With a career spanning three decades, Faisal Kapadia’s clearest memory as a musician in Pakistan’s pop industry is of a time when it almost vanished.
Speaking to The National, the singer-songwriter and former member of Strings recalls how the arrival of Coke Studio in 2008 came just in time to rescue an industry on its knees amid the country’s political and security turmoil. The television programme, which became a national phenomenon, featured local artists performing eclectic new versions of their songs.
“If Coke Studio wasn’t there, Pakistani pop music would have probably just died,” Kapadia recalls. “For maybe up to eight years it was the only engine keeping Pakistani music alive.
“I don’t think people realise how bad things were, because only a few years earlier the whole scene was booming. There were music channels playing videos, record companies releasing albums and then, suddenly, it all stopped.
“It was like someone turned off the lights. There were bomb blasts everywhere in Pakistan, so no one from promoters to sponsors wanted to take the risk of doing any event. With India essentially stopping all communication with Pakistan, TV channels and radio also stopped airing our songs. That’s when Coke Studio came in.”
The programme, which has now completed 15 seasons and evolved into a live concert series that included a sold-out show in Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena last year, became a lifeline for the country’s musicians and helped create a new generation of stars, including Atif Aslam, Ali Sethi and Kaifi Khalil.
For Kapadia, who along with Strings co-member Bilal Maqsood produced Coke Studio from 2014 to 2017, the show was more than a national institution. It also became the platform for his own return to the spotlight as a solo singer five years later, following the amicable end of Strings in 2021.
Released in 2022 as the finale of Coke Studio Season 14, Phir Milenge marked Kapadia’s first performance since the band’s conclusion and symbolised the show’s creative reinvention under new producer Xulfi.
A collaboration with Karachi rap duo Young Stunners, the song closed the season and became both a hit and a symbolic passing of the torch between generations. It also affirmed Kapadia’s decision to step out on his own and paved the way for his debut solo album, Zindagi Jahaan Le Jaaye.
Fresh from performing songs from that album – which maintains the melodic balladry of Strings while weaving in contemporary electronic textures – in Dubai at The Agenda, Kapadia describes the project as a creatively liberating experience.
“It was just me,” he says. “Strings was always a band and, while that was amazing, it was still about teamwork, compromise and agreeing on a collective sound. The album was my first time just being myself and not thinking about anyone else’s opinion. That suits me because I’m a carefree person. I don’t plan ahead or think about what’s next. I just go with the flow. The album feels like that.”
Kapadia says the potent lyricism of latest single Sadiyaan – the title means “decades” in Urdu – were inspired by time spent working alongside younger Pakistani musicians.
“It made me realise how strong they are creatively and mentally,” he says. “They’re so smart and confident and basically do everything themselves. When we started Strings in the 1990s, we were weak lyrically, so we had to find poets and writers.
“These artists today write their own stuff and they’re miles ahead of us in production and sound design. It’s hard not to get inspired just seeing them work.”
Despite his relaxed attitude, Kapadia admits the album reminded him that comfort can be dangerous for an artist. “If you took a degree 20 years ago, it doesn’t mean you’re done learning. You have to keep practising and refreshing your skills,” he says.
“The same goes for music. Just because you made a few hits doesn’t mean you can sit back. You need to keep improving, keep growing, keep investing. That’s the only way to stay alive as an artist.”
As for the idea of a Strings reunion, Kapadia says it remains distant, though never impossible. “We ended because everything has a time. You can’t hold on to something forever. Sometimes you just have to say thank you and move forward,” he says.
“I can’t completely rule out a reunion. You never know what tomorrow brings. But right now, I don’t see Strings coming back and that’s OK. Every end is a new beginning.”
As for a return to Coke Studio, Kapadia says he will always be ready if the call arrives. “For me it will be another opportunity to learn something new,” he says. “Each collaboration is a fresh lesson and hopefully a new friendship made. That for me is the legacy of the show.”
