Excerpts from The Fatsumas: A Concise Compendium...as told by Che QuaidRelax. Why don't you go ahead and grab an oat soda and come back. Well alright then. See our story begins way out east, past anywhere you may have ever dared to set foot. Way out in a small country known to the modern world as Pakistan. I want to tell you about a couple of fellas - a couple of pakistanis - they called themselves The Fatsumas. Now Fatsumas, that's not a name anyone would self-apply where I come from. But then, there's a whole lot about The Fatsumas that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where they lived, like- wise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.They called Islamabad the city of beauty. I didn't find it to be that exactly, but I'll allow as there are some nice folks there. 'Course, I can't say I seen London, and I never been to France, and I ain't never seen no queen in her damn undies as the fella says. But I'll tell you what, after seeing Islamabad and thisahere story I'm about to unfold -- well, I guess I seen somethin' ever' bit as stupefyin' as ya'd see in any a those other places, and in English too, so I can die with a smile on my face without feelin' like the Good Lord gypped me.Now this story I'm about to unfold here takes place in the early 90's, when Junoon, Vital Signs, and lesser-known fellas like Awaz were makin' a good buck - er, ruppee, selling music that was to put quite simply - horr- well anyway, the only reason I mention this is because sometimes there's a band, and I won't say rock-Gods, because what's a rock-God?-- but sometimes there's a band.And I'm talking about The Fatsumas here - well, back in the 90's, well they were just little runts dribbling snot and watching ludacris amounts of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But well, I got off-track there - sometimes, there's a band.So these young boys (and girl) went through this strange time period we call with confusion and disaffection with their given societies - see, not all of these young people grew up in the same town - or even the same state - or country - or continent. See well there's Gul Mawaz, a beeming young brown boy that would proclaim he doesn't like cricket - he loves it. And well let's just say that our fella Gul - well he liked his Rock N Roll served on a dish made of metal. Some folks might even say steel. And then way across the atlantic - our timid young Imran Malik was growing up a chubby confused pakistani boy in the highly green and intellectual town of Princeton, NJ. He also found himself drawn magnetically to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and other classics that well, never really made much sense to me. I mean, how much can an adolescent pakistani boy growing up in the 90's relate on well, ANY level, to a black man in the 70's? Well, that's neither here nor there, but my point is, see Gul was, as I see it, too white for his world, and Imran too brown. And this is where it all really began. There were others too, like the half-white Ali Haider that was forcefully expatriated from the good ol' U.S.A. to live in the welcoming arms of the mysterious town of Islamabad, that would one day rise to become these Fatsumas but ah hell, I've introduced them enough.We'll start our story off in present day. Imran, Gul, Ali, Najeeb, Aisha, Dan (I've seen many fatsumas come and go) well, it seems fate, has brought them together. They're the men (and woman) that fit right into Islamabad County. Well, some people think they are deadbeats- losers - and well, maybe they're right, but that never stopped them before. See, times weren't always this easy. No sir, because as the story has been told through the ages, it's rumored that our boys (and girl) were once a traveling quartet addicted to buddha and playing at brothels and other degenerate locales to support this awful habit. Until they were picked up by an unlikely hero; An aging sexually ambiguous hairdresser that really digged their style and dude-esque demeanor. The next few months of Fatsuman history still remains unclear, and their whereabouts and activities during this time still puzzle historians to date. But sure enough, they are back, and well, here they are now, presented in all their lo-fi glory - You will either really dig their style or won't - but I can assure you this much - our boys (and girl) won't care - they'll keep on keepin' on, as the fella says. And so, I'd like to introduce you to these fellas now - You can call them The Fatsumas - or
Fatsumer or Their Fatsumeness, or El Fatsumerinos, you know, if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
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Interesting Links
- The Fatsumas on Wikipedia
- Pakistani rock journalist Noreen Nusrat gives us some props_______________________________________________________
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The Fatsumas at the Voodoo Tee Underground Concert, Islamabad (circa 2007)
Cinco De Mayo from Imran Malik on Vimeo .
