingaur defnitely kisi bhi achay insaan kois tarah you cannot justiy killing andlooting in the name o religion. And itis exactly what these people are doingwhich is shameul they are a disgrace toour nation aur inko sharam aani chaiyeon what they are doing. Literally it wasa looting spree. Religion kay bahanaylogo nay dukaanay tori hain loot ki hainlogo nay apni rustration vent out kihain. KFC jala diya, KFC yaar is ownedhere by Pakistanis and so is Mcdonalds.Telenor ko jala diya, Telenor is not acompany rom denmark even i it isa company rom denmark what areyou telling people kay tum log bilkulinsecure ho. Nahin aaj yeh haal hogayahai kay Pakistanis apnay mulk maininsecure hain. Anyone can just get-upand do anything there is no solution toit bara bura scene hain. It has to stop.
Ending on a lighter note... Youhaven’t married yet. When do youplan to settle down?
I’m not planning anything like that orthe moment. I’m on the same pathas Ali Azmat, I fnd taking care o my
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