MUMBAI: Mekaal Hasan Band (MHB), a five piece sufi rock band, which released its third album ‘Andholan’ this month. The eight-track album draws major influences from South Asian Eastern Classical ‘bandishes’ and poetry. MHB was formed by composer-songwriter, guitarist Mekaal Hasan. Along with Hasan, Mohammad Ahsan Papu, Sharmistha Chatterjee, Sheldon D’Silva and Gino Banks, complete the band.
In 2004, MHB released its debut album ‘Sampooran’ -five years after the band was formed.
In an interview, Hasan informed Radioandmusic.com about his plans with the album and stories behind its making.
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How did your album ‘Andholan’ happen?
The material was written from the period of 2007 onwards, so some tracks have been there since then and others were written later. The last thing we recorded, which was also the most recent, were the vocals. those were done in Mumbai at Purple Haze Studios. The entire album was mixed and mastered in Lahore at my studio called Digital Fidelity Studios.
How essential is the video for an album and what are the highlights of the video?
As a musician, I feel that nothing makes a stronger statement than hearing something and seeing it being played in front of you. For this reason I have always preferred performance based videos. Our plan is to release a concert style video of the band playing the opening track of ‘Andholan’, which is a Bulleh Shah kaafi called ‘Ghungat’. Later in the year or early next year, we plan to bring out a documentary style DVD/concert DVD which will feature this story rather than the unique journey that the band has found itself on. The concert itself will be our first ever live performance which we did in Baroda on 8th January 2014.
Does your album sound more Indian or Pakistani in terms of its style?
Stylistically, it sounds to me like a progressive rock/jazz album with a very strong eastern melodic style. I cannot say whether a country can hold a particular identity on a piece of music, but I will say the melody is very ‘desi’ and therefore an apt reflection of the shared cultural heritage of both countries.
Did you travel to India or Pakistan regularly for recording? Were there any fond memories of it?
The music was all recorded in Lahore and the vocals were done in Mumbai. The vocal sessions took about a week, and we got through the songs quite quickly because Sharmistha had really worked very hard on the parts and learnt them thoroughly. The engineer at Purple Haze was Abhey Rumhde, and he was superb and extremely focused and helpful in achieving the kind of vocal performance Sharmistha and I were looking for. Once we had done the vocals, I had to go back to Lahore to finish up mixing the entire record. With the studio we have in Lahore we are so used to having bands and artistes come in and record, so for me this was the first time I had to record something as critical as lead vocals in another country. I am really happy with the way the record has come out and I hope we keep improving as we grow as a band.
How different is it being an Indo-Pak band? Is there a good and bad side of it?
I am extremely proud of the members of this band for their spirit of giving and of embarking upon what has been so far, unchartered territory. A band is a team and it is effective as long as there is room given to everyone, so that each functions as an integral part of the creation of the music. As responsible citizens, we have the right to use our talents to create harmony rather than discord, if you would pardon the pun. If we put our heads together, we can come up with wonderful ideas and create meaningful works of beauty and merit. To me that speaks volumes about the human potential of not only the two countries involved, but indeed of South Asia as a whole.
What has changed for you after the band came in place?
For me personally, the band’s material has never sounded better. It really sounds like a top notch international quality act and I am really lucky to be blessed with such great band members who are lovely people and amazing musicians too.
Do you plan to play with more sounds? If yes, what kind of genres?
I am always open to sounds and the application of any sound is really dependant on the materials’ demand. In fact our next record will focus on a heavier sound with more riffs and grooves, but I will not reveal too much about that now since the current record is what we really want to focus on in terms of playing and promotion.
Who is your one inspiration and a dream musician or singer you would like to work with and why?
There are so many talented people that the list would be very long. For me, playing with Gino, Sheldon and Sharmistha is a real treat and I am already in the kind of high quality musical company that I always wanted for my music.
