Brian O'Connell is an American multi- instrumentalist, composer, arranger,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is the bassist and producer for Pakistani

sufi rock Sufi rock or Sufi folk rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical Islamic Sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan and Turkey. The term "Sufi rock" was c ...

band Junoon. O'Connell and

Salman Ahmad Salman Ahmad ( ur, , born 12 December 1963) is a Pakistani born-American musician, rock guitarist, physician, activist, occasional actor and professor at the City University of New York. He earned nationwide popularity in 1998 for his un ...

were friends of one another since high school. O'Connell joined Junoon when keyboardist,

Nusrat Hussain Nusrat Hussain (Urdu:نصرت حسین), is a Pakistani musician, airline pilot, guitarist, and keyboardist. He played guitar for the Vital Signs and keyboard for Junoon in the mid 1990s. He soon left both bands opting for a career in PIA as ...

, 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Biography

Early years

O'Connell's musical roots stretch back to

Tappan, New York Tappan ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. It is located northwest of Alpine, New Jersey, north of Northvale, New Jersey and Rockleigh, New Jersey, northeast of Old Tappan, Ne ...

. In 1978, O'Connell, then a sophomore at Tappan Zee High School, was invited by two classmates 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 Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and the Grateful Dead. In early 1979, O'Connell and other Sloke band members invited their friend

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

departed from the band and then

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 Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, 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 Atiqa Odho ( ur, ; born 12 February 1968 ) is a Pakistani television and film actress, television host, and the namesake of her own founded cosmetics brand Odho cosmetics. She debuted in Anwar Maqsood's TV series. She is famous for, '' Sitara au ...

and written by

Anwar Maqsood Anwar Maqsood Hameedi (born 7 September 1939, Urdu:), popularly known as Anwar Maqsood, is a Pakistani scriptwriter, television presenter, satirist, humorist, and infrequent actor. He was well known for his drama write-ups for PTV in the lat ...

, 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. 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.

Junoon 20th anniversary (2011)

On August 12, in an interview with ''

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English language, English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the ''Daily Express (Urdu newspaper), Daily Express'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliat ...

confirmed that he is set to celebrate Junoon's 20th anniversary with the band's former bassist Brian O Connell.20 years of Junoon
Retrieved on 12 August 2011 “We are reaching Junoon’s 20th anniversary, so I’m excited about more projects coming up regarding that,” Ahmad told ''The Express Tribune''. Ahmad also confirmed that Junoon's 20th anniversary celebration concert will be held at the Asia Society on September 24 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. 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 Outlandish is a hip-hop music group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, it consisted of Isam Bachiri (born in Denmark and of Berber background), (born in Denmark and of Pakistani background), and (born in Honduras and of Cuban and Honduran de ...

, Usman Riaz and Laal’s Taimur Rahman.

Shoaib Mansoor Shoaib Mansoor (Full name, Shoaib Mansoor), ( ur, ; born 4 February 1951 Karachi) is a Pakistani television and film director, writer, producer, lyricist and musician of Muhajir origin. Active in the television industry since 1980, he first ...

will be writing lyrics for the band's anniversary album.Shoaib Mansoor as the lyricist for Junoon's 20th Anniversary album
Retrieved on August 12, 2011

Discography

With Junoon

*'' Talaash'' (1993) *'' Kashmakash'' (1995) *'' Inquilaab'' (1996) *'' Azadi'' (1997) *'' Parvaaz'' (1999) *'' Millennium 1990-2000'' (2000) *'' Andaz'' (2001) *'' Daur-e-Junoon'' (2002) *'' Junoon for Peace'' (2002) *'' Dewaar'' (2003) *'' Dewaar: The Best of Junoon'' (2004) *'' Junoon 20'' (2011)

Filmography

*'' Talaash'' (1992) *'' United for Peace'' (2001) *'' Islamabad: Rock City'' (2001)

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Brian Living people American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rock guitarists American male guitarists Junoon (band) members People from Tappan, New York Place of birth missing (living people) American expatriate musicians in Pakistan Guitarists from New York (state) 20th-century American guitarists 1963 births