Who can forget Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, commonly known as Zulfi, the messy-haired guitarist from the early-2000s band Entity Paradigm? When the band made it big, it revolutionized what rock music meant in Pakistan back then. Songs like ‘Waqt’ and ‘Kahan Hai Tu’ are still shared on social media every now and then, with threads of comments asking what happened to the good old days of Pakistani rock music. After his stint with rock n roll, Zulfi tried his luck with commercial projects like the McDonald’s jingle to Bollywood tracks like the popular ‘Laaree Chutti’ which annoyed hardcore Entity Paradigm fans to no end.

Today, Zulfi is the man behind Nescafe Basement, the show that aims to provide a means of musical expression for unknown prodigies around the country. The idea for this show popped into Zulfi’s head back in 2007 but it became a reality in 2012 when he pitched his idea to Nescafe and they instantly gave him the green signal. It was risky for a large brand to rely on unknown kids dreaming to make it big as musicians but they understood his vision and purpose. Although Zulfi had his own music to pursue, it dawned upon him that the industry has not seen many new musicians and the same people were being recycled every year. He was concerned about the industry’s future.

"I decided to embark on this journey of unearthing these young gems," Zulfi spoke to Instep. "I am extremely satisfied and elated that even against the tide of our country’s commercial scene where art is mostly judged on face value, I have been able to bring about some kind of change where I can see the audience embracing Nescafe Basement’s initiative of bringing new musicians (not just vocalists) into the limelight every year."

According to Zulfi, the upcoming season of Nescafe Basement will be the most exciting season yet. "Instruments and musicians that I have this year are ready to surprise you even more than they did last year. So get ready for another musically rich season."

Season 1 had 15 musicians, Season 2 had 19 and this season there is a total of 26 musicians which proves how, over the years, the show has grown and welcomed a larger number of musicians from not just Lahore but from Karachi, Quetta, Islamabad and Rahim Yar Khan as well. Zulfi believes that one should constantly evolve and add new elements to the blend and he claims that this season will be the most daring and fearless season yet. The list of some of the musicians that will be seen in Nescafe Basement Season 3 include: Haroon Leo on acoustic guitar and rabab, Usman Sheikh on guitars, drums and vocals, Bilawal Lahooti on drums, Sherry Khattak and Ali Suhail on guitars and vocals, Shairi Bahshi on tabla, Rizwan Butt, Altamash Sever, Maria Fatima, Ikra Saleem, Sibtain Khalid, Momina Mustehsan, Hamza Tanveer, Parizae Azhar will all be on vocals, Sharoon Leo on violin, Nazar Abbas on flute, Melvin Arthur and Haider Abbas on bass guitars along with Rahim Mughal, Sibra Sharmeen and Amna Imtiaz on backing vocals, Hassaan Bin Akhtar on keyboards, Faizan Bukhari on percussions and Arza Chaudhary on sitar.

"In a way, it’s also a test of whether our audience is ready to graduate as a listener," the producer added. "The beauty of creating music through a jam is that people are subconsciously connecting to each other through the music. Hence, new musicians jamming would result in a new sound, because music created through a jam represents not just an individual musician’s mood but the collective group’s expression."

While talking about the music production, Zulfi’s aim is to set a new benchmark for future productions in Pakistan via Nescafe Basement. Although that is also more of a personal goal for him as a producer, he feels that it is about time the musicians in this country rise and take control by creating new music in an honest and fearless manner. Zulfi feels that while music channels in Pakistan play a significant role in helping bring music to the masses, they have also conditioned the people to listen to just one specific genre, which results in the audience not being able to accept any new style of music coming out. It also hinders the evolution of people as music listeners.

"Music is like the universe, the more you explore it, the more you are startled at how many possibilities it presents because of its profound vastness and beauty," Zulfi added. "I want our audience to know and like music for its versatility. It is important too because only then can we have a wide variety of artists doing their thing and still getting accepted by the audience and hence making a living out of their passion."

In the past we have seen a number of other similar shows – like Uth Records and Cornetto Icon – that have helped provide a platform for unheard artists yet when the seasons ended, the musicians were out of sight and out of mind. So what makes Nescafe Basement different?

According to Zulfi, musicians that gained popularity due to Nescafe Basement  and stuck to their passion did manage to move up the ladder. For instance, Adnan and Rabi who were part of the first season and did a rendition of an original song "Awari", were noticed by our neighbours and picked up by Bollywood. And now the duo is getting ready to do a tour in India. Other musicians such as Sameen Qasim have sung jingles for a number of different brands.

Some musicians even ended up making a band together after the previous seasons of Nescafe Basement because of the commonalities they found in each other. In addition, the response the show has gotten from the audience so far has encouraged Zulfi and his team to keep at it, despite the fact that the Pakistani audience is too accustomed to judging music on face value. When it comes to shows like Coke Studio, which came out at a time when the Pakistani music scene was close to non-existent, it played its role in the revival of music. Considering the fact that both the shows aim to keep reviving Pakistani music, comparison between the two is inevitable. However, Zulfi feels that what makes Nescafe Basement unique and more interesting is the fact that he discovered 45 new musicians over the course of three years, whereas in the seven seasons of Coke Studio only a handful of new unknown musicians were given a chance. Zulfi also feels that Nescafe Basement is more "gutsy with their music when it comes to instrumentation and musical arrangement.

"The fan base that Nescafe Basement has gotten now, whatever the number may be, I salute them for giving completely unknown artists the love they have over the course of two seasons," Zulfi concluded.