The mantra that music has no barriers holds really true for Iftikar Ali, who is all set to bask in the success of his innovative and debut online album ‘Patchwork’. In what can be called the first of its kind album in Kerala, that took two years to complete, it has brought together twenty nine artists and forty nine technicians from nine countries including Pakistan.
Not just that. Iftikar has also roped in ace musicians like Lucky Ali, Shruthi Hassan, Rahul Raj and the like. Iftikar has lent music to 17 songs in the album and most of the videos feature him.
One of the videos that has released on Youtube has been drawing rave reviews from all quarters. The album of course has every local and international flavour to satiate the hunger of music lovers. Iftikar Ali, who is obviously thrilled with the response says that the video has garnered 7000 views so far. “This is definitely a sign of encouragement,” he says.
The album also deserves special mention as it has given a smashing entry for Arabic rap in India. “Though an attempt in this regard has been made earlier, it could not be released. Thankfully, we got the golden opportunity to introduce it first time through this album,” says a jubilant Iftikar. In the album, Arabic rap occurs in the theme song which also has Tamil and various other blended raps. Artists like Anaitha Nair (Chak De! India fame), Andrea Jeremiah (Vishwaroopan fame), Jyotsana Balakrishnan, Harish Sivaramakrishnan have lend their voices.
One of the highlights here is that Iftikar met almost all the artists and technicians who worked on the album online.
He developed an acquaintance with Moilim Yacoub, who has mixed most of the songs in the album, online. “Yacoub wished to do a song and was on the look out for a musician. Accidently, he came across my site.
He liked some of my music demos and invited me to do a song titled ‘Show me Love’ which is included in the album,” he says.
Tony Joseph Thomas, executive producer of Tune 4, which has produced the album, says that the videos were shot in 30 studios across the globe.Iftikar and Tony who have produced this album attribute its success to networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut. “We too met online and since then the association has been going strong,” says a pleased Tony.
Though they have worked with twenty nine artists and forty nine technicians, they have met only three of them in real life.
“We are so happy that we could associate with people from US, Canada, Netherlands, Egypt, UAE, Bangladesh, Pakistan. ‘Teri Ankhen’, ‘Elements’, ‘Serendipity’, ‘Khwabon Mein’, ‘Freedom’ are some of the songs in the album. The album was released on World Music Day, June 22 by music composer Rahul Raj.