Band: Moen Jo Daro
Song: Babiya (Cover) (Live)
Moen Jo Daro would like to thank Yasir Khalid and Saqib Khan from CityFm89
Tahir Nazir from En Events for providing an absolutely amazing package of sound, stage and lights
And of course, the audience present at the gig.
Moen Jo Daro – Exclusive Interview
Q: First of all, tell us how ‘Moen Jo Daro’ Band formed & why this name?
A: Moen jo daro is the brainchild of Usman who had always dreamt of a powerhouse rock n roll band. Self taught and eager
to experiment with music, he started to jam with Mujeeb Mustafa in Faisalabad after which, they both shifted to Lahore
for higher studies and performed their first gig as a band which was a complete disaster however, they continued to
work together for the love of music.
By the time, other band members joined in, a lot of the homework had already been done. Demo tracks had already been made
and a lot of the lyrical work had already been done as well.
Moen Jo Daro is an unusual name for a band, but it is so with a meaning behind it.
Moen Jo Daro, means mound of the dead.
The lyrical content of the band points out, questions and stands against the dead morals of the society and how they have
destroyed the chore of it all, as a collective effort of individuals.
The band simply represents the morally dead society of ours as “Moen Jo Daro”, “Mound of the dead”
Q: Tell us about your debut song ‘Garmi On’ and what is the story behind this song?
A: Usman composed, arranged and wrote the song garmi on! last year, in july. The composition and arrangements were done
a long time before the lyrics came. It took a very hot night and a continuous load shedding for 6-7 hours to come up
with the idea. It was actually written as a forward sms 😛
It is a pretty self explanatory song as almost everyone except a very few people in this country have experienced the
same thing over the past few years because of the electricity shortage.
Although, the rest of the songs by the band treat “isms” and “ists” under a more serious tone, Garmi On! however, is a
very fresh sounding track with lyrics penned down keeping the street slang under consideration as the title of the song
suggests.
Q: Tell us about Moen Jo Daro`s first ever performance on stage?
A: We dont exactly exactly remember the date, but it was somewhere around the last quarter of 2006.
Usman is the only original member of the band, however, Harris Wahid was present in the audience and according to him,
we sucked @$$
We did an original called “nadiya k paar” and “manzil”, and a list of covers which was decided on spot resulting in an
absolute chaos on the stage and a horrible abomination of music, in general, came out as soundwaves from the speakers.
The hall was empty by the time we got done there.
Q: Tell us about Moen Jo Daro`s next project and when we can expect your music video & album in market?
A: We are currently promoting “Garmi On!” to the maximum, wherever we can and however we can. A special thanks to PMR for
supporting us in that. We dont see a possible Moen Jo Daro release until september at least. But, we are working on
some new projects with other artists (undisclosed) for exciting fusions of different genres.
Cant really say anything about a release date, but can definitely tell that they will be unique in their own right.
The band is collectively excited about these projects.
Q: How do you guys react on the monoply of some record labels as a upcoming band?
A: Talking about the monopoly of some record labels would be rather ignorant. If you zoom out a bit, the whole economy
is going through a rough patch. Music is a form of art and it reacts positively with the economy it is operating
in. Record labels have power over artists, most definitely but they have lost their customers. People think not twice,
but thrice before buying a new cd or any form of entertainment for that matter. People, in general, have become so
entangled in their own webs that it is almost impossible to entertain oneself.
The market for music listeners is down to square one again, and awareness has to be spread about quality music through
new mediums and of course, by capitalizing on the older ones, the trusted mediums.
The band has been pretty active on all mediums, including the internet, television, radio and the print media.
