Mekaal Hasan Band

Mekaal Hasan Band (Urdu: میکال حسن بینڈ, sometimes shortened to MHB) is an international sufi rock band formed in Lahore, Pakistan in 2000 by composer, singer-songwriter and guitarist Meekal Hasan.[1]

Mekaal Hasan Band
Mekaal Hasan Band - Live in Canada at Celebration Square, Mississauga
Mekaal Hasan Band - Live in Canada at Celebration Square, Mississauga
Background information
OriginLahore, Punjab, Pakistan
GenresAlternative rock, Sufi rock, Jazz
Years active2000 – present
LabelsEMI, MHB Music, Sadaf Stereo, The Musik Records
MembersMekaal Hasan
Mohammad Ahsan Papu
Sharmistha Chatterjee
Sheldon D'Silva
Gino Banks
Agha Ibrahim Akram
Amir Azhar
Past membersAsad Abbas
Riaz Ali Khan
Sameer Ahmed
Javed Bashir
Kami Paul
Websitewww.mekaalhasanband.com

The band members have roots in different genres, including pop, rock music, soul music, and black rock, the combination of each member has created a sound which has earned them fans from a variety of quarters.[2][3]

History

Early years (1995–2004)

Songwriter Mekaal Hasan, born in Lahore, Pakistan, was surrounded by music since childhood. His mother was a Christian and father, Masood Hasan, a Muslim, passionate for jazz music who influenced him throughout his early years. After graduating from Government College, Lahore, Mekaal studied music at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, and his stay there exposed him to a wide variety of music and musicians, many of whom are influences on him to this day. His parents encouraged him to come back to Lahore, Pakistan by offering to build him a studio. So he returned to Lahore in 1995. After some initial hard struggle, Mekaal Hasan had a big musical breakthrough in Pakistan in 2004.[2]

In March 2001, Mekaal collaborated with Pete Lockett in a series of concerts countrywide featuring music written for Pete and classical artists by Mekaal.

Mekaal Hasan has worked with many other fellow-musicians like Ali Azmat, Atif Aslam, Jal Band, Noori, Zeb and Haniya, Meesha Shafi, Poor Rich Boy, Fareed Ayaz and Abu Mohammad Qawwal and many more musicians.[3]

Pepsi Battle of the Bands

The band entered the first season of the music television series Pepsi Battle of the Bands, in an effort to win the competition and earn a lucrative album deal from Pepsi. The band finished third, behind Aaroh and Entity Paradigm who finished first and second respectively.

Sampooran (2004–2008)

Mekaal Hasan Band released their debut album, Sampooran, in 2004 through EMI/Virgin Records.

Saptak (2009–2010)

Mekaal Hasan Band, released their second album in October 2009. They also released their video of a single "Chal Bulleya" on 2 October 2009.[4]

On 3 February 2010, the band's vocalist Javed Bashir decided to part ways after working along with the band for 8 years. On 26 December, in an online poll by Dawn, the band's video for their single, "Chal Bulleya", was voted as the best music video of 2010.[4]

Andholan (2014)

Mekaal Hasan Band's latest album featuring the all new lineup was released September 2014 in Pakistan and India across iTunes, Taazi, Amazon Music, and other platforms.[5] Mekaal Hasan Band released just one video from a live performance of the track "Ghunghat". Despite being a live performance, it won song of the year in The Express Tribune's Critics Choice and in the reader polls,[6] and was also declared 2014's song of the year by Dawn.[7] The album was removed from GIMA Awards for having "foreign roots", although the album featured Indian vocalist Sharmistha Chatterjee in all the songs.[8]

Discography
Studio albums

Band members
Current
Former

Timeline

See also

References
  1. Sultan, Asfa (21 November 2019). "Mekaal Hasan Band re-records 'Chal Bulleya' with 19-year-old vocalist". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  2. Qureshi, Bilal (6 October 2008). "Mekaal Hasan: Making Music On The Fault Line (Mekaal Hasan Interview)". NPR. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  3. Sabeeh, Maheen (15 October 2017). "Mekaal Hasan's quest for creating social change through music". The News International. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  4. "Opinion Poll: Who ruled 2010?". Dawn. 26 December 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  5. Sabeeh, Maheen (20 August 2017). "Discovering the opulent sounds of the Mekaal Hasan Band". The News International. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  6. "Top 10 songs of 2014". The Express Tribune. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  7. Salahuddin, Zahra (28 December 2014). "2014: Pakistan's year of music idols, festivals and indie bands". Dawn. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  8. Anwer, Zoya (11 February 2015). "Mekaal Hasan Band disqualified from Global Indian Music Awards". Dawn. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
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