Sona Fariq - Sona Fariq (2000)

SONA FARIQ formed in East London in 1994, the collective embodiment of four close musical friends. They released their first record, a 7", DR JOHN b/w SO PERFECT on the BLUEDOG indie label in 1996 and soon negotiated a publishing deal with BMG PUBLISHING in 1997 - the money funded equipment and the release of a 12" single, DO NOT RETURN, on Sona Fariq's own label in 1998.
In 1999 - after much touring up and down the country in dilapidated vans - a major label frenzy ensued and the band eventually agreed to sign to WEA records.
One album eponymously titled "SONA FARIQ", produced and mixed by engineering genius and deadly black-belt, CHRIS SHELDON (Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Foo Fighters, to name just a few), and mastered in New York by the unequalled HOWIE WEINBERG, was released on WEA in 2000 to mass critical acclaim. The band were nominated the same year as "BEST NEW BRITISH BAND" at the KERRANG! Awards.
Rigorous touring throughout the UK and the European continent, further consolidated Sona's second-to-none live reputation, and quickly gave rise to a growing cult following. At a Sona Fariq gig you would expect to see a cross-section of society with a broad range of tastes that was unusual for this genre.
Though influenced by such luminaries as The Stooges, Bad Brains, Sly and Robbie, Funkadelic, Sonic Youth, Sly and the Family Stone, Dr John, Public Enemy, Asian and North African folk music, old-school hip-hop, sheer unbridled spirit, and more...Sona Fariq were recognised as having an unreplicable sound of their own.
The album itself was to become a treasured slice of rock history to those in the know.
In the summer of 2001, with the new economic downturn, Warners UK shook itself up, dropping every act on its roster...Sona Fariq failed to find another label, and the band sadly split in 2003 while in the process of recording their self-financed second album, which was never completed...