Surkhwaab takes flight with a unique take on folk fusion

Band’s debut release is the re-imagining of Khwaja Ghulam Farid's ‘Sanval’

KARACHI:

When it comes to folk songs and /or Sufi Kalams Sanval Mor Mohrran ranks high in terms of popularity both within audiences and artists. Be it fusion or classical styles, Sanval has seen countless renditions over the years with most of them ending up sounding pretty much similar as far as the ‘feel’ is concerned. The ones who tried to step outside the box usually end up losing the entire plot.

Perhaps a type of unison with the preceding versions when it comes to popular folk songs is what artists aim for in the back of their minds. Or it’s the fear of the songs losing their ‘inner essence,’ however that is defined by the artist.

The latest reimaging of the evergreen Sanval comes by Karach- based-band Surkhwaab. Comprising of Zeeshan Ali on vocals, Jasir Abro on bass, Zishan ‘Shani’ Mansoor on guitars, Jon Saville on Keys and Ajay Harri on Drums, Surkhwaab’s version of the track may sound profane to Eastern classical puritans but is far from anything redundant.

With a Jazz chordal arrangement backed by a tight groove with an Eastern melody on top, Sanval as delivered by Surkhwaab is an intriguing take on how fusion music is approached locally. Perhaps the perfect debut track for a band stepping in a world of rapidly changing tastes.

“In my experience whenever I have come across artists trying to experiment with the combination of Eastern and Western, the finished product ends up being predominately the former,” vocalist Zeeshan told The Express Tribune.

 

 

“You have to understand that the difference is not just in the instruments but their accents as well, how they are played. I feel that most people end up playing western instruments with a classical approach. The same three chords back up a melody which is something that has been already happening in folk music. What’s changing here is that instead of a basic three-chord progression, every word and phrase depending on its nature is backed by a different chord.” he asserted.

In many ways Sanval flips the script. While the overall product has a neo-jazz aesthetic to it, compositionally the vocal melody is still the driving force.

 

 

A typical songwriting session for the band much like in the case of Sanval involves the two Zeeshans work out the basic arrangement. “My awareness of how Eastern classical fuses with western arrangements is fairly recent. I mainly played what I felt right in the moment. The main force is Zeeshan’s vocal melody and my aim was to support it throughout. To make sure how we can add colour in terms of chord progression and harmonically without clashing with the main melody.,” Shani said.

Echoing the same mantra of minimalism Zeeshan talked about how he kept the singing minimal despite Sanval offering ample room for vocal gimmickry. “I could’ve easily dominated with improvised vocals, a practice which is often lauded in the classical community. But I consciously decided to do only what was required. So that audiences from all around could listen to it,” he said.

 

 

“So far I’ve received a lot of positive response from it from elsewhere from people with limited or no exposure to classical. This couldn’t have been achievable from just the tanpura, tabla and harmonium,” Zeeshan added.

Produced at A for Aleph, the song was mastered by Alex Deturk at The Bunker Studios in New York that has produced albums for renowned figures in modern jazz such as drummer Mark Guliana and avant-garde outfit Nerve.

 

 

According to the band the decision to have it mastered from abroad stemmed from the fact that locally, mastering is not treated as a separate field. “It’s a different science altogether. I always try to get my songs mastered from abroad since there are facilities their specifically designed for this task. I would like to thank the guys at Aleph for doing the research and that’s how it ended up going there,” Shani said.

 

 

Despite now having a cerebral approach towards music, Surkhwaab reaching on to its current iteration was anything but a conscious journey “ Me Ajay and Shani already played in a band set up. We initially wanted to play the party circuit. Jon came in later on with his own unique flavour. Then Zeeshan was sort of always there whenever we jammed. Everytime he managed to fit in an eastern melody from countless ones stored in his mind perfectly with the stuff we were playing. So naturally the fusion started to happen and the band became what it is,” Jasir recalled.

Surkhwaab is set to release more music this year.

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