Big bands are struggling right now, says Bilal Maqsood.

There's a lot more to singer Bilal Maqsood than his 'simple' life, black shirts and basic watch on his wrist. The singer opened up in a podcast with Junaid Akram about the beginning of his band Strings, the memories attached with it and the standard of musicians today.

On Saturday, the episode aired on YouTube where the singer not only talked about how he met his wife but also music today and why bands like U2 and Coldplay are struggling. He compared Strings with U2 and how that was the direction they were going for but unfortunately, according to him, not everyone is able to reach that point or goal. Maqsood said that at a time like this, even U2 must be thinking about how to entertain the new generation and how to re-invent themselves.

"Look at Coldplay. They collaborate with younger artists just to stay relevant. Now they've said that after 2025 they won't be making new music but will perform at concerts. Maybe they're also feeling tired. How much can they do?

'According to us, everything is glittery and shiny but they know what they are going through and it's not an easy journey for a musician who is constantly thinking about what they have to do next. The world's changing and for the underdogs, the world right now is ideal because the audience is surfing the internet and they are searching for people that they can own and discover."

He said that ownership is very important at this time and as soon as you become big, you lose the ownership of the audience because you're on a different level. Your audience then looks out for new people. "For big bands and names it becomes difficult and for indie artists the world today is a playing field."

In response to a question by the host about collaborations with junior artists and the growing trend of an artist being equated with their best work, Maqsood explained why his and Faisal Kapadia's band called it quits. "Me and Faisal used to always discuss that we shouldn't reach a point where we both are in denial that we are still big because in our career of 33 years we've seen so many people going through that phase where they feel that they are on top and someone is a junior to them. You can't snatch respect. We always discussed that we won't let our band come under the spotlight for wrong reasons, even if it was for selfish reasons such as getting money."

Maqsood is grateful for the lockdown and credited it for making it easy for him and Kapadia to make a decision about their band. He said that...