Sonya Rehman's Archive

By Sonya Rehman
2004 saw the release of Atif Aslam’s immensely popular, ‘Jal Pari’ and after a two year hiatus, the singer churned out a rather boy-ish and frivolously experimental album called ‘Doorie’.

Criticized on local turf for being a ‘sell-out’ – primarily due to the singer’s lucrative deals across the border, in addition to a few [...]

By Sonya Rehman
In the early 2000s, two thoroughly charismatic young men released a song called ‘Aadat’ which put the Pakistani music scene in quite a little tizzy.
Sung by frontman Atif Aslam, along with a close friend – and guitarist – Gohar Mumtaz, ‘Jal’ (the name of the band) experienced national recognition which truly sky-rocketed once [...]

By Sonya Rehman
Not one, not a few, but each of us – every single individual – at some point or the other, has a certain ‘light-bulb-aha!-moment’.
A moment, an instance, a feeling and a surge of insight, creativity, and intuition (all rolled up into one); where a situation’s solution becomes perceptible…where the light at the end [...]

By Sonya Rehman
The early 90s marked the beginning of a very close-knit, underground music scene in Lahore. And back then, things were far simpler – Lahore was less populated, cleaner, greener, and definitely had fewer billboards, compared to the mammoth-sized eyesores that dot the canvas of the city today. 
But it was only when I turned [...]

By Sonya Rehman
Artists from Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, France, Pakistan and a few others came together for a fantastic, open-air, ‘World Music Night’ concert at Qaddafi Stadium on the 26th of November, here in Lahore.
The concert was part of the Rafi Peer’s World Performing Arts Festival, which has been running since the 22nd of [...]

Sonya Rehman
On the 25th of November, Savvy PR & Events put up a brilliant, unplugged, Mekaal Hasan Band gig at a cozy little coffee house (Hot Fuzon) in Lahore.
With a tight guest list – which comprised mainly of a sprinkle of models (Maliha Naipaul, Mikaal, Sabina Pasha and Noore), musicians (Ali Azmat, Ali Sher, Zeb [...]

By Sonya Rehman
Meeting Shahzad Hameed recently (precisely two days ago), after over a year, I noticed that he seemed slightly different.
For one, he was happier and not as bitter about local record companies and their piddling ‘deals’ – and secondly, because of this, he appeared far more self-assured.
Recently after a long, four-year hiatus of making [...]

By Sonya Rehman
At the Karachi airport – in the departure lounge – waiting for his flight to Lahore, Ali Azmat sounded positively drained.
But that didn’t come as a surprise; after all, he’s been flying back and forth – between India and Pakistan (throughout October) shooting videos for his current album ‘Klashinfolk’ (to be released in [...]

By Sonya Rehman
Band: Foo Fighters
Album: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace****

Out with their sixth album in September last month, ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace’ will surprise avid Foo Fighter fans. Why? That’s because this time around, the band sounds a whole lot more sober, ‘toned down’ and matured – ever so slightly dipping its toes in [...]

By Sonya Rehman
“Bajaur, NWFP, Pakistan. In 1979 following the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, millions of Afghans were forced to seek refuge in Pakistan. Nearly 3 decades later, the Afghan Repatriation Deadline of 2005, enforced their evacuation from Pakistan. The footage of Bajaur, NWFP, is a real account of the conditions of this mass evacuation, seen [...]