Interview with Khurram WaqarBy Rameez AsifHi Khurram, how are you? What’s going on these days?Well I am doing just fine. These past few weeks have been hectic in terms of thework. Music is also going strong. I am working on the kNumb album and on mynew instrumental album is in progress.You are not a full time musician how do you manage your job and musictogether?That is true. All that is required is proper time management. You have to strike abalance between your work and music making sure that you give appropriate timeto each and not to forget your family as well. So it is difficult but manageable.As a musician what is your source of inspiration while creating music?Anything at a particular instance in time can be the source of inspiration for mewhile creating music. Anarchy is about the war in Iraq. Into the Battle is about theinjustice and discrimination towards a certain class in a society. Mary’s Fury is formy lovely wife. A musician’s strength is that he/she is able to absorb everythingthat is around them and translate that into a musical idea. In terms of the ability todo a good job at it depends on your technical as well as theoretical knowledge.Do you remember the first clip/song you ever recorded when you startedplaying?Yeah I do. It was a song called Carried away. This was the first ever song that Iwrote over a basic I-IV-V progression. This was way back in 1993 when there wasno concept of hard disk based recordings. Amiga and Commodore 64 were inmarket for playing video games on computers. I recorded it using a tape recordedwith a built in microphone. The rhythms were recorded first. Then I played themover another deck and recorded the solo using the tape recorder again. Therecording of course was far from professional but I learnt a lot from it.How is your band Knumb coming along? Knumb seems a little inactive isn’tit?kNumB is going pretty strong. We are working on our album and things aremoving along steadily but at a slow pace. You have to look at the fact that all of uswork and have families too. So inactive is not the appropriate word here.I am sure you must have heard musicians saying that they can’t create musicwithout using drugs/alcohol. Do you agree with them?Well, I personally do not agree with that. Drugs and alcohol may increase yourconcentration to a certain extent but in order to create music you do not necessarilyhave to be under the influence of these substances. Music created with properunderstanding and knowledge does not require the use of substances.I have heard a little about Knumb’s album, how much work is done and when

can we see the album in the market?As I have explained above as well, that work is in progress. It is definitely slowdue to the fact that all of the members have day jobs and families. Moreover, weare not in a hurry to release our work. We are taking our sweet time to come upwith the true representation of our style. I, myself, am the biggest critic of mymusic. So unless we are totally satisfied with what we are producing, it will not bereleased. Tentatively, we should have something ready by the end of this year.Apart from Knumb’s album are you working on you solo instrumental albumas well? Is this true? Tell us about it.Yes, I am working on a solo instrumental album as well. It will explore moreeastern classical scales and what I will be doing is to employ the western jazz andharmony concepts to these scales for e.g. if you break the Todi thaat in terms oftriads and 7th based chords, almost infinite possibilities arise on how to approachthis scale.What do you think of the present Pakistani music scene?The music scene in Pakistan is going pretty strong. My inhibition is that due to thissudden explosion in media activity, a lot of mediocre and below average work isalso coming forward. Everybody wants to become an instant star. This in myopinion is pretty normal. In the coming years, all this mediocrity will be gone andonly the proper musicians and artists will sail through.Can you compare the strong Underground scene (five years back) of Pakistanwith the commercial music scene?The word underground music has been used and abused a lot for quite some time.For me, there is only one term and that is “Music”. I do not differentiate musicbased on genres. It’s either something which I instantly like while listening to it orit may be something that is forgettable. When listening to a piece of music, a lot ofelements can strike you. It can be the simplicity of the piece or it can be thecomplexity. It can be the scale idea that is being used or it can be the time signatureemployed. It can be phrasing that can strike you or it can be monotony. So in termsof music and music alone, there are a lot of talented musicians here in Pakistan.Some are established and some are on the road to being established.In the present music scene which artist(s) or band(s) you think are doingoutstanding music which is better than the rest?Currently, I would say Faraz Anwar is the only musician who is doing some greatwork well above the rest. Moreover, Amir Zaki, Mekaal Hasan and Gumby are alsothose few serious musicians who have the technical as well as theoretical base.In terms of eastern classical music, Ustaad Fareed Nizami (sitar) and UstaadAllarakha (Sarangi) are a treat to watch.Your views on the music critics in Pakistan? Are they doing justice because Isee them biased towards the artists they know personally.Well, this is true in some cases but that cannot be said for everybody. Critique isnot an easy job, be it music or anything else. The critics have to be well versed inthe specific field and also have a certain clout to be able to ensure that the publictakes them seriously. I personally do not believe in this critique business at all be itin Pakistan or anywhere in the world. An album which is ripped apart by critics canbe a source of inspiration for a lot of people. Moreover, a song’s evolution can onlybe truly explained by the artist. The critics control the average person’s mindbecause of their clout and can make or break an artist only in terms of monetary

gain and popularity but not in terms of artistic integrity. So a true artist will neverbe affected by what these so called critics have to say about him/her. If he/she isgood, they will automatically command genuine respect all around no matter whatanybody says.In The end you would like to say anything to the fans or the audience seekinggood music?I would just say to do whatever you are doing with full dedication and motivation.There is no replacement for honest and hard work. Believe in yourself and neverget under the misconception that you have fully achieved what you are doing.There is always room for improvement and it is this urge to constantly improvewhich can differentiate you from the rest. Keep rocking.

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