Excellent article/interview, for those of you who do not know, Fifi Haroon was part of Junoon in the first ever Junoon album, and was the vocalist in the track called ‘jogia’.
ROLLING STONE
By Fahimeh Fifi Haroon
If you’re looking to unwind with Salman Ahmad you better forget it. Ever felt like you’re in the middle of a mini tornado? Well, that is pretty much what Junoon’s lead guitarist is like on even a Sunday. Salman is always wired up, tuned in and ready to (rock) and roll with the kind of long life batteries that could earn him a packet if he could replicate them and sell them in the open market . I’ve been fitted into this whirlwind schedule somewhere between a flight in from New York, a post-production meeting with documentary maker Ruhi Hamid with whom he has just finished shooting a second documentary after ‘The Rockstar and the Mullahs,’ and an onward flight to Oslo where Salman is going to collect an award for promoting peace in South Asia. Most of the interview is conducted on the Piccadilly line en-route to Heathrow and then we get sidetracked by all the 900 other things Salman and I want to gossip about but aren’t printable.
We go back a long way; I first got to know Salman when I reviewed a Vital Signs concert somewhere in 1988 and Salman Ahmad was strumming the guitar to ‘Dil Dil Pakistan.’ A few years later there was the controversial break from the group and the forming of a new rock-pop act called Junoon. The rest as we all know is history. Like all good and highly opinionated friends Salman and I have had our ups and downs. A year in there somewhere we didn’t even speak to each other. But I sang on Junoon’s debut album and continue to feel very closely knit with its motley crew of band members. I can always look forward to arguing with Salman Ahmed and just bouncing off each others energies. We knew each other when he was a fledgling musician and I a fledgling journalist. Fifteen years down the line Junoon headlined a huge show I organised at the Royal Albert Hall with President Musharraf as Chief Guest. Somehow our lives will always be interlinked. Musharraf by the way is known to be a bit of a Junoon fan. At Albert Hall he rolled up his sleeves and stood up and clapped to the encore of ‘Jazba-e-Junoon’ which he specially requested.
Salman and I meet up at the tube station and head off to collect his carry-all from a small Earl’s Court B & B. He is wearing his trademark Peshawari cap which is very much part of the persona but it’s good seeing Salman off-stage. I feel he has grown since he moved to New York. He still whizzes around the world doing concerts and picking up awards and speaking at seminars, but New York seems to have tempered and toned him. He says he hasn’t changed but I like this older and possibly wiser version of Salman. The angry young man is now 30 something; still passionate about everything but softer around the edges. And while he will always be a rocker, there is now much more to Salman Ahmad than being the driving force behind Junoon. In any case, the musical soundtrack of Salman’s Ahmed life will always have some great songs.
Q. Are you the same Salman Ahmad you were years ago when you started off playing guitar with Vital Signs during the ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ days or has life changed you?
A. I’m still the same Salman Ahmad who used to stand up on my bed with a tennis racket and play air guitar to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The only thing that’s changed is that I now play Junoon songs with a real guitar on a global bed!
Q. You’ve moved your base to the US from Pakistan. What’s this been like for you and your family?
A. I have always seen myself as a global soul. I’ve been a traveler ever since childhood because of my father’s airline job and though my father isn’t in the same job anymore I’m still traveling. I was born in Lahore, then lived in Virginia, London and Kuwait, New York and Karachi. And now I’m back in New York to continue my journey. Living in New York is like being plugged into the 21st century’s biggest cultural melting pot. I love its multicultural, multi-religious mix and it’s very inspiring creatively. You just meet the most amazing variety of people. One day you’re talking to Mira Nair and the next you’re bumping into Sting or being asked to appear on TV with people like Gene Simmons from Kiss. It’s an absolute trip meeting musicians that I have admired all my life. Also the U.N. headquarters is there so I have the opportunity to talk to them about how to take my work as a Goodwill Ambassador for AIDS awareness forward.
Q. Do you feel you have accomplished something in that role?
A. The U.N. goodwill ambassador role has given me a wonderful platform to raise awareness about issues like HIV/AIDS and conflict resolution in the subcontinent. These days, I’m working on an informative video so that we can reach out to young people. I also visit colleges and talk to people about the dangers that are out there; see we live in the kind of society where people don’t like to discuss these things so you have to go to them and make them listen. I’ve received letters from Bono (U2) encouraging me in my work in my region. We have to show people in India and Pakistan that we face similar issues and can work together to resolve them. That’s what ‘Ghoom Tana’ is about too.
Q. How come you ended up working with Shubha Mugdal, Nandita Das and Naseerudding Shah for Ghoom Tana?
A. ‘Ghoom Tana’ was a project I did to pay tribute to my mother’s birthplace, which is Patiala, India. I wrote and composed the song and then looked for the ideal female voice from India who could complement the melody and the lyrics. Shubha Mudgal’s got this ethereal voice and she seemed to be the perfect choice. I got goose bumps in the studio when I recorded with her. I was also very honored and deeply touched by Naseerudin Shah agreeing to do the voiceover and Nandita Das, who is a fabulous actress in her own right working with me on this. There were other people who we considered for the video. I spoke to Bipasha Basu on the phone and met Aishwarya through Naseer and we discussed the project. Aishwarya’s a gorgeous woman but this role demanded a woman to be a daughter-in-law and a widow. I just couldn’t imagine Aishwarya pulling that off. I saw Nandita in ‘Earth: 1942’ and I thought she was brilliant. In these things you just have to go on instinct so I called her up to see how she felt about the project. Here is someone who was just as committed to social activism as me. She just won my heart. I didn’t think Aishwarya or Bipasha could grasp the true spirit of Ghoom Tana; Nandita was perfect for the part because she really believes in the message behind it.
However she didn’t continue with her singing and headed for fashion jounalism. Xtra is the name of the magazine that she runs in UK. She also organizes concerts/fashion shows in Dubai, Karachi and other places.