Check it out at:
sounds to me like the guy is in desperate need of attention. can someone tell me how he got so "famous" cuz i haven't read anything written by him.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by rana no.1: can someone tell me how he got so "famous" cuz i haven't read anything written by him.
[/QUOTE]
What exactly do you read, rana? Archie comics!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Riffat: *
What exactly do you read, rana? Archie comics!
[/QUOTE]
I am extremely sorry for not recognizing your god. I hope you will forgive me with a good heart.
my mom's name is riffat too :)
Riffat
Kindly remove the external link, and post the whole article here. Thanks.
NFP: "Neo-Filmi Pop"
Depending on which side you are on, you can love or hate Nadeem Farooq Paracha. Maybe he calls your favorite band ‘death metal.’ Or he thinks your favorite (South Asian) band has lost it. Or he dares to comment on your favorite (exiled/martyred) Prime Minister/Army President, “digressing to politics” while talking on music.
This cola-bashing journalist cum music critic has been writing on music in the mainstream press for the longest time now. His characteristic indigenously made phrases like “post-Zia”, “neo-filmi pop” and “cynical corporate (Cola) partnership” coupled with his distinct style using brackets and dashes excessively to link politics, capitalism and artists’ lost directions in music made him one of the most awaited columnists of the 90’s.
There is no doubt that he is angry over more than one aspect of his surroundings – something very normal to expect from a Pakistani citizen. And the fact that he would like to write on all that angers him in his writings at times leads him to be a bit unfair to the work being reviewed. That is a problem most people have with NFP reviews. He selects aspects of the work-in-review that really stand out and uses them to talk about other (more noble?) general (pun not intended) ideas.
Fans, fanatics, multinationals and (band) managers may hate him for his views against them, but there is no denying his impact. Music journalism has grown with time and NFP has played his role. If I were in a band, one of my aims would be to make music big enough to be reviewed by NFP. This issue we bring to you an in-depth NFP interview where he talks openly about the media, the modernism, the musicians and (of course) the multinationals and more. The interview was conducted by Afzaal Yaar Khan…
True Believer
He wasn’t much of a socialite anyway, in spite the fact that he remained to be one of the leading young critics and iconoclastic star journalist in the '90s; and one of the most influential and powerful voices in the local pop scene.
People frequently saw his byline in The News, be he was hardly ever seen in parties, ceremonies or in any such gatherings. You either loved him, or hated him. There were no in-betweens concerning Nadeem Farooq Paracha (aka NFP). One of the first local music critics and satirist to write about issues such as corporate greed and moral hypocrisy in the country's mainstream pop scene. He was also the first to advocate the need for a passionate, aggressive and politically astute "underground scene" in Pakistan. But he was always elusive and best left to the individual imaginations of his many readers.
Ever since he quit The News in late 1998, he hardly wrote a word in the next four years, holed up in his small, dusty study, chain-smoking and still haunted by the demons of addiction and emotional and physical excesses. He was always more of a character than the many pop stars he wrote about. He openly celebrated his contradictions when ultimately he fell in love with and married a high flying banker. But what really made this well known enigma turn into a silent, haunted recluse? After spending nearly a year trying to get something out of him, I finally tracked him down and managed to meet the man who meant so much to the ideals and passions of young, restless middle-class youth of urban Pakistan in the '90s.
Why have you stopped writing?
Writing what?
Articles, music reviews, etc?
Just finished writing a book for Chowk.com (Acidity). The truth is I hate the current idea of journalism in Pakistan. All the top magazines and papers are using articles as fillers... to fill the space left or not bought by advertisers. They want ads, not articles. Especially not the sort which directly or indirectly mock this practice, or threaten the paper's chances of getting all the juicy adds. "Adnauseum" is no more a cheesy pun. It is a sickening, cynical and unchallenged reality.
So why have YOU stopped challenging it?
I haven't. Just changed my platform. The News won't have any of it anymore. They have GEO to think about. Dawn never understood the idea anyway. The buck stops at Cowasjee there. The Urdu press, like the mullahs, treat it is a religious issue. In other words they too have absolutely no idea what it is all about. Because replacing corporate bull**** with autocratic religious rhetoric is certainly not my idea of a revolution.
Are you surprised that the people of mist third world countries are rather ignorant about aggressive and exploitative corporate designs and their impact on society, art, etc., whereas there a whole lot of anti corporate and anti globalization movements happening in the West?
I am more disappointed than surprised. Because most people in the country sometimes equate the concept of progress and modernization with the arrival of Nike outlets and McDonalds joints. But what is even more scary are certain young people who seem to equally passionate about tableeghi propaganda and as well as cynical corporate thought. That’s a pretty warped thing to do, really. But it’s done so very conveniently.
People like Junaid Jamshed and Najam Shiraz?
They are just a reflection of a lot many, usually confused kids out there. The sort who used to downright hate me for what my writings stood for. Maybe that was because I somehow made their conveniently repressed and hidden sense of contradiction and confusion come upfront, giving them the anxiety pangs of their lives!
Why havent you written for The Friday Times? That’s a pretty progressive magazine.
[Scratches his head and thinks hard] Well... I wonder how progressive is the act of juxtaposing trivial high society bull**** with serious pieces on politics and literature? I did once contact TFT for a satirical piece I did on cable television. The News refused to publish it because it was attacking a lot of very important people in the media, the showbiz and advertising. Not to mention many religious personalities as well. I guess TFT too needs... nay... DESERVES its share of juicy ads [smiles sarcastically]. So... well the bottom-line is that piece was ultimately run by chowk.com
So your fans should thank chowk.com for your return?
I guess so. They've been rather bold... especially the way they embraced my book.
How much are you following the current music scene in Pakistan?
Not much as I used to once upon a time. It seems it has grown, but not exactly evolved.
Any new acts you've been impressed by?
A few. Especially Fuzon. Then.... what’s his name... Ahmed Jahanzeb?
Yes
He seems to be a pretty talented fellow too. Then there is Ali Noor. I first saw him as a young boy in Lahore back in the early 90s. I alerted Salman (Ahmed) about this young talent and he too was impressed. But I personally believe that bands like EP and Noori still have a long way to go to tap their real potential. I just hope all these guys don’t end up like The Signs, Junoon or Strings.
As in?
As in becoming highly talented ending up signing cola and tea jingles... supposedly to make ends meet? Art should never be an apology or a compromise on the grounds of helping feed its creators bourgeoisie habits and wants.
Apart from Salman, Ali Azmat, Rohail Hyatt and Aamir Zaki you were once very good friends with the Dr Aur Billa team and Hadiqa as well?
I am still in touch with Faisal Qureshi. He's one hell of a talent. The funniest there is. I was more friends with Hadiqa's brother/manager, Irfan. I haven't met a lot of these guys for a long time. I preferred to vanish.
Why?
Because I wanted to!
Some people blame your problems with drugs and women?
Same difference [laughs].
But is that why you became a recluse?
You say this like there is something seriously wrong in being a recluse!
Are you trying to avoid the topic?
Are you trying to force it?
I just want to know if drugs had anything to with your long absence from writing.
I'd had problems with drugs even when I WAS writing!
But you're clean now?
So? I wasn't suggesting I wrote because I was on drugs. I was on them because I WANTED to. I'm clean now because I WANT to. I almost got bored to death with drugs. Quite literally, really [laughs].
You almost died?
They do eventually kill you. The hard ones. I survived because I WANTED to!
So you are not that much of a pessimist?
Not much of an optimist either. But the will is strong. Both construction and as well as destruction requires tremendous amounts of will.
You had your share of super models too?
[laughs] My SHARE??
Ended up marrying a banker...
No, not ended up, as such... started up. Actually she's been one major reason I did not die... she has the real will... and patience.
Who has been your main influence?
My father (Progressive Urdu journalist & columnist, Farooq Paracha)... I take the stole stance after him. Then, of course, Imran Aslam (Former Editor, The News and President of GEO TV). I met him at a very volatile stage in my life... way back as a topsy turvy college kid in 1985.
Why didn’t you join GEO?
Wanted to and was actually got hired... but perhaps my undying reputation of being unpredictable got in the way. But now I am convinced I would not have survived there.
Even with Imran Aslam being there?
Let me tell you something about Imran and I: I love him and he likes me very much as well. But few years ago I felt he too had had it with my habits. For the first time I realized he was not at all that sure about me anymore. He'd fought an exhausting battle with the Jamati lobby to get me into The News (in 1993) but this time around... he just seemed exhausted. His friendship can be solid, constant but elusive. Mine can be equally solid but exhausting.
What about now?
He's happy I survived. And I want it to leave it there. I just have too much love and respect for him to ask him to start fighting for MY demons, if you know what I mean.
You are considered to be a pioneer in the field of music journalism in Pakistan. Any current critics that have impressed you?
Well... I had great regard for my contemporaries like Farrukh Moriani (Star), Fifi Haroon and Aysha Alam (Herald). Then there was M Ali Tim (MAG), even though he was more into scribbling gossip and once got punched by Salman Ahmed, but he definitely had a wide readership... who else? Yes of course, my comrades in arms, Farjad Nabi, Tom K Malati and Mazher at The News. We were followed into the field by a number of aspirants. Out of which I think Muniba Kamal remains to be pretty good.
Recently I came across a column or two by some guy called The Bug. He's pretty funny... and ironically the only one who is talking about or is willing to highlight issues like corporate greed and pseudo patriotism doing the rounds in the mainstream scene.
He once referred to you as father bug critic!
He did?? [laughs] How appropriate.
So are you going to start writing more often now?
For Chowk, yes. It gives me the sort of freedom I had under Imran at The News in the early and mid 90s. I may, of and on, write for The News... at least until Fareshteh Aslam (Imran's wife and Editor, Instep) is there. I find Dawn a bit too restricting. The Nation is too damn rightwing!
What about MAG? You started your career there.
MAG has turned into a fashion brochure. It looks like an advertising catalog.
TFT (The Friday Times)?
I think my writing irritates them... which, come to think of it, is not such a bad thing [laughs]. The funny thing is, throughout my career as a journalist I was sometimes hated by the liberals as much as I was by the reactionaries.
What are your favorite memories as a critic?
I did have a pretty wild time. Early and mid 90s were a very interesting time. Seeds of what has now de-evolved into crap in the name of freedom of choice and media were being sown. The 90s were chaotic but contained hope and idealism about a better future. Old ideas and Gods were starting to come apart but we did not know they will eventually end up become nothing more than plastic and fizz.
You witnessed carefully the drug scene in our pop scene...
[laughs] Yes, and once I wrote about it, though indirectly, in Vibes. A lot of musicians were furious. They said they will never share a joint with me ever! [laughs]
Musicians like?
Ah, let us leave it there. Some now have wives and kids, big corporate sponsors and impressionable fans to take care of. And, anyway, why give the bloody mullahs another reason to pounce upon pop music?
You used to have a band called Atish Raj?
Oh, man... that was one scary time. We were just three guys... Atish Raj was more of a project. The idea was to imitate different states of madness and psychosis with guitars, feedback, a drum machine and lots of sound effects. There were hardly any vocals involved. Just long haunting soundscapes.
One of the band members died of heroin overdose in Canada a few years ago?
Well, yes... such a waste. Got me reeling as well. ****, Atish Raj constitutes no nostalgia, man.
You guys recorded two albums?
Yes... first was recorded on a 4 track recorder and was called Har Tar & Black Bile. This was I think 1995. We distributed a few hundred copies in Karachi and Lahore. But do you know who its most vocal fans turned out to be? Groups of some Floyd heads at the Peshawar University! The other album... we never completed. It just became too freaky and f***ed up a process.
Why not release the album now?
A few friends have suggested the same. But I've lost the master. I'm trying to get in touch with the surviving Raj, Rome K, for the matter. He too resides in Canada.
Why not reform Atish Raj for a brand new album?
Absolutely not! First of all out of the three, one guy is dead. The other is in Toronto and the third, me, is quite happy with his new, sane self [laughs]. And anyway, this is not 1995 and I'm not 26 years old. And I have absolutely no reason or fascination left for the idea of replicating psychosis.
I've gone through enough madness and it wasn't such a romantic thing, as such. As a mater of fact those were one of the most painful days... interestingly strange... but painful.
How would you define the sound of Atish Raj?
Paranoid! Purposely irrational. Scary to say the last.
On an ending note, how is life treating you now?
Life has always treated me well. It is I who abused it... in a Nietzsche way. Do I regret doing so? I don't think so. I do mind a few of my excesses, though. But so far it's been a life that has managed to rise above mediocrity. I hate mediocrity. And with so much of it around, I don't mind the way I have lived, am living and shall live.
Thanx, Lahori.