To Norway and back
Norway, which has a very large desi community, has always been somewhat receptive when it comes to having local musicians perform for them. Looking back, Junoon was the first Pakistani band to perform in Norway back in 1999 to a full house at the Oslo Concert Hall. In September 2001, they went back again and collaborated with Morten Harket, a member of the popular Norwegian band A-ha, on a concert in which they jointly performed several songs.

Fast forward to 2006 and three sets of musicians from Pakistan recently went to Norway to perform at the World Music Festival in August. Shallum and Gumby collaborated with the Norwegian band Fryd, Overload (featuring Puppo Sain) and Atif Aslam, who was accompanied by guitarist Sarmad Ghafoor, and also performed on separate days during the festival.

Images decided to have a heart-to-heart with Ingrid Kindem of Fryd on its collaboration with desi musicians during the festival and on their future plans in Pakistan. Also, Farhad Humayun from Overload shared his experience of performing for a Norwegian audience.

“Fryd went to Pakistan for the first time because of the Norwegian company Telenor,” says Ingrid. They have a big international cultural programme and they wanted us to play a concert together with Fuzon at the launch in Islamabad in March 2005. It was very interesting for us to work with Fuzon so we wanted to develop the project together. Later on, we went to Karachi for studio work in both Immu’s and Shallum’s studio.

“Shallum wanted us to meet some of the local musicians and he introduced us to Gumby and Khalid, the bass-player. We had several jam-sessions in Shallum’s studio and had a lot of fun playing together with local musicians. Russell and some local vocalists also joined us. We played some standard jazz tunes together, some pop-covers and also original material composed by Fryd and Shallum. For us, the original music is the most interesting. Shallum has composed a lot of great instrumental music; he has definitely developed his own sounds-cape and character, and we hope to work on that material later on.

“We had a great time working with Shallum and Gumby in Karachi. They are really great musicians, open-minded and they challenge us to play our best. We wanted them to join us at a concert at the World Music Festival in Norway,” Ingrid said, continuing on how Fryd ended up collaborating with Shallum and Gumby in the festival. “We also included a tabla and a banjo player in the band. We rehearsed for several days to give this collaboration a special sound.

“The concert was a big venue outdoor, and the audience was really enthusiastic. Later on, we did a live concert at the National Norwegian Broadcasting which included an interview with Shallum,” he added.

Fryd ended up performing a track they titled Thumri. Lyrically, it was in a local language. How did that end up happening? “After working with Fuzon, we really wanted to learn more about Pakistani classical music. Fuzon gave us an introduction to some Pakistani raags and we found some similarities in traditional Norwegian folk music. Later on, we made a new song together based both on a raag and a Norwegian scale.

“Mocci wrote some Norwegian lyrics and Shafqat made a similar lyric in Urdu. Last year, Fryd did some studio-recordings in Lahore, and we tried to record a classical thumri song. The guys in the studio helped us a lot and Mocci really worked hard to sing the lyrics in Urdu,” related Ingrid. “A lot of people liked the arrangement and the way we played the song, so we developed it to include some Norwegian lyrics as well. I'm sure we will develop a lot of songs this way. Music is a great and universal language. You don’t always have to understand the lyrics, but you can feel what this is about when good musicians perform.”

And what is your perception of the Pakistani audience? “They are curious, enthusiastic and friendly. What more can you ask for? We want to come back soon,” replied Ingrid enthusiastically. “Fryd has fallen in love with Pakistan and we are absolutely thrilled to return in November. The Pakistani people are so friendly; we have a lot to learn from them.”

Elaborating on their plans of coming to Pakistan, Ingrid told us, “The tour with the Norwegian-Pakistani Collaboration will be set in a few days and it seems like Shallum will be a part of that project.” Details of their visit include a concert in Islamabad on November 9, and after a performance and a short studio stint in Lahore, they plan to perform in Karachi on the 18 or the 19.

Moving on, Farhad related what Norway was initially like for them. “We were scheduled to play two gigs in Oslo at the festival at the Docklands. We were situated at a downtown hotel where all the nightlife is and all the decadent artistes hang out. The Oslo jazz fest was on so we took out the time to hear some good authentic jazz. The weather was cool and breezy –– perfect for us to kick up a storm. Ours was the only band which was at the venue well before the others for a thorough sound check, so we sounded really good as the opening act for the festival and got the groove going for other bands to follow.”

Talking about the festival, he says, “It was a three day fest. The first day was pretty desi in terms of the crowd turn out and artistes that played, although the Danish band Outlandish also played that night. The second and third days were dedicated to world music. We saw a great Egyptian band, a Palestinian band with a female singer and another big band with a great horn section. Other than music, there was food and a separate booth for poetry, cross-cultural discussions and debate. It was fun because we didn’t expect Norway to be so multicultural.”

How was the response that Overload got? “Phenomenal. Absolutely fantastic. I don’t want to praise the band unnecessarily but I must say each member of the band played like this festival was his last. God has been very kind. We were signing autographs and getting pictures taken right after we got off stage. Especially at the second gig, we had a turnout of about 100,000 people. It was a long street that accommodated the audience and we could see this wave — people just jumping and dancing and bouncing — like there were springs in their shoes. It was crazy.”

After performing at the festival and becoming acquainted with different international musicians and artistes, are there any future collaborations that we should be looking out for? “Well, I don’t know about collaborating with artistes in Norway, but right after the festival, the Sains headed back home and Sheraz, Hassan and I went to Barcelona where we had lined up some casual club gigs.”

On a more serious note, he said, “Most people aren’t clear about the fact that the three of us are Overload and we collaborate with other artistes like we did with Shafqat Amanat on the album and are currently touring with Pappoo and Joora Sain. We are talking to other European artistes so there might be something on that front in the future. But it’s clear that the next album and following gigs will feature more artistes.”

What would you have to say if you were to make a comparison between the Pakistani audience and the Norwegian audience? “The Norwegian audience is better educated in music. They will listen more than dance unnecessarily. They think and are receptive and are generous in appreciation which works out better for a band like ours which are completely instrumental at the moment. I feel the same way about the Japanese audience,” said Farhad, relating to Overload’s last performance in Japan.

“The Pakistani concert audience is more like a sports audience. Quick, emotional, noisy and crazy — which is fun too, but I think it’s better suited for pop/ vocal artistes — because Pakistani people generally like to be involved in every happening, whether it’s a car accident or a story about somebody whose daughter eloped. Pakistani people relate better to words/ vocals. That’s why the music of our artistes is weaker than the vocal content usually.”

With foreign artistes coming to Pakistan and providing local audiences with a fresh, new angle to music and with desi musicians travelling and collaborating with musicians abroad, one can hope that this exposure will result in a greater variety and enhanced richness in the music that local bands are currently churning out.

The fact that compositions made by local musicians are not only being recognised but are also gaining appreciation should also affirm that there is no dearth to talent in Pakistan, once a person puts heart and soul into what s/he’s doing. As for festivals, we still have a long way to go before we can host our own.
















Photos:
— Morten Harket in the studio with Ali Azmat and Brian O Connel (background)
— The musicians in Oslo: Overload, Atif Aslam, Shallum, Gumby and Fryd.

First Published:
Images
October 15, 2006