Make room for Slo

An exclusive interview with Islamabad-based singer Salmaan Ahmed Shaukat.

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad’s alternative music scene – which includes anything that is not qawwali or music by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan – continues to grow steadily and testimony to this fact is the city’s given rise to rap-sensation Adil Omar and grunge-rockers, the likes of Malang Party and Catharsis.

Against this backdrop, newcomer Salmaan Ahmed Shaukat, 27, who also goes by the moniker Slo, recently released his first single, “Raabta,” on June 7 on Facebook and YouTube. You may also know him from his brief stint in Slackistan and his role as “Dagger” in Sole Search. He also makes an appearance in the soon-to-be released Gol Chakkar.

There is no method to his ‘madness’: his inspiration is spontaneous. “The songs come to me anytime, anywhere, which is why I always keep something with me at all times to pen my emotions,” said Slo, brandishing a battered Nokia with a grin. “I don’t want you to think I have two phones. I just use this to record my ideas and then elaborate on them further when I get the time,” he added.

Talent powerhouse

Inspired by people and events around him, he started writing his own songs three years ago and decided to go public with “Raabta,” which he recorded in February this year.

Slo finds it difficult to pinpoint his exact style, but it takes one listen to hear echoes of Atif Aslam and Bilal Khan, making it safe to say that he fits into the local pop-rock bracket.  “The kind of music I like to listen to is actually very different from what I write and sing. I love Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Noori, Atif Aslam and old songs by Junoon,” he said.

His single, “Tere bina mein hoon hee kya”, evinces a deep longing; its tone  is melancholy and romantic. Slo recorded the song at S&M Studios in Islamabad, under the supervision of his producer, Qayaas’ very own Sarmad Ghafoor, who also played the instrumentals.

He explained the video still remains in post-production, staying tight-lipped on the content. “I’ll tell you this much: The video is shot in a beautiful Banigala lake house. The girl [these videos always have one of those evasive nymph-like chicas, doe-eyed and beckoning] is equally beautiful,” he said with a crooked grin. Uns Mufti, from the Karachi-based production house Rola, directed the video with Ali Jafri behind the camera.

In the pipeline

But Slo is not stopping here; he’s already working on his next song, “Jaoon Kahan,” which he described as having a totally different sound: “The lyrics are a lot more serious but the beat is up-tempo and energetic – a departure from ‘Raabta’.” Apart from this, he still has about five or six songs that need to be completed before the album officially launches.

Currently, he is learning how to play the guitar and taking classical singing lessons to fine-tune his style, as the album comes along.

Meanwhile, Slo is pleased with the response and comments he has been recieving. “People received ‘Raabta’ really well; they were incredibly supportive. I had my Canadian friends tell me that the song made them ‘melt’ even though they didn’t understand the lyrics.”

The singer has taken all the feedback into account and is keeping his feet on the ground, as he says, there is always room for improvement.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2011.