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Jal (Urdu: جل) is a Pakistani pop band founded by Aatif Aslum and Goher Mumtaz.
The original band members were Atif Aslam and Goher Mumtaz but later Atif left the band and then replaced by Farhan Saeed, and Shazi on bass guitar. The band is among the first of contemporary Pakistani bands that fuse Urdu vocals with modern Pop.
Formation and first years (2002-2004)
Jal was formed in Lahore in 2002 when Atif and Gohar Mumtaz composed their first song by the name "Aadat". Soon after, began their search for like minded musicians to complete his band. They ran into Shazi (Aamir), a bass guitarist and after a few jamming sessions invited Shazi to join Jal. Jal's first single "Aadat" was released in December, 2003. Before the release of its video "Aadat" was released of the internet through a local Pakistani web portal. The song enjoyed the status of the most downloaded Pakistani song on the internet for quite some time and was extensively popular by the time the video was released.
Directed by Umer Anwar the single burst into the Pakistani music scene and took it by storm. Receiving an amazing amount of air time by all the music channels and entering music charts. The video was rated 4th best video of the year 2003 by ARYThe Muzik within days of its release. The success of the "Aadat" can partly be gauged by the countless concert offeres the band recieived immediately after the release of the song and partly by its rating to date on music channels.
However, by the end of December, 2003 due to musical differences, Atif Aslam parted ways with the band while Gohar Mumtaz once again searched for a vocalist. It was then that Sultan Raja, Bassist of Call, introduced Farhan Saeed Butt to Gohar and thus Jal found a new voice. By the time Jal came up with their new line-up "Aadat's" video was already doing rounds on the local music channels with the former singer Atif Aslam's vocals. The song was thus re-done for the official release in their debut album Aadat.
Band Members:
Farhan Saeed:
Farhan Saeed Butt (Urdu: فرحان سعید بٹ) is the 25 year old lead singer of the Pakistani band Jal. Born on September 14, 1984, he is known for his distinctive vocal stylings.
At the tender age of 6, Farhan started showing his love for music. He grew up absorbedly listening to his father and his brothers sing. By the age of 9, he was already singing alongside his brothers and his father. Up until he took his O levels at Crescent, Farhan only sang among his family and friends at which time his greatest supports were his two brothers, Salman and Haroon Saeed, both talented musicians.
In 1999 when Farhan started his A levels at KIMS, he also started singing in front of larger audiences. He then was acknowledged by his fellow students and teachers and went on to win numerous competitions. In 2001, Farhan went on to National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences in Peshawar but then migrated the campus in Lahore for his bachelors degree. There, during a singing competition, Zulfikar Jabbar Khan ,a.k.a Xulfi eP, was siting in the audience and he was impressed by Farhan's classical yet modern-contemporary style. In mid-2004, Sultan Raja, bassist of another Pakistani band Call, introduced Farhan to Goher Mumtaz who was in search of a lead singer.
Apart from Jal's debut hit single "Aadat" which was re-done in Farhan's vocals, he has to his credit seven other tracks for the Jal's debut album which include "Rangon Main," "Ik Din Aaye Ga," "Lamhay," "Teri Yaad," "Manchala," "Har Jaga Hai Jal," "Panchi," "Dil Haray Pukare" and "Bikhra Hoon Main". Farhan has managed to capture the attention of audiences all over the world and have proven his vocal talents on various occasions.
Gohar Mumtaz:
Goher Mumtaz took his education from Divisional Public School Faisalabad. His inspirations were primarily Junoon. He started taking guitar classes from Faisalabad when he was in 8th class from imran.After that he went to Lahore for his masters in business administration from Punjab college for Business Administration. He is the lead guitarist of the Pakistani rock band JAL. He debuted in the band, "The Jupiters" in Late 1999. He formed JAL and first appeared with Atif Aslam in December, 2002. The band's first single was "Aadat".
Atif and Goher met at college at PCBA in Lahore, and first performed in various hotels in Lahore and Islamabad. After their first single Aadat Atif and Gohhar made their own bands. Atif made a solo album in 2004. Xulfiqar Jabbar (Xulfi), a member of Call band introduced Shazi, a bassist, Jal. Goher added Farhan Saeed after seeing him in a concert at Islamabad. All 10 tracks were by Goher Mumtaz. They released their 2nd album, Boondh, On November 13/14.
Aadat (2004-2006)
Jal released their debut album, "Aadat", which did well at the charts. Their first single "Aadat" topped the charts and stayed at the top for two weeks.
In 2006, Jal had created waves as the latest Pakistani band on the block, even as their album Aadat continues to climb the charts locally, and their track "Woh Lamhe" was a hit, even a year after its release. “What makes us special is our music and the compositions. They are a unique blend of pop and rock, with a subtle sufi influence.
Speaking about the rising popularity of a host of Pakistan-based singers in India, including the likes of Strings and Adnan Sami, Shazi, who is the bass guitarist, says, “For us, both the countries are quite different in terms of performing. It’s only the border that is common, and that is why we are different...India has totally a different type of music"
Jal is fond of Junoon, and is influenced by singers like Hamid Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan.
Apart from the trip what’s keeping the band busy right now is also their next album, which Mumtaz promises, “Will be much more mature, as we’ve learnt a lot over the years.”
Boondh (2007-present)
In 2007 Jal released its second music album named "Boondh" and in 2008 released it in Mumbai, India.Goher Mumtaz, a guitarist, vocalist-composer and lyricist of the band, narrates how this band was formed.
"I always wanted to have a band of my own and a common friend introduced Farhan Saeed to me. Then we jammed together for five-ten minutes and thereafter we started our performances. We never looked back after 2003 album 'Aadat' was released. Thus, the band was formed, with the name 'JAL'."says Goher
The name suggests that the band is just a small droplet of water in the sea of music. "Boondh" which features Bollywood actress Amrita Rao in one of it's music videos has a total of 12 songs, including two unplugged versions and two remixes. Farhan Saeed, the lead vocalist of the band, explained in detail why the album was titled 'Boondh'.
"'Boondh' is not the name of any song in the album, but is basically the theme of the album and covers all the songs in it. The name suggests that we as a band are just like a small droplet of water in the sea of music, which covers Pakistan, Asia and the entire world where our music is heard. It is our small contribution to the sea of music," said Farhan.
This album focuses primarily on the pop and the soft rock genres. The album was followed by a live tour, mainly in South Asia, with concerts all over Pakistan, and a few places in India.
Awards and Honours
The original band members were Atif Aslam and Goher Mumtaz but later Atif left the band and then replaced by Farhan Saeed, and Shazi on bass guitar. The band is among the first of contemporary Pakistani bands that fuse Urdu vocals with modern Pop.
Formation and first years (2002-2004)
Jal was formed in Lahore in 2002 when Atif and Gohar Mumtaz composed their first song by the name "Aadat". Soon after, began their search for like minded musicians to complete his band. They ran into Shazi (Aamir), a bass guitarist and after a few jamming sessions invited Shazi to join Jal. Jal's first single "Aadat" was released in December, 2003. Before the release of its video "Aadat" was released of the internet through a local Pakistani web portal. The song enjoyed the status of the most downloaded Pakistani song on the internet for quite some time and was extensively popular by the time the video was released.
Directed by Umer Anwar the single burst into the Pakistani music scene and took it by storm. Receiving an amazing amount of air time by all the music channels and entering music charts. The video was rated 4th best video of the year 2003 by ARYThe Muzik within days of its release. The success of the "Aadat" can partly be gauged by the countless concert offeres the band recieived immediately after the release of the song and partly by its rating to date on music channels.
However, by the end of December, 2003 due to musical differences, Atif Aslam parted ways with the band while Gohar Mumtaz once again searched for a vocalist. It was then that Sultan Raja, Bassist of Call, introduced Farhan Saeed Butt to Gohar and thus Jal found a new voice. By the time Jal came up with their new line-up "Aadat's" video was already doing rounds on the local music channels with the former singer Atif Aslam's vocals. The song was thus re-done for the official release in their debut album Aadat.
Band Members:
Farhan Saeed:
Farhan Saeed Butt (Urdu: فرحان سعید بٹ) is the 25 year old lead singer of the Pakistani band Jal. Born on September 14, 1984, he is known for his distinctive vocal stylings.
At the tender age of 6, Farhan started showing his love for music. He grew up absorbedly listening to his father and his brothers sing. By the age of 9, he was already singing alongside his brothers and his father. Up until he took his O levels at Crescent, Farhan only sang among his family and friends at which time his greatest supports were his two brothers, Salman and Haroon Saeed, both talented musicians.
In 1999 when Farhan started his A levels at KIMS, he also started singing in front of larger audiences. He then was acknowledged by his fellow students and teachers and went on to win numerous competitions. In 2001, Farhan went on to National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences in Peshawar but then migrated the campus in Lahore for his bachelors degree. There, during a singing competition, Zulfikar Jabbar Khan ,a.k.a Xulfi eP, was siting in the audience and he was impressed by Farhan's classical yet modern-contemporary style. In mid-2004, Sultan Raja, bassist of another Pakistani band Call, introduced Farhan to Goher Mumtaz who was in search of a lead singer.
Apart from Jal's debut hit single "Aadat" which was re-done in Farhan's vocals, he has to his credit seven other tracks for the Jal's debut album which include "Rangon Main," "Ik Din Aaye Ga," "Lamhay," "Teri Yaad," "Manchala," "Har Jaga Hai Jal," "Panchi," "Dil Haray Pukare" and "Bikhra Hoon Main". Farhan has managed to capture the attention of audiences all over the world and have proven his vocal talents on various occasions.
Gohar Mumtaz:
Goher Mumtaz took his education from Divisional Public School Faisalabad. His inspirations were primarily Junoon. He started taking guitar classes from Faisalabad when he was in 8th class from imran.After that he went to Lahore for his masters in business administration from Punjab college for Business Administration. He is the lead guitarist of the Pakistani rock band JAL. He debuted in the band, "The Jupiters" in Late 1999. He formed JAL and first appeared with Atif Aslam in December, 2002. The band's first single was "Aadat".
Atif and Goher met at college at PCBA in Lahore, and first performed in various hotels in Lahore and Islamabad. After their first single Aadat Atif and Gohhar made their own bands. Atif made a solo album in 2004. Xulfiqar Jabbar (Xulfi), a member of Call band introduced Shazi, a bassist, Jal. Goher added Farhan Saeed after seeing him in a concert at Islamabad. All 10 tracks were by Goher Mumtaz. They released their 2nd album, Boondh, On November 13/14.
Aadat (2004-2006)
Jal released their debut album, "Aadat", which did well at the charts. Their first single "Aadat" topped the charts and stayed at the top for two weeks.
In 2006, Jal had created waves as the latest Pakistani band on the block, even as their album Aadat continues to climb the charts locally, and their track "Woh Lamhe" was a hit, even a year after its release. “What makes us special is our music and the compositions. They are a unique blend of pop and rock, with a subtle sufi influence.
Speaking about the rising popularity of a host of Pakistan-based singers in India, including the likes of Strings and Adnan Sami, Shazi, who is the bass guitarist, says, “For us, both the countries are quite different in terms of performing. It’s only the border that is common, and that is why we are different...India has totally a different type of music"
Jal is fond of Junoon, and is influenced by singers like Hamid Ali Khan and Mehdi Hassan.
Apart from the trip what’s keeping the band busy right now is also their next album, which Mumtaz promises, “Will be much more mature, as we’ve learnt a lot over the years.”
Boondh (2007-present)
In 2007 Jal released its second music album named "Boondh" and in 2008 released it in Mumbai, India.Goher Mumtaz, a guitarist, vocalist-composer and lyricist of the band, narrates how this band was formed.
"I always wanted to have a band of my own and a common friend introduced Farhan Saeed to me. Then we jammed together for five-ten minutes and thereafter we started our performances. We never looked back after 2003 album 'Aadat' was released. Thus, the band was formed, with the name 'JAL'."says Goher
The name suggests that the band is just a small droplet of water in the sea of music. "Boondh" which features Bollywood actress Amrita Rao in one of it's music videos has a total of 12 songs, including two unplugged versions and two remixes. Farhan Saeed, the lead vocalist of the band, explained in detail why the album was titled 'Boondh'.
"'Boondh' is not the name of any song in the album, but is basically the theme of the album and covers all the songs in it. The name suggests that we as a band are just like a small droplet of water in the sea of music, which covers Pakistan, Asia and the entire world where our music is heard. It is our small contribution to the sea of music," said Farhan.
This album focuses primarily on the pop and the soft rock genres. The album was followed by a live tour, mainly in South Asia, with concerts all over Pakistan, and a few places in India.
Awards and Honours
- Within days after release Aadat's video was declared the 4th best video. It remained on the top of the charts for over two weeks since its video release.
- Jal's single Woh Lamhey broke through to the charts instantly and stayed on the top for two continuous months.
- Jal's video Ik Din Aye Ga was declared the 2nd best video among the top 100 videos selected by The Musik channel.
- Jal's debut album Aadat was declared the best selling album of 2004 on Geo TV by Mr. Khalid Sadaf (Owner of Sadaf Stereo).
- Jal also received a special award by Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in recognition of their support and efforts to raise funds for fighting cancer in Pakistan.
- In 2006, Jal won an award at MTV Asia Awards 2006, following an award Indus Music Awards for best rock band in Pakistan.
- In 2008 Jal won a best song Musik Award for the song Chalte Chalte.
- In 2008 Jal won a best song award, The Best video and the best album of the year at the Lux Style Awards.
Jal Official Website-jaltheband.com
Jal Videos
Jal Albums:
- Aadat
- Boondh
