It’s strange and hauntingly beautiful how music transforms your mood or your streak of thoughts. Everybody listens to music, and uses that music to engage with their innermost thoughts and feelings. How your brain comprehends sound waves while listening to music and how your mood fluctuates is one of the most real and profound experiences of life.

Music that is experiential has the ability to transcend time and space, and this series on the local music of Pakistan is exactly that

Fanoos is a journey of an urban Pakistani throughout the country not just to explore the land but to dig out the hidden treasures of rich Pakistani music which otherwise stay undiscovered due to mainstream music in the industry. ‘Fanoos‘ is the project of Zohaib Kazi, one of the former team members of the folks who brought Coke Studio, broadcast through local music app – Patari. Zohaib is on this mission to bring out the diverse and distinct stories of Pakistan that are hidden across the land.

‘Fanoos‘ literally means chandelier in Urdu and it aims to bring out the light of hidden talent in Pakistan and spread it throughout the world.

@patarimusic and Zohaib Kazi have teamed up to create magic- an exploration of folk music from across Pakistan produced and blended with Zohaib's electronic beats. Come along, as they explore harmonies in the lost languages of #Gilgit, take shelter under the rhythms of #Lahore’s scorching sun, dive in the depth of folk stories in the mountains of #Hunza, feel the hair rising on our nape in #Umerkot’s historical vistas, bask in the glory of #Kalat’s forts and walk in the streets of #Nowshera with nothing but music as the "Fanoos” to guide them. I was asked to illustrate this meeting of two worlds and it was a challenge in the best way! So excited for this! ⚡️??? #patari #albumcover #albumart #illustration #gig #pakistan #music #digitalart #electronicmusic #fusion

A post shared by shehzil malik (@shehzilm) on May 8, 2017 at 8:42am PDT

Kazi went out on this musical journey to find out whether Pakistan contains the kind of music which is untainted with worldly influences. He was not disappointed. He met some artists that are rooted in their homeland and that led him to the decision of recording them in their own locations instead of in an urban studio. This experience was special for Kazi as well as he got out of his comfort zone and interacted with the artists and listened to their stories and their heart felt connection with the music instead of directing them like usually happens.

The first song of the series is a Wakhi song, recorded in the beautiful region of Gojal

The first episode released on Patari, ‘The Gulmit Anthem’ will give you a vibe of Daft Punk combined with folk and traditional music. The song is in Wakhi Pamiri which is a local language of Gulmit, Gojal Tehsil of Gilgit Baltistan Most people may not understand the lyrics but the music will surely uplift your spirits and get your mind hooked to its beats making you feel that you’re right there with them in the mountains dancing to it.

The Girlses and Boyses of #Gulmit, #Hunza are padded, with their helmets on, all geared up for Day 1, first innings! #Fanoos comes out tomorrow @patarimusic #Gojal #GilgitBaltistan #Pakistan #ZohaibKazi #Patari #WakhiPameri #WorldMusic

A post shared by Zohaib Kazi (@zohaibkazi) on May 11, 2017 at 2:38am PDT

Here’s the translation to the beautiful song

More episodes of Fanoos will be released in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned to travel across Pakistan on this journey of musical exploration.

Here, listen it yourself and tell us if you agree that Pakistan’s music is way much richer than we already know:

Cover image via: topsy.one