Asad Ahmed returns with ‘Severe cuts’

Last week veteran guitarist and producer Asad Ahmad dropped an instrumental EP called Severe Cuts. Being his second solo release, unlike the previous album, Severe Cuts was a product of spontaneity with all the tracks being written and produced within three months starting from the lockdown.

“The album was basically made during lockdown starting from mid-March to June as all of us were in quarantine,” Asad told The Express Tribune. As part of his solo venture, he has planned a spell of three albums including 2017’s Rebirth. Although his second full-length album is complete, the ace guitarist has put it on hold in and instead opted to share his ‘quarantunes’ with the world.

“That album is ready but I decided to put it on the back burner. I ended up recording these fresh tracks without thinking too much what I wanted to do with them. So it sort of came to me at the perfect time to put them out. You know as everyone was waiting for something to happen. Something like new music to tune into. So that is basically the premise of this project,” he said.

In Severe Cuts, Asad has played all the instruments with the exception of drums that were laid down by Karavan’s Allan Smith. He has also recorded and engineered the album himself.

“It’s a purely guitar-based album. After the first album, I figured out that the fans want as much as they can have, both in terms of quantity and genres. If you listen to the first track of this album, Dream of Right Now, it’s not a regular ‘Asad Ahmed headbanger track’. It’s actually a laidback track,” he said.

At the same time, he wants fans to still experience the signature ‘Asad Ahmed’ persona they have grown used to. “Then to keep the core fans happy there’s a track like Fly with me, that was essentially written having in mind an F-16 breaking the sound barrier,” he quipped.

For any new release, under normal circumstances, the practice is to hold live shows in order to capitalise on efforts. Asad however was least bothered by it. In fact, this period of being physically isolated from the world at large is what drove him to deliver new songs. “No, I didn’t think about that. There aren’t going to be any live shows for the next year and that’s a global phenomenon. This is something I did for the fans,” he said. “I even added new tracks to the album I shelved. I have been recording constantly. And I am still recording.”

Severe Cuts is also an independent release unlike Asad’s previous records including Rebirth that was released by EMI. “Honestly I have come to the conclusion that you don’t really need a label in Pakistan. It’s really easy for someone like me who has inroads in Spotify and iTunes to release music on my own. Having said that, EMI is a good company and they really did take care of me. The second full length I am planning to release through them. But in the meantime, I would also continue to release music independently.”

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