When you meet Saira Aafreen Ahmed for the first time, she will be all reticent and shy, welcoming you with a sheepish smile. But catch her playing the bass guitar while jamming with her teammates, and her vigour will stump you.
As the only female musician in a boy band, the 23-year-old brings a pretty different "bass" to the team's synergy. Her association with KAPOW!, a Delhi-based band, started way back in 2022. Since then, her existence revolves solely around the development and growth of the "world's first Comic Rock band from India," as they term themselves. Such is her dedication to the team that Saira terms churning out 12 songs in a year for their album in 2024 as her "biggest achievement to date."
While some may think it's exaggerated and unnecessary, she is fully okay with it. "I ditched going to the US for higher studies when I got a chance in this band (in October 2022)," shares Saira nonchalantly, and from then on, her exclusive focus has been to build KAPOW! from the ground up.
"I want to transform KAPOW! from a band to a brand," she beams, establishing that this is her life's goal.
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Apart from the bass, the Delhi University graduate handles "all the corporate stuff," as her bandmates put it, for KAPOW! Almost all the planning, boring documentation, managing those dry Excel sheets, finances, and branding are done by this closeted effervescent woman.
Saira is also in charge of the band's social media advertising and this was truly a revelation. For someone as introverted as she is, the quirk and wickedness you get after a scan through their Instagram and Facebook accounts is akin to attending a stand-up comedian's show. It just goes on to show that the Green Day fan just needs a proper platform to stun you with her multiple skills.
'Her energy is electrifying,' Band-Mate Describes Saira Aafreen Ahmed
When KAPOW! charmed the crowd at Comic-con in Mumbai in 2023, Saira was a part of it. "Oh it was so exciting," is all the Kolkata-born could manage to express but her wide smile andglint in the eyereverberated the intense enjoyment and pride she had being associated with the program.
Mayank Mittal, her bandmate, described her most properly. "Off-stage, we ask her to improve her people's skills but she is actually the crowd favourite...everyone loves her when she performs. Her energy on the stage is electrifying," he narrated with a smile. And once you meet her, you do get an idea of what he's implying, half of it.
Her musical journey started when she picked up a guitar in her school, Delhi Public School (Sushant Lok), because "that's the only musical instrument they had," Saira dryly said. And today, she's a roaring member of a boy band. It just goes on to show how she has many layers that are only waiting to be peeled off with time.
At her age, Saira is probably the country's youngest female bassist but,thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was almost on the verge of losing her touch with tunes. Instead of choosing the easy path, a resilient Saira Aafreen Ahmed stayed on. "Just stay put. Everything else gets sorted," comes her crisp advise to aspiring female musicians.
Apart from lead singer Mayank and bassist Saira, KAPOW! has Vinod Arora on the guitars, Ritic Joel on the keyboard, and Prakhar Srivastava on the drums. You can follow them on:
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