True Brue Records (TBR), hidden away in the heart of Gulberg, is a recent initiative by Chelsea-educated music producer Jamal Rehman, which is trying to reintroduce the concept of live music.

Interestingly, there aren’t enough venues available in Pakistan for young, aspiring musicians. "The setting is not always ideal for concerts; we usually have a seated auditorium rather than an empty hall with a proper set-up," says Rehman, talking to TNS.

TBR provides a ready-made setup for music bands to perform, catering to a smaller audience of just about seventy people at a time.

Last week, a local rock band, catchily titled ‘Keeray Makoray,’ performed live for TBR, giving all those present at the venue that night a peek of their raw talent that Rehman seeks to bring under spotlight.

Rehman also talks about creating a circuit for underground bands in Pakistan, to support them and provide them with opportunities to show case their talent, while simultaneously filtering out the good acts from the bad ones.

Rehman’s inspiration for TBR goes back to The Guitar School, one of the few ventures in Lahore working to promote Pakistani music, encourage, and provide a platform for young musicians. The studio is still in its early phases and has so far been self funded, however Rehman talks about expanding, hoping to get some funding to help more artists and to cater to even larger crowds. Rehman’s passion to provide another source of Entertainment to the Lahoris can easily be understood after a night of live rock music at TBR.

Over the years, Rehman’s fully equipped recording studio has been used for recording songs by famous singers and bands such as Meesha Shafi, Atif Aslam, Jimmy Khan, Zeb & Haniya and many more.

Rehman has also worked with renowned Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid on the audiobook of his critically acclaimed novel, How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and was also the Pakistan recording arm for Mira Nair’s film The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He is currently working on the original soundtrack and sound design for Sarmad Khoosat’s feature film, Main Manto.

It seems that Rehman is headed in the right direction and has it all planned out. When asked about the unique name, he says, "After much deliberation and filtering through hundreds of horrible ideas, True Brew Records was born out of my love for music, art and caffeine. It came to me through drawing various logos encapsulating the symbolic creation and consumption of music. Also, it had a really nice ring to it!"

Perhaps, TBR will be successful in helping the music industry by bringing forth underground bands with raw undiscovered talent, just waiting to be pointed in the right direction.