The comeback kids: Aaroh returns
| Catching Up….One of Pakistan’s most rocking bands decides to pick up where they left off four years ago, with a new vocalist…Karachi | ||
They emerged as the winners of Battle of the Bands in 2002; released their first album in 2003, split up in 2004 when the singer, bass player, and drummer decided to keep making music with a new guitar player, released their second album in 2007, and disappeared in 2009 amidst a whole lot of rumours. You must have guessed by now, we speak of none other than Aaroh. Instep Today caught up with the band to finally find out what really happened and what is going on…Instep Today: What happened to Aaroh? Jason: Aaroh disbanded in the last quarter of 2009. Instep Today: What was the reason? Khalid: Farooq migrated to the US and we felt it was next to impossible to manage events with Farooq’s moving so far away. Haider also had to move to Lahore for a new assignment. Instep Today: Are Aaroh coming back? Khalid: Yes, but with a new singer. Instep Today: Why did it take so long for the band to continue with a new singer? Jason: There was a shift in priorities for everyone, all of a sudden, at that time. The first few months were a bit difficult for me, Haider, and Khalid in terms of winding up a  successful act. We were at the peak of our live shows when we disbanded. Continuing immediately without Farooq would have made it look as if the band broke up due to some rift. The following couple of years, Haider made music on his own, Khalid had a commitment with a production house, and I was committed as a session player with another major act.Instep Today: Who came up with the idea? Haider: Khalid was in Lahore for a project and was staying at my place. We were discussing music and the current music scene at three in the morning. One thing led to another and we started discussing the possibility of Aaroh’s revival. That’s when we both said simultaneously ‘Kya khayal hai?’. All of a sudden we felt an adrenaline rush as if  we were doing this for the first time. We, more or less, chalked everything out within a matter of minutes. Later during the day, we spoke to Jason for his opinion and his voice decibels shot up in excitement. That was it.Instep Today: Has a singer been shortlisted, how did you choose him and what was your prerequisite? Haider: Yes a singer has been finalized. An easier solution would have been to engage someone we already knew. However, we decided to look for someone new. The only problem was holding live auditions since I live in Lahore and Jason and Khalid are in Karachi. So we placed an ad on social media asking for interested individuals to send in their demo songs. The response was overwhelming. Our inbox was crammed in a matter of hours as we started receiving demos from all over Pakistan. We went through all the material and emails personally and shortlisted five singers. In order to have a level playing field, we gave them an original melody of ours to record in their respective voices for the final judgment. Jason: Our prerequisite was fairly simple: The person should be able to sing well (not necessarily classically trained) and have a good voice texture. Khalid: The new singer’s name is Rizwan Anwar and he belongs to Lahore. It was a  tough decision for us as Rizwan was one of the top two contenders and competing against a very good singer from Karachi. We think it is his voice texture and expression that finally won him the slot.Instep Today: Don’t you think people will compare the new singer with the old one? Khalid: Of course they will. Drawing comparisons would be natural because people would be listening to a different voice on Aaroh’s music. We do, however, feel that every singer has his own individuality, which should be highlighted. As long as the new singer does not try to emulate the previous singer, we should be fine. Instep Today: What are your plans now? Jason: We plan to start recording an album with the new singer and are also thinking of launching a video soon. We hope this ban on YouTube is lifted as it would certainly help us go viral with the video and create a buzz. Source: Link Here |
