There is no doubt that the Internet has been a magnet for budding artists, writers and anyone who wants to put themselves out there. The risk of copyright is hardly an obstacle when all you want to do is develop a fanbase, be famous and do what you love doing best. The entertainment industry in Pakistan has been on the up and up, for a number of years now. Television channels have dedicated themselves to the various verticals involved, and now in addition to catering to the appetite of the audience, they are also effectively providing opportunities for the industries to grow and become almost self sufficient. But then, the massive electronic media itself survives on advertising, and advertising only comes when channels give people what people want. The already-popular and the already-famous celebrities often crowd the primetime segments that are strong revenue generators for teevee stations. So where does the young man with the fabulous voice and guitar go to? Well, as with most things in life, the internet becomes the choice option for many who otherwise would never find a way to let the world know of their passionate love of the arts, or in this case, love of music.
And then, as with most things, in comes the internet. A few weeks ago, I came across an interesting link to a “Pakistani Rock band based out of Seattle, USA” that called itself TMB. And like other people, I too decided to flock onto their base on Facebook, and sign on as a “fan”. TMB is made up of:
Ali Alvi: Ali plays rhythm and bass guitars for TMB and when he’s not playing with TMB or practicing, he is working for Microsoft as a software developer writing features for an application called Internet Explorer(IE), and has his roots in Islamabad.
Adil: Microsoft Program Manager (or ‘geek’ for short) by day, TMB lead vocalist and part-time bassist by night. Oh – did we mention Adil was originally from Karachi?
Saaid: is the guy responsible for writing lyrics to TMB’s original songs. A Program Manager at Microsoft and though he doesn’t play an instrument and has no background in music (except for listening to tons of it) he can tell when there is ‘something missing’ from the sound!
Saad plays lead guitars and occasionally tinkers with the rhythm and bass. No surprise when we found out that he also works at Microsoft, and was gifted a Spanish acoustic guitar at the young age of 12. (Are parents really like that these days?!).
And then there is Nauman, the TMB percussionist. He is the only member of TMB who didn’t have a prior history with the others until he moved from Arizona where he did his
Bachelors from ASU, and moved to Seattle to work as a Program Manager for the Hotmail team. Originally from Rawalpindi, Nauman occasionally presses the keys on the honky tonk but finds his niche for the band, in the drums.
But this was an interesting experience. I could listen to this group of 5 people who, by day, work at Microsoft, and are moonlighting musicians simply because they love it. They’re not commercial (but I’m assuming they’d never say no to paid gigs!) and they jam out of a garage! Good God, this is like a success story in the making! And despite the fact that they are based out of the US, they stick to singing a few original numbers but mostly covers, both Urdu and English songs that they enjoy most. By using the Internet and communities to promote themselves, TMB caught my eye and ear to an inspiring revelation. Here was a group of motivated individuals who had their roots out of Pakistan, and were actually using the virtual world in the way it should be!
And so like any sane, patriotic journalist, I wrote to them through one of their videos posted on YouTube, and Ali Alvi wrote back.
“Adil, Saad, Saaid and myself all went to college at LUMS and were more or less all present there at the same time. So we knew each other from there. I still remember Saad with his Stratocaster and a tiny Amp that he used to have in his room where I would sit for hours listening to him jam and having long conversations about bands we listened to and loved. He and I found common ground in our love for bands like Iron Maiden and Megadeth. When we all ended up here in Seattle, we started jamming as a way to pass time on the weekends until one day we decided that maybe we should be more organized and have a proper band. We didn’t have a drummer, but Nauman, already a close friend, fancied playing the drums and that’s how the 4 man lineup came together. Saaid came to Seattle around the same time and decided to share some of his writings with us which we thought were really cool and now we look to him for lyrics to all our songs.”
The Internet is a really large place and one would assume, a very easy place to get lost. How, then, did they manage to promote themselves? Adil, the TMB Lead Vocalist and Geek says, “Initially we did a couple of shows targeting Pakistanis at Microsoft (where we all work), and built up a local fan base through those shows. Along with this we set up profile pages on MySpace, YouTube, and most recently FaceBook. Getting exposure on YouTube is easy because we just put our live videos up and people searching for popular songs like Aadat etc just come across our recordings.”
“FaceBook goes further as it lets us create ads targeted to other FB users in specific countries, with specific interests and demographic backgrounds etc. This pulls people in from all over, and if they like our music they add themselves as fans of the band so we can communicate with them more regularly when new recordings come out.”
No wonder these guys are having fun. They are doing all the right things they need to get the word out without ever leaving the stage! But then here’s a problem a lot of young artists throw my way – sure the internet gives you a lot of exposure, but will a young band ever be able to compete with the fan following that an established artist has? Even in the online world? Ali comments, “I don’t think DMB [Dave Matthews Band] has to worry about their fan following. They are pretty well covered in that department. TMB, on the other hand, has seen a lot of growth in the fan base over the past couple of months. Our cover of Aadat is what really got us noticed by people on YouTube and MySpace. But most of this traffic was coming from India and not from Pakistan.
So you get in touch with the right target audience, but doesn’t this same audience also suffer bandwidth issues? “Yes.” continues Ali. “We see a lot of traffic from Pakistan and have a respectable fan following, but obvious limitation of bandwidth means that our videos sadly don’t get as many views, so our fans have to live with our audios most of the time but given that is the case, we are very pleased with the number of people who have appreciated and recognized our music as being original and likeable.
What about Viral videos? Does that help the passion spread? Saad says “I for one was surprised to see the fan response when we went live online. We posted our stuff mainly to send it to friends, but we’ve found like-minded listeners out there. There are many online music websites which cater to a “desi” audience, I am not certain how many are ex-pats versus people back home.
But I do see a vibrant and hungry Pakistani community on the Internet (or “tubes” as once described by a US senator ?) yearning for some good music.”
Alright then. How about the language? Do you think its easier to tap into an audience if you play the song of their roots (ie: Urdu as opposed to Angrezi)? Adil picked this one up saying “Anyone who’s attended one of our casual jam sessions knows that we love playing in both Urdu and English (and Saad does a killer faux-German version of With or Without You).
So far, we’ve connected better with Urdu when writing original songs so this has become our language of choice. And when we perform a song like Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar for a Pakistani audience, the line between performer and audience is blurred as the entire room sings in unison, and we’re all transported back to a place and time when life was simpler and responsibilities were few, a time full of friends, Slims, Pepsi, cricket and schoolyard gossip.
Songs like this take us all home again – no English song can do that.”
And since they’re counting on you for the lyrics, Saaid, how do you manage them? Living in English and writing in Urdu? “I think we express ourselves better in Urdu.” starts Saaid. “However I can’t deny that sometimes I think of the mood of the song in English before I write down the lyrics in Urdu, or that sometimes we reflect over our songs (its meaning and direction) in English before finalizing the lyrics in Urdu.”
So yes, there is definitely a method to all this madness, eh? “Of course!” exclaims Saad. “We really only connect when we’re doing Urdu. The fact that our audience can share the same ideas and cultural notions gives us this common bond that’s inescapable.
As far as original stuff is concerned, I don’t really think in a language when I’m writing music, just images and settings and emotions. It is very interesting, however, that when the words do come, the music adapts with it so it sounds more cohesive.”
And what kind of feedback have you received through the forums and communities that you are on, because you are obviously in a lot of key, traffic magnets? Ali pipes in: Feedback has been very encouraging so far. Like all musicians, we are really close to our work and that usually means its harder to take criticism, but thankfully uptil now we have had very positive feedback on our original songs Saraab and Sunno. Our cover of Do Pal Ka Jeevan is really appreciated by everyone. Aadat gets mixed reviews but we anticipated that since our version is very different from the original.”
Fan Feedback and what really matters
So? Impressed with the feedback so far? According to Ali, the fans get a standing ovation online! “Definitely! I was very impressed with the amount of musical sense that is present in Pakistani audience and some of the feedback we have received has really amazed us with the in depth analysis and the articulate expression of what some of the listeners feel about our songs – both good and bad.
Such feedback really helps us in identifying the derelictions in our work and is a big help in improving ourselves. We are all developing musicians and we are constantly striving to become better at what we do and detailed feedback is a very important part of that process. Luckily for us, we’ve been blessed with fans who like to give us their opinion and their take on our work objectively.”
There is no doubt that it’s been an interesting ride for these guys, but I’m sure the fact that they have a sound education and established careers, makes a difference in the way they treat their passion. The internet provides artists such as TMB with the ability to gauge their success and following.
Obviously, in the absence of the added costs involved with establishing and promoting a band around the world, this is the only way to assess whether someone can even stand out in a crowd or not. With so many struggling musicians in Pakistan, TMB and a lot of other bands who use the internet as a primary medium to promote themselves, are terrific and hopeful role models for what the future of the struggle can be.
The internet is always criticized to be free and flaky – it could be there today but because its all free, it might not be there tomorrow. So of course, here’s the question that everyone wants to know: does TMB have a future? Ali jumps in to say, “I believe all of us are doing very well at our jobs and we currently look at music as a passion instead of a profession.
That really helps us in being creative and original and we would like to keep it that way. In the meantime, fans don’t have to worry about us starving!”
The Stuff eMusicians are made of
So you guys have been there and are currently doing that. Any words of advice for young startups? Saad offers, “I do think that when the proverbial bridges are burnt and you are struggling as a musician, it inspires a special kind of creativity.
I think music does require a sense of commitment that the struggling artist has. Unfortunately, that is a good way to starve to death. The creative process invariably gets threatened by corporate sponsors (if you’re in Pakistan) or record labels (if you’re in the States) when you’re still undiscovered.
Some artists have to live with the difficult choice of deferring their creative essence to a time when they’ve made it versus sticking it to the man and lose a few pounds. I guess because we don’t rely on music financially (yet!), it is us who define the creative limits, however our limited creativity is something we have to live with.”
The band hopes to work on creating original music, and well, if given the chance, they would love to play live for Pakistani audiences! According to Adil, “A few months ago it was unclear what direction the band would take after I had to move to Boston, but once we saw the kind of momentum we were getting on Facebook we became motivated to make it work despite our distance.
Now we’re composing and recording new music by collaborating online… our jamming and brainstorming sessions take place over conference calls and webcam 🙂 It looks like we’re going to be making music as long as people still want to hear it.”
Now if that isn’t the beauty of video conferencing, I don’t know what is! “Additionally” says Adil, “we’ve recently started collaborating with a Texas-based indie producer ‘Ghazi’ who is working with us to put a professional touch on our recordings.
He has already done some fantastic work on Sunno – the studio mix for that is coming soon!”
And of course, to lay the debate for viral videos to rest, Ali Alvi puts in the line every ‘music geek’ is dying to hear: “Given the amount of time today’s music listener spends online, I think there is no question of not having a presence online.
It gives you a central place for promoting your music, sharing ideas and getting feedback. Our experience has been really good with online promotion, especially when it is targeted properly.”
You can tune into the band on their Facebook community or look TMB’s videos up on YouTube by simply searching for them. Either that, or you can write to the band members directly at: tmb.band@hotmail.com
We wish you guys all the luck in the world and hope that you continue making great music and putting Pakistan on the virtual map in a really big way!
