Return of the Mack

MusicMix

Sounds of Kolachi return to Pakistan after completing their state sponsored U.S tour, courtesy of Center Stage.

We’ve missed Sounds of Kolachi, even though they were only gone for a couple of weeks. Before leaving, the band, spearheaded by Ahsan Bari, showcased the set they would be playing during their U.S tour that was backed by Center Stage, and we were blown away by how far the band has come. Naturally, everyone felt confident after seeing what SOK had prepared for their tour and it turns out, people in America loved their music just as much as we did. 

Instep spoke to Ahsan Bari, front man of SOK, regarding the band’s experience of playing music in America.

“Our experience was really great. It wasn’t hard to play music for the Indian and Pakistani crowd because they already listen to and appreciate such music,” he shared. “But it was really fun playing our music for other Westerners. We got so much love and appreciation from them. Some of them even called us the Led Zeppelin of Pakistan. There were people who heard us in Savannah and followed us till New York to hear us play.”

Bari went on to explain how humbled the band felt after receiving standing ovation(s) from people. “The people in America have incredible exposure as they’ve heard all sort of music from all around the world so to get such compliments from them really means a lot. A big thank you to Center Stage for making this tour possible. They gave us such a huge opportunity and we are so grateful!”

Bari was also very proud of how Waqas Hussain and Gul Mohammad, his sitar and sarangi virtuosos have changed the perception of the way these very traditional instruments are being played in Pakistan. 

The band has returned to Pakistan with renewed vigour and Bari is already planning his second album. “We have already begun working on our second album. Hopefully we will record it in July and will release either end of this year or beginning of the next.” Bari is confident that their new album will be out soon because they have already collected a lot of material during their tour and otherwise. 

There is still a lot to know about SOK’s tour but for now, Bari has a few objectives on his priority list that he immediately shared with us. “Our aim is to now impart the knowledge we’ve gained during this tour to other fellow musicians in Pakistan. 

For instance, we learnt during this tour that there is a lot that needs to be done for the Pakistani music industry. We also realized some of the shortcomings of our musicians and identified the areas that need to be worked on. It’s not the music department that’s suffering in Pakistan right now; there’s a lot of incredible music being made. It’s the personalities of musicians that need to groomed and we’ll work on that now.”

In the meantime, you can head on over to Patari and explore SOK’s brilliant debut album, Elhaam.