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..enjoy..
A decade of great music; a heady mixture of tumultuous controversies, blatant truth, international recognition, pseudo accusations, cult-like followings, politically motivated prohibition and of late… tremendous success and focus. Most of us have witnessed Junoon’s journey and are all too familiar with their struggles and breakthroughs. They are in their element, the last year being dedicated to worldwide tours, an example being the Roskilde Festival in Denmark where rock legends are invited from all over the world.
The release of their VCD, marking their 10 years together, is a compilation of their best videos and is the latest in town. They have impressed the ‘gurus’ in the music scene and have caught the eye of maestro Santana.
Before they had a hit, Junoon was voted the worst band in 1993. The band laughs about it today as they release their sixth album, Ishq.
“It has the classic Junoon sound but also branches off experimenting with filmi music,” explains Brian. This album just might help them break away from their stereotypical, Sufi rock band image as it represents who they are at this time. So one should be ready for an interesting mix of songs because although each member of the band represents a different world, they have evolved depending on each other and this feature will invariably show through in their music. Their combined efforts manifest a gamut of serious to non-serious compositions.
“The songs are deep, light, and political. Collectively the album has 10 years of learning in it,” says Salman.
And this time they are testing the market with an English song called Piya, or ‘Ocean of Love.’ However they are very cautious because they don’t want Piya to end up like another Sayonee that saw most of the nation’s artist follow suit, singing sufi kalam as a fashion form. The only other time they released an English song was in their first album. Many foreign bands have been known to break into the international market with English releases, may be Junoon can do the same. However, the band talks with discretion and says Salman, “English music can work very well if only done sincerely.”
Ali has also contributed towards some compositions in Ishq. One of the songs Dharti Kay Khuda has political connotations to it, probably inspired by Junoon’s blatant stance on the problems in our society. For a song called Sheena, Salman was inspired by a painting done by his mother that led to the composition. Incidentally, his mother’s name is Sheena too. “The energy we show on stage is something that we get from the crowd. After all they are the people who helped us reach this far,” claims Ali Azmat. He has seen the concert-going crowd mature over the years.
“We have been playing for 10 years now and hardly any bands have followed,” says Brian O’Connel. "I gave it one year and said that if I didn’t make it as a musician then I’ll go back to medicine. I love music and apart from music nothing else gives me that pleasure.
Salman is the indelible leader, Brian the levelheaded, true-to-the-core musician, and Ali the free spirit. Three diverse individuals and independent personalities. On their own, each man represents a different mindset. But when they come together to create music, be it in a studio or in a concert, their combined energies are palpable and the differences diminish. They draw audiences be it South Asia or any other place. Their gigs in Norway, Germany, America and Japan have led to an ardent fan following that understands the music and swings to the enigmatic concoction of guitar and tabla, performed along with sufi verses. So what if the crowd does not understand Urdu, that has never been the problem. Apart from that, Junoon’s onstage performance leaves people in a frenzy asking for more. Their choice of eccentric outfits, deep expressions and electric energies radiate ripples of excitement through the fans. And it seems that Junoon’s New Year plans include worldwide touring and an understanding of the larger picture.
“We feel proud that through our music the aspects of Pakistani culture and poetry get highlighted. If we can bring it to a wider audience, we would love to have it recognized on Billboard,” says Salman. Perhaps Junoon has the kudos to carry it off. And in Salman’s words: “We’ll have to work really hard for it.”
The future has much in store for them if they can capitalize it. A fan of U2’s music, Salman has expressed his desire to work as an activist with Bono on a project called Jubilee 2000 that aims to release third world countries from international debts, and write a song and sing it with Bono. The band feels that they share their soul with U2 and describes their music as ‘Nusrat Fateh Ali meet Santana meet U2’. The underlying foundation: spirituality.
The band has had its share of sacrifices in the past. They have had to part with personal possessions just to pay for recording costs, and the surprising part is that album sales hardly break even, with piracy of cassettes and CDs being at an all time high of 90 percent.
Junoon has a lot of contributors in their hard-earned success, one of them being Sabir Zafar the lyricist. Usually Salman composes the music and matching lyrics are written. But all that changed with Sayonee when the lyrics came first.
“This award proves that music has no boundaries,” exclaimed Salman when Junoon received the Best International Artist Award from Channel V in 1998. Last year Junoon was featured in Q&A with Riz Khan on CNN and a longer special on the band will be aired on World Beat. And when Salman mentioned on air that Junoon’s music is Nusrat Fateh Ali meet Santana meet U2, Salman’s brother got a call from Santana’s brother who showed interest in the band. This just might present a great opportunity to introduce their music to a different audience as “Latin and desi music rhythms would be excellent together with rock,” admit Salman and Brian.
But after all that Junoon is still around, and stronger than ever. So much so that they were asked to do the title song for Jinnah. And the commercial success of their music was never meant to be that way.
“When we started writing it wasn’t commercial but fortunately or unfortunately our music is going that way,” says Ali. A very practical Salman adds to that comment, “A lot of artists in this country say you’re a sell out because you’re making money, but what’s wrong with it? What does poverty have to do with good art?”
“The main thing is the end product which is music,” says Ali. “We don’t have the security of fortunes, so we rely on producing good music, wanting people to like it. That’s why we’re very happy when other artists do well. This is such a small industry, there is no point in having jealousies,” says Brian. The band believes in constructive competition rather than developing insecurities about others.
However an artist closer to home has already approached Junoon for an interesting project. Salman Khan, an Indian actor, wants them to do songs for his upcoming movie.
“Imagine a filmi song with Ali’s voice,” says Salman and laughs in good humour.
The truth is when Junoon got this offer from Sohail Khan (Salman’s brother who is a singer), Salman was already working on a filmi-style song. He wrote it keeping Ali in mind and thus things fell into place instantly. So we may soon witness Salman Khan’s famous dance moves to Junoon’s tunes. Girls, please stop swooning already.
Junoon is well grounded even now. They have lots of issues and want them solved, especially the lack of a merit system in the country.
“Our media has no merit-based system. For example Grammys are given to artists with platinum albums, through record sales and popularity etc. PTV should do the same as it has the biggest responsibility towards artists,” says Salman.
And they have something to say to the young and restless too:
Khird ko ghulami say azad kar,
Jawano ko piron ka ustad kar
But at this point in time eyes (and ears) are on Junoon. They are waiting and watching. And the anxious anticipation of people’s reaction to their latest effort is matched equally with the enthusiasm runninag through music lovers and fans for some more Junooni music.
By:Samia Ahmed…
Alf Allah Chunmbay Di Booti…Mere Maan Vich Murshad Lai Huu..
Naffi Asbaat Da Paani Mallaya…Har Raggay HarJai Huu
[Sultan Bahuu]…