Karachi Files proves good things happen when cultures combine

KARACHI: Genres of music do not need categorisation as long as their listeners enjoy it.

This was exactly what happened on Wednesday evening when 11 electronic musicians from Germany, Pakistan and the Maldives performed at a concert called Karachi Files in the Arts Council’s open-air theatre.

The concert was aimed at bringing together the musicians so that a cultural fusion could be accomplished. And the objective was achieved to a great extent.

Prior to the gig, Goethe Institut director Stefan Winkler said Karachi Files was a combination of 11 young, amazing musicians from Pakistan, Germany and the Maldives. He said the project had a long story because it started even before he came to Pakistan. In May 2015, his predecessor, Dr Manuel Negwer, with brothers Andi and Hannes Teichmann invited some musicians to Karachi for a week-long sound camp.

Also read: The Karachi Files — How local indie music collective Forever South is slowly making global waves

He said what happened there was marvelous. The musicians connected so well with one another that they stayed in touch and developed something exciting. It was unfortunately not possible to perform at the time in Karachi, but a year later at Hebbel Theatre in Berlin they were able to perform for the first time in public. And now, he said, it was time to bring all those musicians back to the Sindh capital.

After that Mr Winkler introduced the band and dropped a hint that the music that they’re going to play would be ‘experimental’ and ‘avant garde’.

The concert kicked off with what sounded like a new version of the ¼ beat and chant-like riffs that immediately indicated to music buffs that they were in for something unique. Unique it was. You could sense that there were so many influences involved in the kind of narrative music that they played. The influences ranged from industrial rock to Depeche Mode.

But at the heart of it was the narration in the form of long, drawn-out moments. This could be gauged from the visuals that were being played on the screen behind the musicians.

The shift in the narration primarily came through the beat. The beat went from slow to sluggish and at times almost nonexistent. The fun began, for a certain section of the crowd, when it (beat) got funkier.

The musicians who took part in the gig were Alien Panda Jury, Arttu (aka Lump), Rudoh, Dynoman, Menimal, Natasha Ejaz, Roxymore, Ramsha Shakeel, Tollcrane, Taprikk Sweezee and the Teichmann brothers.

The concert was part of the German Cultural Weeks.

Originally published in Dawn November 24th, 2016