Famed percussionist and Coke Studio alum, Sikander Mufti, laying down the beat at his percussion workshop on Day 1

Little known fact – April is festival season in Pakistan. Despite the premature onset of summer, making an otherwise pleasant April a muggy affair, the month issues its call every year for revellers to descend upon their festival of choice whether in Islamabad (Face Music Mela), Lahore (Lahore Music Meet) or Karachi (Creative Karachi Festival). …

It sounds idyllic; straight out of a book, even. Or maybe a reality TV show. Last year, in May, around a dozen musicians from different parts of the world found themselves holed up in a house in Karachi — a regular house, in a not particularly fancy area. …

If you’ve had the chance to attend a Red Bull Music Academy lecture, you know you’re going to come away with something worthwhile from those 45 minutes. At the recently held RBMA Bass Camp in Dubai, a beta version of the annual Academy, I was witness to some interesting lectures, workshops and a bunch of sessions at the Hai D3 in Dubai, a contemporary urban setting in a newer part of the concrete jungle. …