The upside of music
Making its way from a tiny makeshift home studio in Peshawar, King of Self took the music-listening population by storm and later, by surprise when it was revealed that the song was by local artistes who were from, of all the places, Peshawar.
But what really made Sajid and Zeeshan arrive as a duo to watch out for was their single Freestyle Dive. A song which according to Sajid Ghafoor is about “having something you want —because you enjoy it and its good for you— and sticking to it. But you also have to take a freestyle dive into it in order to it properly. On the other hand, the track also talks about changing the course you’re on and trying something new".
It was a classic case of ‘shock and awe’ when the video of Freestyle Dive which was one of the first animated videos, hit the small screen in
Sajid and Zeeshan recently hosted a pre-launch gig and press conference which had its own share of surprises and surprise visitors, with Rohail Hyatt from The Vital Signs at launch being one and Alamgir, one of the pioneers in Pakistani pop music present at the press conference.
The pre-launch gig started roughly around an hour late and with everyone seated, they started off with Freestyle Dive, which found Sajid doing a little jig in the middle of the song. Some of the newer songs that they performed were Free and Underestimated, Glu and Change. A two person band with Sajid on the acoustic, electric and (surprise! surprise!) the harmonica and Zeeshan alternating between working on his laptop, keyboards and motion-sensitive turn tables, their music was a unique blend of acoustic/electric and house music with most of the songs more introspective in nature.
Sajid who wrote and composed all of the songs in the album, sang with emotion and seemed more at ease by the time Glue ended. Sajid explained the concept and the meaning behind every song they performed, before they’d perform it. The most unassuming deejay one has ever come across, Zeeshan provided the backing vocals for some of the tracks. They had the crowd nodding their heads to their songs by the third song. They broke off for a bit in the middle of My Happiness due to the little hiccups in using the laptop.
They had initially planned to finish the gig off with a jazzed up version of King of Self but those present demanded an encore performance of the same song. They ended up performing
Freestyle Dive, the song they had initially started off with. Overall the songs were fresh and original.
Talking about what the album was about at the press conference a couple of days later, Sajid’s response was, “People, real issues, self development and questioning on the inside”. Since most of songs were written in the nineties, there were those who wondered whether they were outdated where relevance to the current era was concerned to which Sajid quite rightfully replied, “Human nature does not change”.
Omar Sheikh who was representing EMI, spoke about how, after the anti-piracy measures taken by the government last year, it was a good time not only for EMI to make a comeback, but also to launch an album. He further went on to describe the measures EMI was taking in order to ensure that piracy of their products does not take place. On his comments on the anti-piracy moves being made by EMI Zeeshan stated, “I’m going to miss downloading free music”.
The title of their album, ‘One light year at snail speed’ according to Sajid is about “having a destination and making the journey to it… it’s all about the journey itself that makes life worthwhile.” Releasing a complete English language album in
Sajid and Zeeshan collectively named Alamgir as one of their idols, Zeeshan further went on to state that one of the reasons for his considering Alamgir was because he (Alamgir) was one of the first to use synthesisers. Alamgir, who had been present in the press conference, reciprocated and stated that he had been a pioneer in introducing pop music and having people accept it in 
Photos:(top) Sajid during the pre-launch gig, (centre, right) Zeeshan-the unassuming deejay, (bottom) intermingled shadows of Sajid&Zeeshan during the pre-launch gig caught on the backdrop.
Photo Credits: Fayyaz