Brian O'Connell (musician)

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Brian O'Connell
Junoonthree.jpg
Background information
Birth nameBrian O'Connell
Born (1963-07-20) 20 July 1963 (age 60)
Queens, New York City
Genres Hard rock, sufi rock, blues rock, folk rock, instrumental rock, alternative rock
Occupation(s) Musician, Arranger, Actor, Record Producer
Instrument(s) bass guitar, guitar, recorder
Years active1992–present
Labels EMI, Sadaf Stereo, Lips Records
Website www.junoon.com

Brian O'Connell is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, record producer and actor. He is the bassist and producer for Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon.

Contents

O'Connell and Salman Ahmad were friends of one another since high school. O'Connell joined Junoon when keyboardist, Nusrat Hussain, left the band and Salman Ahmad contacted and invited him to play bass on the band's second album, Talaash . He is known for harmonizing the western 5-string bass riffs with the traditional tabla and drums. After the release of the band's seventh studio album, Dewaar , O'Connell went back to his native land the United States.

Biography

Early years

O'Connell's musical roots stretch back to Tappan, New York. In 1978, O'Connell, then a sophomore at Tappan Zee High School, was invited by two classmates, Paul Siegel and Mike Langer, to join their band "Apple Corps", a group that played mostly Beatles covers. Shortly after O'Connell joined the band, Apple Corps changed its name to "Sloke", and modified its repertoire to include Led Zeppelin, Boston, and the Grateful Dead. In early 1979, O'Connell and other Sloke band members invited their friend Salman Ahmad to join the group. Ahmad had only recently taken up the guitar, but was already good enough to play with the band at a Tappan Zee High School talent festival in February 1979. That performance marked the first time that O'Connell and Ahmad performed together publicly. Following the departure of Sloke's bassist several months later, O'Connell and Ahmad formed a new band, "Eclipse". Before the two could take their aspirations onto a bigger stage, Ahmad's parents moved back to Pakistan in 1981, and Ahmad began to study medicine at Lahore's King Edward's Medical College.

Junoon (1992-2003)

After Junoon released their self-titled debut album Nusrat Hussain departed from the band and then Salman Ahmad contacted O'Connell and invited him to play bass on the band's second album. O'Connell quit his job as a social worker and traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, where he reunited with his old friend. It was after ten years the friends reunited. In 1992, the band started working on their second studio album. The album was recorded and mixed at Tahir Gul Hasan's Sound On Sound recording studios in Karachi. While working on their second album at one side, on the other hand the band also featured in a television series, Talaash , directed by Atiqa Odho and written by Anwar Maqsood, based on the true story of the band in which the band members acted themselves and due to its novel storyline it became an extremely popular television series in Pakistan. [1]

O'Connell continued to play for Junoon until their seventh studio album, Dewaar , the album which last featured the trio together. However, after the release of the album O'Connell went back to United States. [2]

Junoon 20th anniversary (2011)

On August 12, in an interview with The Express Tribune Salman Ahmad confirmed that he is set to celebrate Junoon's 20th anniversary with the band's former bassist Brian O Connell. [3] “We are reaching Junoon’s 20th anniversary, so I’m excited about more projects coming up regarding that,” Ahmad told The Express Tribune. [3] Ahmad also confirmed that Junoon's 20th anniversary celebration concert will be held at the Asia Society on September 24 in New York City. [3] The band announced that it will release an album to mark two decades of Junoon. The album will be featuring Strings, Bilal Khan, Aag, Outlandish, Usman Riaz and Laal’s Taimur Rahman. [3] Shoaib Mansoor will be writing lyrics for the band's anniversary album. [4]

Discography

With Junoon

Filmography

Related Research Articles

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<i>Junoon</i> (Junoon album) 1992 studio album by Junoon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junoon discography</span>

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<i>Talaash</i> (album) 1993 studio album by Junoon

Talaash is the second studio album of the Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon, released on September 3, 1993. The album was to be their first with bassist Brian O'Connell, who joined the band after Nusrat Hussain departed from the band to pursue his career as a solo artist and released his debut album Amrit in 1992. This was also the first Junoon album produced by Salman Ahmad and O'Connell, both also went on releasing several other albums by Junoon before O'Connell left the band after Dewaar in 2003. The album also served as a soundtrack for the Pakistani television show Talaash, which featured the band and its novel storyline was based on the band.

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References

  1. Talaash PTV Show Retrieved on July 24, 2010.
  2. My Position in Junoon is Temporarily Non-existent Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 20 years of Junoon Retrieved on 12 August 2011
  4. Shoaib Mansoor as the lyricist for Junoon's 20th Anniversary album Archived 2011-09-11 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on August 12, 2011