Coke Studio 2020 rings in the New Year with the fourth episode of the season featuring Sufi stalwart Sanam Marvi, classical singer and emerging artist Aizaz Sohail (who is making his debut this season) and king of Punjabi rap BOHEMIA.
The second song titled ”Megh” an experimental North Indian classical track is by emerging artist Aizaz Sohail who is making his debut this season of Coke Studio.
Megh by Aizaz Sohail In Coke Studio 2020
The second song of the episode is Aizaz Sohail’s debut solo on the platform. Megh, which is a song associated with the monsoon rains, has a psychedelic, bluesy feel accompanied with a lot of ambient sounds. “The words used in this bandish are from old Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu. The bandish is, ‘garje ghaṭa ghan, kaare re kaare, paawas ritu aaye, dulhan man bhaaye’ meaning that there are many clouds coming together above us and with them they bring rainfall. The poet describes the serenity of rainfall and nature by comparing it to the beauty and excitement of a new bride arriving,” explained Sohail.
The aim of this season has been to spread the message of hope in the wake of Covid19. In order to help people cope and recuperate from the impact of the devastation this pandemic has wrought, special songs playing around the hem of spirituality, inclusion, self-belief, empowerment, yearning and longing were crafted. Coke Studio 2020 had the keen understanding that the music required at this time was not just to give brief respite but it also needed to be reflective, introspective and a representation of one’s inner self.
The house-band on Coke Studio 2020 includes producer Rohail Hyatt himself on the keyboards and acoustic guitars, Asad Ahmed on the electric guitar, Kamran ‘Mannu’ Zafar on bass, Babar Khanna on eastern percussions, Shehroze Hussain on the sitar, Nawazish Nasri on rabab, and Abier ‘Veeru’ Shaan on percussions. The backing-vocals this season have featured Nimra Rafiq, Wajiha Naqvi, Kumail Jaffery, Shahab Hussain, and Zara Madani. Given the new format and advantages of technology, this season also collaborated with international musicians from across the world including Turkey, Nepal, Lebanon and Serbia. In fact, Turkish artist, Volkan Öktem, has also joined the house-band this season featuring on the drums.
Coke Studio 2020 was administered under a careful management and maintenance of COVID-19 SOPs which resulted in both singers and musicians being recorded separately. Despite these challenges, Coke Studio was committed to releasing a season as an opportunity to keep hope alive amidst difficult times. Given the extraordinary circumstances under which this year’s season has been produced, it will be deliberately referred to as Coke Studio 2020 and not Coke Studio Season 13. The core values of the Coke Studio platform have always been to explore, experiment and share the unique music of Pakistan and the sub-continent with the rest of the world. Hence, with this evolving discovery of the Pakistani identity also continues the journey of Coke Studio and its music.
Fahad is an entrepreneur and a marketing enthusiast who loves to write on trending topics. He loves travelling & playing tennis is what he does in his leisure time. He tweets @fahad164.
Email:- fahad164@gmail.com , fahad@themediaparadigm.com
