Brian O'Connell is an American multi-

instrumentalist A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He is the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

and producer for Pakistani sufi rock band Junoon. 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 ''Dewaar'' (Urdu: دیوار, literal English translation: "wall") is the seventh studio album and the thirteenth overall album of the Pakistani people, Pakistani band, Junoon (band), Junoon released in 2003. This was the last studio album releas ...

'', O'Connell went back to his native land the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Biography

Early years

O'Connell's musical roots stretch back to

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

. 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 The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

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 music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

. 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 Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, 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 An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. 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 Anwar Maqsood Hameedi (born 7 September 1939; ), popularly known as Anwar Maqsood, is a Pakistani scriptwriter, television presenter, satirist, humorist, and infrequent actor. He is well known for his drama write-ups for PTV in the late 1970 ...

, 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, ''

'', 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 newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Lakson Group'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Intern ...

'' Salman Ahmad 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 Taimur Rahman (Urdu/; born 27 May 1975) is a Pakistani political activist and musician who is serving as the Secretary-General of the Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP), formerly Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP). He is also the lead guitarist and ...

Shoaib Mansoor Shoaib Mansoor (; born 4 February 1951 Karachi) is a Pakistani television and film director, writer, producer, lyricist and musician of Mahajir (Pakistan), Muhajir origin. Active in the Television in Pakistan, television industry since 1976, w ...

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) *''

'' (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