With Strings attached

To promote peace talks between India and Pakistan, rock groups Euphoria and Strings held a performance together in Kolkata last year under the aegis of Aman Ki Asha.

To promote peace talks between India and Pakistan, rock groups Euphoria and Strings held a performance together in Kolkata last year under the aegis of Aman Ki Asha. Within a year, the bands have planned to follow it up by joining forces yet again to record a song by the same name.

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Written and composed by Palash Sen, Aman ki asha... is about promoting peace between India and Pakistan, and how a peace pact between both the nations shall benefit the entire South-East Asian region.

“The idea for the song germinated at the concert last year. They (Strings) heard it and loved it, and that’s when we decided to do it together,” says Sen, vocalist of Euphoria.

Both bands have played together at concerts several times in the past, and hold each other in high regard.

Their last studio collaboration happened in 2003 on a track called Jeet lo dil..., which was produced by Samsung Electronics for the India-Pakistan test match tour.

Strings is tentatively scheduled to fly down to India in February for a studio recording of the track.

The song will be included in Euphoria’s upcoming studio album, which is still untitled. It is due to release this March.

“Every Indian and Pakistani citizen wants peace. And Aman ki asha... is all about that. It is a message-oriented song which says both
countries need to progress together,” says Faisal Kapadia, vocalist of Strings.

In the past, Strings has collaborated with singers Hariharan and Sagarika D’Costa, and has given music to Bollywood film Zinda (2006), which was directed by Sanjay Gupta.

Kapadia believes that this kind of a cultural exchange is possible because of the history the nations share.

He adds that Pakistani musicians connect with Indian musicians instantly because of how influenced the former are by Eastern and Western classical music.

“There’s a median point where you meet the other musician; you don’t have to make an extra effort to reach a conclusion. They have a
different style of expressing emotions, and that’s the beauty of music,” Kapadia says.