Jal (, , stylized as JAL, Jal The Band) is a pop rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.Artist: Jal Retrieved on 3 August 2009. The band originally consisted of singer-songwriter and lead guitarist Goher Mumtaz and vocalist Atif Aslam, later joined by bass guitarist Omer NadeemProfile: Jal Retrieved on 3 August 2009. and Salman Albert on drums in 2003. Founded in 2002, the band first became popular playing in Lahore's underground music scene with the release of their song "Aadat".
The band initially achieved commercial success with the release of their music video "Aadat", directed by Umer Anwar, in 2003. After the success of the single, lead vocalist Atif Aslam parted ways with the band, due to differences with lead guitarist Goher Mumtaz, to pursue a career as a solo artist. This led to Mumtaz recruiting musicians Farhan Saeed on vocals and Aamir Tufail aka Shazi on bass guitar.
The band's new line-up followed with the release of their début studio album, Aadat, in 2004. The album was declared as the best selling album of 2004 on Geo TV by the record label Sadaf Stereo. Soon afterwards, the band recorded and released their second studio album, Boondh, in 2007, which topped several music charts in South Asia. The band went on to win the MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist India in 2006.
In 2011, Farhan Saeed also left the band to pursue a solo career, with Goher Mumtaz taking over as the lead vocalist of the band. Jal came out with their third studio album Pyaas, which was released to the fans delight on 11 March 2013 in both Pakistan (by Hum Network, M Records) and India (Universal Music). The album Pyaas featured remixes by DJ AKS. But even after that, On 23 December 2013, Aamir Tufail aka Shazi officially left the band.
Jal performed songs from their album Pyaas, apart from their old hits, in London's O2 Arena in June 2013.
History Early years (1998–2001) Goher Mumtaz and Atif Aslam met each other while the latter was studying at the Punjab College in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, in 1998.Jal the band Retrieved on 23 June 2011
Formation (2001–2003)
Soon afterwards, the band started to gain popularity in Lahore's underground music scene and gained a large following due to the success of their song "Aadat". The band then went on to release the music video for the song, directed by Umer Anwar, through Indus Music, ARY Digital, and The Musik, in December 2003. The video was soon rated as the fourth-best video of the year 2003 by ARY The Muzik, within days of its release.
However, by the end of December 2003, Atif parted ways with the band due to musical differences with lead guitarist, Goher Mumtaz, to pursue a career as a solo artist. This led Goher to recruit musicians, Farhan Saeed on vocals and Aamir Tufail on bass guitar. Farhan was suggested by Sultan Raja, bassist of Call, who introduced him to Goher and thus joining the band as its vocalist. By this time the band, with a new line-up, re-did the song "Aadat" as its video was already being aired on local music channels with the former lead vocalist, Atif Aslam's, voice.
Revival (2004–2006)
Following the release of the band's first single, Jal soon entered the recording studios to work on their début studio album release. The band had recruited bassist Aamir Tufail along with vocalist Farhan Saeed, and started to work on their first album. The album was composed by Goher and was produced by Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan and Mekaal Hasan, who previously produced the band's début single "Aadat", which was a major hit in both India and Pakistan. Jal then went on recording and releasing their début studio album, Aadat, through the record label Sadaf Stereo, on 27 September 2004. Mostly all singles from the album did really well at the local music charts, most notably "Aadat" which topped the charts and stayed at the top for two weeks. Whereas, five other songs from the album received Top 40 airplay on radio and music channels in Pakistan. Sales of the album were such that it remained at the top of the Pakistani music charts for several weeks after its release. The album was declared as the best selling album of 2004 on Geo TV by the record label Sadaf Stereo. This was followed by the album being released in India by HOM Records. In October, Jal released their second single "Lamhay" music video, from their album, directed by Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan.Woh Lamhey: Video Review Retrieved on 23 June 2011 On 11 November, Jal went on performing at Lahore Grammar School 55-Main branch along with Call. In December, Jal received a special award by Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in recognition of their support and efforts to raise funds for fighting cancer in Pakistan.
Atif Aslam, released his debut solo album Jal Pari, after he left the band, which included few songs from Jal's first studio album. This led to a dispute between Atif and Jal about who owned the rights to the songs as Goher took the dispute to court.Jal Pari – Review Retrieved on 23 June 2011 However, the final statement from the court went in favour of both the artists as the songs which were included in both the artist albums were compositions of both Atif and Goher. Thus, the dispute ended between the two musicians.
On 2 February 2005, Jal performed a charity concert for the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami victims at Alhamra Auditorium in Lahore. In the same year, the title track "Aadat", from their debut album, was remade for the Bollywood movie Kalyug, directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt.Mukesh Bhatt: 'I don't need Pakistan to give me hits' Retrieved on 23 June 2011 Also, Jal band members established themselves as a popular and commercially successful band in Pakistan, as their début album continued to top the music charts locally, and the release of their single "Lamhay" turned out to be another successful single by the band in 2004, and even a year after its release. The song created controversy as a remix version of the song later appeared in the Bollywood movie Zeher, released in March 2005. Jal accused the film producers of stealing their song, "Lamhay". In response to this accusation, the music director for the movie, Anu Malik, credited himself for only "re-creating" the song on the album, but there was still a heavily noticeable resemblance."Zeher" Music Copied from "Pakistani" Albums Retrieved on 23 June 2011 Roop Kumar Rathod is credited as the "composer" for the song, while the original composer of the song is vocalist, lead guitarist, Goher Mumtaz, of the band. However, Atif Aslam, who sang the song for the movie, faced legal problems over the band name "Jal" with the existing members. On 30 April, due to the success of their debut studio album, Jal won four awards and received two nominations at the Indus Music Awards. The band won the "Best Lyrics", "Best Composition" and "Best Song" awards, for their song "Aadat", along with the "Best Band" award at the music awards. Also, the band were nominated for the "Best Music Album", for their debut album and also the "Best Composition", for the song "Lamhay", award.The 2nd Indus Music Awards Retrieved on 1 April 2011 On 24 September, Jal received a nomination for the "Best Song" and "Best Lyrics" award for their song "Lamhay" and also received an award for the "Best Pop Group", for their debut album Aadat, at the Sahara Sangeet Awards, held at Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, United States.Sahara One Sangeet Awards in US on 24 September Retrieved on 23 June 2011Jal won Best Pop Group award at Sahara One Sangeet Awards Retrieved on 23 June 2011.
Jal has been invited by the colleges of Pakistan and India as well to perform in the fests. In November 2009 they were received at IIT Roorkee with a crowd of students from across India. Similar concerts across various top colleges keep taking place. For a list of Jal's upcoming concerts one can refer to their.Jal The Band – Official Website website
In 2006, Jal's music video for the song "Ik Din Aayega" was declared as the second best video among the top 100 videos selected by ARY Musik channel. On 31 March 2006, Jal once again went on performing at Alhamra Auditorium in Lahore. The following day, the band went on performing at Nawabshah District, for the first time. Soon afterwards, the band then went on performing across border in neighbouring country, India, at Modern School, New Delhi on 7 April. On 6 May, Jal won the MTV Asia Award for Favorite Artist India at MTV Asia Awards 2006 held at the Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Thailand.MTV Asia Awards 2006 – Awards Room Retrieved on 23 June 2011India is 'second home' for Pakistani band Jal Retrieved on 23 June 2011MTV Asia Awards 2006 Results Retrieved on 23 June 2011 The band also performed their song "Aadat" live at the music awards.Jal – Aadat live at MTV Awards 2006 Retrieved on 23 June 2011
After a month, on 10 June, Jal went on performing live at Defence Club and Arts Council Karachi, in Karachi. Followed by performing live in the capital city of the state Andhra Pradesh, in Hyderabad, India. On 15 December, Jal performed live in front of a crowd of 15, 000 audiences at Tundikhel for the first time in Kathmandu, Nepal. The band opened their act by performing "Teri Yaad", followed by the massive hit "Lamhay" and also performing many cover songs like "Lal Meri Pat".Time for Music and Masti in Nepal: Shake Your Bum! Retrieved on 23 June 2011. On 23 December, Jal released a video album Woh Lamhay, which included music videos released by the band and remixes of the songs "Aadat" and "Lamhay" by Dr. Zeus, through the record label HOM Records.Jal – Woh Lamhay Retrieved on 23 June 2011
Success (2007–2009) In 2007, Jal struck a deal with Gibson Guitar Corporation, becoming the first South Asian band in history (along with the Pakistani pop rock band Strings) to create a working relationship with the famed guitar manufacturers. It was reported that according to the deal, Jal will exclusively use Gibson guitars during concerts, studio recordings and music videos. Furthermore, Jal will act as brand ambassadors to Gibson. In return, Gibson will sponsor the varied endeavours of the band and also provide concert halls and equipment as and when required. Following this, Jal also became the brand ambassadors for the Abu Dhabi based mobile telecommunication company, Warid Telecom.Warid Telecom sponsors musical band 'Jal' Retrieved on 23 June 2011. In the same year, Jal entered the recording studios to work on their second studio album release. The mixing and engineering of the album was done by Mekaal Hasan and Goher Mumtaz. The album was recorded at Digital Fidelity Studios in Lahore, where the band also recorded their debut album Aadat in 2004. All songs on the album were composed and written by Goher Mumtaz with the exception of one track, which is written by Farhan Saeed and the album was produced by Mekaal Hasan. On 14 December, Jal went on releasing their second studio album Boondh, through the record label Fire Records, sponsored by Warid Telecom. Farhan Saeed, the lead vocalist of the band, explained "the title of the album 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 was followed by a live tour, mainly in South Asia, with concerts all over Pakistan, and a few places in India. The following day, Jal released their first music video of the single "Sajni" from their second album, featuring Juggan Kazim, directed by Bilal Lashari. The single was a major hit all over Pakistan, topping all of the charts in the country, just after a month of its release.Pakipop.com, Boondh – Review Retrieved on 3 August 2009