"In the beginning people used to ask us: where do you see yourself in the next five years? No one asks where you see yourself in 30 years,” says Bilal Maqsood with a smile. He almost sounds smug. I’m in the studio with Strings. The last time I was here, they were still producing Coke Studio and the place was packed with musicians and technical staff. Now, it’s relatively quiet. The year 2018 is a big year for Strings — it marks their 30th year as a band. It is a milestone I don’t think any other musical act has achieved as yet in Pakistan.

“We never thought back in 1988 that we will be together in 2018,” says Faisal Kapadia breaking into a big smile. “It feels very good.”

And the duo has big plans for this year as well. They are releasing an album — one video at a time over the entire year. They’re touring as well and, according to the band, more than before. “Things are happening,” says Bilal. “We’ve never performed in Lahore as much as we did recently — five back-to-back shows — Karachi is also happening. We’ve really worked on our live sound as well. [We’re using] the Coke Studio system, everything’s on a click, and we can hear the cues. It’s all very methodical and, judging from the feedback, people are noticing as well. It has its own energy.”

It’s been 30 years since Strings first burst on to the pop scene. In its milestone year, the band is embarking on releasing a new album after a gap of 10 years. Icon talks to its two musicians about the creative space they are now in, how they’ve dealt with criticism and their sons’ roles in their music

“Plus, we hadn’t played for four years!” says Faisal referring to the time Strings was producing the seasons for Coke Studio. He certainly sounds happy to get back to it. “Yes!” he laughs.

Does the new album sound different from their previous work? “Yeah, sound-wise, there are newer things,” responds Bilal. “But we also don’t want to lose that Strings’ touch — our melody and lyrics — sonically, however, some things are going to be different.

“Coke Studio really helped because as Strings, we were not performing. So, we had that hunger that we have to do something of our own. Plus doing 30 songs a year, you get into the practice of producing to a point where things just begin to flow.”

Are there any collaborations? “Yes, but it’s too early to talk about it as that’s the eighth song,” says Faisal.

What video directors are you going with this time? “Jami is still very much there,” says Bilal. “He’s done our second video (Urr Jaoon),” says Bilal. “The first one is Sajni [directed by Yasir Jaswal]. When we were searching for directors and going through their work, before even speaking to them, we’d locked Yasir. He’s the only one that could direct the music video for Sajni.

“It’s a happy, energetic song,” he explains. “That’s the space Strings is in right now. Yasir has done a remarkable job. Jami is also doing the third [Urran Tashtari] and Asad-ul-Haq is doing the fourth [Piya Re].”

Jami directed the video for Duur, which was the comeback song for the pared down Strings after they shed two members. His career has grown with the band as well. After all these years, how does it feel to work with him? “Exactly the same as it did [the first time],” says Bilal. “With Jami we sit in a time machine and go back to the era of Duur. The same sessions, discussions, arguments etc. The kind of chemistry we have with Jami is the same that Faisal and I have with each other, or which Abba [Anwar Maqsood, Bilal’s father] has with the band.”

Do they have a formula for their success? To newer bands coming out today what would you say? “Right now, times are really tough,” says Faisal. “Earlier, if you were good, there was one platform and your music was out everywhere. It wasn’t easy to get on to that platform — if Vital Signs launched a song from PTV or if we did, it wasn’t easy to do that. But that singular platform was very powerful. Now, even the biggest band finds it difficult because there’s isn’t a singular platform where you’re ‘seen’. You have to do everything — all of the social media, seen everywhere etc while also keep making good music. It’s not easy.

“On the other hand, if you have great social [media] skills, you don’t need to have PTV or a record label etc. you can do it on your own. There are pros and cons, but that overnight success you used to get before, that doesn’t happen anymore.”

A lot of the bands that came out around the same time Strings did with Duur didn’t survive. We’re seeing a lot of reunions in the past couple of years but we don’t know if they’ll stick together or not. How did Strings manage to stay together and survive the ups and downs of the industry?

“Honestly, we were...are lucky,” says Faisal. “There’s no formula for that. We keep on saying that your focus should be your band, not your individual personality. Until today, there might a rare exception due to some majboori [compulsion], but we’ve never even given an interview [without the other present]. Because this is the band. That includes endorsement deals as well. When you have that focus, when your sole income is the band, then things just come together.

And the duo has big plans for this year as well. They are releasing an album — one video at a time over the entire year. They’re touring as well and, according to the band, more than before. “Things are happening,” says Bilal. “We’ve never performed in Lahore as much as we did recently — five back-to-back shows — Karachi is also happening. We’ve really worked on our live sound as well.”

“There are two things that create phaddas: paisa [money] and fame,” he continues. “You need to find a way to balance that. Plus, we are ‘two’ people. If we had been four, maybe the dynamics would’ve changed. It’s easier to balance it out when it’s just two.”

Not just bands, but finances put a huge amount of pressure on any relationship. “A lot of credit goes to our wives also,” says Bilal. “There was never any pressure or conflict when it came to money or anything else. If Strings was going through a bad phase, and there were no shows, [there was] zero pressure. Our wives would say that to us as well, ‘Don’t worry, things will get better.’ That’s what we would tell each other as well.”

In that context, the question that springs to mind is: what was the most difficult phase for the band? “I think the most difficult one was when we started producing Coke Studio,” says Bilal. “When we started getting the negative feedback. That was a very new thing for Strings. Because Strings had otherwise never gotten anything negative. That was a major blow.”

How did they deal with it? “It was a good reality check,” he says. “You need to remain humble. You can’t do everything right. You should accept what the audience is saying. We’re making it for them. If we were making it for ourselves, then it would’ve been a different thing. We were making a song thinking everyone would like it — but not everyone did. So, we took it positively — the feedback — and tweaked the next season accordingly. And it was better and bigger than the first.”

But there’s another era that haunts Faisal. “I would say as Strings, 2008 and 2009 were tough too,” he says. “We released Koi Ane Wala Hai. We went all out with the videos and everything. And then the Taj incident [the Mumbai attacks] happened in 2008 and India completely got closed [for Pakistani artists]. There was socio-political instability here. The music industry completely collapsed in 2008 and there were many reasons for that,” elaborates Faisal. “But we were going at a particular pace, we’d released Duur, Dhaani, Koi Ane Wala Hai etc and suddenly the music industry just drops. A lot of bands broke up around that time. Staying ‘intact’ around that time was a challenge because there were no concerts or sponsorships, there was nothing.”

But they survived that. Both of them nod in agreement. What about the next generation? Do any of their children plan to follow in their footsteps? “They do,” responds Faisal. “Especially my son. But I’ve never pressured him in any way. Much like today’s youth, we see them far more inclined towards music because of YouTube and a lot of other factors.”

What about the feedback? “All the time,” says Bilal. “The songs we’re doing now, I send them to my son, he’s studying abroad. I get feedback from there: the reverb is too loud; the mix doesn’t seem right. He sends me songs to listen to, ‘this should be the sound etc’. I keep getting feedback and I really respect it.”

Is there any new Pakistani band or sound that they find exciting? “I think two of Kashmir’s songs are good,” responds Bilal. “Originals?” Faisal asks him. “Yes,” comes the response. “I think I saw them on TV,” responds Faisal. “They also play on radio,” says Bilal to him and continues, “For those songs, I can say that we wouldn’t have minded doing them ourselves.”

“There’s a lot happening, but it’s largely underground,” says Faisal, “It’s just not transferring to the mainstream.”

A brief conversation regarding art versus gimmick versus the importance of going viral in this day and age of social media ensues. “I don’t think there’s any song in Pakistan that can match the popularity of Eye to Eye!” laughs Faisal. “It gives a serious musician something to think about!”

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 6th, 2018