“Coke Studio was about making the best music we could, and everything else took a back seat. As a musician, there is little more one could ask for.” – Haniya Aslam
Maheen Sabeeh, Karachi
Zeb and Haniya discuss Coke Studio, its significance in their musical career and the impact on the music industry…
Tell us about your Coke Studio experience and working with its producer Rohail Hyatt?
Zeb Bangash: Working with Rohail has brought some hope back to our lives. We were feeling quite disappointed at the state of the industry and the disrespect that is meted out to artists when we met him. All we had seen till this project was people forcing artists to work under insufficient budgets with no interest or empathy for the art form, delaying payments to artists for months on end, and finally it seemed that artists were always made to feel bad for what they represented. Rohail and Umber to me have emerged as leaders in the industry through this project. They both have an extremely caring and inclusive style of management, yet they are tough on the task. In essence, they are the kind of bosses that motivate you to work for them because you have real love and respect for them. This inspires one to work together as a team so that one has fun with the project at every step and everyone walks out of the studio feeling enriched and happy. To me its people like these who should be running music related businesses like record labels and music channels. I’m too excited to have met them.
Haniya Aslam: At the time when we first met Rohail, Zeb and I were both going through a period of confusion and professional frustration following the release of our album, Chup. Ever since the album launch we had been meeting all kinds of people and going through all kinds of experiences, which left us completely bemused. Meeting Rohail at that point was exactly what we needed. His positive attitude and experience really helped us re-evaluate things, and gave us the momentum we needed to keep going on.
The entire Coke Studio experience has been that way for us. Everything was incredibly well organised throughout the project, thanks to Umber. One never had to ask for something more than once. It was apparent to everyone that this project was about making the best music we could, and everything else took a back seat. As a musician, there is little more one could ask for.
Tell us about working with Javed Bashir?
Zeb Bangash: Working with Javed Bashir was the highlight of the entire experience for us. I was extremely nervous about singing with him till the day of the actual recording where his disposition put me at ease. He was happy, comfortable and extremely encouraging from the onset. Also, he and I are musically related – we both learned from Ustad Mubarik Ali Khan – and it was lovely hearing much of Ustad saab’s style and rendering in Javed Bhai’s performance. I was moved to hear a great vocalist play around with our creation. I never thought such complex “tehayees” and “alaaps” would sit in so well with our songs!
Haniya Aslam: The thought of working with Javed sahib was exciting and intimidating all at once. He is the nephew of Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, who is also Zeb’s Ustad, so there was also that link. We had never attempted fusion with a vocalist of his calibre before Coke Studio, and to be honest we weren’t completely confident about our skill. But when we were actually on the floor performing the tracks, it was just incredibly hearing Zeb and Javed sahib singing ‘Chal Diye’ together. It was like hearing one’s own emotions echoed and amplified incredibly skillfully. I think hearing Javed sahib sing my compositions was definitely one of the highest points of my musical career.
You sang with Javed Bashir on ‘Chal Diye’. Tell us about the sentiment behind the song?
Zeb Bangash: ‘Chal Diye’ is a track that everyone seems to love instantly, making it one of the most popular tracks on the album. Since we don’t have many videos out it was important to have songs that grab the attention of the audience. I also voted for it because the melody is so pretty and so much fun to play around with vocally.
Haniya Aslam: ‘Chal Diye’ is one of the older compositions on our album. It’s a song I wrote for the city I grew up in and that I consider my home, Islamabad.
There are a lot of sentiments in this song, and lot of history and a lot of attachment to the themes in it. I think at its core this song is about people and places that we love but sometimes one has to part from them. And despite parting these things always stay with you.
We chose this song because firstly, this is one of the most popular tracks on the album and secondly, this song is in raag aiman, making it a good choice to base a fusion track on.
– Photography by Kohi Marri and Rizwan ul Haq
link: The News International – No. 1 English Newspaper from Pakistan – Saturday, December 30, 1899
