Exclusive Interview with

Name?
Adil Yaqub Salik.

Date of Birth?
12th April, 1980.

Hobbies?
Music ( duh ), Artwork, Poetry, Self indulgent ramblings, avid ex- xmen
comic freak, photography.

Education?
Final year student of BDS ( Dentistry ) @ Lahore Medical & Dental College.

Music Education?
Self taught - started playing guitar when i was 13, started really dwelling on
it since i was 15/16, studied music a bit on my own and listened to tonnes
and tonnes of records from grunge to alternative rock to neo-power pop to
contemporary adult music to piano music etc. Started songwriting around 16
and have been writing and singing ever since. Music compositions,
orchestration, percussion, drum sequencing and mixing of all songs on the
trusty pc and in my virile head :)

Music Equipment?
Mind, Words, Guitars ( Ibanez rg370, Yamaha nylon acoustic, Emip solid
electric ), Voice, PC, Tambourines, Salt shakers and postcards from flickering
night skies.

Other Occupations?
I just recently finished a book of post modern poetry entitled " Dirty Street-
lites", have been writing for a long time now.

Sources of inspiration (while creating music)?

Roadside emotions that are clichéd and at times overspent :
love/hate/empathy/jealousy/bliss/chaos/ambivalence. A lot of real life
events that occur that effect you as a person: body mind and soul as well as
the people around you. the gravity that glues us all to one place. I also learnt
a LOT from the musicians that I’ve heard and adore, the list is endless but a
few of them are : REM, Counting crows, Nirvana, Pearl jam, Foo fighters,
Hole, Bush, Tori amos, Sarah McLachlan, K's choice, Stereophonics, Live, Ani
DiFranco, Dave Matthews band, Goo Goo dolls, Cake, Cranberries, Smashing
Pumpkins, Duncan Sheik, a plethora of unsigned bands and artists like Emily
wells, the shermans etc whom you could found on the net on mp3.com or
epitonic.com etc. and the list goes on and on, i've probably not mentioned 40
or 50 more bands that i avidly listen to, but it just goes to show that i listen
to a whole lot of music ranging from Contemporary adult alternative to
punkrock to piano-singer-songwriter stuff and that just carries the torch of
real music for me onwards, to which i become a part of. Music not for the
sake of doing something as a hobby or perhaps getting famous or just as
something "kool" but making music and songs that directly speak out of
experience and intelligence. Songs that you could relate to in your life, not
bubblegum pop music. The ultimate feeling is knowing that you can raise
awareness or that you can change someones life or way of thinking just by
communicating to them through your words and your music ... that feeling is
the ultimate high and that also instills in you this sense of responsibility and
belonging while at the same time allowing you to go out on a limb and
scream revolution in the face of the four-walls holding you back.

What drew you guys towards music?

Well, to me, growing up was something i did around a lot of exposure to
music, through my fathers classic huge vinyl record collection and to my first
taste of american/english music and onto the first wave of Pakistani
pop/rock. And then came a time when i discovered grunge, Nirvana and
pearl jam from that time, every milestone or every event in my life can be
relived by listening to some song which ran in that era, each verse carrying a
vision of some forgotten childhood folly. Creating music and writing words to
complement it, or writing poetry and creating music to complement that was
so addictive and it became such a bare necessity that it just became
something i accepted as a part of me and my everyday life. The taste, the
bittersweet laments, the angry revolution, the sunkissed summer love song,
that all drew me radically into making music.

Tell us something about your upcoming album?

Well, i've been working on tonnes of songs, broadly classified under two
different projects. The english songs ( i've written more than a 100 english
songs over the course of 5 years ) are intended for two Lp's: one a more
skeletal and bare record called " A cuestick for malice" consisting of more
acoustic based songs, and the alterna rock ripper record " Let you blur ".
The second project is the urdu record, called " Mahaz", and for that about
25+ urdu songs have been penned and are currently being recorded. A lot of
these songs are up and available at http://dye.iuma.com, but i would like to
believe that at one time i'd like to rerecord them perhaps, so in a way those
can be considered very hifi demos. Mahaz would deal with the concept of
moulding songs that would reflect either a: personal experiences, b: are
about the real world, real problems and real issues that as human beings and
as people of this land we must understand and react to and c: songs about
indemnity, reveling and retaliation ( preferably at the same time ).

Music Recognition or achievements?

I've performed several times, and @ the RMS ( rock music show ) and
ReadyHO!TV ( both tv shows ) and the band has also enjoyed good reviews in
The News and the Sunday Times etc. + Regular airplay @fm101 (high
voltage). The most enterprising thing is perhaps performing at a concert and
interacting with the audience or puting your songs up as mp3s on the web
and reaching Canada, Mauritius, states, uk and australia and getting lots of
fain mail and being able to communicate with all those people on a personal
level.

Type of Music you like?

The bands i listen to mostly have already been mentioned under the
inspirations, but as far as genre is concerned it'd have to be Alternative
rock/ Contemporary Adult Alternative, Post modern/neo emo and punkrock.
A lot of conventional singer songwriter stuff. Country/alternative country
and americana.

Type of Music you hate?

Dance, Techno, Death Metal, Rap, Rock-Rap, Indian film music, Bubblegum,
Corporate produced acts al'a boybands and avril and britney and all such,
Middle of the road rock. ( this was fun :) )

What do you think about other Pakistani Artists?

There are a lot of good musicians out there save for their egos that i really
like. Junoon have always been an inspiration. I think what they really need is
diversity plus acceptance of more left field acts into the mainstream plus
they all severely need to stop promoting people with money and contacts and
really get into the essence of it all. Sincere musicians, not in it for the money,
not in it for the fame, not in it for the women ... that’s what we severely need
here.

How would you like to be remembered?

As a band i'd like to be remembered as a true musician sincere to
songwriting and not to corporate sponsorships :) Integrity, good meaningful
lyrics and songs that remain and affect lifetimes.
As a person i'd like to be remembered for being sincere to what he believed
in, for making a difference albeit a small one in this whirlwind of infinite
inconsistency i.e. this life.

Favorite musicians (Pakistani)?

Junoon, Najam, Noori.

Favorite Song (Pakistani)?

one song? sheesh ... thats a hard one, but i guess it could be a junoon song
from the inquilaab era, something along the lines of Rooh ki Pyaas or
perhaps from Azadi - Dil naheen lag raha / Muk Gaey ney ... hard hard
question. Honorable mention: Najams' mera jee nahin laagey from the
excellent record Roop Nagar.

Final Comments?
Individuality is something that we all strive for, but only some find. Yet to be
bold enough to evolve and to radiate empathy and to embrace your past and
pave way for a future that is set in weight of all the silver that your words
and actions equal. To know yourself, to be yourself and to not implicate but
amae way for a future that is set in weight of all the silver that your words
and actions equal. To know yourself, to be yourself and to not implicate but
amalgamate your thoughts and ideologies to make a better whole of this
parade ... that is what i believe is the semi-purpose of this temporary life.

Thankyou very much Adil for the Interview.

Interview conducted and hosted exclusively by Karachi Underground.