To play or not to play

Entertainment Showbiz Pakistan , Bollywood & World Entertainment
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Enjoy.

To playor not to play

By Zeenia Shaukat

It’s good to be a milestone in the local music scene. Ask Junaid Jamshed – who enjoyed every moment of fame and fringe benefits that his 16 years in the music industry earned him. After all who else - now with the long overdue media revolution finally happening in Pakistan, increasing competition and probing public scrutiny - can have his cake and eat it too? Who else can continue to openly detach himself from the music scene only to rejoin it days later?

While Vital Signs were known for breathing new life in the comatose pop music scene in the post Zia era, they should also be credited with maintaining a diplomatic stance, come what may. All was well when Salman Ahmed left VS to form Junoon. And all continued to be well when Junaid went solo. Yes, we were told that Vital Signs have not broken up, but they never got back together either. And the way things stand they may never get back. Here’s why…

“Tell me is it music that Muslims need in today’s times?” argues Junaid Jamshed explaining his decision to disassociate himself from music for good. “We are actually making a fool of ourselves when we say that we will spread Islam through music. From the times of Hazrat Adam to now, religion has never spread with the help of music. We would only be fooling ourselves if we were to believe that this would work now. That’s turning your eyes from reality. And I don’t want to be a part of it,” he tries to bring an end to the topic we have just begun exploring. Why has he suddenly become so anti-music? And now that he has become zealously so, should we expect him to change his mind (yet again), call a press conference (yet again) and pick up that guitar (yet again).

Junaid Jamshed stayed in the news all through the first half of the last year – not because of his last release Dil Ki Baat, but because of his series of press conferences that earned him much media attention, most of which was flak. Why did he need to call a press conference first only to call the second one to take his words back? “My first press conference last year was completely misunderstood,” he defends himself. “In that press conference I announced that I wouldn’t do any new music or take up any new work from now onwards. I was under a contract with Pepsi at that time, according to which I had a number of concerts to do and had other commitments to fulfill. I decided to honour all that. But I also said very clearly that I wouldn’t take up any new work after that, which I didn’t. Have you seen any album or any new song of mine after last year (Dil Ki Baat)?” No we haven’t. But we did see a sheepish Junaid holding the mike with an excited Salman in the next press conference that followed the first one by just a few days.

“Salman came to me after the (first) press conference and asked me to reconsider my decision. He reasoned that my decision would have a negative effect on the industry. And for a moment even I had second thoughts about what I was doing. So I agreed to reassess. I tried to rethink what I was doing but I realized that I was, indeed, on the right path.”

While Vital Signs, over the years, had been giving all clues that it may not come back together again and Junaid with his frequent trips to Raiwand had been giving all indications that he was losing his drive for music, people still believed that he may spring a surprise or two or VS may come back together. The band did announce its decision to work together early this year, but there has been no news on that front either.

“The Vital Signs had indeed planned to come back together as my contract with my sponsors shall continue till April next year. I thought that gave us an opportunity to work together again. Honestly speaking, things couldn’t work out between VS themselves. I wasn’t able to give the band enough time nor were Shehzad (Hassan) and Rohail (Hyatt). We just couldn’t do it. We then sat down together and got into the nitty gritty of things. We decided that VS has a legacy and it would be foolish destroy it at this point. (Deep down) we knew we wouldn’t be able to give it proper time anyway. So we decided not to mess with it anymore,” he clarifies making an attempt to put those rumours of ‘are the (back), are they not’ to rest.

URL: Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk

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Though the media has always lent an overwhelming support to the music industry in general and Vital Signs in particular, Junaid's kabhi haan kabhi naa, did give way to some harsh reactions by the fourth estate. His series of press conferences early last year earned him a lot of ridicule. Media had a field day mocking him at any given opportunity and even going to the extent of calling him a 'confused maulana'. Does he hold a grudge against the media for not understanding what he was trying to say? "Though I wouldn't want to say that I was expecting such a harsh reaction from people but I was certainly expecting some reaction," he says nonchalantly. "Media is people. More than media it should be how people reacted to this decision. Media would write what people want to read. The problem is that if there is something that is not prevalent in our culture and if you try to implement it, it is bound to face resistance even if it is the will of God," he explains.

"Believe me this wasn't a rash decision at all," he makes one more bid to assure that he knows what he is doing. "I am known for music and it was my livelihood. A person like me would have asked a thousand scholars before making up my mind to leave music. Trust me I did."

So while he insists it's no more music, Junaid is quick to correct me when I use the term 'retiring from music' for him. "No, I wouldn't call myself retiring from music. Retiring would have been if I'd had no work to do. A lot of people question the logic behind leaving the field after working in it for 16 years. They don't understand that in these 16 years I have improved and matured as a musician. The world of music is still open for me. I have everything going for me. So it's not that my musical career is over. It's simply that Islam doesn't recommend this kind of living."

People rightly point out that it has been 16 years since Junaid and his Vital Signs band mates have been an integral part of the local music system. Their tenure in the industry has earned them name, fame and all that comes with it. Junaid ventured into designing business launching his own label Junaid Jamshed and the reason why the label found easy acceptance from the masses was that it was coming from Junaid Jamshed, the singer. The enormous fame -- that in his own words, "nobody has seen (such an enormous fame) in the 56 years of history of Pakistan," -- is also thanks to the music he has chosen to detach himself from. And it would not be wrong to say that a comfortable life that he now enjoys, a thriving business and plush home in the city's posh locality, he owes to music. So now that he bids adieu to music, would he do away with all the baggage that it brought along?

"Haven't I given up music itself," he points out. "If I am giving up something wrong in life, this doesn't mean that I should now go out and start living on the streets. Islam never stops you from living in a house, or having curtains or sofas in your house. Jo mana hai so chod diya (I have left what the religion has forbidden)," he stresses the last line.

After enough of assurances from him that it's music no more for him, we switch to his now full time business -- Junaid Jamshed Private Limited. While he was one of the best in the music world, would he call himself a 'fashion designer' in the strict sense of the word? "Who says I am not a fashion designer?" he retorts. 'Strict sense of the word', I had to repeat my question. "Well I would not call myself a fashion designer. I would just say, I design clothes. A fashion designer is someone who eats sleeps and drinks fashion designing. I don't do that. I have my opinion on how clothes should be made and how they should look. But mine is never the last word, as I don't consider myself an authority on it. I have a team of fashion designers. We consult each other before finalizing a design," he explains the modus operandi at JJPL.

So as someone "who designs clothes," what changes would he suggest in the local fashion scene to better the industry? "I think I am a bit of a novice to try to bring in changes here. But I would like to be a people's designer," he reasons. "All the big labels in the world are successful because they are popular among the masses. The day a Pakistani label will hit it with the masses, it wouldn't take much time for it to get recognition across the globe."

Coming back to music, the music industry is much more happening today than it ever was. New bands are making an entry and exit at the rate of two per week, literally. At this speed, with a stronger infrastructure, both on the micro (technical) level as well as on macro (easy access to the audience) level, their music has every reason to be better than the one that VS and Junoons of the earlier times made. Though it's hard to draw a comparison between yesterday and today, what with an incessant increase in the volume of production and improved facilities, what are the possibilities of the Fuzons, Nooris, EPs and Aarohs of today achieving the same milestones as Nazia and Zoheb, Alamghir, Shyhaki, VS and Junoons of yesterday did?

"They could be better than us actually," Junaid opines. "They have all kind of facilities today that we never had." Then throwing down the gauntlet of modesty he points out, "At VS all four of us were extremely talented. As an added advantage, we had Shoaib Mansoor and his constant guidance with us. Shoaib was a very important factor in our music and success. And above all we were extremely dedicated, so much so that we slept, ate, breathe and drank music. This is why it was more difficult for me to give up music. Now I am not sure if the current lot is as dedicated as we were in our times."

As the conversation came to a close since he was running late for his Friday prayers, a huge guitar lying on the side of the sofa couldn't skip my notice. A bearded Junaid lifted the guitar to put it back to its place, leaving one wondering if his words: "I will not get back to music" should be taken seriously.

His stanch conviction says 'Yes, there is no looking back'. But then the way he holds that guitar seems to say 'No, not yet'.

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Re: To play or not to play

Thats very unprofessional, coming from a man like JJ. I have a video where he is sitting with Salman and he gives an interview where he openly says that he has realized that music was allowed, and he made a wrong decision, and this also aired on Zee TV. He said he will prove to the world that one can be a Muslim and make music that falls within the boundaries of Islam.

I had been saying that all along, some people on this forum even said they are done with their album and it looked good :hehe: A remix of an old VS song does not mean they are back together.