Addicted to love
lf there is any person who signifies pop when it comes to musicians in the entertainment industry, it’s Haroon Rashid. He was previously one-half of the now defunct band Awaz, one of the most successful musical acts in the country and perhaps Pakistan’s original boy band. Lack of creative productivity coupled with a severe clash of egos — as is the norm with acts that gain success overnight — with band-mate Faakhir resulted in Haroon branching out of the band and going solo sometime in the late 1990s.

His departure from the band caused tongues to wag, all of them asking the same question: what caused the duo’s break-up? What also followed was a constant comparison of Haroon with Faakhir, who had also released a solo album that became a humongous hit with the masses. What was even more amusing to note was that their musical styles are not very different from each other. Perhaps his association with Faakhir in Awaz is something that Haroon will find very difficult to separate from the individual identity he is trying so hard to establish.

Their music might be similar but their personalities differ greatly. Whereas Faakhir is known for being somewhat of a metrosexual and has a reputation for taking great pains in (and directing) make-up, Haroon comes across as very casual. Polite, well-spoken and pleasantly candid when it comes to his music and his life, Haroon is what most people would describe as an overall really nice guy. Three albums with Awaz and two solo albums later, he is now back with his sixth album (and third solo album), Haroon ka Nasha, released last Tuesday in a ceremony in Karachi. Amusingly enough, the CD cover contains a disclaimer by Haroon against drug use and the context in which the word ‘nasha’ has been used.

In this candid conversation with Images, Haroon bares all from the early Awaz years to the falling out of what is considered to be Pakistani pop’s most bubblegum act, to going solo and releasing his third solo album.

Haroon ka Nasha was released after a considerable gap since the launch of his last album. Why so? ‘“Since the last album, it has been almost four years, because I went on a long tour and sometime in 2005, I decided to sit down and work on another album,” says Haroon, adding, “and because I record, mix and engineer all of the music myself, I had lost those skills while I was on tour. I had to sit down and brush up my engineering skills and on top of that I bought new equipment and had to go online and do a bit of research on it. Getting into the whole engineering side of music is what made me take so long in releasing this album as well.”

Elaborating on his new album, he says, “This album is purely Haroon, but I have also worked with a couple of other musicians as well such as Assad Ahmed (of Karavan fame) on a couple of tracks and Vickey (a talented kid) on keyboards. I worked with Shuja on a song or two and I’ve also played guitars on quite a few songs as well.”

So what separates Haroon ka Nasha from his last album? “It’s a lot more polished, the songs are more intricate, have more weight and the lyrics are possibly deeper than the ones on my last album.”

Listening to the album, one has to admit that the lyrics and the melodies are catchy, yet they have the same bubblegum pop element to them that has been predominant in almost all of Awaz’s and Haroon’s albums. The subject of the songs hasn’t changed either. They still talk about the lighter and darker side of love, albeit in a manner that makes it easier to relate to them, especially for the light listener.

Having been around for several years, Haroon’s opinion on the sudden spurt of record labels, and if it is any better than before is: “In the past it was a pathetic joke. The only advantage was that they would hand out vast sums of money, these pirate record labels. But what’s happened in the past two years is that they have been shut down because they were heavily involved in piracy. I think it’s brilliant what’s happening right now and my experience with The Musik Records has been great. It’s for the first time in Pakistan that I have experienced working with a professional label or a professional setup. They have separate individuals for marketing, promotion, distribution and it’s a very good team … I’m not used to that.

“Previously, the artiste himself was the record label who had to compose music, find a lyricist, record, mix, find a director for the video, produce the video and then just give the finished product for distribution. Now the setup is changing and it’s taking on a more professional approach,” he adds, the tone of his voice indicating just how strongly he feels about it.

Awaz was probably Pakistan’s first proper boy band — from playing on top of school buildings and small functions and having record labels slam their doors on them to touring internationally — everything seemed to be going in the right direction for the band. What caused the eventual fallout? Haroon pauses for a moment before delving into the skeletal closet that was Awaz.

“When it did happen, it happened really fast. For about two or three years we were unstoppable and went all around the world, we did two or three albums really quickly after that. It was after Shola that everything started to fall apart in the band that was Awaz. Assad left, Assad came, so there was confusion there. There was confusion in the direction of the music and then there were major ego clashes because suddenly everyone in the band thought they were gods.”

Any regrets? “None. I did everything on my part to keep Awaz together. And I was the one who went to the extent to say that we’re not working on another album simply because we couldn’t. No one was willing to compromise. I thought that if it’s not going to work with the three of us coming together, I was going to start an Awaz album alone. I worked on two songs, one of which was Jee ke Dekha, and then Yaara. When I did the latter, I thought ‘this doesn’t sound like Awaz and it’s really a solo album’. Who am I kidding? So then I called up the guys, (in September 1999) and told them that I needed a break from Awaz and that I was going solo.”

Haroon going solo with Yaara is remembered till today. The video was probably one of the first few Pakistani pop videos to come out on Channel [V] and sees Haroon jumping around in forests and constructed castles a la Robin Hood to rescue a fair maiden.

“It was actually the best thing I did and I only wish I’d done it two years earlier because Awaz didn’t release an album for four years and it wasn’t like we were working towards one either. We weren’t working towards anything. Every time we’d sit together, nothing would come out,” says Haroon, solidifying his stance on going solo.

Is he on amicable terms with the rest of the Awaz band members? “With Faakhir? No. With Assad, I am. In fact he has worked with me on this album.”

Coming back to Haroon ka Nasha, the album contains a single in English titled Big Corporation Man. The song has catchy lyrics and has a late ’80s or an early ’90s appeal to it, something that is carried forward throughout in Haroon ka Nasha.

Haroon hasn’t ventured away from the typical bubblegum Pakistani pop sound that he is known for, whereas while the album itself might fare well with the masses, it will most likely not be remembered for bringing anything uniquely new to the current music scenario.

Photos: Tapu Javeri

First Published:
Images
March 25, 2007