Hailing
from Boston, they call themselves The Kominas. Comprising of Basim
Usmani, Shahjehan Khan, Imran Malik and Arjun Ray, they play loud
punk, grungy tune and make their own youtube videos. After 2008's
Wild Nights in Guantanamo Bay, the band is back with their new
EP, Escape to Blackout Beach. Filled with grungy riffs, thumping
bass and seven originals including the magnificent 'Manji Vich
Daang', The Kominas have developed a solid following. Instep talks
to bassist Basim Usmani as the band continues to tour the United
Kingdom....
Instep: Tell us briefly about The Kominas?
Basim: The band has been together for about 6 years. We formed
during/after college. Most of us have lived in Pakistan for anywhere
between 1 and 6 years either for school or work.
Instep: Why the unusual name of The Kominas?
Basim: Kameena essentially means 'scoundrel', or a derogatory
way to refer to someone. It's a joke and makes desi people either
laugh or cringe. It is the closest thing to 'punk' in Urdu/Punjabi.
Instep: The Kominas are unsigned. How difficult is it
being an independent band without the push of a label?
Basim:
The artist in today's music industry has a lot of power independently
to promote oneself, develop their own image, marketing themselves
however they want to (myspace, facebook, youtube, etc...). It
is also possible to put out decent sounding music using free audio
software if you can't afford to go to a studio; it just takes
a little bit of ingenuity with audio programs. Our first album
was a combination of both 'low-fi', 'do it yourself' recordings
as well as professional time spent in recording studios over a
3 year period. The second record Escape to Blackout Beach was
recorded over 4 days in a Boston studio.
However, being independent and unsigned is still very difficult.
We have only recently started to 'break even'; we still don't
really make any money. A label can still help immensely with support
for touring, album distribution, and other promotional assistance
that a team of people can offer a band. We do all our own web
design, marketing, press releases, video editing, everything.
Instep: You guys have been touring the United Kingdom.
Tell us about the shows...
Basim: We have toured the US twice, as well as Canada, and are
currently in the midst of our first ever UK tour. So far, we have
been very well-received in the UK, and have played a variety of
venues, big and small. We have traveled through London, Bristol,
Preston, Glasgow, and Nottingham all in our first 10 days here.
We will be heading to Stockholm (Sweden), and recording with the
UK-based 'Tigerstyle' for about 5 days before our last UK show
at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk.
Instep: Your following in Pakistan is slow and steady. What about
touring Pakistan?
Basim: We would love to come to tour in Pakistan if we can set
it up. We will be doing a 2-week, 6-8 concert tour in India in
November of 2010.