Coke Studio has been around for three successful seasons now, and the promo of the first episode of the fourth season does have a hook in it. Coke Studio sessions have the strength to revitalize even the greats, like Saaen Zahoor and Arif Lohar, and present them in a fresh light.
This time around it seems that the team conducted a rather thorough filtering process before getting artists on board: Rumor has it, that the legendary Amir Zaki was rejected after Coke Studio auditions.
The producer of Coke Studio, Rohail Hayat, denies …

The summers are here and so is Coke Studio Season 4. It brings with it the usual array of hits and misses, the stars who have made it big, or have become even bigger in the music industry through the re-created, fused renditions of songs that are by far the most poignant and heart-rendering to come out of Pakistan.

The musical genius behind these songs is ex-Vital Signs band member Rohail Hyatt, producer extraordinaire of Coke Studio.

The Express Tribune speaks to Hyatt about about what the latest installment of the show will bring.

How is season 4 going to be any different from the former three seasons?

Every season of Coke Studio is a journey into the exploration of our musical traditions. Perhaps the two things that will stand out this time are the influence of classical music and our attempt to fuse it with modern instruments, and our venture into Balochi music and rhythms.

Pop music is rapidly taking over the Pakistani music scene, despite the moral brigade and diktats of the clergy. “Pop, along with soft rock, is growing in popularity. It has developed in a very short span of time and shows more promise than even Indian pop music,” claims Saadia, 19, a student of business studies. Most of the songs are in Urdu set to western music. There is a lot of talent coming here. Music experts say there are about 15 established music bands and a dozen pop music stars …

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, your date of birth, childhood and siblings?
My name is Shahzad Haroon, I was born in Hyderabad, Sindh on December 14th, 1973. I have a sister who currently lives in Kuwait. I have spent most of my early childhood in Iran, moved back to Karachi, when I was five. I had most of my education done in Karachi. After completing high school, I moved to Chicago for further studies. I completed my under-graduate studies in Electrical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and graduate …