Mekaal Hasan Band

Mekaal Hasan Band
Mekaal Hasan Band - Live in Canada at Celebration Square, Mississauga
Background information
Origin	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Genres	Alternative rock, Sufi rock, Jazz
Years active	2001–present
Labels	EMI, MHB Music, Sadaf Stereo
Associated acts	Junoon, Zeb and Haniya, Noori, Entity Paradigm, Jal, Rubberband
Website	www.mekaalhasanband.com
Members	Mekaal Hasan Mohammad Ahsan Papu Sharmistha Chatterjee Sheldon D'Silva Gino Banks Agha Ibrahim Akram Amir Azhar
Past members	Asad Abbas Riaz Ali Khan Sameer Ahmed Javed Bashir Kami Paul

Mekaal Hasan Band, sometimes shortened to MHB, is an international sufi rock band formed in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan in 1999 by composer-songwriter, guitarist Mekaal Hasan.

The band members have roots in different genres, including jazz, classical music, soul music, and sufi rock, the combination of each member has created a sound which has earned them fans from a variety of quarters.

The band achieved mainstream success with its debut album, Sampooran, released in 2004. Its following studio album, Saptak, released in 2010 continued the band's success. Mekaal Hasan Band won a number of awards and nominations for its recordings, videos and live performances.

Despite being signed to both EMI and Sadaf Stereo, the band have their own record label, MHB Music, which they use to launch some independent releases and their albums.

Songwriter Mekaal Hasan, born in Lahore, Pakistan, was surrounded by music since childhood. His father, Masood Hasan, passionate for jazz music influenced him throughout his early years. After graduating from Government College, Lahore, Mekaal studied music at the Berklee College of Music, Boston and his stay there exposed him to a wide variety of music and musicians, many of whom are influences to this day.

In March 2001, Mekaal collaborated with Pete Lockett in a series of concerts countrywide featuring music written for Pete and classical artists by Mekaal.

Mekaal Hasan Band released their debut album, "Sampooran", in 2004 by EMI/Virgin Records.