Shamoun Murtza (Composer/Performer)

Shamoun’s music career started with a Casio PT-20 when he was 8 years old. He went through a couple of bands that never made it past practice. He has composed critically acclaimed scores for stage plays, written rock songs and produced a movie soundtrack. His passion for Metallica and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu seem to go hand in hand, and it’s reflected in some of his work. Other influences include U2, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Beethoven. Shamoun is now working on a demo tape in which he will playing all the instruments himself. During the day Shamoun busies himself with executive management at a software company based in NYC. He often challenges his colleagues to push-up contests.

Matt Giresi (Composer/Performer)

Matt is a classically trained musician who is knee-deep into making and selling hip hop tracks. From alternative, to hip hop, to bhangra - Matt can do it all.
His ability to immerse himself into music allows him to excel at
different music genres. Matt is currently working on a new set of tracks
incorporating a variety of orchestral music.

Qawali Music

Qawali is devotional music inspired by Sufi thought and poetry. Not only are the lyrics to qawali music exquisite in their depth and simplicity but the music is equally entrancing. There is a slow but steady build-up to a crescendo as the qawal (the qawali singer) lets go more and more of the rhythmic understructure of the song and paints with increased intensity on its musical canvas. Such variations soon turn to repetition until the words start to blur and lose their meaning. The goal is to achieve a state of ecstatic rapture, an altered state of consciousness, a union with the divine. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a great qawal. He collaborated with Peter Gabriel and Eddy Vedder to bring qawali to the West. Some purists hold that against him but truth be told, whether it was traditional qawali or some creative fusion between different genres, Fateh Ali Khan was a musical genius with immense range. He died tragically in 1997 at the age of 49. His live rendition of “Mera piya ghar aya”, which was generously donated by Pakistan Television Corporation, is featured in the film.

There is much more qawali music in the film, mostly instrumental. It was produced by Khalid Saleem at KS Music Productions, in Canada, and performed by Krishna Prashad (tabla), Ashoke Bede (harmonium) and Dev Chakravertey (percussion).