Overload () is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band from

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, formed in August 2003. The group is directed by producer,

lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

, Farhad Humayun and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

/synth player,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, Sheraz Siddiq, who were soon joined by Hassan

Mohyeddin Mohyeddin is an Arabic name meaning " Reviver of Dīn". It is used both as a personal name for males and as an honorific title in the Islamic tradition. Several notable figures, including scholars, philosophers, and theologians throughout Islamic ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

along with

dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...

players

Pappu Sain Pappu Sain (Urdu: پپو سائیں; born 1956 – died 7 November 2021) was a sufi dhol player. He performed every Thursday evening at the Tomb of Shah Jamal in Ichhra, Lahore, Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pak ...

and Jhura Sain. The band is regarded by some critics as being the 'Loudest band in Pakistan'. Since their inception, the band has released two studio albums and two live albums. The band released their debut self-titled album '' Overload'' in December, 2006. The album charted at the top in the local

Pakistani music The Music of Pakistan () is a fusion of Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Arab world, Arab, North India, North Indian, and contemporary Western influences, creating a distinct musical tradition often referred to as "Pakistani Music." The ge ...

charts and singles from the album included instrumentals "Dhamaal", "Cursed" and "Storm". After the release of the album, Pappu Sain, regarded as the greatest dhol player in the world, left the band due to ill health and was replaced by Nasir Sain. In 2008, their single "Dhamaal" got nominated for the 'Best Music Video' award at the

Lux Style Awards The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony which has been held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The ceremony celebrates "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, such as Cinema of Pakistan, cinema, television in Pakistan, television, Pa ...

. This was followed by the band releasing their second studio album, ''

Pichal Pairee Pichal Pairee is the second album by the Pakistani rock band Overload, released on 14 August 2009, after three years since their debut album. The first single of the album, "Pichal Pairee", was released on 23 September 2009. "Mela Kariyay" was re ...

'', in 2009.Working the System
Rollingstone-india.com, Retrieved on 29 July 2009. Although, the album released exclusively as a digital download album, and has not been released on any physical medium, it still topped the charts locally. Singles from the album, "Pichal Pairee", "Mela Kariyay" and "Dhol Bajay Ga!" ow known as "Batti"were hits. In an online poll by

Dawn News Dawn News HD is a Pakistani 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited (PHPL), Pakistan's largest English-language media group. The test transmission of the station occurr ...

the band's video for their single, "Pichal Pairee", was voted as the third best music video of 2010.

Formation and initial years

The band was formed in 2003 by producer, lead vocalist and drummer, Farhad Humayun and keyboard/synth player, songwriter and composer, Sheraz Siddiq.

Second album

In 2010 the band released their second album "Pichal Pairee" as a digital download album. The first single to be released from the album was "Pichal Paire". The video was directed by Hasaan Ashraf, which received a lot of critical acclaim for its slick camera angles and the way it was shot. The next video "Mela Kariye" was directed by Farhad Humayun himself for which he received a nomination at the Lux Style Awards for the ‘Best Music Video Director". The next video to be released from the album was "Batti" which was directed by Farhad Humayun & Hassaan Ashraf. The styling for the video as done by ace designer HSY. The song also got featured in Mira Nair's adaptation of

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' is a "metafictional"Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine. "Mohsin Hamid Engages the World in The Reluctant Fundamentalist: 'An Island on an Island,’ Worlds in Miniature and 'Fiction' in the Making". Arab Studies Quart ...

and later in Pakistan's first animated TV series Burka Avenger. The band got nominated for the 'Best Music Artist' award at the Lux Style Awards 2010 for the album. Farhad Humayun was nominated for the 'Best Music Producer' for "Pichal Pairee" & for the 'Best Music Video Director' for Mela Kariyay.

Recent work

Overload released the video of Ankahi in 2011. Overload launched the official video of the second single of the year 2011 "Neray Aah". In celebration of their 10-year anniversary, Overload released a special single "Jeet" on 14 August 2013. After a one-year hiatus Overload released two singles accompanied by stylized music videos. Nimmi Nimmi in November 2014 became a hit on radio, social media and TV. Bolo Na, for the child victims of Tharparkar and terrorism victims in Peshawar Army Public School, was a stark video and song that had an impact on the lives of people all over the world and received critical acclaim from many producers, directors and actors in Hollywood. In 2015, a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film asked Overload to use Neray Aah in the film

Main Hoon Rajinikanth ''Main Hoon (Part-Time) Killer'' (, initially titled ''Main Hoon Rajinikanth'') is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language spoof film written and directed by Faisal Saif and produced by Mrs. Saroj under the banner of Varsha Production House. The film mark ...

which the band refused as the director wanted to use the song for free claiming the band would receive a lot of publicity. Neray Aah was also requested for another Bollywood film starring

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who works in Hindi cinema in addition to a few Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi films. Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 160 films. ...

, however the producers wanted to an Indian artist to sing it thus the band declined the offer.

Death

Farhad Humayun died on 8 June 2021.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Overload'' (2006) * ''

'' (2009)

Live albums

* ''Overload Live at the Apartment Sessions'' (2011)

Singles

* Cursed (2005) * Storm (2006) * Dhamaal (2007) * Pichal Pairee (2009) * Mela Kariye (2010) * Batti (2011) * Neray Aah (2011) * Mahi (2012) * Ankahi (2013) * Jeet (2013) * Nimmi Nimmi (2014) * Bolo Na (2015) * Lahore (2016)

Band members

*Farhad Humayun -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

Featured artists

* Aziz Ibrahim -

Guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Ustad Jaffar -

Clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

* Punjab Brass Band * Hassan Omar - DJ,

* Various -

Dhol Dhol () can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such ...

Awards

* Won the 'Best Live Act Award' at the

2006. * "Dhamaal" Nominated for the 'Best Music Video' at the

2008. * Nominated for the 'Best Music Artist' award at the Lux Style Awards 2010 for their album ''

''. * "Jeet" Won Song of the year 2014 at the 2nd HUM TV Awards * "Nimmi Nimmi" Nominated for Best Song 2015 at the 3rd HUM TV Awards.

References

External links

Official websiteOverload URock Collaboration
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2003 Pakistani musical groups Pakistani rock music groups Musical groups from Lahore 2003 establishments in Pakistan