Celebrating music in Norway

Music in Norway is more than just a part of culture; it is a part of who the Norwegians are. The country plays host to over 200 music festivals a year, with each festival belonging to a specific genre of music, embraced by people of all ages and backgrounds. So how did two bands from Pakistan end up getting invited to a music festival being held in Oslo, Norway, this August?

For Shallum Xavier, the lead guitarist for Fuzon, the story began when the band was invited to perform alongside a Norwegian band Fryd (pronounced ‘freed’) at the launch ceremony of a Norwegian cellphone company in Pakistan. Following that, Fuzon was invited to perform at the anniversary of the same company in Norway where they ended up performing a couple of extra gigs. The money from those additional gigs was donated to the Red Cross Society.

Fryd visited Pakistan again last year in hopes of collaborating with Fuzon, but by then, Fuzon was deep into recording their upcoming album and found it difficult to accommodate what Fryd had in mind. Not wanting their trip to go to waste, Shallum introduced ex-Noori drummer Gumby to Fryd and together they performed at several venues in Karachi, including a recorded live performance for a television channel. Shallum and Gumby are now due to leave in mid-August for Norway where they have plans of staying back and possibly working with Fryd on producing an album, having an international release and targeting a more global audience.

Excited at the prospect of the Norwegian trip and potential that it holds, Shallum says, “It is a positive step towards our goal and what we want to achieve as musicicans. It’s great for the Pakistani music industry because this doesn’t happen all the time. These musicians happen to be one of the best in Europe and will help people around the world understand what actually happens in Pakistan. People here will also realise that there are places in the world that appreciate good quality music.”

Speaking of festivals, Farhad Humayun of the band Overload comments: “Festivals are the best mode of promoting cultures because there is a huge variety of musicians from different countries. It’s also a difficult platform because each artiste is being judged instantaneously and the audience decides right there and then whom they like. It’s easy to get booed off stage if they don’t like you. Usually when bands from Pakistan go abroad, they play to desi communities; they have very limited space for growth in terms of popularity. Festivals are made for bands like us.” Overload is also going to perform in the music festival in Oslo this August.

Following Overload’s trip to Japan, Faizan Peerzada of the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop received a phone call from a group called Horizons, asking him to arrange for the band to perform in Norway. What resulted from the conversations and ensuing meetings was that Overload would not only be performing at the Norwegian festival but would also do gigs at local venues that would not be festival-related. And like Shallum and Gumby, they will also be collaborating with musicians there. Jan Gaberek (pronounced Yan Gaba-rek), a well-known Norwegian saxophone player, is also playing the potential candidate, although nothing has been confirmed regarding his participation yet.

Farhad talks about the upcoming event: “It’s great to play overseas because the true success of an artiste is when he breaks the language, cultural, social and economic barriers and spreads his art all over the world. Plus, Norway is crazy about music and we’re hoping for a great audience which really inspires us on stage. The expected attendance per day is 44,000 people.”

He elaborates upon Overload’s collaboration with international artistes, “Overload is all about a hybrid culture; we aim to work with all kinds of players. Right now we’re touring and playing with Pappu Saen and Joora Saen from the local scene, but we’re constantly on the lookout for new interesting sounding instruments, singers and players.”

Where one wishes them well on their trip to Norway, it would be interesting to see the result of these individual collaborations by our local artistes with the Norwegians. Who knows, they might even create a whole new genre of music. The future is full of possibilities and if local musicians keep on getting invited to perform in festivals abroad, a music festival in Pakistan may happen sooner than expected.



Photos:
—1st photograph: Shallum Xaveir doing his thing.
—2nd photograph: Puppo Sain and Farhad Humayun from Overload in Japan.
—3rd photograph: Overload bandmembers in Mexican hats during their Japan tour.
—4th, 5th and 6th photograph: Fryd bandmembers – Hildegunn Oiseth (brunette in red), Mocci Ryen (blonde with pink pillow) and Ingrid Kindem (brunette in blue).

First Published:
Images
July 9th, 2006