You may recognize the names Zeb and Haniya from their video 'Aitebar' running on airwaves these days, the single 'Chup' that found its way from the internet to the radio stations or from their posters that are plastered over the music stores where their debut album is flying off the shelves. Zeb and Haniya are definitely in the realm of music stardom: ace producer Mekaal Hasan pushed them to pursue their music seriously and director extraordinaire Saqib Malik heard their album and approached them to do a video. Anyone else might have starry airs, but not Zeb and Haniya. The duo has no pretensions, no nakhras, no airs - even as they blaze a new trail for female musicians in the country.

Instantly recognizable as their band name is self-titled - one might think a band name goes with the territory and so did Zeb and Haniya. They actually pondered over names like Tribal Goats, Saib and Dhanya, Zeb and Onion and Khamakha, but none of them struck the right chord. "A band name is like your gimmick, but we didn't know what gimmick we had in our mind so we went for Zeb and Haniya," says Zeb, the lead singer of the band.

I could have brushed off the rest of the names but why Zeb and Onions? There's a funny story behind it. "It was during one of our initial concerts in Lahore and I was waiting for Haniya," narrates Zeb with a mischievous smile on her face. "A friend of mine comes up to me and asks 'your cousin has a weird name. Why is she called onion?' It's then I suggested we should call ourselves Zeb and Onion."
Both of them are sweet - very much the really nice girls next door without any airs of being stars. Zeb in her pink long shirt and black leggings looked more beautiful than in her pictures while Haniya in her white shalwar kameez and purple dupatta looked casual and comfortable. The moment I exchanged hellos with them, we started talking about their trip to Karachi.

"This visit is purely for promotional purposes. We have been visiting Karachi on and off but this time it was solely to talk about our debut album Chup that was released at the start of this year," says Haniya. "We don't have any concerts or gigs lined up… just interviews. And we didn't even know we will be having so many of them. It has been tiring but at the same time, it's exciting."

The two haven't taken up music as full time yet. Zeb is working alongside her brother in his chain of businesses that range from restaurant to market research while Haniya is a faculty member for the Cultural Studies department at the National College of Arts in Lahore. It is a bit difficult for them to juggle between work and music but before starting profession, they were clear about their free time for music. Luckily, they get ample time to carry on with their passion for music.

When I ask them whether they wanted to be musicians since they were little kids, I thought the answer would be yes… but to my surprise again they never planned on doing music so seriously. "I wanted to be everything from the President to be an actress while singing was just a hobby for me," shares Zeb with a smile on her face. "It was Haniya who actually convinced me that I sing really well and that we could do something together, since she was too good with the guitars."

"I think we are musically compatible and we were destined to go for it. Our first performance together was when we were six or seven years old and we had an annual event in our kindergarten in which we performed Sohail Rana's popular songs like 'Daak Babu', 'Morni', 'Allah' and 'Helicopter'. Though we were very young at that time but I guess that was the start of Zeb and Haniya as a band," says Haniya while sipping her coffee.

It was some four years ago that the duo recorded their first track, which became an instant Internet hit and created waves on mainstream Pakistani radio. "It was amazing!" says Zeb, "We uploaded the track to share it with our friends; we had no idea it would become an instant hit. For this, we would like to thank Ayesha Alam for noticing us and playing us on radio." Another man who pushed them to record the album was producer Mekaal Hasan.

"Mekaal is one of our biggest supports in the industry. When we were not even serious about doing it he would just come to us and say 'you girls are not serious so start being serious about it'," tells Haniya. "He along with Zeb's elder brother, who is also our manager, endured the whole brunt of it. These two men have pushed us the most and never gave up on us, no matter what the situation."

The sound of Zeb and Haniya is very different from the conventional music produced these days. They don't confine it to one genre of music by describing it as alternative, jazz, blues and mere soft music at various times. You won't get to listen to the 'dhimchuk dhimchuk' (that annoyingly repetitive rhythm that typifies so much of our pop music) but it is truly the music for the soul. This diversity might be because of their interests in different types of music they grew up on. From Beatles to Bollywood music and from jazz to qawwali to classical, they have enjoyed it all.

And for improving vocals, Zeb is also under the training of Ustad Mubarak Ali who has been teaching her for years.

"We never thought our music is very different from the rest and whether it would be accepted by people or not. We are the masses and if we like it then people will like it too. We can't underestimate our music lovers by believing they are not prepared for the blues or jazz. The response we got from our album proves that the masses are 'in' for change," says Zeb.

Luck has been so far on their side as they managed to work with Shallum Xavier (guitars), Gumby (drums), Kamran 'Mannu' Zafar (bass) who thought Zeb and Haniya's music is substantial and needs to be sharpen up a bit. And last but not least Mekaal Hassan who always had faith in them.

One of their positive aspects is that they are not hyper sensitive about their work. They make plans to make life easier for themselves and hence good things just come their way… like Saqib Malik. It was Saqib who approached Zeb and Haniya with a concept in mind as he wanted to work with choreographer Omar Rahim for a very long time. Then, they got Joshinder Chaggar on board, who moved from Australia two years back and has been teaching dance at NAPA ever since.

While seeing Josh and Omar perform, did they never think of dancing the way they did?
"Absolutely not!" Zeb laughs at the mere thought. "Josh and Omar were always practicing their breathing exercises and stretches on the sets. And when the rest of the crew enjoyed biryani, they had their vegetables and diet food. We can't live that life."

They're planning to make the video for their original ticket to fame, 'Chup' next with Babar Sheikh but are having some financial issues right now. "We came up with a concept and finished off our pre planning but then budget became the hindrance," informs Haniya. "We plan to finish it off by October even if we have to cut down our expenses and change a bit of the storyline." They have given 'Aitebar' to the world and now they want to give a faster number to see its response.

Hailing from a Pashtun family, one might wonder there must have been restrictions about taking up music for these girls.

"Actually, we have spent little time in Peshawar. I was an army kid so we switched places every few years. I have lived in Kohat, Lahore, Islamabad everywhere while Haniya has been brought up in Islamabad and now is in Lahore," says Zeb.

"In fact, half of the industry doesn't even know we are from NWFP. They think we are from Islamabad," adds Haniya. "Still, it was not a piece of cake for us. We had some problems in the beginning because it was not a nine to five stable job and we worked from ten to ten but with recognition and success, they realized that's what we really want to do and we are good at it too."

With this, I ask them a clichéd question to which people usually respond immediately but it took both of them few minutes to think about it. "Hmm… what could be the most memorable moment?" Zeb asks Haniya and after thinking about it for some time replies, "The time when we were arranging the songs with all the musicians. I think that was most exciting time of the whole album making process."

But, Haniya has to share something else, "The first tape we got of our album and we put it in the recorder to listen to the final product. That is the moment I will never forget."

And as we say goodbyes, it's clear that for Zeb and Haniya, the musical journey has just begun.