Co-Ven- the Pakistani Rock Band- which consists of Ali Hamza , Sameer Ahmed & Sikander Mufti is getting hype in international media these days. Coven actually stands for Company of Vicious Earth Navigators. Coven is a Lahore based band who does music on political, social & environmental issues.
Last week , when the band was interviewed by Declan Walsh & it was published in world’s leading newspaper Guardian, people came to know about the Band & ultimately about the true Pakistan & her musicians.
The story became more crispy when hamza Jaffri – the lead vocalist of the band – said, “There’s a lot of foreign pressure on our government to attack people in the tribal areas,” & further added “We are taking dictation from you guys.”
These words were definitely noticed by western readers , & now the band is being discussed in UK & as well as in US publications.A new article is just written in NEW YORK TIMES BLOG where the writer Robert Mackey completely focused on Co-ven the band & reviewed not only band’s live videos but also the facebook group page.
The track “Ready to Die” which is creating buzz now, was uploaded by the band last year on youtube. It was not a video, just only an image on which lyrics of the song & Pakistan’s map is visible.The controversial chorus(for Americans only) were written in URDU language , but the NY Time’s blogger watched Ready to Die live video in which english sub titles are included. I guess these subtitles were the only reason , he decided to write on this topic.
Ready to die is supposed to be included in the third album of Co-Ven the band. The two albums which have been released earlier are :
1. Not in your world
2. The Raj – Volume 1 & 2Â (was uploaded on our forums with CD scans)
In Pakistan , the bands who sing in english are not popular usually and remain underground & unsigned for a long period. Reason being most of the Pakistani music listeners like to listen Indian songs & some who are attracted towards Pakistani music only give time to established pop stars.
I wrote my first post on Co-ven back in 2007 & since then i am a huge fan of the band’s music & videos. All The Videos released by the band are conceptual & worth watching.
Conclusion:
Co-ven is definitely a band that should be recognized at international level. Their music, compositions , lyrics & inspirations are all fascinating & creative. The band can easily entertain music listeners of the whole world & as we know music has no boundries we believe & hope that One day Co-ven will rule the hearts of whole world. they just need to be consistent and passionate about their work!
