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A Project by Yasir Jawed & Faraz Anwar

Interview with Yasir Jawed
by Rameez Asif
Ibtida is an initiation of blissfully enchanting eastern lyrical distinction of Yasir
Jawed - a passionate ghazal and classical soloist who has come a full circle with this
exceptional album. The selected assortment of some of the most gifted poets has
added another layer of class to the sentiments of the compositions.
To top it, the album has been exalted by the musical mastermind Faraz Anwar, who is
an accomplished performer and musician. Faraz, with his western style blends

delightfully with Yasirs vocals to fashion a musical experience for all ages.
For how long you have been in the music scene?

Professionally not more than a year, otherwise Ive been associated with singing for
the past 20 years
How did you meet Faraz Anwar?
Courtesy of Babar Sheikh (Dusk)
Do you think Neo-Classical is heard by the masses in Pakistan? At present the
music scene is all about Rock music whether good or bad thats a different
debate.
I would like to reply this one in two parts:
1. Neo-classical is not a mass-work, Pakistani society being a stereotype one. I think
here, that same old formula-music works better than any experimental or neo-classical
kind of work.
2. The present music scene, in my opinion, is not all rock! We can easily see all kind
of ghazal, classical/semi-classical, fusion, rock/metal, and other genre work being
done here. Rock is just a part of overall Pakistani musical scene.
We all known Faraz Anwar as a Rock/Metal musician do you think you both are
going to gel together because you both are so different musically?
Usually one would hear from members of a band that they joined together because of
similar musical preferences. We also see these same bands either ending up in
controversies or ultimately breaking up, except a few.
It is true that Faraz and I are poles apart when it comes to musical genres and thats
what the strength of our relationship is. We respect each others work; give it value,
regard the specialization of each other in the respective music genre and this
integration of two different mind sets will make us more successful than the other
normal bands.
Being a Classical Vocalist how do you find Faraz Anwar as a vocalist of Mizraab
because people have criticized his vocals? Do you think vocals should always be
mellow and sweet?
I personally think that the people who criticize Faraz as a vocalist have failed to
understand what Mizraab is. Vocals should be according to the type of music being
done. One should not expect Faraz to sing Mizraabs songs like a ghazal. Similarly, I
cannot sing a ghazal or classical number as a Metal/rock singer. So, people should
relate his vocals with the kind of music he is doing.
How is the project Yasir N Faraz coming along? How much of the album is
done?
The project is moving along well. Eight numbers are ready, three more are in the
pipeline. A music video of a number titled Dua was done and aired on all the major
music channels including The Musik and IM.

Umar Anwar is set to direct a number titled Kalawati, shoot to take place in the 3rd
week of February 2006. Umar Amanullah of The Musik shall also be directing a track
titled Tujh Bin soon. Work on Album release/launch concert shall be done after the
airing of Kalawatis video by the end of February 2006.
Mekaal Hassan Band is another band doing similar kind of music as yours. Do
you think there is any scope of Classical Music in Pakistan?
Classical music is the base and will never die. The only thing required for the growth
of classical music is its easy, understandable and attractive presentation to the youth
and thats what I am trying to achieve. We should remember that classical has been in
the scene since the beginning where as other genres like progressive rock/metal are
comparatively new.
Should a copy cat be named as a Pioneer like it is done in Pakistan? Lets not
mention the names of those so called pioneers but do you really think an artist or
a band should be named as a pioneer who ditto copied music from foreign
bands/artists?
Definitely no. The only thing is if anyone is influenced by foreign bands/artists, the
musical work being used must be acknowledged at the back of the album cover. This
is at least the right of the artist/band whose work has been used/copied.
Acknowledging anyones work always makes one great and more respectable rather
than doing the opposite.
Pakistani music has changed a lot and nowadays videos are given more
importance than Audios. Are the music listeners doing justice to music in
Pakistan?
Again this requires two answers.

Firstly, I dont want to sound too critical but the fact is that Pakistani people have not
taken music as something that requires seriousness and hard work. Understanding
whos who of music is something of a later stage. Singers who cannot even sing a note
properly are the stars of today just because of their looks, styling, and everything other
than music. When the people, especially the youth, wont get to listen to good proper
music, how can one expect them to identify the good and bad?

Secondly, the trend of making expensive film-like videos for a 4-5 minute song has
changed the focus of people from listening to the song to focusing on story, models,
styling, etc., etc. If the priority changes from understanding quality of vocals/poetry
/composition to charisma, hair-styling, wardrobes, hot models, we can expect what
justice will be done. I believe if the song is good in every sense, it doesnt need a
video. This is however not true in Pakistan because of the new trend of making heavybudget videos and an influx of directors who cannot make a video with a low budget.
Yasir n Faraz is a two member project how are you guys going to perform live
at a concert? Are there going to be session players or sequenced drums and bass?
Well I havent really thought of this till now. I generally prefer singing live, given
proper sound conditions. Probably we are going to arrange live musicians as and when
required.
Pakistani Music Industry may be very good but our new musicians are very

insecure from musicians like Faraz Anwar, Aamir Zaki or Adnan Afaq and
whenever a new musician comes around he/she abuses the old and better
musicians. Do you think this attitude of our new bands/artists is going to work
for the betterment of our music scene?

I personally think that criticism, abuses, insecurities, bashing each other, etc, comes in
the package if you are an artist in this part of the world. We cant stop these things.
This in a way shows that the music scene is at least active and living. Who ever is
better will always survive through his/her work no matter how much criticism/abuses
are thrown at him/her. Having said that, I must add that not respecting musicians who
are both better and senior is not a professional way of doing things.
Anything you would like to say to the people reading your interview?

Try to listen to good music that will be a great service to the musical scene. Try to
understand what makes a singer good, what are notes, how the vocals should be, what
are scales, etc, and then you will understand the value of those singers who are
currently the music idols here.

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