For The Love Of Pashtun Music

Haniya Aslam was sitting in her family home in the turbulent, deeply conservative North-West Frontier province of Pakistan in October when a deafening blast shook the neighborhood, rattling doors and windows in their hinges. Tufts of black smoke billowed violently over the flat, gray rooftops of Kohat town. "Our handyman came in and said, 'Oh, it's nothing'," recalls Aslam. " 'They've only blown up a CD shop'." But for Aslam and her cousin Zeb Bangash, such attacks feel intensely personal.

The cousins, both 29, make up Zeb & Haniya, one of Pakistan's hottest pop duos, whose debut album, "Chup!" (Hush!), hits stores next month. But it's been quite a journey. In October 2002, the elected state government, led by a coalition of religious parties, banned music on public transport, incarcerated and evicted musicians and artists and condoned bomb attacks on music and video shops. Aslam and Bangash are at the forefront of a group of independent-minded Pashtuns who have harnessed the power of the media to beat back the conservative tide. Today the Frontier's capital, Peshawar, boasts two privately owned, Pashto-language TV channels and three radio stations all set up over the last few years in defiance of the previous Islamist government. That the religious parties are out of power and a new, moderate interim government has been put in place by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf should certainly help. "The [Pashtun] people love to dance and have a good time," says Bangash. "The superimposition of extremist views has not been able to snuff out centuries of musical tradition."

Zeb & Haniya's brand of folksy music draws on that Pashtun heritage and can easily fit into the province's longstanding Sufic tradition. Their songs can be playful and sensual, addressing the themes of love and longing "to God through the conceit of a lover," says Bangash. Their song "I Stopped Crying" tells a careless lover: "Your conversation broke my heart/You glanced and turned your face away/Clouds rumbled but a little/Rain fell, this heart longed/ After a little while/I stopped crying." Bangash describes this as their emancipation anthem. "Sometimes it feels like the world has turned its back on you, but one's got to make the best of a bad situation with the faith that God never abandons," she says. Their music uses guitar, drums and trumpets, as well as more exotic stringed instruments like the sarod, to express "Western and Eastern melodies arranged for a global audience," says Bangash.

The foundations for Zeb & Haniya were laid in Massachusetts, where Bangash studied economics at Mount Holyoke and Aslam earned a computer-science degree from Smith, buying her first guitar in her freshman year. "I couldn't take lessons in Pakistan since all the instructors were men," says Aslam. "We used to get together in Zeb's dorm basement and fumble our way through." Four years ago, they recorded their first track, which became an instant Internet smash and wound up on mainstream Pakistani radio. "We were taken aback," says Bangash, who has been taking singing lessons since she was 8. "We uploaded the track to share with our friends; we had no idea it would become a legitimate radio hit." Their unexpected success encouraged the young women to cut an album with one of Pakistan's top producers. Since the summer, both have been traveling tirelessly across the country promoting their music.

The duo has since performed at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and as part of the lineup at MTV Pakistan's Independence Day concert in Karachi, which has the largest Pashtun population in Pakistan. "We've had Pashtuns come up to us and thank us for preserving our musical traditions," says Bangash. She credits Musharraf with boosting the success of women in Pakistan's music industry; his architect daughter, Ayla, is one of the leading patrons of Pakistani classical music. An arts enthusiast himself, Musharraf oversaw the establishment of the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi and the National Gallery of Art in Islamabad, and has now approved plans for a national museum for the capital.

Though they both live in Lahore, the duo's opportunities are still limited in the province. They grew up performing regularly for their family. Today they play in Peshawar only at family functions. "It's more a question of propriety than safety," says Bangash. "Even today Peshawar doesn't appreciate women onstage."

Much to their surprise, the two have been widely accepted by Pakistan's male-dominated music industry—except by a few. "Some of them think we're not serious enough and that 'this thing' is going to be abandoned after we get married," says Bangash. Two months ago, Zeb & Haniya were asked to perform at a private function in Lahore with exotic dancers. They refused. "We're not going to cheapen the music," says Bangash. Their family remains supportive despite the societal pressures. "People are so caught up in what is and isn't respectable that they forget to live," says Bangash. "You can't kill music; it's in every Pashtun's blood." And soon their album will be played on every Pakistani radio station.

Where There's Smoke...

Why the hype?! Newspaper clips. Television spots. Radio interviews and more than ten live performances including Karachi's 2007 Rock Your Shanakht Festival. An offer from the ‘genius in waiting' himself, director Saqib Malik, to make their first video. Help from Fuzon heartthrob, guitarist Shallum Xavier and Gumby, one of the nation's premier percussionists. All this before they've even released their first album?

There aren't many women doing what we' re doing. It was the novelty factor that gave us the initial push that we needed,” says Haniya, the other half of the Zeb and Haniya musical duo. Unconvincing. By that logic it was an accident of biology coupled with some sort of charitable desire to extend opportunities to female musicians that led the loquacious, curly haired producer Mekaal Hasan – whose rapid-fire wisecracks are almost as impressive as his musical genius – to record their first two songs, Chup and Yaad, in 2002, followed by Aankhon Ka Kaha in 2003.

While their rarity as two female artists in Pakistan was certainly a factor, offers from artists like Gumby would not have come had Zeb and Haniya not shown a high degree of talent and aplomb. But answers like Haniya' s are typical of both women, whose humility and enthusiasm is real and grounded in their upbringing, not part of some sneaky PR ploy.

First cousins and just a month apart in age, Haniya Aslam spent most of her childhood in Islamabad where her father worked for the National Highway Authority, while Zebunnisa Bangash, the penultimate child in afamily of five, moved every two and a half years according to her father' s army postings. His career brought them from Gilgit to Ankara, Turkey to Lahore.

Today Lahore has become the base for both women who, after their 2006 decision to make music their profession, are now on the
brink of releasing their debut album and teetering at the edge of stardom. At an open farmhouse in Bedian, Zeb and Haniya sit fireside in a candle-lit drawing room on a Saturday night. Haniya swings her guitar over her cherry red shalwar kameez and peach dupatta and strums the first few notes of Aitebar before Zeb comes in with the opening lyrics, “Har su hai tu mujhey teri aarzu . . . ”

Whoa. It' s not just Zeb' s voice, which could give crystal a complex, it' s the entire sound. Fresh and unexpected. In Aitebar, Haniya composed a straight blues ditty . . . in Urdu (Salaam, ya' ll).

And, as in most of the album' s 10 tracks (all original except for a rendition of a Darri folk song) both women sing, and Haniya plays guitar. At the farmhouse, as the last words of Aitebar' s chorus ring, suddenly, Haniya begins verse two, Har ek din tere bin . . .”

This is a heaven sent gift! A lifelong mission! A visceral calling they' ve felt since before they could speak! Nope, not according to them.

We' ve always done this,says Haniya, casually. But until recently, we were more interested in music making as a fun social activity. When we were in college, Zeb would come over and we would do silly things, like one night I started playing dhol beats on the tabla, and we sang wedding songs. After an hour, we went hysterical, screaming at the top of our lungs. Then, we heard a knock at the door. It was the RA [Resident Hall Assistant].You knoowww,' she drawled, it sounds lovely, but it' s four in the morning.'

Music was a running theme for both girls, even in early childhood, but they do not describe it as a calling.“Music was one of the things I was drawn to, says Zeb, I have always loved to make people laugh, and as a child I liked to imitate. Music was just part of that.” Yet somehow, they both ended up in good hands in terms of musical training, the best in fact. Following in the footsteps of a beloved chacha, at age 16 Haniya decided to learn tabla. She played off and on for several years. Before leaving for college in the States, she began learning from Iftikhar Joseph, who just happens to be one of the most eminent tabla players around.

While Haniya dismisses her skill as average, Iftikhar Joseph once encouraged her saying,If you learn a bit more, you can become Pakistan' s foremost female tabla player.”Such nurturing is more poignant in light of the fact that a) most classical musicians look askance at the idea of a female tabla player and b) society in general sees music and its performance as activities ‘good' bibis from‘good' families just do not do, dahling.

Societal pressure was one of the boulders the girls faced while recording the album.“Recording vocals does not mean you just walk up to a mic and sing. You have to get the sur right, be in tune, and on the beat. Then there are levels, which I knew nothing about. It' s basically your volume and distance from the mic. So in the studio, if I sang one line close to the mic and for the other I stepped back a bit, Nono would yell, ‘Levels! Delete!' and we' d start all over again. One week I had an allergy, so I was sniffing throughout. There were days I almost started crying right there in the sound booth, explains Haniya.

Almost. But she made it through, like they' ve done this entire year, and with flying colours. A large part of their secret here has been their support network, a laundry list of fellow musicians, inspirers, friends and relatives for whom they feel obvious gratitude. These include: Omran Shafique, Arooj Aftab, Natasha Ejaz and the CoVen boys.' In fact, when asked what the most surprising part of making their first album was, Zeb answers,“The way people reached out. All of a sudden you' re interacting with people you have been in awe of. You hear so many stories about these big names' in the industry and their egos. That was not our experience. Gumby was a tremendous help in nurturing our sound as was Shallum, Manoo [Kamran Zafar], of course Mekaal, and so many more.”

But let's back-pedal to where this all began. Haniya' s musicianship began with percussion, but today she devotes most of her time to acoustic and jazz guitar. Zeb, in turn, is a classically trained vocalist. For Zeb, the trek from music as a pastime to music full-time was sparked in 1999 when she met the man who has become one of the most powerful influences in her life. It was spring. Hayat Ahmed Khan, her friend Maryam' s grandfather and the founder of the All Pakistan Music Conference, responding to a prompt from his grandchild, invited Zeb to his home for an audition.

I know someone who can teach you well, Khan replied after Zeb had sung. Someone' was Ustaad Mubarak Ali Khan, one of South Asia' s premier classical vocalists and a Pakistan Pride of Performance awardee. The next morning, all three were seated together in Khan' s office. I'd like you to teach this young woman,” Khan said to the ustaad. If it is you who asks, how can I say no? replied the vocalist politely, who, as Zeb remembers it, seemed wary about his new pupil.

Days later Mubarak Ali Khan arrived at Zeb's home in Lahore Cantonment and took her through the basic scales to gauge her voice and sur sense. A change occurred. The gruff demeanor slackened, and he looked to her and said,“From now on, I have made you my daughter . . . If you are willing to work hard, you can become a successful classical vocalist.”

Moved by Mubarak Sahib' s unimaginable skill and also, his true-blue, not-part-of-a-popularity- contest, ascetic Sufi lifestyle (which includes expertise in the use of ancient herbal remedies) for the first time in her young life, the perennially indecisive Pisces decided to pursue one thing wholeheartedly. Zeb would become a classical vocalist.

Ustaad Sahib has been open about teaching me all he knows, unlike others who guard their skills competitively, even from their own students. It is influences like Ustaad Sahib' that help explain why the snowballing attention they have been receiving from fans and accomplished artists alike is met with modesty, caution and even reluctance.

I sometimes feel anxious about music as a full-time career. Instead of a retreat, will it become a burden? If I have to churn it out, will the work become substandard?” confesses Zeb one afternoon in her bedroom. If the past is the best predictor of the future, Zeb and Haniya will continue to face such fears with a diligence and positivism that must spring from their overlapping circle of friends, colleagues and family . . . and from within.

While the duo is not so modest as to dabble in self-defacement, (both shared feelings of accomplishment with me), they do remind
me of an old Winston Churchill quip. I never met a pretty girl who was not aware that she was pretty,” he once said. Add extraordinarily talented and gracious to that, and I have. Two of them.

...There's Fire

Album Review
This album takes you on a journey of emotions, and lucky you, you will be traveling first class. Crisp, clean and well organised is happening here at full effect. Recorded at Lahore' s Digital Fidelity Studio, the team serving you consists of Pakistan' s finest popular musicians, along with a surprise flavoring from Norway. Zeb & Haniya give it to you good; from the lyrics to Haniya' s warm and Zeb' s beautifully sensual voice, it all fits very well. Put on the album and you will get a chance to dance, to rock, feel a mystery unfolding, blues your mood, and even sober up. There is also a unique Pushto and Darri (Afgani Farsi) experience to be had.

The duo' s songwriting is mature, and the session musicians have played excellently and solid, as if they had been playing together as a band for many years. The studio' s production and sound mix on the album is groundbreaking for this part of the third world. But apart from the technical triumph, the real victory is snapped up by the music' s feel, something so missing in most of the new music coming from the West and locally.

Zeb & Haniya' s early work; a song called Chup, brought them fast recognition and now the confidence to play a hand at our music industry. Chup has since been re-done; this hugely catchy song, now with clever production, will probably be the biggest hit from this album. Even though each of Zeb & Haniya' s songs are skillfully structured, a live jam' feel is ever present due to the acoustic guitars and drums, trumpet and percussion used. One song that distinctly stands out, Haan, is the most original sounding track on the album, with a dark magical rhythm and an odd fascinating vocal melody gelling brilliantly together. This musical route is one Zeb & Haniya could use as a defining style.

The entire album has a smooth and comfortable, mellow mood, never making it hard on the listener. One emotion you will miss on your journey through this album is aggression. For what it is, the Zeb & Haniya album is incomparable to our other local releases. This album is definitely the most accomplished mainstream production work out of Pakistan as yet. It has raised high the standards of songwriting and live recording in Pakistan. We have been waiting for an album like this for too long!

Zeb and Haniya set Singapore Sling on fire!

Good music, good food and a hearty comic act are a rare combination. Singapore Sling is one place that offered all three under one roof on the restaurant's opening ceremony. The restaurant, named after a Far Eastern cocktail originating from Singapore is close to the Sea View Beach. Although small, the place is well decorated in a cosy, comfy kind of way and the quality of food served is a good addition to the number of Chinese restaurants in the city. The place was rearranged on the night of December 4 for the event. The dim lit interior hinted towards a light and calm evening, but what you ended up witnessing was a tour de force.

The evening's major attraction were the dynamic musicians from Islamabad Zeb and Haniya. These two girls are not mere amateurs who think they can sing. They know they can sing and another praiseworthy attribute is the fact that they compose their songs all by themselves. Sitting around and chatting before the event began, Zeb, a classically trained singer, informed Instep Today, that their much-awaited album is ready to be released just as soon as they find somebody to buy it. Sitting close by Ganda Banda's lead vocalist Ali Alam advised lightheartedly, "You should just release it on the net, so people can finally hear it."

Zeb also informed that she and Haniya have planned to release their first single 'Chup'. This made one wonder what the status of the video is. "The director of the video, Saqib Malik, is out of country, as soon as he returns we will start putting things together," said Zeb offhandedly. They've got the most exclusive director willing to make a video for them. Primarily an ad director, Saqib is known for being finicky about the videos he directs. The only other new act to get their debut video made by him was Rushk and the haunting visuals of 'Behti Naar' still reverberate in memory.

With an invite for 7:30, the notoriously late Karachiites started trickling in after eight and by eight thirty the small eatery was overflowing with people of all age groups, each one of them there for Zeb and Haniya, even though the evening was being opened by stand up comedians Saad Haroon and Danish Ali. There is nothing like novelty in the field on live entertainment. As great as they are, Karachhiites have had their fill of Saad and Danish, though that doesn't stop us from cracking up with laughter everytime they perform, even if some of the jokes have been recycled from past performances.

The presence of other personalities also made one sit up and notice. Shahi Hasan and Rohail Hyatt, music legends who've turned music producers, were their with their wives Umber and Shazi. Video director Sohail Javed was also there, as were photographers Amean J and Kohi Marri, director Uns Mufti and Naade Ali, Nayyara Noor's older son with his wife Naushaba Brohi. This is a veritable who's who of the media circle and them being there is proof of the buzz that's slowly and steadily built up around Zeb and Haniya.

"I don't attend concerts, but Zeb and Haniya are close to my heart therefore I've come. I have recorded a song with them, which is on the album now. These girls know their music," said Shahi Hasan.

And the way they came on stage spoke volumes about their confidence. Dressed simply in pants and plain kurtas (Zeb in a dusky rose pink and Haniya in a dull lime green with a guitar slug over her shoulder), they looked dramatic on stage. Zeb and Haniya are not pop tarts, and they don't need designer wear to boost their profile. Theirs is music that speaks for itself.

The girls started with one of their original tracks 'Aitebaar' a jazzy number in Urdu that is sung with all the sensuality with Western singers of yore. And over time they played and sang 'Fever' (the original jazzy number, not Madonna's remixed for the dance floor bastardization of it), 'Perhaps' by Doris Day (Zeb) and 'Give Me A Reason' by Tracy Chapman (Haniya). The girls alternate between songs with ease, because they know what the other can do. Zeb is pitch perfect with refined nuances and inflexions to her singing. Haniya on the other hand, sings from the gut with a feel for the music, rather like Janis Joplin. Great voices both, but with two different uses and the girls obviously know that.

The covers were incredible. If it wasn't for sitting and watching them sing one could easily think one was listening to the original songs, or at least not feel cheated by an amateur attempt at some of western music's greatest classics. And boy do these girls have range.

"I heard the girls a few years back, and I knew back then that they were gonna make it big some day. I am amazed at the number of language they can sing in," said comedian Danish Ali who was just as awestruck as the rest of the audience when Zeb sang in Pashto and Persian and as if that wasn't enough to leave the audience wondering there came another song in Turkish. Not faltering once, the girls included a couple of their Urdu tracks ('Chal Diye' aka 'The Islamabad Song' comes to memory) before bringing the gig to an end with 'Chup'. And then the house came down. A tumultuous applause and smiling faces, none looking happier Rohail Hyatt and Shahi Hasan.

"They are fantastic, a breath of fresh air in the music industry. I will provide them with all the help needed," said a visibly moved Rohail Hyatt.

"I want to have a band with the girls; the band will be called Uns, Zeb and Haniya or Zeb, Uns and Haniya or which ever name comes first. They are so good!" said Rola/Rushk man Uns Mufti after he heard the girls sing.

Sohail Javed Pakistan's busiest music video director said, "I would buy the CD even though I will get it, I'm that big a fan of the two."

"Saad is always entertaining and the girls are like a breath of fresh air," commented Amean J on the event. But it was obvious that the evening belonged to Zeb and Haniya through and through.

Glenn John of Guru's Trilogy said, " The girls were great! The sound is clean and raw which makes it very enjoyable."

The girls killed the curiosity of the Karachi audience (many of whom were hearing them live for the first time) after Saad Haroon and Danish Ali loosened the crowd with their humour. Zeb and Haniya singing after the comic act was as if one got to relax the muscles after an exercise session. Saad and Danish made the crowd laugh hysterically on just about anything they spoke about. From wrestling to traveling in bus to the great divide of the bridge to the current state of affairs Saad and Danish had a funny side to everything… but even the jokes fade when one remembers the music. Especially the Turkish track the melody of which continues to haunt me, even though Turskish remains Greek to me! But then again, that is what great music does.

Zeb and Haniya truly are an excellent addition to the music industry of the country. These are musicians who have entered the industry because they have a flare for music not for the glamour part of it or the five minutes of fame or superstardom part. Already one can see the signature style of the dynamic duo who are all set to be the new benchmark for all female musicians… scratch that… all musicians!

Genius in Waiting? Interview with director Saqib Malik

The last music video he made as a director was for Ali Azmat' s Na Re Na, and not having seen any work from him in the realm since then, one wonders whether he is currently working on one? “I am in the thought-process of a video right now for Zeb and Haniya. I love their music. I think they' ve got a fresh sound — it' s very modern, paired down, very cool and it just comes through very directly. I' m very excited. And I think it' s going to be different than my other videos because I want it to be something straight up and simple. It' s not going to be an elaborate setup.” Two extremely talented musicians, Zeb and Haniya first made it big with their radio and internet hit, Chup. Considering that they' re still just beginning to create waves in the industry and don' t have an album or a video out yet, what made Saqib pick them as his next big thing? “The concept of two girls… regular girls who are not just manufactured pop stars and have beautiful voices…there is a certain rawness to it and I want to capture that, I want it to shine through that personality,” he enthuses. The song that he will be making the video for is Har Su. “I think it' s a fantastic song, I heard it once and I got goose bumps. That' s the beauty of Zeb and Haniya' s music, they are yet unfazed, and that' s what I' d like to capture.”

Sugar n' Spice

They' re not your regular run-of-the-mill girls next door, although they may certainly look it. These ladies have a secret: they can sing! Not only that, but they can do it pretty darn well. To anyone who has an avid interest in the Pakistani music industry, Zeb and Haniya are no strangers: they' re the voices behind the radio and Internet hit, Chup.

Having just recorded their much-anticipated debut album, produced by music maestro Mekaal Hasan, recorded in Digital Fidelity Studio in Lahore and featuring the musical skills of popular drummer Gumby and guitarist Shallum (of Fuzon fame), Zeb and Haniya seem ready to take the music industry by storm. Considering that they have just the right ammunition — they ooze talent and have the support of some of the best in the industry — one can' t wait for this storm to arrive.

What comes as a welcome surprise is that Zeb and Haniya are refreshingly natural: they do not have any false airs about them and neither do they overdose on confidence. Zeb is the primary vocalist with Haniya also on vocals and the guitar. My first impression of Zeb was that she seemed shy, but as the interview progressed she displayed her more outgoing side. On the other hand Haniya, from the first moment onwards, seemed to want to make sure that everyone around her was comfortable enough.

Finding two very good female musicians itself a rarity in this country working together, I couldn' t help but wonder how far back do they go together and how did the band form? “I think I met her when I was three months old,” says Haniya seriously with a twinkle in her eyes. “Actually our mothers are sisters, so we are first cousins. And we were born exactly a month and three weeks apart.”

As one of the most popular songs downloaded on the Internet and having gotten generous airplay, the song Chup is one of Zeb and Haniya' s most popular songs. Written and composed during a break when they were in college, Haniya was visiting Zeb at college during one of their breaks and “we went down to the basement and we found an abandoned bookstore there. And over there Haniya got her guitar and started playing. That is the place where we made Chup for the first time, said Zeb.

We started writing songs and I had not written any before that. But by the time we finished college we had around four songs,” adds Haniya.

When did you guys decide to get into music professionally? “Mekaal (Hasan) was my friend' s friend. I met him randomly and was pleasantly surprised at how accessible and what a nice guy he is,” says Zeb. “He was kind enough to get us into the studio and record us two songs. I remember on our way back he handed us a CD and after listening to it we were really excited. It sounded like a real song! He really pushed us actually, always telling us that we should take our music further.

The recordings that we got from Mekaal, we put them on the Internet to give it to our friends,” says Haniya. “About a year after that someone said that it is being played on the radio. I don' t know who put it there but someone heard it on the Internet, pulled it off and started airing it.”

About how they would describe their overall sound now, especially the one in their upcoming album, Zeb says, “It is more arranged as it has been six years now. And we really had a lot of time to think about where we wanted to go. Not to mention the fact that we had the country' s leading musician arranging and helping us shape up the songs. I think for a good three or four weeks we just jammed with them.”

It is bluesy, in that the bass is there in most of the songs,” adds Haniya. “All the instruments are live. Gumby is great, he is not doing the straight four-by-four beat in any of the songs. Each song has come out very different.”

And there is also a lot of folk touch to it along with a lot of jazz and blues, says Zeb about the album. We have at least two songs that are about women' s liberation and there are some romantic numbers too, a few naughty numbers and some playful ones. We also have kind of a fusion thing going on and a bit of classical in the album.”

With the kind of music that you have, have you considered performing live? “The kind of music we have isn' t a large crowd kind of a thing, very high-energy rock music usually does the trick,” says Haniya, adding, “our music is slightly more mellow, more intimate and so a medium-sized crowd would find it more suitable.”

I don't think that bigger crowds will be the problem. I think basically it would be the kind of crowd. I mean it is not bhangra,” says Zeb. “I know that we are probably not Atif Aslam for sure.” At this point I disagree with them as I am of the opinion that they do have what it takes to deliver a performance to a large crowd — all they need is a good set of back-up musicians and a decent sound system.

As women vocalists are extremely few and far between in the Pakistani pop industry, what do Zeb and Haniya have to say about it? “I think the whole scene for women musicians is so limited that sometimes I get thrown off by comparisons of this one and that one,” says Zeb quite seriously. I think our categorical thing is that we are very excited about women and whether you are Arooj (Aftab) or not and whatever you are doing, it is so great to see so many people come up because it is part of the industry that has just not developed.”

The more women come up, it will be easier for other girls to take to the field, continues Haniya. There are going to be more players, more role models.”

Having recently performed in both Islamabad and Karachi and wowed audiences in both cities, Zeb and Haniya are predicted to be the next big thing. Not only do they deliver a mesmerising live performance, but they have the right mix of talent and attitude to go. And more important, they also have the backing and the support of those who have been around in the industry for a long time.