Category: Uncategorized

Been getting hit with memories from when I was 10-12 years old…

I make electronic music as Javid Music Party. Javid is my middle name, given me by my grandmother on my father’s side. My dad was born in India and raised in Pakistan. As I was growing up, whenever we visited my relatives in Karachi, I was always fascinated as we rolled through the streets there. It was so different. So beautiful. So rich in spirit and so poor in “riches”. I have not been there in over 25 years, but the memories are strong. Whenever we’d visit, we’d cop the latest and hottest pirated cassette tapes, which were always associated with the popular films of the time, and we would bump that Bhangra, baby!

Over there, films and albums have always been pretty synonymous. It happens over here too, but not nearly to the same extent. But it did happen here in the U.S. in 1986 with the classic film Stand By Me. I will forever associate that movie with its incredible musical soundtrack. I cannot emphasize strongly enough the influence that music had on my life. The Golden Oldies 🙂 My parents were like, “You like this music? This is our music!”
I guess it’s kinda like how my nieces dig Led Zeppelin, or The Pixies even, or Tribe Called Quest. That’s our music! Hahaha. It’s beautiful how music works like that. I’m grateful to witness the cycles, the “return on investments” so to speak.

Anyway, I recently couldn’t get the bassline for the title track of the 1986 movie out of my head, so I thought what the heck, lemme remix this thing with a cover of my own!

And speaking of covers, I am very aware of how un-cool the cover image is for this track, hahaha. I bring it up because it was an issue for me. As Javid Music Party, I am tempted to try to keep everything on the digital streaming platforms as cool as possible, image-wise. But the artwork I chose for this track is an ode to my 10 year old self, and to my brothers. And to my best childhood friend Danny Sullivan, who I played basketball with at the park in Chicago EVERY single day. And to the boombox we brought with us to bump the music as old as our parents. And to the kids who laughed at us for doing so. And to my Mom and Pops, who played so much of their music for us growing up. It’s also a shout out to the original poster for the film, and to the countless Bollywood music tapes we had with covers made in the early days of photoshop. I call the track Stand Bhai Me instead of Stand By Me because “bhai” means brother in Urdu. I hope you enjoy the track! https://open.spotify.com/track/5jH5L9EAMx4yTncx5qac84?si=e56f6f1ff854434b
And if you haven’t peeped the movie in a while, it’s most definitely worth a re-watch right about now.

Love, g

I come from what often feels like the last generation of true record store rats. Crate Diggers, Milkcrate Moles. Bargain Bin Beavers (okay, I just made that one up…but you get my point). There are still of course a few record stores – often a small section of your local bookshops – that still sell vinyl fresh out the sleeve (support your local Ma & Pa brick and mortar stores!). But One of things I miss most was getting to know my guys and gals across the counter who worked there. Who I could nerd out on the latest west coast post punk record, Verve or Blue Note Records vault reissues or the spankin’ new miami bass and atlanta booty shake tapes, fresh out the trunk of a young entrepreneurs Caddy Seville.

I would spend hours going down aisles of music. Intentionally trying to lose myself in the enigmatic, desperate sounds that I came across. Well…here’s a little post (that might be recurring) about those beautiful rabbit holes I would dive into with the aid of my friends behind the counter and a little bit of curiosity and a lot of open mindedness

I was listening to the great band The Sylvers a lot recently and thought to myself “what are some other jammin’ songs by incredible family bands?” Here’s a little taste of what I was digging on when I took a dive. If you think of some other dope songs by family bands, get@me!

Postell (aka POS)

The Sylvers – We Can Make It If We Try

DeBarge – I Like It

The Roches – Hammond Song

Audio Two- Top Billin’

Staple Singers – Let’s Do It Again

Almost two years after all of our lives were inexorably changed, I find myself reflecting most about my shift in perspective.  Where panic and uncertainty once flooded my consciousness after each new week brought another creative and monetary cancellation to our company, I now can breathe and be ok with chaos in a way I once could not.  Part of that comes with spending so much time with small children over these months and learning to flow with them and say “yes” instead of trying to control their impulses but this thing has taught me above all to focus on the things I CAN control and NOT the things I CAN’T.

These are the years of family. Why do me and my homies of the QBC (Q Brothers Collective) meet once a week for 2 to 3 hours to create together, even when no one is paying us to make anything? Why do we continue to hammer out new documents surrounding new ideas that no one else has even heard about yet? Why do we laugh but not hesitate to embrace the title Jackson used – Infinity Meeting – to mark our never-ending weekly session in our shared google calendar? Because we’re family. Because we’re down to meet forever. Because we made that commitment. Shoot, that commitment made us! Cuz we fam, y’all. Because without each other, life just doesn’t feel as good.

Family is at the core of everything. Everything real comes back to some kind of family in one way or another. The whole Q Brothers community is one family, in fact. Which means that if you’re reading this, YOU are part of our family. And reciprocally, we humbly and gratefully consider ourselves part of yours.

I don’t even like using the word “fans.” Fan implies a certain level of distance that we don’t tend to feel. FAM is more like it. If you pickin up what we puttin down, if you dig on the vibe and you diggin the sound, then embrace your relationship to us – nah, your relationship with us – and let’s all take a moment to recognize who continues to be there for us. Who keeps loving us when we make ourselves challenging to love? Who then challenges us to make ourselves even more lovable by helping us see how we can become better versions of ourselves? Not by telling us what to do. Just by continuing to love us for who we are. For us, that’s each other, and YOU ALL.

Whoever you thought of when reading those questions…take a moment to let them know you appreciate them. Whether it’s through a hug, a smile, a text, or a silent blessing of some kind. And today, please receive our love and gratitude for your unending and unbending and sometimes-spending and who-cares-if-it’s-trending and hearts-and-ears-and-eyes-lending and hip hop family friendly fusion blending SUPPORT.

We love you, Q Family. You mean more to us than we can properly express. THANK YOU!!!

– GQ