Rock Rules

India-Pakistan relations may be suddenly hanging by a thread, but the musical dialogue between the countries has never been better. Akash, a Pakistani band formed in 2004, found themselves in the thick of terror attacks during their performance for the International Children8217;s Festival of Performing Arts at Delhi8217;s Bal Bhavan. 8220;It is sad that such incidents happen, but these will not hamper our performances in India,8221; says Sam, 23, the band8217;s lead singer.

Akash shot to fame with their track Ji liya which stayed at the No. 1 slot on Pakistan8217;s music charts for three weeks. The group of four friends from college has tracks with a mix of head-banging choruses and soulful rhythms on the guitar. Their first album Aks will release in India in February 2009. Though they8217;ve been compared to the more famous Pakistani band Jal, the guitarist Miki insists they8217;re different. 8220;Junoon is our inspiration,8221; he says. Hopefully, we now have a new Pakistani sound.