Arieb Azhar

By Ali Haider Sulehria

Arieb Azhar is a singer, composer, musician and now a host. He is among one of the most talented musician in our music industry. He is not an average musician and he is certainly not singing sappy love songs with a band. Instead, he has taken on the challenge to preserve Pakistani folk music by creating rhythms that blend the classical with musical influences from around the world. He is among one of the most inspiring, impressing and down to earth man whom I have ever met in my life .He has so far released one album called WAJJ which got a very good response. This album was tagged as Sufi album and had one of the most mesmerizing melodies ever and according to me if you have not heard this album you have heard nothing. He has also just finished a travel show based on music journey in Bosnia and Croatia called SALAM BALKAN. He has lived in Croatia for about 15 and was there through out the war. He has recently performed at rafi peer festival and he was performing on the stage when bomb blasts took place. I talked to him in Lahore about his musical journey, time in Bosnia and Croatia, his upcoming projects and his next album.



Haider: Q 1: Since how long you are singing and do you have any musical training?

ARIEB: I started singing since my childhood and as far as musical training is concerned I don’t have any musical training but I have learned a lot from listening to music of all type. I have been a part of Irish band and have produced two Irish albums and done a lot of gypsy music in Croatia. Throughout these last few years in Croatia I felt more and more of a longing to immerse myself in the ‘roots’ music of Pakistan and finally decided to shift back about 5 years ago back here and then I quickly got involved in the poetry of Bhulleh Shah and other Mystic poets.

Haider: Q2: How was the response of your first album WAJJ and was it up to your expectations?

ARIEB: Well the response of my first album was up to my expectations because I never thought that it will be a one night hit even though the marketing of the album was not up to mark .

Haider: Q3: Who has been your inspiration in music?

ARIEB: As far as Pakistani music is concerned I am inspired by Abida Parween, Aziz mian, Ghulam Fareed Sabri, Tufail Niazi, Fareed Ayaz Rizvi. Mostly I am inspired by folk and organic music. These days I am inspired by a Lebanese artist based in France Abba Ji whom I met in world performing arts festival.

Haider: Q4: These days mostly musicians make very expensive and high budget videos but video of your song HUSN-E-HAQIQI was very simple why it is so?

ARIEB: First of all I don’t have extra money to waste and second is that I don’t believe on commercialism, as far as husn-e-haqiqi is concerned we made that video only 2500 rupees and that suite the type of music I am doing.

Haider: Q5: What is pop and rock music? Which one does you like the most? What are your views about Pakistani rock music?

ARIEB: Well I don’t like pop music because pop means popular music and to sell something and I don’t believe on commercialism. According to me pop music is the lowest common denominator. As far as rock music is concerned it is very inspiring and impressing. It actually originated from streets and its main purpose was to bring revolution or change in music scene of that time. I think people in Pakistan are getting more into the pop, and perhaps, rock scene – not because they are honestly into the music itself, but the whole ‘star’ status that the music brings with it. As far as Pakistani rock music is concerned it is not rock music it is actually rock n roll music which is inspired from western rock n roll .According to me the real rock musician of Pakistan is Aziz Mian .

Haider: Q6: How you became interested in Sufi music and what actually Sufi music is all about?

ARIEB: Since my father Aslam Azhar was involved in the early years of the establishment of PTV, a lot of folk artists used to frequently visit our house in Rawalpindi. Some of my earliest memories are of Shaukat Ali singing Saif ul Muluk, and later of Abida Parveen, Tufail Niazi and many others. My parents also used to listen to a lot of Eastern and Western classical music. As far as Sufi music is concerned if ‘Sufi’ music means, singing the poetry of well-established Sufi poets, then that’s possible in any style of music. I take ‘Sufi music’ to mean, any type of music which is played with soul. So for me ‘Afro-American Gospel’ music is also ‘Sufi’ I think in our part of the world people take Sufi music to mean the folk and Qawwali style of rendering the Mystic poetry of the Subcontinent.

Haider: Q7: How will you differentiate SAIF-UL-MALUK which you have sung from other classical singer who has been singing it for years?

ARIEB: Saif-ul-maluk which old classical singers such as Shaukat Ali sang was very excellent and out of this world. Saif-ul-maluk which actually I have sung is more improvised and its arrangements are latest. These days I am singing it in totally different way which I have recorded in my album.

Haider: Q8: It is believed that when someone who has a very beautiful voice sings SAIF-UL-MALUK fairies gather to listen it, Is it true?

ARIEB: Ha ha, I think that, this do happen because vfairies love art whether it’s in any form.

Haider: Q9: You have composed and sung first Bosnian song in Pakistan’s musical history called EMINA what does that mean and what it is all about?

AREIB: This is actually a sevdah song which means pain and it is among one of the special music of Bosnia which touches and enter your soul. Emina is basically the name of a girl in Bosnia as we have Amina in Pakistan. It is sort of a love and Sufi song of Bosnia. This is also a sad song but according to me the real joy and relaxation is in sadness. It is actually a nostalgic kind of song

Haider: Q10: You have also been a part of an Irish band and produced two Irish albums, what is Irish music?

AREIB: Irish music is actually music from Ireland. In 50s and 60s there folk music started dying. Then some youngsters of that time revived and brought a new boom and evolution in music. Irish music not harmonic music it is actually melodic music. Irish music is not like western classical music. In Irish music a specific drone is played on which melody is weaved. As Ireland used to be a separate island so many people used to take asylum there to save themselves from Romans so a lot of culture is actually present in Irish music.

Haider: Q11: You have spent many years of your life in Bosnia and Croatia what type of place it is? Did you went there for education and how was your experience there?

AREIB: I went there for education. It took about a year to first learn the language. I studied Philosophy and Indology (India Studies) there and after that I started music. I was there during the war and situation there at the time of war was totally similar to current situation of Pakistan. Well as far as the place is concerned it is among one of the most beautiful places in the world and I am totally in love with Bosnia and Croatia. It helped me a lot in my musical journey and training.

Haider: Q12: How was the experience and response of your first travel show SALAM BALKAN which you also hosted?

AREIB: It was a very beautiful experience for me and it was the biggest opportunity for me to capture my memories of Bosnia and Croatia in a documentary. It was a very personal kind of a project. Well as far as hosting is concerned this was my first experience of hosting. In first few episodes I was a little bit nervous but after that I got used to it and its response was very good.

Haider: Q13: When you will be releasing your second album, are you planning to release more videos from your next album as compared to the last one and will it also be Sufi album?

AREIB: I will start recording my second album in December and hopefully I will be releasing more videos from my upcoming album then the last one .I won’t give it any tag and this album will be a live album in which all my fellow musician including me will be playing live .

Haider: Q14: Do you think that a singer should fully understand the meaning and feelings of the Sufi poetry before singing it?

AREIB: I think it’s very important to understand the meaning and feeling of the poetry and singer should totally get into depth of each and every word. According to me this is more important than musical “riyaaz”.

Haider: Q15: How does it feel to sing kalam of Sufi poets?

AREIB: It feels very good to sing kalams of Sufi poets. They have said and written something against extremism which if I am going to say then this society will impose ten “fatwas” on me but what they have said is actually something which no one can deny and argue on and it is also correct and true.

Haider: Q15: You have just recently performed and have been performing in Rafi Peer World Art Festival, how was the experience of performing and what is the significance of such festivals?

AREIB: This is actually a very good and interesting festival where you get a chance to listen international music for about ten days and interact with international artists. Such events have a huge importance and significance in our society where we are already tensed by terrorism and there should be many such festivals.

Haider: Q16: How was the reaction of international artists who came from all over the world to Rafi Peer Festival when the bomb blast took place?

ARIEB: They got a little bit panic but there moral was very high and they all decided to perform and have decided to come next year also specially Indians .

Haider: Q17: Tell us about your international concerts and which is your most memorable concert?
AREIB: Well I have not performed that much internationally but I have performed in India, Bosnia, Croatia and Germany. My most memorable concert of my life was on 22nd November 2008 when I was performing in Alhamra and bomb blasts took place.

Haider: Q19: What are your upcoming projects?
AREIB: Well I have a plan to make a documentary on Pakistani folk music in which professional sound engineers will record the music and in which we will travel across all over the Pakistan. The second one is to do a musical travel show in which we will travel from Pakistan to Iran , turkey , Bulgaria, Bosnia , Italy , France , England and than end in Ireland and in this documentary we will travel on a van.

Haider: Q20: What can be done to promote music and music talent in Pakistan?

AREIB: It is true that there is a lot of musical talent in Pakistan but our promoters and producers are totally losers because they believe in commercialism. They should promote and package musicians which mostly Pakistani people listen to rather than promoting glamour and fashion because this is all artificial. They promote the proper content rather than this fashion and glamour.