LAAL bands Interview

By : Ali Haider Sulehria

Taimur Rehman is the lead guitarist, composer and songwriter of LAAL band. Laal is a musical band known for singing poetry of revolutionary poets such Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Habib Jalib. The band came into limelight during the " Lawyers Movement", in which it led support to the reinstatement of the then deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The band put to music one of the poems written by leading lawyer Aitezaz Ahsan during the movement, "Kal, Aaj, Aur Kal". I talked to Taimur about his musical journey so far and what are his future plans

Haider: Tell us about your education?

TAIMUR:I studied from Aitchison College. Then I went to Grinnell College USA to obtain a BA in Economics and Political Science. I got my masters degree from Sussex University UK and finally I’m working on my Phd from University of London School of Oriental and African Studies.

Haider: How did you get into music and where did you learnt guitar from?

TAIMUR:I have always loved listening to music. And I picked up the guitar when I was a teenager. While in college I studied performance and harmony and developed my skills as a guitar player. But I stopped playing for a number of years and began to play again only a few years ago. Music has been a constant love in my life.

Haider: How was the band formed and what is the concept behind the name laal?

TAIMUR:The band was formed as a result of the collaboration between Shahram and myself. We used to visit working class colonies and sing Faiz and Jalib to raise political consciousness. Then we did the same in protests. Soon this developed into Laal. We choose the name Laal because red is the colour of the labour movement, of change, of revolution.

Haider: How was the response of your first album "UMEED-E-SEHAR" and was it upto your expectations?

TAIMUR:It went far above our expectations. We always knew that our work would be popular but we didn’t know that we could emerge so quickly as a mainstream national level band.

Haider: How was the experience of singing Faiz Ahmed Faiz , Habib Jalib and other revolutionary poets and why did you chose to sing such poetry?

TAIMUR:This poetry goes straight to the heart. It is about what we as a people are experiencing. It touches us all. For us, singing Faiz and Jalib has been a process of discovering these great writers as well as a process of discovering our own selves and the contradictions of the society we live in.

Haider: You sang and composed " Kal Ajj aur Kal " written by Aitzaz Ahsan, How does that happen?

TAIMUR:We saw Aitzaz’s poem on You Tube and felt that his words encapsulated the moment we were living in and our aspirations. We set this poem to the tune of an guitar instrumental track I wrote when I was in college. It worked out wonderfully.

Haider:You and your band played a huge role during restoration of judicary,Are you satisfied with the current judicary because the poor people you talk about are in the same conditions as they were before?

TAIMUR:No we are not satisfied. To be satisfied means that we can go home and relax. But the problems that Pakistan confronts are so enormous that we must continue the struggle for a just society. The restoration of the judiciary and democracy was only one small step in that struggle for a new society.

Haider: You are a key member of Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party , tell us about your party and will it become a mainstream party like other political parties?

TAIMUR: I have been a Marxist activist for the last 12 years. We hope that socialist ideas take hold of the workers movement and we are able to play a role in the development of a socialist movement.

Haider: Where and what do you teach and how has been this experience so far ?

TAIMUR:I teach political science at LUMS. I love to teach. It is a labour of love. I wouldn’t give it up for the world.

Haider: Your band has started " Laal Book Circle" in Isalamabad , what is it and will it be started in other cities?

TAIMUR:In both Lahore and Pindi we are running book circles to study and teach socialist literature. Young people from other cities have been contacting us constantly to do something similar in other cities. They need guidance to start such circles and we are working on that as well.

Haider:Do you think that music can bring change and has it ever happened before in any other part of the world?

TAIMUR:It is happened in our own part of the world. Look at the influence of music on popular culture in Pakistan. Sufi poetry and sufi music was enormously influential in shaping the moral and social life of our society.

Haider: Which has been your most memorable performance so far ?

TAIMUR:They were all memorable. But the one that takes the cake still is the one we did from the back of a moving truck to a moving workers rally on May 1st 2006.

Haider: Tell us about your upcoming video , who is directing it and what it is going to be about?

TAIMUR:We are still working on the concept so I can’t reveal much. Besides what would be the fun if I gave it all away.

Haider: When are you planing to release your next album?

TAIMUR:Next year. We have already written all the songs and also made demos. So next summer, you will see the second Laal album.

Haider:What are the future plans of "Laal"?

TAIMUR:We want to try and break into the international market as well.

Haider: What message would you like to give to your fans specially youth and how can they contact you?

TAIMUR:They can email me or write to me on facebook. I respond quite regularly to all our fan mail.
My message to them is “We can change Pakistan if we really want, but to do this, we have to work and work hard”.