| Aunty Disco Project Urdu: آنٹی ڈسکو پراجیکٹ | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Genres | Pop, rock, alternative rock, indie rock |
| Years active | 2006–2011 |
| Labels | Independent |
| Associated acts | Ganda Banda, 3-D Cats, Mizraab |
| Website | www.getyourauntyon.com |
| Members | |
| Omar Bilal Akhtar Yasir Qureshi Ali Alam Rahail Siddiqui Giles Goveas |
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| Past members | |
| Omar Khalid Imran Khan Lodhi Khawer Khan |
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Aunty Disco Project, sometimes shortened to ADP, are a boy band from Karachi, Pakistan. This band is purely inspired by boy bands from the 90's such as Nsync, Boyzone & Westlife. However, ADP thus transformed in an underground band in March 2006, founded by Omar Bilal Akhtar on guitar and vocals, Imran Lodhi on bass, Khawer Khan on guitars, Yasir Qureshi on darbuka and Omar Khalid on drums, the band quickly became popular in the underground scene with their high energy live act and their performance of original songs, something that was very unusual for an unknown band to do. Within a short period of time, they've achieved mainstream success and garnered critical acclaim for their electrifying live performances.
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Aunty Disco Project started off as a boy band but gradually transformed into an underground band in 2006. Founded by Omar Bilal Akhtar on guitar and vocals, Imran Lodhi on bass, Khawer Khan on guitars, Yasir Qureshi on darbuka and Omar Khalid on drums. In March 2006, ADP beat 22 other bands to win the IBA Battle Of The Bands. Riding on the success of their performance, the band performed several concerts at local colleges and cafe's. Their prolific performances and their unique brand of rock mixed with Middle Eastern percussion made ADP one of the top upcoming bands in Karachi. They continued performing as a quartet after the departure of guitarist Khawer Khan.
ADP started recording their debut album “The Aunty Disco Project” in September 2006 at New Shadab Studios. The 11 Track album was written and produced by the band themselves and included popular songs such as “Sultanat”, “Iss Tanhai Ko” and “Nazar”.
The band continued to grow as live performers and, in the summer of 2007, the band received wide acclaim and exposure performing alongside mainstream acts such as Sajid & Zeeshan, Mauj, Zeb and Haniya and Mizraab. Some of their breakthrough live performances included K-Fest Rock Concert, featuring Mauj and Mizraab, World Music Day featuring Sajid and Zeeshan and headlining the first Shanaakht Festival along with Zeb and Haniya.
ADP released their first music video “Sultanat” in August 2007. The video, directed by Omar Bilal Akhtar brought the band their first taste of mainstream success as “Sultanat” received a large amount of airtime, on both radio and television, and they released their second single and video “Iss Tanhai Ko” shortly after. In December 2007, the band finally released their self-financed and self produced album “Aunty Disco Project”, selling the album exclusively at their live shows and some select cafe's in Karachi. While not commercially successful, the band was lauded for its unique approach to music distribution and they received heavy promotion in the press and on the Internet.
Imran Lodhi departed from the band in February 2008 to study abroad. Former Ganda Banda and the 3-D Cats front man Ali Alam stepped in on bass to help the band continue playing live. ADP continued to be prolific live performers with two shows at Indus Valley School and another performance at World Music Day in the summer of 2008. After a 2-month hiatus, ADP made a comeback to the airwaves with the release of their third video, the ballad “Nazar”. The video, directed by Umer Adil was the bands' first high budget video and it got them widespread mainstream attention. The video was critically lauded and for the first time ADP was on the music channel charts. The song was included in The Musik's, Top 100 videos of 2008.
The success of 'Nazar' introduced ADP to wider audiences and they performed live for Play TV and MTV, as well as the EGO Launch concert featuring Zeb and Haniya in the winter of 2008. Based on the success of this video, ADP were nominated for Best Breakthrough Performance at the first MTV music awards.
ADP made their first trip outside Karachi in February 2009, performing two shows in Lahore including one night at the famed Peeru's Cafe to critical acclaim. In April 2009, the band signed with "Two Five Right Artist Management" and also welcomed the addition of Ali Alam as a full time member on guitar and vocals, and also Rahail Siddiqui (ex-Mizraab bassist) taking over on bass guitar. They started to record their second album, their first commercial effort, which was slated to be, released late 2009. The band continues to be widely regarded as one of the best live acts in the country.
On May 15, 2010, the lineup for Coke Studio confirmed that Aunty Disco Project will feature in the third season along with many well known artists and bands like Noori, Entity Paradigm, Karavan, Abida Parveen and many other successful musicians.[1] On July 4, 2010, ADP performed "Sultanat" at the Coke Studio third season third episode Conception.[2] On October 23, the band released their new single "Hum Na Rahay". On December 28, Aunty Disco Project released the music video of their single "Hum Na Rahay", which was dedicated to the flood victims of Pakistan.
On May 5, 2011, Aunty Disco Project through their official blog informed their fans that they would disband after their final concert that will take place on June 25, 2011.[3]