KARACHI: Uzair Jaswal is a star-studded name in the Pakistani music industry who has had several cult classics under his belt, including Tere Bin, Jaanvey, Bolay and Nindiya Ke Paar. He released his debut album titled Na Bhulana in the end of 2016, after a decade of making music. Not only has he made a name for himself in singing and songwriting, but the artist has also ventured into the acting world and the realms of modelling.
Tell us about the process that went into making your new album, especially amidst last year’s events?
Last year was a tough year, obviously. So much was happening and I was unable to do music. So many people would tell me that it is the perfect time to just sit at home, be inspired and make music.
But I take my inspiration from social interactions. If you’re used to being on the stage and around people, and then you suddenly find yourself enclosed somewhere, your heart dies down a little, and your brain shuts down, going into a writer’s block. I had a very tough time dealing with that and I couldn’t write or be inspired. You’re not interacting with your family or friends, or falling in love, nor meeting anyone new, and you’re not even going out or getting fresh air, so avenues for inspiration were little to none.
If there’s anything we’ve learnt from the previous year, it’s that you have to live every day to the fullest. Life goes on and you just have to make the most of it. And I realised that this is what I’m supposed to do, I’m supposed to be making music, and I had to push myself to start writing again.
What is the album about? Is the content derived from any personal or emotional experiences like your previous work has often included?
The album itself talks about the experiences of love and moreover, the journey of love itself. After last year, the most important question for me was: what you take from all of this? I always take lessons from life and learn from it.
For me, the one thing that has always mattered is love, be it with friends, family, or other individuals. In the last year, we were missing that particular connection, or that specific hug from the people you love. I realized what a good hug can do for your day, or how two words uttered lovingly from someone you care about can change your entire day. I just wanted to write about that, the feeling of being in love and what kind of journey it takes you on. I wrote from my experiences as well, but not all of the songs are derived from that. There are songs that speak about how it is to meet someone for the first time. There’s also a song in there that depicts the feeling you already have for someone who you haven’t met yet, but you know that they exist in this world, who are made just for you.
So it takes you on a journey that love is, and I’ve tried to be very honest with my words, as much as one can, and the album itself is called love-struck. When people see someone in love, they call him love struck and they say it very excitedly, as a positive thing, but if we look at the word itself, sometimes getting struck with something is not a good thing, for example lightening. Someone struck by love has some varying connotations as well, hence the album talks about the good and the bad bits. I just thought it is an appropriate and interesting title for the album.
What can we expect from the production of this particular album?
I worked with a new producer who’s based in Lahore, Ahsan Pervaiz Mehdi. He’s a great music producer and it was a lot of fun to work with him. This time, we moved away from the conventional productions involving guitars, drums and keyboards, and moved towards electronic sounds. There’s a lot of funk in there, it has a bit of synth wave, and every song has a very different and interesting sound. I’ve given the producer complete control of playing with the sound and the melodies.
You already have competitions in your house since Yasir and Umair are super-talented?
Ever since I was a kid, Yasir bhai’s band Irtaash used to jam in the house, and I used to sit in the room in a corner and observe Bhai singing. I used to listen to him, and imitate him or try to be like him. And then Umair bhai obviously has such a huge stage presence that is completely different, so growing up in a household like that and taking in all the inspiration, learning all that I can from my older brothers, I didn’t feel any competition from them.
They are teachers and mentors to me, and I learn life lessons from them, not just music. And they also take on the role of being my biggest supporters, including my biggest critics. Whenever Yasir Bhai listens to my music, he effectively guide me on what to change. And I take their criticism with an open heart, always looking forward to it.
Have you ever thought of forming a band with your brothers or maybe with friends?
People have always quoted The Benjamin Sisters or the Jonas Brothers to me in regard to this idea of forming a band. But we have such different sounds, for example Umair started with his rock band and they were into alt rock whereas I was into pop music. We have different sounds, voices and way of singing so we never thought of forming a band per se. However, I would love to collaborate with them one day. As far as the idea of a band is concerned, all three of us have a different unique identity, we’re always open to ideas and doing projects together, but I don’t think there’ll be a time where we’ll have an established band together because each one of us is on a different pathway in our life and we are excelling at it.
How did you find your stride again after the tumultuous year that the pandemic brought us?
It was really hard at the beginning. Everyone had a different experience. I found it to be very emotional and tough because when you have parents in your house, it has a sort of panic with it as I was just scared for them. I constantly wanted to be around them and take care of them. I didn’t want to go out and was being extra careful. And whenever you have that scared mindset, you can’t really work peacefully. Fear settles in your heart and in your mind and you can’t work openly. Getting out of it was a process. The first time my parents got vaccinated, I took a sigh of relief that at least there are some things getting better in the world. And in my album, I talk about notions of love and elements related to it, I also think that who can you love more other than your own parents?
Once things started to open and getting better, I started to feel better. It’s time to get back to work, get on with life, the show must go on, as they say. It was tough but once it started, I began writing again and I felt like I was back at it in full form. I enjoyed writing again and going back to the studio. It was a really fun process and at this moment, I feel great about my music and where I am right now. And I hope when it is out; people connect with it and enjoy it as much as I have whilst making it.
Did you ever think about taking on a genre like rapping, since it’s very prevalent in the current Pakistani music landscape?
I have my own genre, I do pop music. Obviously there are so many new really good artists coming through who have had breakthroughs. I have loved all their music, so many new independent artists that have come up in the last year, and many new bands and rap artists, and maybe I’d like to collaborate with them someday. Like I love Young Stunners, I worked with them and they’re really talented. In the album itself, I haven’t worked with anyone, but I’d love to in the future. I haven’t thought of rapping for me, it just isn’t my forte.
How would you describe your creative process behind your work?
To be honest, it varies. There’s no set way. If you look at my voice memos, they’re full of recordings and ideas that I’ve made randomly across the day and such. Whenever a melody comes to me, I’d just hum it and record it because I’d probably forget it later if I don’t record it. And it can come to me in the random-est of times, I could be driving and a melody would come to me, I’d immediately pick up the phone and record whatever I had on the next signal stop. Then maybe, a month later, I’d go back to it and be like, oh, this is nice, I should write something on it.
And sometimes, I write first and the melody comes later. Hence, there’s no set process. I feel like you just go naturally with the flow. I let whatever comes the way it’s coming and I enjoy that process. I feel like whenever I sit down and I plan to write, that’ll be the day nothing will come to my mind and I’d be blank. I feel like it’s a niche artist problem; that the day you force yourself to sit down and work is the day you won’t be able work effectively. As a writer, I’d say you must always keep a track of your feelings and write it down because you tend to forget it. I keep a writing pad and I make dated notes for any lyrics that come to me.
Since you’re a young singer and you started out at an early age too, are there any specific perks that you enjoy?
Perks? (Laughs) No perks whatsoever. If you do something for perks, then I don’t think it’s something you’ve truly dreamt of as your goal. Everything is a journey; one day you’re being taken care for by your parents and they’re looking after you, and the next day you’re doing the same for them and tending to their schedules and health. One does things for the experience. As a young musician, I’m learning and enjoying life, writing and listening to amazing music every day, meeting so many new people, getting to be a part of so many people’s lives.
What excites me the most and bring me satisfaction in my work is that people can relate to my music. The perks don’t matter, they’re just temporary, a façade. The experiences you experience, the people you inspire, the musicians and the seniors you get to work with – that is what really matters. Ten years down the line, when I’m looking back, I wouldn’t look at what I gained from this monetarily. But instead, I’d think about how these life experiences molded me into the person that I am.
Any particular changes you’d want from the music industry in Pakistan current landscape?
The biggest problem is that we don’t have an established music industry. The biggest impact that could be made in this is through artist royalties, that every artist gets credit and their due royalties for the work they put in. I still think that these digital platforms are providing a great launching pad for musicians and they get something through monetization.
There are so many things that are still missing though. We do not even have independent music awards. We’re often relying on just two or three categories and one ponders as to how many musicians can we fit in those limited award categories? Even looking at genres, there are so many of them, there’s folk, pop, underground, indie, classical, ghazal, and all of them deserve individual recognition as well. This doesn’t end here as there are so many senior artists that could benefit from an organized pension fund. There’s a long way to go for the music industry to become more streamlined.
