ROCKISTAN HISTORY OF THE MOST TURBULENT MUSIC GENRE IN PAKISTAN ROCKISTAN HISTORY OF THE MOST TURBULENT MUSIC GENRE IN PAKISTAN TAYYAB KHALIL COVER DESIGNED BY ANUM AMEER Copyright © 2021 by Tayyab Khalil All rights reserved This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review ISBN: 978-969-23555-0-6 (Hard cover) ISBN: 978-969-23555-1-3 (E-book) Daastan Publications Floor # 1, Workspace 2, Office # 3, National Incubation Center, Islamabad Phone: +92-3219525753 Email: [email protected] www.daastan.com CONTENTS Preface 8 1. Only a Music Concert 11 2. A Game of Chance 20 3. Emergence of the Vital Empire 29 4. An Unholy Alliance 74 5. The Double-edged Sword 115 6. Underground Reverberations 169 7. Unveiling the Partition 236 8. Rock Renaissance 257 9. The Unconventional Path 315 10. Political Upheaval 344 11. Dimes, Crimes and Hard Times 368 12. Tragedy to Triumph 433 Acknowledgements 459 8 PREFACE The road travelled by Pakistani rock musicians is beset with challenges such as staunch criticism, struggling to have a socially acceptable image, having the door slammed in the face by record label owners and lowball offers by concert organizers. Not only are their careers mentally grueling and physically demanding but they also have an added risk of high investment and low returns. The rock genre has struggled to achieve its righteous place in the country whereas folk, qawalli, pop, bhangra and Bollywood music experienced skyrocketing popularity. In the mid-1980s, rock music cultivated a minuscule niche in Pakistan due to the availability of VHS tapes of multi-platinum bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple among others. However, replicating their careers in the country has often left a dent in the pockets. Music illiteracy coupled with political intervention meant that being a rock artist was like walking into a snake pit. Over the years, the rock movement became too much of a presence to ignore as Junoon, Karavan, Mizraab, Entity Paradigm, Mekaal Hasan Band, Aaroh etc. challenged the norms of the Pakistani music landscape with their culturally resonant compositions. Initially considered a repugnant genre, such pivotal homegrown bands made rock music artistically and politically relevant in a country that has always been disavowing of heavy guitar-driven music. This book chronicles their meticulous zeal that assisted rock 9 music to catapult from regional to national consciousness. Due to the lack of appropriate documentation of Pakistani rock bands, several myths and half-truths surround them and this book aims to set the record straight. While internal clashes and heated breakups of rock groups are often subjects of rumours and speculations, alternative perspectives by none other than the band members themselves have been narrated in the book to dispel preconceived notions. Despite the musicians who live the rock ‘n’ lifestyle have often been devoid of media attention, they remain a subject of much intrigue and gossip among their fans. As an attempt to bring them into the literary limelight for the very first time, this book covers the rise, fall and rebirth of the controversial rock genre in a country where the term “music industry” is an oxymoron. Apart from detailing the rich history of Pakistani rock music, the purpose of this book is to shed light on the obstacles faced by the genre’s icons. The general perception of rock stars is traditionally associated with rolling around in piles of cash or long nights of hard-partying but such assumptions can be grossly misleading. Owing to reasons ranging from political instability to the dearth of proper record labels, Pakistani rock musicians are not immune to emotional outbursts, temper tantrums, struggles of maintaining a certain level of commercial success and facing the possibility of their careers plunging into a downward spiral. Most rock musicians in this book do not get nearly enough credit for pioneering their genre while surviving in the cutthroat music business that is drenched with fear, 10 insecurities and uncertainties. Their careers require solemn business acumen, survival instincts and a thick skin to persevere. While rock music is a foreign concept that originated from the United States in the late 1940s, Pakistani musicians have able to put their own spin on the genre and made the sound surprisingly unique. From incorporating heavily distorted riffs to indigenous elements such as Punjabi folk sounds and eastern melodies, Pakistani rock stars made their genre increasingly popular in a country engulfed in religious conservatism. Politicians, scientists, sportsmen and poets are usually at the forefront when it comes to the historical documentation of exemplary Pakistani figures of various fields. Whereas homegrown rock artists are not only ignored but often victimized by right-wing religious parties, orthodox citizens and even government officials. If scores of musicians have been successful in inspiring thousands of youth from restrictive societies to headbang in sync, strum guitar strings or strike the drums, they deserve to be valued, or at the very least remembered. Rock music is much more than blistered fingers as a result of playing electric guitars for hours on end. It is a podium that represents aggression, passion, resistance, violence, desire, rebellion, detestation and similar themes that were once withheld and even considered shameful in Pakistan. While the country has been acknowledged for its multicultural values, hospitable communities, diverse environment and tourist hotspots, this book showcases an additional, yet overlooked, relic which Pakistan executes better than any other nation across the Muslim world—rock. 11 Chapter 1 ONLY A MUSIC CONCERT Asians and people of the subcontinent, in general, are tuned in to rock music as much as the white man. Asad Ahmed On one scorching summer evening of 1975, eleven-year-old Salman Ahmad and his family were in for a pleasant surprise. His father Ejaz Ahmad had just received a new employment opportunity to work as the North American country manager for Kuwait Airways. Accepting the offer, the family would relocate to the United States. For Salman and his younger sister Sania, moving to America merely meant access to thirteen television channels on cable and eating at McDonald’s. However, not every member of the family was unfamiliar with the country. The siblings’ ethnic Pashtun mother Shahine had already spent a year there, courtesy of the American Field Service student exchange program. Salman’s time in the States during his youth blessed him the chance to explore enormous aggregates of diverse cultures that a Pakistani youth of his age could never be exposed to at the time. Residing in Tappan, New York, Salman was first and foremost a foreign child and fitting in with the crowd was a torment. His native accent proved to be the butt of the jokes 12 Only a Music Concert among his middle school classmates in South Orangetown as they did not even bother to remember his actual name. “It sounds like salmon or like the prophet Solomon. It’s very easy,” clarified Salman every time he was called Sal. “It’s ‘Sull-man’, you see?” His name sliced in half was not the only thing that would haunt him in his newfound home. As far as names were concerned, he was often teasingly referred to as “eight ball” due to his brown complexion while being bullied. He was the sole Pakistani in his middle school which predominantly consisted of Irish, Italian and American students. The country was nowhere near tranquility as he thought it was. America had recently faced a humiliating defeat on foreign soil due to losing the Vietnam War and interior social ailments such as racism and bullying were hardly looked upon as worthwhile concerns at the time. Ease would eventually approach Salman in the form of friendship when he bonded with Italian-American Catholic student Frank Bianco due to their mutual adoration for table tennis. The duo became best friends in middle school and played the sport on a daily basis. One day, Frank affectionately bestowed a piece of advice to Salman that proved to be exceedingly valuable: America adores winners instead of whiners. You cannot allow anyone to punk you out or else you will get walked all over. Frank’s words solemnly altered Salman’s narrow perspectives. Eventually, he began to spend most of his time playing sports. While he extensively played football and basketball, he was strikingly good at baseball due to his knack for playing cricket back in Pakistan. Long dubbed as 13 Rockistan the national pastime, baseball has been an integral part of America’s pop culture and with Salman excelling in it, he won respect from his Little League teammates and eventually fit right in. Baseball instantly became an obsession. Hanging out with jocks equipped Salman with sufficient information to become acquainted with the sport and the New York Yankees became his favourite team. As one of the premier and most aggressive teams in baseball, the New York Yankees have produced quite a cluster of the greatest players in the history of the game with Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to name a few. The latter, unfortunately, became relevant for another reason apart from being Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player twice. On his 36th birthday, Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The incurable disease shortened the career and life of the acclaimed baseball player and it was unofficially labelled as Lou Gehrig’s disease in his memory. Inflicting 5000 people every year in the United States alone, it had also struck world-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking.