BGBS Comes to Peshawar on 22nd November 2015
17 Tuesday Nov 2015
Posted in News
Category Archives: News
Two birds out of a gilded cage
22 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in News
Noor and Hamza shared how the album is a sincere attempt to reach out to their loyal fan base. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
KARACHI: After wrapping up their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida, Coldplay took close to four years to release their next record. Wanting their next album to be “more intimate” than the preceding ones, the band re-evaluated their style of music, and the result was Mylo Xyloto — a concept album about how a fictional city is taken over by a supremacist government and the rebellion that follows.Noori seems to have followed a similar trail, as they’re back as a more evolved band after a 10-year break. Currently on a tour promotingBegum Gul Bakauli Sarfarosh (BGBS), the two-member band recently held a preview of their next album for a limited audience.
Kicking off their mini-concert with the song Pinjra, lead singer-songwriter Ali Noor talked about the genesis of the track. Describing the song as ‘anti-Sufi’, he explained that it traverses the reality of how we’re all caged by society. “This song is a question about whether it’s right or wrong to be driven by our fear of dogma, and if we should live in this perpetual fear,” explained Noor.
Read: Noori unveil Aik Tha Badshah
With most tracks on the album dating back to nearly 15 to 20 years, Noor and Hamza shared how their third album is a sincere attempt to reach out to their loyal fan base. In contrast to the music featured on their debut album Suno Ke Main Hon Jawan, which was carefree and pop-oriented, their latest release seems to have a brooding soundtrack, especially with songs such as Aik Tha Badshah and Pinjra.
But the band clarified that even if their previous songs, such as Gana No 1, sounded like peppy numbers, they have a deeper meaning behind them. “Everybody thinks it [Gana No 1] was a fun song that people dance to. But if you listen to its lyrics, you’d realise how dark the song actually is,” said Hamza. Describing it as the “most depressing song” he has ever inscribed, Noor shared that it was inspired by a ‘vela’ guy that the brothers knew. “Not only would he waste his time but ours as well. And when I questioned him about his attitude once, he started crying and said that he considered himself to be completely incompetent,” stated Noor.
Read: Do you have any idea what Noori has been up to?
Despite the serious nature of the album, the band has managed to slip in two signature Noori sing-along anthems titled Hey Ya and 1947. Both tracks encapsulate BGBS’ central theme of rebirth, revolving around a woman who crosses the border on the eve of 1947 and is devastated after losing everything and everyone during her journey. When she arrives on this side of the border, she hears the announcement of the creation of Pakistan on the radio and feels her pain fade away, foreshadowing a new beginning in her life. BGBS is expected to release on September 30.
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More than music: Prodigal sons return with new album
21 Monday Sep 2015
Posted in News
The band not only performed their latest singles but also interacted with the audience. PHOTO: HUMA CHOUDHARY
ISLAMABAD: Veteran rock band Noori treated fans of the capital to singles from their new album ‘Begum Gul Bakaoli Sarfarosh’ at a preview show hosted by Kuch Khaas.
The album marks the band’s third foray into music after their 2003 debut album ‘Suno Ke Mein Hoon Jawaan’ and 2005’s ‘Peeli Patti Aur Raja Jaani’.
Noori has already performed a preview show for Begum Gul Bakaoli Sarfarosh in Lahore, and plans to perform in Karachi.
Invites are open to exactly 111 people in all three cities, as the band wants to connect with their fans on an intimate level. To create an emotional connection with their audience, fans are asked to buy serialised tee shirts, for instance ‘1 in 333’ and so forth, instead of paying for tickets.
The performance at Kuch Khaas on Saturday turned out to be an interactive session, with the band’s Ali Noor and Ali Hamza explaining the philosophy behind their latest work.
“Suno Ke Mein Hoon Jawaan was about the optimism and passion that comes with youth. The second album, Peeli Patti Aur Raja Jaani, was melancholic and about a person’s fall as a result of reality hitting him. The upcoming album is about conquering oneself and rising from the ashes”, Noor explained to fans at the event.
Begum Gul Bakaoli Sarfarosh is a fictional character that crosses the border at the time of the 1947 partition of India, hoping for a better future. All she sees however is people losing their morality. Some 50 years pass, and it is present day. She now understands why people are the way they are. The music provides an understanding of the partition, and works as a catalyst to enable people to move towards change.
The band members spoke about creating a ‘Noori family’, with the aim of involving youth in their music and working towards their “awakening”. The band said their purpose is not just to create music, but to enable the youth to live up to their full potential.
Fans of the band in Islamabad were left pleasantly surprised upon learning of Noori’s greater humanitarian endeavours.
The band played tracks such as ‘1947’, ‘Aik Tha Badshah’, ‘Pinjra’, ‘Sarafarosh’ and ‘Hoshiyaar’ from their new album, set to release on September 30.
The event was organised by Patari.pk, a new local platform working to monetise music through online streaming and live shows.
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�No one is making music and no one is going to in the near future either� � Ali Noor
30 Sunday Aug 2015
Posted in News, Nooriality
Ali Noor on the state of the music industry and the madness that means producing an album these days
Before security concerns induced us into a state of paranoid retreat from public spaces � before sponsors lost interest and before music just stopped being produced � the lucky ones amongst us got a taste of the likes of Vital Signs, Junoon, Strings, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Noori live in concert; these are memories that are still cherished by die-hard music fans.
While the Pepsi Unplugged session held in Lahore last weekend was too contained and too exclusive to be called a concert, it was a step towards reclaiming live music spaces in Pakistan. Organized by Hassan Rizvi of BodyBeat, Karachi, the Lahore event followed on the heels of five successful showcases in Karachi over the past years in an effort that Rizvi describes as �giving artists the freedom to perform and give back to the music industry free from commercial constraints or sponsor-dictates.�
That the Lahore series (more such events are planned in the future) kicked off with a Noori showcase is apt � for perhaps no other band encapsulates the struggle for survival that characterizes the current state of the music industry better than the duo of brothers, Ali Hamza and Ali Noor. Wildly popular from the day they first launched the rock band in 1996, Noori captured the imagination of a generation that desperately needed cool new rock stars to look up to. The fact that their music was socially relevant and at times politically charged helped them become icons but their rise to the top has been marked by numerous hiatuses and the occasional traitorous (to die-hard Noori fans at least) diversion of producing corporate-sponsored songs.
Back in the limelight after an absence of a decade, the band is all set to give its eager listeners a taste of the true Noori sound. Their new album Begum Gul Bakaoli Sarfrosh (BGBS) releases on September 30 and dramatic though it may sound, its success or failure could very well decide the future of the music industry.
�I�m afraid we are the last of the old guard, call us the Last of the Mohicans,� Ali Noor spoke to Instep. �The music industry doesn�t exist at the moment. No one is making music and the way things look at the moment, no one is going to in the near future either.� In this bleak scenario, BGBS has the potential to be the beacon of hope for struggling musicians and artists if it ends up doing well.
The process of producing the new album has involved blood, sweat and tears. �It�s been nothing short of a feat,� confesses Ali Noor. �We literally had to start a f**king movement to get this album out! Do you know that CD manufacturing plants have closed down in Pakistan?�
Is he apprehensive about its commercial success? �I�ve never made music for money and the day I start thinking that way, I�ll probably stop making music. As far as the reaction to the album is concerned, I feel that when you go through so much trouble to make something, people do end up noticing. I�m hopeful that they will want to hear what we have to say.
�Today, deciding to buy a CD is a very active decision,� he continues. �It�s not something one needs to do anymore, because you can always hear the music online, but it�s something that one wants to do to support their favourite band. You are choosing to be part of the music industry when you invest in a CD.� The onus of breathing new life into the industry hence lies as much with the listener as with the artist, says Ali.
�There�s a third player in the scenario as well and that is unquestionably the role of corporate entities. While sponsors were always an important cog in the wheel that ran the system, they have never been as visible as they are now. Ventures like Nescafe Basement and Coke Studio provide a much-needed platform to local musicians.
�Agreed, but I feel that these shows are at best curators of music,� stresses Ali. �They commission music but they cannot create artists. The problem that the industry is facing at the moment is not the lack of a platform, it�s the absence of material. No one is making music anymore. The first stage in the life of an artist is to create his art. You have to go through that process of creation and pursuit of art yourself, free of outside influences. Coke Studio can be the second stage in an artist�s life, once they have 8 to 10 original songs to their credit. It cannot be the first step.�
With years of making original music under their belt, it�s safe to say that Noori is well past that first stage and hence, free to experiment with projects that broaden their scope. One such venture has been their work on the recently released rom-com Karachi Se Lahore, for which the brothers served as music directors along with Shiraz Uppal. �It was an interesting experience, but again it was commissioned work. In a film, the art is being done by the director and everyone else just adds to his vision. The biggest thing I learned from my experience of doing Karachi Se Lahore was the realization after all these years why India has been incapable of producing great artists. Their music industry is tied to their films and when you have to work within a specific context, it stifles your freedom as an artist. LataMangeshkar may be a fantastic singer but she will never be a Madonna or a Katy Perry. Film music is great, but we need music first.�
Which brings us back to their upcoming album, another thematic offering in the same vein as their 2005 release Peeli Patti Aur Raja Jaani Ki Gol Duniya. �It�s an evolved sound and it gives voice to the emotional dysfunctionality that we see around us these days. The past ten years have seen us mature as people and as artists so we are saying it better than we did in the past.�
As for working on an album that weaves together a tale, �it�s suicidal!� laughs Ali. �That�s why it took us ten years to come out with it. Despite the hardship, this is the only way I know to say what I want. Having been exposed to tremendous amounts of prose in my life � whether it is Urdu, English or Russian literature � I�m driven more by stories than by poetry. Think of the album as a collection of short stories.�Noori fans are eagerly waiting to devour this new chapter.
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Musical evenings officially make a comeback to Pakistan
27 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in News
LAHORE: With an objective to bring back the premium musical evenings of Pakistan back to life, ‘Pepsi Unplugged’ made its way to the City of Gardens where Noori blew away the audiences with their thrilling performance.
Aiming to launch in Dubai in 2016, ‘Pepsi Unplugged’ has previously hosted electric performances from ace singing sensations at high-end events in Karachi.
The performers truly used home-ground advantage in their performance as they got the intimate audience singing along with them. The band played some new singles and closed the show on a high-note with their old mega hits. The audience comprised the cr�me d’ la cr�me of Lahore including celebrities and media people. Among the audience could be spotted, Ali Noor, Ali Hamza, Nadia Jamil, Shafaq Habib, Muneeb Nawaz, Junaid Khan, Farhad Humayun, Fahad (Call), Kuki, Hajra Hayat, Salim Sheikh, Sarah Gandapur, Komal Rizvi, Wahab Shah and many more.
Exciting prizes were also won by the attendees - 10 lucky winners were awarded Noori’s autographed guitars courtesy Pepsi, while seven guests were given Haier mobile smart phones and three were awarded diamonds rings by Close Up.
“On behalf of ‘Unplugged, we, BB Events & PR would like to take the opportunity to thank our official sponsors for sharing our vision to revive live music in Pakistan. Without their support and great services, we would not have reached our goal of making these premium musical evenings come to life. A special thanks to Pepsi Co, Magnum, Close Up and our official mobile partner Haier,” Body Beat CEO Hasan Rizvi said.
‘Pepsi Unplugged’ is a series of invitation-only events introduced by Hasan. These events are hosted at high-end venues with performances by our country’s most established and recognised performers. Some noteworthy names in previous events include ace singing sensations Zoe Viccaji, Komal, Club Caramel, Fuzon, Suhana Baloch, Noori and Jal among others. The next ‘Pepsi Unplugged’ is slated to take place in September with international artistes’ collaboration. This will be the first time that the international artiste would be launching a song in Pakistan and that too to a duet with a Pakistani music sensation. The platform is aiming to extend the series to Dubai in 2016.
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Noori treats Lahore to Nusrat and more
25 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in News
Ali Noor will also include 10 fans as vocalists on Noori�s upcoming album Begum Gul Bakaoli Sarfarosh. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
LAHORE:��It�s unbelievable that we are releasing an album on September 30 when no one else is even thinking about doing that these days,� said Ali Noor prior to Noori�s performance in Lahore on Sunday.
The event seems like the answer to the lack of platforms for local musicians to play live music. It was a part of Pepsi Unplugged; a show that aims to encourage creative freedom for artists by providing live performance opportunities. The show has previously featured the likes of Club Caramel, Jal, Zoe Viccaji and Komal Rizvi in its Karachi spree of shows.
A local caf�, where the event was taking place was jam-packed by 9:30pm and by that time there was no room for people to move around. Although the concert started a little late, Noori fans stuck around till the very end.
Ali Noor and Ali Hamza along with their frequent session player Kami Paul on drums, played hit numbers like Aik Alif, Mujhay Roko, Kuttay,Gawalmandi and Jo Meray Rahi, inducing nostalgia into the atmosphere.
They also performed a cover of Hookah Bar, along with their rendition of I�ve Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas which got the crowds cheering. Pinjra and Hoshiyaar, two songs from their upcoming albumBegum Gul Bakaoli Sarfarosh were also included in the playlist.
The crowd was incessantly requesting the band to play Manwa Re, to which Ali Noor said, �bhool gaya hai yaar ab nai bajana aata� in his quintessential manner. This was followed by an improvised version of the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan classic Sanu Ek Pal which left the crowds elated, but it did not stop them from requesting to play Manwa Re the song that made it happen for Noori. They fulfilled the crowd�s request at the very end of the show.
Talking about the future ventures, Hasan Rizvi, the organiser of the event and the CEO of Body Beats shared that they plan to broaden the scope of the show.
�We plan to take the show to Dubai in 2016 and the lineup will include Zoe Viccaji, Komal Rizvi, Club Caramel, Jal, Noori, Ali Azmat and one more artist, who we are yet to finalise. For Pakistan, we plan to bring in Indian artists to create mash-ups with our local stars.�
The next Pepsi Unplugged session is set to take place on September 20 and will feature Ali Azmat.
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Pepsi Unplugged � �The Eid Edition� comes to Lahore
25 Tuesday Aug 2015
Posted in News
With an objective to bring back the premium musical evenings of Pakistan back to life, Pepsi Unplugged made its way to the City of Gardens where Noori blew away the audiences with their thrilling performance. Aiming to launch in Dubai in 2016, Pepsi Unplugged has previously hosted electric performances from ace singing sensations at high-end events in Karachi.
After the success of five smashing shows Pepsi Unplugged made its way to Lahore and this time it was none other than the famous rock band Noori, whose exhilarating performance blew away the guests at Lahore�s finest gourmet restaurant Cosa Nostra. The performers truly used home-ground advantage in their performance as they got the intimate audience singing along with them. The band played some new singles and closed the show on a high-note with their old mega hits.
The audience comprised the cr�me d� la cr�me of Lahore including celebrities and media people. Among the audience could be spotted, Ali Noor, Ali Hamza, Nadia Jameel, Shafaq Habib, Muneeb Nawaz, Junaid Khan, Farhad Humayoun, Fahad (Call), Kuki, Hajra Hayat, Salim Sheikh, Sarah Gandapur, Komal Rizvi, Wahab Shah and many more. Exciting prizes were also won by the attendees � ten lucky winners were awarded Noori�s autographed guitars courtesy Pepsi, while seven guests were given Haier mobile smart phones and three were awarded diamonds rings by Close Up.
�On behalf of UNPLUGGED, we, BB Events & PR would like to take this opportunity to thank our official sponsors for sharing our vision to revive live music in Pakistan. Without their support and great services, we would not have reached our goal of making these Premium Musical Evenings come to life. A special thanks to Pepsi Co., Magnum, Close Up and our official mobile partner Haier Smart Phones� Said Hasan Rizvi, CEO BodyBeat.
Pepsi Unplugged is a series of invitation-only events introduced by Hasan Rizvi CEO � BodyBeat. These events are hosted at high-end venues with performances by our country�s most established and recognized performers. Some noteworthy names in previous events include ace singing sensations Zoe Viccaji, Komal Rizvi, Club Caramel, Fuzon, Suhana Baloch, Noori and JAL among others.
The next Pepsi Unplugged Musical Evening is slated to take place in September with international artistes� collaboration. This will be the first time that the international artiste would be launching a song in Pakistan and that too to a duet with a Pakistani music sensation. The platform is aiming to extend the series to Dubai in 2016.
Read here
Noori band performs live in Lahore in sponsorship to Haier Mobile
24 Monday Aug 2015
Posted in News
Haier Mobile has recently jumped into the music saga as the company arranged a musical night in Lahore this Sunday in a local Cafe.
The concert was arranged with an aim to revive the pop music and the live performance of popular rock band Noori made the event even mesmerizing.
Talking about the event, Haier Mobile has vowed that it will keep on with such events for the public in order to bring back musical sensations that will eventually prove to be beneficial the artists as well as the audiences and fans.
Sponsoring the unplugged event is for sure an advertising strategy by Haier Mobile to attract the music lover young generation with its variety of handsets that are introduced just a few months ago.
Haier has also been in the limelight recently as soon as it announced to start laptop assembling unit in Pakistan that are meant to be distributed among the intelligent and needy students of Pakistan under Prime Minister Laptop Scheme.
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Noori composes the Official T20 World Cup 2012 song for PEPSI Pakistan
24 Monday Aug 2015
On September 12th, the band returned from Colombo after completing the video shoot for the song �Dilwalo Khelo Tum� � the official T20 World Cup 2012 song for PEPSI Pakistan.
In the words of the band:
�Corporate Songs give us the opportunity to get out of our shells and collaborate with other creative people. People know that our in-house productions are a very extensive process; a single song takes months to complete.
In this case, we have very limited time � a one-time team is formed and we have to deliver in like 10 days! So it�s an intense exercise. But great fun!
�.
We have known Ali Hayat for a long time (he�s the PEPSI man from the advertising world). He has been pushing to get the band on-board for the last 8 years, and finally a deal went through. We guess that made it special in a way� Ali�s a very good writer, and like all of us, he takes his time in coming out with his best!
Lyrics and melodies down, we went into Shuja Hyder�s studios to produce this song (drum recording and mastering took place at Gumby�s studio). We have worked with Shuja and Shani (his brother) before on the Cornetto Song and just like before the experience was awesome! This time however the sound was more rock and that made it much more fun for Shuja as well.�
While the song has been released and clips of it have also been used in the last 2 PEPSI commercials, the real excitement will build once the OFFICIAL VIDEO is released.
The release dates is slated around the same time the T20 Cup kicks off!
Meanwhile, check out a BTS from the video shoot in Colombo. Seems like everyone had some great fun.
Soundcheck: Live wire Noori
18 Saturday Jul 2015
Posted in News
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Aik Tha Badshah
AN: �Noori�s new video Aik Tha Badshah is directed by Mandana Zaidi. We had been working on it for quite a sometime. Actually, the video was supposed to be for another song but when we put it together, we realised that the audio and video didn�t match. I decided to write a brand new song by looking at the visuals. It was a totally opposite experience and I must say a very interesting one.�
AH: �In Aik Tha Badshah, the band explores the dark themes of glory, power, debauchery, downfall and rise again � an oft recurring theme as seen through times and tales. It�s a journey of a king, his wisdom taken over by ignorance, his justice shadowed by blindness, his courage lost at the hands of fear and his restraint killed by excess.
�His journey is explored through the virtues represented by different elements: air, earth, fire and water. In this historic reference, the king sees his impending defeat and downfall when another king rises and brings back the virtues, thus making his claim to the throne, only to break the pattern and renounce the throne and walk away � a man free from the shackles of any power. A man who can be anyone with the power to speak for what is just.
Ali Noor and Ali Hamza of Noori on the band�s new video, performing live in Karachi, future tours and the new album Begum Gul Baqauli Sarfarosh
�Obviously, this is a very idealistic and unreal sort of a thing. It can only happen in music video or fairy tales � but the idea is to make people think what if we were to break this vicious cycle of power blindness. We cast a whole bunch of models from Lahore who were amazing. As far as direction is concerned, I think Mandana did a great job.�
The launch via Unplugged
AN: �We were just about to release the Aik Tha Badshah music video in Lahore and at Fahad Humayun�s place and I got thinking what if we got a chance to perform and released the music video in Karachi. Just then, Hasan Rizvi called and invited us to play on his Unplugged series and to release something new. I said bingo! That�s just what we�ve been looking for.
�It was a brilliant experience because we were all geared up to sing new songs from the upcoming album. I felt really relieved that at least these new songs we were playing still connected with people. BodyBeat does a lot of choreography and in future Noori can explore interesting collaborations where we can do a visual or mind-based representation of songs because our new songs are very story-driven or theme-oriented.�
AH: �Brilliant. These guys have done a really good job.�
Value addition
AN: �In the past, music videos had been sort of a marketing tool for the audio � so that people could watch and enjoy the song � but this was a very different experience (of the video coming before the song). This is the only video we have made which is not performance-based.
�Today, there are no music video channels so it�s not about marketing music any more. Music videos have to mean something more than just marketing tools. They are important but they are expensive and there is no tangible way of getting visibility because the people have a choice to either watch it or not. You can make a million dollar video but can�t force anybody to watch it.�
Tours in the pipeline
AN: �My immediate future plans are to release our new music album called Begum Gul Baqauli�Sarfarosh. We also hope to do a bunch of concerts. One very important aspect of this album is that we want to engage our fans in a much more organised and meaningful manner. One of the best ways to do that is to do a lot more shows. We are trying to explore the possibility of exclusive concerts as opposed to corporate and other gigs. There are going to be a lot more music videos and a lot of new ideas because this album is probably the most important album of our careers.�
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