Grammy-nominated drummer Simon Phillips arrives in Pakistan

He will be conducting a master class for local musicians to benefit from

ISLAMABAD: Mizmaar frontman Kashan Admani is all set to take the local music scene to unprecedented heights as he hosts Grammy-nominated drummer Simon Phillips at his studio in Karachi.

Dream Station, as the recording room is called, is the first of its kind in Pakistan, with a commercial 7:1 surround audio recording and post-production facility. Several local musicians have composed and recorded their tracks here. To widen his horizon, Admani has recently launched the Dream Station Star Series which will bring international music heavyweights to Pakistan.



Dream Station Star Series hopes to help the local music industry and give artists the opportunity to learn from global maestros. “I came up with this idea because growing up as a musician in Pakistan, I never had access to the great international artists that I loved listening to and there was no opportunity to interact or learn from them,” Admani told The Express Tribune, of Phillips’ arrival and how his studio has evolved into more of a platform. “I wanted the new generation of Pakistani musicians to have that opportunity and finally, it has come about.”

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In the first event of Dream Series, a ‘clinic’ will be set up with Phillips on March 1. The musician has played with the likes of Toto, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, The Who, Whitesnake and Joe Satriani, amongst many others and also produced and mixed albums for artists like Mike Oldfield and Derek Sherinian. He is exciting to be visiting Pakistan, even though he didn’t know much about it before.

“Frankly, I still know very little about Pakistan. The only thing I really know is that it has great cricketers,” Phillips said. “I’m a big cricket fan! Growing up in London, I used to go to Lords Stadium and I probably watched a Pakistan v England match. So from that point of view, I’m excited! Otherwise, I’m here and looking forward to finding out more because honestly, I was invited via an out-of-the-blue. But I love exploring countries I’ve never been to and learning about different types of music.”



Though he hasn’t had a chance to play with any local musicians yet, Philips does have a bit of inkling as to what South Asian music sounds like. “I haven’t had a chance to play music here in Pakistan but I am really looking forward to finding out what the sounds are like here. I’m pretty well versed in a lot of Indian and Eastern-European music, so I’m familiar with the changes of music styles and instrumentation in this part of the world. But I’m very interested to hear what more traditional Pakistani music is, what the instruments used are and their tunings, the voices… there’s a lot,” he maintained. “I would want to know what Pakistani folk music is like as well. I think that is the perimeter of what the country is like in terms of musicality and I’m looking forward to the experience.”

KashanPHOTO:FILE

Phillips’ excitement is commendable, considering there is a bit of a negative connotation attached to Pakistan for not being a safe place for international artists to visit. But he has come with no preconceived notions, whatsoever. “I’m curious to find out what Pakistan is like by myself, rather than just hearing about it in the news. Especially whilst living in America, we get a very different view of the rest of the world. Hence, I’m always very skeptical and suspicious and like to go see a place myself, first-hand, and discover what it is like,” he said. “I try not to make any judgments until I’ve been there and I think that is very important. The global media is heavily controlled all over and I just don’t trust it.”

PHOTO:FILE

Along with budding musicians, the Dream Station Star Series workshop will also serve as a bridge between artist and be attended by industry bigwigs including Omran Shafique, Bilal Maqsood of Strings, Faakhir Mehmood, Imu of Fuzon, Natasha Baig, Ali Noor and Kami Paul, amongst others.

Admani noted that Phillips’ trip will hopefully open doors for more of such exchanges in the near future. “His visit to Pakistan will send out a strong message to the international music community that Pakistan is also a country that they can come to and share their experiences with an audience that loves to listen to their music and appreciates their art as much as their own audience,” he concluded. “It will also help us bring more big, internationally-acclaimed musicians to Pakistan.”

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