Strings are one of the defining bands of Pakistan’s music industry. And while there is no doubting Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia’s talent, a huge proponent of their success are the lyrics that have mostly been penned by Anwar Maqsood.
In an Instagram post, Bilal fondly talks about his working relationship with his father, who happens to be one of the most talented and renowned writers in Pakistan – the legendary Anwar Maqsood. Bilal took to Instagram to reveal a glimpse of what he’s working on – a new Strings song – isn’t that exactly what we need to keep going during lockdown?
However, this isn’t a collaboration. It is safe to say that Anwar Maqsood is very much a part of Strings. “The thing is I won’t call it a collaboration since he’s a part of strings now. We have grown with my father’s poetry. Starting from Durr; that was the first song he wrote for Strings. Before that, we wrote the two albums ourselves,” he said. Adding on, Bilal reflected on how most of the band’s catalogue since then is penned by his father. “Durr, Dhani, Koi Anay Wala Hai and then Strings 30, along with many one-off tracks were written by my father. I also wrote. But mostly, my father has written the songs.”
When discussing the entire writing process that was involved in the new song that is yet to be released, Bilal speaks about having a clear theme in mind when he came up with the melody. “So this happened three, four days ago. I was making a melody and came up with this tune. First I tried to think for the words myself. I had an idea that this song is about separation. This song is about two people going in different ways. A relationship has ended. This I knew. But I wasn’t able to come up with the right words,” he said.
“I called up my father and he came over. He’s my next-door neighbour so it’s very easy for us. He comes over right there and then and it becomes a matter of, ‘Ok, tell me what you have in mind’. And then it all happens. I keep telling him what I have in mind. And he keeps giving me options. And then a line comes where we both get excited and instantly we know that this is the line we were looking for.”
While a release date has not yet been announced, we simply can’t wait to see what the Strings band will bring this time.