Somewhere in Lahore, a basement is booming with music. Young unknown musicians across Pakistan are meeting each other for the first time. Everyone comes and plays their instruments; sitar, drums, flutes and more. As they jam, a combo is created. A fusion of personalities gives birth to a new genre and that genre, as Xulfi describes, is Nescafe Basement.
An initiative for underground musicians, Nescafe Basement is all about jamming and getting together. Its purpose is to bring to the forefront those that are not in it, but should be. Their mentor, popularly known as Xulfi, finds young artists, then jams with them, mentors them and produces music for them.
Pakistan Today sat down with Xulfi to get an idea of what makes the platform different and what is new in the upcoming season.
Although he promises many surprises, he did not disclose much. However, he did give some hints.
“Nescafe has always jammed and created music and in its latest season we have tried to capture it further in its true sense.”
He describes the essence of a jam as a session where “musicians meet and start playing music together. They do not know each other before but when they start playing music together this is how they get to know each other and a bond is created. This time I have tried that bond created is so strong that music evolves naturally.”
It is the small imperfections of a musician that create a human touch in the music, Xulfi believes.
“If you listen to any classic record, it doesn’t look like some robot has perfectly played it. He has perfectly expressed it and expression is not usually always in beat and always in tune. So the real expression, it is very tricky to understand. But I have tried to capture that real expression of the artists. In his subtle imperfections you find beauty and I have tried to capture that this season.”
The need for underground talent:
Xulfi believes it is important to bring underground talent forward because an industry does not grow with the same faces making repeated appearances.
“Even if you look at other industries, every year there are thousands of new artists. Every year, there is somebody else who is on top of the charts and this way their industry flourishes,” he explains.
He believes that in order to make our industry grow, we must keep giving that influx of musicians into the industry and the best way is through new blood, new musicians.
“So in this way, by giving musicians to the music industry, you increase its longevity.”
Xulfi sees a lot of talent but feels that there is no direction, mentorship. He is surprised to see creativity, intelligence and forward thinking in the new generation.
“I feel that they just need to get rid of fear and as a mentor this is my job that I create an atmosphere in the jam room where they are not afraid of giving ideas, and I implement those ideas. Music only becomes beautiful when a lot of minds come together to work on a single idea,” he said.
How did it all begin?
The urge to bring up young hidden talent all started when Xulfi used to play for call and EP.
“At that time when we used to perform at concerts I used to see that there were so many artists that were performing before us. Then we also got to judge a few shows where young artists would be performing. I used to say that although they are performing covers, they are performing brilliantly! Why aren’t they coming on TV anymore? Why aren’t these people getting anywhere? So I kept on thinking there should be something for them,” he told Pakistan Today.
When NESCAFE Basement season 1 started, it was easy for him to recruit the talent.
“I already had database of people that I had seen over the years in my career. I had gained ‘he looks for young talent’ image that helps me till now.”
The fourth season has been the most extensive. “We went to different schools, colleges, universities across Pakistan. However, I got the core from the digital auditions, which were for those cities where we couldn’t go.”
He is pleasantly surprised that every year auditions multiply. “It is amazing how these people perform. I don’t understand where they are hidden. There is an amazing violin player, amazing rabab player, ukulele player and so many guitar players so many drummers. There is a female sitar player and there is a male sitar player.”
“You might be thinking that sitar, rabab, these are our old forgotten instruments. Kids don’t pick them up now. They pick guitar now. But this is not the case.”
So is this proof that our traditions are not being forgotten, rather they are being revived? Xulfi thinks so.
“Yes, they are not forgotten at all! If you look at those people, the way they talk, the kind of music they listen to; they evolved in this country and became something. So it means there is something right about this generation. They haven’t forgotten,” he said.
Coming up with the idea of bringing new talent in the forefront was definitely a challenging task.
“We have made people get used to seeing the same faces on TV; same artists from 10 –20 years! And people are more interested in dramas now. So I did wonder about how the audience would react but then I understood that the audience is craving for such things! They want to listen to this! As they discover Nescafe basement, I regularly keep checking the tweets log, people have tweeted, ‘Why did I discover this so late?’ ‘Why did I discover Nescafe basement so late?’ ‘Why didn’t I see this before?’ ‘This is such amazing music!’ So my hope has increased and improved over time. They want to see new faces doing new music. This is the biggest encouragement.”
Xulfi is determined to remove negative perception about music:
Pursuing music or movies as a career choice isn’t as easy in Pakistan as one would want it to be.
But the story is different at Nescafe basement. “It’s not a mainstream initiative. It’s an initiative for underground musicians. Its look and feel is very different from the rest of the entertainment industry. The artists will also tell you that they don’t feel that they are playing for some mainstream music show. They feel that they are coming together at a place and jamming and they feel at home,” Xulfi said.
However, Xulfi is determined to change the negative perception about music and he is striving to change it through this show. “The best thing is that if parents think it is negative, I talk to them personally. I tell them what this is all about and then I even invite them to come to the jam room and see what is happening here.”
He has seen a lot of change over the four years.
“For instance our female sitar player Arafa’s mother comes with her every time and it is encouraging. Then there was an artist called Pareizay, and her father used to come with her to every jam session. He was very supporting and gave ideas. So I have seen the change, I have seen the evolution, and I am very happy things are changing.”
Xulfi feels that if parents are sending youngsters from various cities to him then it is his responsibility to make them comfortable, and let them feel at home. “When parents get to know that this is the atmosphere they are very comfortable with their kids being here.”
Diversity of artists also helps minimise differences:
Diversity of artists in the jam room has also socially helped the young aspiring artists.
“A diverse set of musicians coming from every corner of the country; Rahim Yar Khan, Quetta, Khanewaal, Chitral, etc., helps in minimising the differences that have settled in our minds because of cultural evolution,” he said.
“For example if there are people from two different backgrounds, we forms stereotypes. I hate these terms like burger, mummy daddy. So what if a person has come from a background where he didn’t listen to western music? It doesn’t really matter!” he exclaimed.
At the jam room, everyone is taught to learn from each other without judgements. “This creates openness and acceptance; not just musicians’ acceptance, but acceptance of their personalities as well. Life is not about judging people, and because of it, one might keep an unnecessary distance. No this is one life experience,” Xulfi said.
“These people are so happy among each other and they have become such good friends. So this is what I wanted that their personalities become open personalities not closed personalities. I think we need this generation to do this,” he added.
NESCAFE Basement has opened opportunities for the underground talent. “Many kids have now explored different avenues. Some are teaching, some are playing in bands, going to India, singing for movies, dramas, creating OSTs. So many things are happening for them. They have made their own studios, they are doing productions and more,” Xulfi laughs.
Artists discovered on the show are already going to other platforms.
“Adnan Rabi, an artist from season one went to record music for an Indian movie. There was a song Awari featured in the movie, it was Nescafe basement’s song, they composed it,” he said.
“Similarly, there is another vocalist singing for Pakistani movies, and then there was a flute player and keyboard player, now he is making music for Hum TV dramas etc.,” he adds.
Xulfi also talks about a drummer who is playing for Call and Roxen.
“So you know so many things have happened for all of them… a lot of them now who want to pursue music,” he said.
