In contemporary music, Asees ‘tying a knot in air’ successfully

Dubai-based popular Pakistani singer says subcontinent's music is admired everywhere

It won’t be wrong to call Asees Arshad – a Lahore-born Dubai-based popular Pakistani singer – a prodigy who started covering likes of great singers Noor Jahan, Mehdi Hassan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, besides India’s most respected playback singers Lata Mangeshkar and Muhammad Rafi as a school-going boy.

Lucky enough to receive support from family, teachers and friends, Asees Arshad went on to sing for school events, and it was on the very basis of this talent that he got admitted into the prestigious Government College University in Lahore for an intermediate as well as an Honours degree in psychology, along with an opportunity to imbibe the nuances of music under the enviable tutorship of Sir Tariq Salman Farani of his university’s music society. Minute Mirror got in touch with the now Dubai-settled vocalist to have a tete-a-tete over a hot cup of tea on The Mall Road of Lahore, which attracts all art connoisseurs alike.

How did people around you receive your inclination towards music, as you received a considerable support from your family regarding your decision to pursue music?

We, as a family, have such a strong connection with each other that we have never felt the need to receive any kind of validation from the outside. Besides, the kind of music I have been encouraged to pursue has always been the one which falls under the category of good art; good poetry symphonized by the most learned of music artists.

When and why did you decide to shift to Dubai from an art-loving city like Lahore?

I completed my graduation in 2017, and had already earned a lot of fame at the university level for my contributions to the field of music under Nazir Ahmed Music Society (NAMS), which I also consider part and parcel of the struggle I had to go through as a singer. Right after the university, I set out to find a place for myself in the field of music, but it was a little disappointing, to be honest. I met professionals from the industry but my sessions with them were more like unpaid internships, not permanent jobs as a vocalist. However, I did get a job as a music teacher at a private academic institution – the Lahore College of Arts and Sciences. But still I felt my talent draining away and not being utilized at the right place and in the right manner. A colleague of mine who would observe my passion towards music suggested me to move to Dubai and try my luck, considering that Dubai is a hub of entertainment.

Did Dubai turns out to be as lucrative place as expected?

The initial two to three months were very challenging, spent alone in a room with no idea about what to do and where to go. I didn’t know anyone there in a new country and a multi-cultural society. After a lengthy period, I met Ali Mustafa – a great music producer. He offered me to work with him as an assistant music producer. I accepted the offer but soon realized that it was not my real calling. I excused and walked out to experiment at different cafes and clubs where people from different ethnicities come to listen to music. A colleague introduced me to one such café where I gave a demo and got selected. With the commencement of a contract, I finally decided to stay in Dubai. My contract continued to receive its renewal, and I started getting popular through word of mouth, as people would tell each other that a young singer from Pakistan has arrived and is singing at a café.

Do you have any interesting incident to relate from your days spent in Dubai?

Yes, I happened to meet Afaq Ahmad – son of the great playback Akhlaq Ahmed – over there at a musical night. When someone told me that Afaq Ahmad is present, I rushed over to meet him and told him how I have spent my childhood listening to his father’s melodies. Luckily, he was searching for a singer back in those days for his band – The Seen – something about which I had no idea when I met him. In a candid conversation, Afaq Ahmad immediately offered me to have a few jamming sessions with him. The jamming went successful and they roped me in as their band’s vocalist. With my name in the team, the band was re-launched with day-by-day successes. We sang at multiple events, including private parties, our videos got made and spread all over the UAE, landing us in a working environment. On 100th celebrations of UAE’s founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, we also got selected at a government-level event, and our demo inspired the organisers so much that they offered us not only the event’s opening but 10 more shows. From then onwards, we also developed a social media following as a band.

What kind of music do you focus on? Is it contemporary pop, classical, or a fusion of both, something which people like nowadays?

I myself am inclined towards folk and classical, but Dubai-based audience is very much interested in the kind of music which Coke Studio or Nescafe Basement have to offer. Keeping that under consideration, I modified my singing a little. I also learnt Indian film songs which have a huge fan-base. Nowadays, people are also very much into what they call ‘Sufi music’ which falls under traditional or folk music. Seeing that people have also started taking an interest in the genre, I also covered Qawwali and devotional songs. In Dubai, majority of the people are Pakistani and Indian expatriates besides other South Asians, so Urdu and Hindi are common languages. I believe that subcontinental music is admired everywhere.

At times, music concerts are stopped from taking place and films are banned. How discouraging is this uncertainty in arts for aspiring artists?

The very fact that I am in Dubai is a proof of how discouraging it is for the artists. I am a talent of Pakistan. My education, be it my degree or my training in music, is from Pakistan, but I am exhibiting my skills in another country. The identity that I got in Dubai is something which I kept longing for in Pakistan. We, as a country, provide very limited entertainment to our people. So, political as well as religious whims keep affecting the music, or performing arts scene in Pakistan. As a result, people with artistic tendencies tend to move abroad instead of wasting themselves in a place where their talent is under-appreciated. What is even more disappointing is that the future of performing arts is quite bleak.

How would you defend your profession of music in Pakistan?

I also believe that music is the purest form of art, as mentioned by great music maestros. Music is intangible and unseen, yet makes itself felt, and that is what makes it pure. Etymologically, music means to ‘tie a knot in the air’ – something which is impossible. So, the fact that it is equal to ‘tie a knot in the air’ tells how serious music is delicate, difficult, and not everyone’s cup of tea. Rhythm, the very basis of music, is there in our nature. Music connects itself with the science of physics. To put in a nutshell, some experts have classified frequencies, named them and turned them into music. Initially, music didn’t even have words, for melodies alone were enough to entrance people. Our music started getting filled with vocals with the emergence of Sufis like Amir Khusrau who had messages to impart.

What are your upcoming projects?

I plan to shoot some of my music videos in Lahore and Karachi. I am a Pakistani after all and wish to remain associated with its soil. One of my projects is confidential, which I can’t reveal at the moment. Another project which I am a part of is based on a collaboration of around 12 singers from all over the world. One of the songs from that project has been sung by me, while representing Pakistan. I have also sung for Yasra Rizvi’s film ‘Senti aur Mental’ releasing anytime soon. And I also wanted to tell something that I’ll come back instantly whenever someone recognizes my talent here. I love my country and I have always wanted people to know me as a Pakistani. I really want someone from Pakistan to call me back and offer a good platform here so that I can live in my country and serve it all the same.

Muhammad Ali has an M.Phil in classic and contemporary Pakistani television drama, Partition Novel and Literary Environmental Literature. He has written extensively on these topics for various local newspapers between 2015-2020. His research on Sahira Kazmi's classical drama serial "Zaib un Nisa" has been presented on various platforms such as Olomopolo Media and ICDELL, 2019. He can be reached on Twitter @MuhammadAli_DT, and through email at [email protected]