For a city that's had a rough decade, Peshawar's remarkable ability to engender and nurture different forms of music is quite astonishing. Though Sajid and Zeeshan could well be deemed forerunners, many more have taken it upon themselves to put Peshawar on the map for more than just political upheaval and security concerns.

Recent music from Peshawar - unlike music from many of Pakistan's other urban centres - has been big on its focus on heritage and local culture. These local influences pervade the music, whether through the use of traditional instruments, Pushto poetry, or rhythms that have been in the mountains of Khyber for ages.

Khumariyaan is an instrumentalist band that has Farhan Bogra on the rubab, Sparlay Rawail and Aamer Shafiq on guitars, and Shiraz Khan on percussions. The band is one of Peshawar's recent organic contributions to Pakistani music. As rubab player Farhan says: "Khumariyaan wasn't actually formed with a plan. It was already there, evolving around 2007-8 when all of us friends would get together and jam..."

The rubab "was seen as an instrument of the uneducated" For Farhan, playing the rubab represented more than just mastery of an instrument - it was as much a desire to undo the social norms which dictated that the rubab "was seen as an instrument of the uneducated." Khumariyaan's success and recognition, however, has led to visible changes in how Pashtun society sees the instrument and musicians as a whole.

The rubab plays a significant role in Khumariyaan's music, though its importance extends beyond its being just an instrument. As Farhan points out, "Rubab is one of the symbols of our region. So for us it is a very special instrument which we are using as a representation of our rich cultural heritage."

The song 'Shenai' is a perfect encapsulation of the band's fusion sound, as it manages to incorporate the rubab and its pulsating rhythms along with a steady djembe beat that calls to mind KP's greenest fields and snow-capped peaks. 'Malang Yar' is another captivating track that merges thumping rhythms with lots of dynamic variation as the song starts and stops along the way, building up to a thoroughly satisfactory crescendo.

The unrest in Peshawar isn't particularly conducive to music Much of Khumariyaan's sound rests on fusing the rubab with Western instruments, such as the guitar, or the Middle Eastern djembe, and while the band might have formed naturally, its members seem to still have a conscious desire to stay true to their roots.

Farhan concedes that the unrest in Peshawar isn't particularly conducive to music right now. "The circumstances indeed were not favourable here in the last couple of years," he says, "and that kind of halted many social activities especially for the youth." Musicians in the city have, however, managed to defy expectations and challenge conservative ideas about music. Tellingly, they've not been alone - much of the city's youth has flocked to hear this music. Farhan acknowledges this positive response when he says, "Where we are today and all the success we have achieved - this is unbelievable. We owe it especially to the people of KP and Peshawar. The tremendous support and faith of our friends, loved ones and fans is the reason that keeps us doing what we love to do."

But support doesn't always amount to commercial or artistic viability. But there are avenues to explore. "In the last couple of seasons," says Farhan, "we have seen artists from our region appearing regularly on Coke Studio and doing great there. So yes, there is a definite space for the kind of music that we do which mainly is modern and folk instrumental fusion." With its emphasis on revisiting local folk music and its resounding success, Coke Studio has caused many listeners to seek out music that shuns a purely Western sound and instead emphasizes local folk music and culture.

Though Khumariyaan doesn't have an album or an EP out yet, there's lots on its horizon. "The aim is to keep following our dream," says Farhan, "and the mission is to use music as a medium to share our culture and heritage with the world. We are working on a few things as we speak regarding our studio album."

There's much to herald about Pakistani music, despite the economic struggle of musicians and the security concerns that have come to bedevil live shows. It is significant that urban bands like Khumariyaan shun commercial pop in favour of a sound that's more representative of their region, and that they manage to stay true to their identities as Pashtuns while simultaneously working in the category of "fusion" which allows them to grow and experiment.

As the track 'Tamasha' shows, the band is in fine form when straddling that line between genres and cultures, shifting from Eastern to Western and playing around with crescendos and stop-start staccatos. As long as Khumariyaan keeps up this dynamic spirit, good things will happen.