That Treehouse — an incubator for artists

When we hear the word incubator, most of us think of a set up that helps get startups on their feet. It’s a very tech oriented image. Not many will connect the term with music and That Treehouse wants to change that.

Founded by Shahzeb (aka Xrab’s drummer), That Treehouse is an initiative to support and promote Pakistani musicians both locally and internationally. In the founder’s own words, “Our aim is to become an artists’ incubator in the country, which means we want to develop a structure to facilitate music through learning, creation and connection.”

It is a collaborative and recreational space which even though has music at the top of the list but in no way is it limited to only this art form. The platform along with local musicians, aims to gather artists, filmmakers, comedians, writers, photographers, coders, jugglers, back flippers, mind readers, literally anyone who wants to create, think and do.

Pakistan has a lot of undiscovered talent and this is something that has been retreated time and again. With social media we get to see some of it when a kid is spotted singing expertly in a place that we would not have imagined or a youngster pulling a stunt of an Olympic caliber without any formal training. Such viral content always makes us wonder what heights these individuals can touch with formal training.

Natural talent needs grooming to reach its potential. Artists need mentorship, production facilities and a marketing infrastructure that keeps pace with the evolving times of the business. Talking to Mashable Pakistan, Shahzeb said;

“The current status quo is such that, it would be a great overstatement to say, Pakistan has an established music industry. An industry is defined by its manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, legal, as well as so many other aspects that our country is way behind on. There needs to be an effort on an organizational level to push others to join in and make a more structured industry.”

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the artist community around the world took a major hit with events getting axed. However, at the same time they were the ones who kept us insane during the initial phase of the pandemic in which anxiety levels were at a global high. Like every other business art industries around the globe revised the norms of their business.

“We believe the world is changing and we need to come up with innovative solutions to this problem. Since the rise of digital distribution of music, CD and Cassette sales has gone obsolete and there is no revenue model other than live shows that remains. Globally, however, musicians and music professionals have started figuring out different ways to cater to these problems. And if Pakistan does not follow suit anytime soon, (and with the pandemic there is a huge gap), things will become very difficult.”

That Treehouse has started out as a platform that can initiate the evolution of strengthing the local industry at a global level. They have started out with providing a community cafe space where artists can rehearse, learn and showcase music in small open mic nights, recording facilities, video production and graphic design facilities, a collaboration pad to connect with other musicians and a marketing infrastructure to promote their music in the form of a record label.

They released their label’s first production aptly titled, Talaash, as they plan to find undiscovered talent.

The first song, Hum bhi giren gy by Mustafa was released yesterday. After finding the artist and song selection, their online music community was asked to collaborate for the production and everyone brought their A game.

Mustafa Q is an 18 year old from Lahore and through That Treehouse’s platform was able to get around thirty other artists to collaborate on its making. It was released on Pakistan’s 73rd Independence Day as it talks about unity, strength, fulfilling one’s dreams and letting go things that are holding you back. The song aims to be a motivational pop anthem for the younger generation.

Originally published at https://pk.mashable.com on August 15, 2020.