At ADP’s swansong

With hits such as “Nazar”, “Hum Na Rahey” and “Sultanat” under their belt, Aunty Disco Project (ADP) was one of the most talented under-the-radar bands in Pakistan. Since it was founded in 2006, ADP has charmed Karachiittes with their live performances and their unique 80s-and-90s-inspired songs.
While their self-titled album Aunty Disco Project which was released in December of 2007 was a modest success, ADP has grown in popularity since then. Made of Omar Bilal Akhtar on guitar and vocals, Yasir Qureshi on darbuka, Ali Alam on guitar and vocals, Rahail Siddiqui on bass and Giles Goveas on drums, ADP finally decided to bow out this year. Dawn.com caught up with the band at their last concert to find out their future plans are, whether they prefer democracy or dictatorship and their one regret…
Q. Over the past five years that you have been a band, one thing you regretted and wished you had done differently.
Omar: We took too long to release music. I wish we had released a lot more songs than we did.  It was a matter of pulling ourselves together and recording but that’s no excuse.
Yasir: I think we should have played more shows in Islamabad and Lahore rather than Karachi only — we only went twice to Lahore in 2008. We would have loved to play nationwide and do more shows in Islamabad, Multan and Lahore but we didn’t get the chance.
Ali: That we didn’t play outside of Karachi. Pakistan is such a small audience as it and we have fans in other cities and they write to us. It’s just that it’s very hard to do shows — it’s usually not financially feasible.
Giles: I don’t have any regrets.
Rahail: I wasn’t in the band when they released their album so not releasing an album with ADP.
Q. The one unforgettable concert you played at.
Omar: Shanakht in 2009. It was only four songs but it was probably one of the best shows we have done. The audience was great and it was the show that got us onto Coke Studio. A lot of people saw us for the first time and our run of success can really be pinpointed to that.
Q. One thing that you have taken away from being with ADP in the past 5 years.
Ali: The fact that we got to play together; these guys are great musicians and I’ve learnt from all of them. We would never say this to each other but being in this band has taught me tremendously. I’ll miss coming up with songs, making music and playing together. It’s good to play with musicians and these are great musicians.
Yasir: A lot of memories. When Omar and I started this band we didn’t know that we would even get to this point. Personally I’ll miss this a lot – the fights and the jams. Obviously nothing stops and we’ll try to do more.
Rahail: Hatred for human beings
Q. If there is one piece of advice that you would give to other bands out there, what would it be?
Yasir: Don’t go for TV channels, they don’t do anything for you.
Ali: A great piece of advice would be don’t believe the hype. Kids start bands and start believing they are the biggest thing in the world and they are not.
Q. One quirky thing or aspect you have noticed about each other
Omar: Giles is insane and has his own language; you have to learn his lingo and speak to him in it. I’m going to start a new twitter post called ‘S*** Giles says’. Like he once said – would you need any wood for the house and cheese?
Giles: There is nothing wrong with asking if someone wants cheese and wood.
Omar: Yasir will come up with insane ideas. Like why don’t we enter stage on a spaceship or come in on two horses and he will be completely serious. Ali comes up with the worse jokes possible. He is the oldest one and he comes up with these daddy type jokes and you have to laugh at them because he’s old.
Ali: Omar is a kind of a diva. He likes to be pampered and when he’s not, he gets upset at you. Giles is crazy. There’s nothing quirky about him, he’s just insane.
Yasir: Ali’s the realist. Ali rejects all the cool ideas. Anything you would say, Ali would be like no.
Q. One musician you admire right now?
Yasir: I’m very much into world music. I really like a band called Tinariwen – they are from Mali; Ali Fakature who is a legendary African musician and a huge inspiration; the musician Ry Cooder and Gogol Bordello – they are gypsy punk band.
Omar: Arcade Fire
Ali: Paul McCartney
Giles: Deep purple, Led Zeppelin and Bon Jovi
Rahail: Vaugner
Q. What are you reading right now?
Omar: Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper
Yasir: A lot of blogs these days, mostly on how to develop iPhone apps. I also follow a lot of tumblr blogs on photography.
Ali: I’m reading a couple of books: U2 by U2 and Home by Bill Bryson.
Rahail: Facebook, that’s about it.
Giles: Nothing
Q. Democracy or dictatorship?
Omar: Dictatorship – that’s how I run the band.
Yasir: I’d rather go for dictatorship.
Ali: Democracy, any day but real democracy, not this mess that we are in right now.
Giles: I’d say democracy
Rahail: Dictatorship
Q. What is your pet peeve?
Omar: Manners. I really want the ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, the gratitude and the formality. The whole modern thing where no one says thank you, that really gets to me. Especially SMS lingos such as Lols, RFOL and LMFAO really bother me. It’s awful. I would appreciate a ‘haha’ much better than a ‘lol’. I will judge women especially if they use it and men tou khair have no future but women should know better.
Yasir: When people take pictures of me.
Ali: Swearing.
Giles: Nail biting.
Rahail: Interviews and people in general.
Q. What are your future plans?
Omar: I am heading to Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and plan to become a journalist.
Yasir: Finish recording my world music album which should be out soon. I’m working on it in collaboration with some artists abroad. It’s influenced by African and Middle Eastern rhythms and has ethnic inspired songs. A couple of artists from Mali, Saudi, Lebanon and Africa are involved.
Ali: Hopefully, keep making music somehow.
Rahail: Breed cats.
Giles: Opening up a studio. We already have a musical academy and we teach music out there – from drums to saxophone to keyboard to singing.
Q. One musical instrument you wished you had learnt how to play?
Omar: The cello
Ali: The violin. I own one but don’t know how to play it but hopefully, some day.
Rahail: Piano
Giles: Saxophone
Yasir: The violin.
The writer is an editorial assistant at the political monthly magazine, Herald.