More music means more peace: Shallum Xavier

Artist talks about new patriotic number, Fuzon album and why artists should educate themselves about politics

KARACHI: In 2002, all of us must have come across a charming Faisal Shah, with his CD player in place, eyeing his neighbour in Fuzon's hit number, Aankhiyan.

Aankhiyan came after vocalist Shafqat Amanat Ali, keyboard player Emu and guitarist Shallum Xavier unveiled their debut album, Saagar.


Aankhiyan was followed by several popular tracks namely, Khamaj and Tere Bina - songs which put Fuzon on South Asian music map prominently.

Thus, began the rise of Fuzon.

However, 17 years and two new vocalists later, the band is still somewhat intact. Thanks to other gigs that Shallum and bandmates keep on taking.

The guitarist recently released a new patriotic track, Dharti Maa Ko Sajana Hai, to pay homage to the unsung heroes of the nation.

The song has been composed by Shallum himself, sung by Khurram and Alicia Dias and penned by Mustafa Hashmi.


The song was originally supposed to release on August 14 but after a few setbacks, two versions of the songs were released.

The latest one for September 6.

"It took us a week to put this song together," Shallum told The Express Tribune. "It was essentially an idea to turn homework into fun. I gave an assignment to my students at Iqra University to make a track. It was a lot of fun to compose the song with the students. About 20 of my students even sung in the song."

Shallum also revealed Fuzon is all set to release a new album.

"We have a new track coming up as well. Saajna is the first song of our latest album and we will be releasing it right after Moharram," Shallum shared. "We will soon release another track after Saajna. The video for which is also ready."

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Talking about the album, the musician shared, "It's a mix. It's a reflection of what we've done in the past and what we hope to achieve in the future. We have also ventured into Electronic Dance Music as well. Now, that's an experiment we have tried since there is a certain crowd for that particular genre in Pakistan for it. We're hoping it pays off."

Apart from the band, Shallum will also be bring back an initiative he had with I Am Karachi. The mentorship program offers opportunities for artists from the far-flung areas of Karachi.

"We will be going to areas such as Lyari, New Karachi, Korangi, Surjani Town, and others to fish out fresh talent," he said. "Our plan is to bring that talent to mainstream media and offer them work with professionals."

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Shallum also had a thing or two to say about the ongoing Kashmir conflict as well.

"See, the thing is I wouldn't want to comment on the current political happenings," the artist shared. "The reason is I don't think we, as artists, are politically educated. We should do intensive research before making a comment on such matters."

He went on, "The narrative of what we as Pakistani and them as Indians perceive about Kashmir is polar opposite. We don't agree with it, and we won't agree on it. But we should never promote war or any sort of conflict."

Shallum concluded by saying he will be ready to make political statements once he's educated about it well enough.

"We're artists, and arts is never about conflicts."

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