5 Game-Changing Pakistani bands that Gen Z should know

Time flies when you’re having fun, and there’s no denying that. I am a quintessential 90’s kid who loved watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S on VCR, listening to Backstreet Boys, being the TV remote for my parents, and rewinding video and audio tapes by hand. And well, time really did fly because ’90s happened a lot longer than many of us millennials or Gen X-ers would care to admit – as proven by the fact that Gen Z now has an almost completely different set of cultural references that I cannot relate to!

The ’90s and the 2000s camewith a plethora of changes for the country and its media. And for the first time, we saw music coming into the mainstream through television and the internet. With Gen Z being the true digital natives, here are 5 bands that we think everyone from Gen Z should know – if they don’t already, given their use of digital media!

Vital Signs

Formed in 1986, the band kick-started a revolution in the new era of pop music in Pakistan as we know it now. With Junaid Jamshed on the vocals, Rohail Hayat on keyboards, Shehzad Hassan on bass and Nusrat Hussain on guitars, the band went on to release 4 albums before they parted ways in 1998. With iconic songs like Dil Dil Pakistan, Doh Pal Ka, Chehra, Aitebar, and Sanwali Saloni, the band was already spearheading a new wave of pop acts such as Nazia & Zoheb, Alamgir and Muhammad Ali Shehki.

Junoon

Pakistan’s biggest rock band came into being in 1990, formed by Salman Ahmed the band was joined by Ali Azmat and Brian O’Connell, and together the band was unstoppable! Adding the element of sufi-ism to the rock genre, they created a sufi-rock genre of their own, one that’ll be remembered for decades. The band’s career has spawned numerous hits like Sayonee, Dum Mast Qalandar,Bulleya, Dosti, Neend Ati Nahin and Saeein. The band also suffered political censorship during Benazir Bhutto’s time for their song Ehtesaab that denounced political corruption. In 1998, ruling Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, banned Junoon for protesting against the nuclear power tests in India and Pakistan.

EP – Entity Paradigm

They came, they conquered and they gave us Fawad Khan! Emerging as the runners-up in the first season of Pepsi Battle of the Bands in 2000, EP introduced a whole new genre of rap and rock music to Pakistan. With Xulfi, Fawad Khan, Ahmed Ali Butt being the consistent members and hits like Hamehsa, Kahaan Hai Tu and Waqt, the band pulled in a cult fan-following and lasted for about 7 years before the members had to pull out due to other projects. Fawad Khan and Ahmed Ali Butt had just ventured into acting, Xulfi joined Call band and the members just couldn’t find the time to focus on music. The band re-united in 2009 and also sang Bolo Bolo for Coke Studio but it was in 2012 that Fawad Khan left the group to pursue acting, and he did go on to become the biggest star Pakistan has today.

Strings

Strings was formed as a college band by four students – Bilal Maqsood, Faisal Kapadia, Rafiq Wazir, and Kareem Bashir Bhoy in 1989 but who knew the band would turn out to be one of the biggest pop-rock bands in the country leaving behind a 33-year-old legacy.  With hits like Sar Kiye Yeh Pahaar, Dhaani, Duur, Mera Bichra Yar, and the iconic cricket anthem Hai Koi Hum Jaisa, the band appealed to the teens of the 90s for every decade of their life.  Strings called it quits this year after giving us 33 years of great music to cherish.

Awaz

Formed in 1992 by Haroon Rashid, Faakhir Mehmood and Asad Ahmed, Awaz rose to fame overnight with their single Janeman. The single catapulted the band to massive success and they became the first band from South Asia to appear on MTV in the same year. The bandmates were crushed on by almost every ‘90s girl, especially Haroon. Giving us hits like Aye Jawan, Mr. Fraudiye, Jadoo Ka Chiragh and Main Na Manoo Haar the band split up in 1999 with Haroon and Faakhir pursuing the music industry as solo artists. The two have had a successful journey as a band and as solo artists.