Zoe Viccaji, Uzair Jaswal talk big breaks and favourite artists

The duo made an appearance on ‘Time Out with Ahsan Khan’

Singers Zoe Viccaji and Uzair Jaswal, who have been active on the Pakistani music scene for quite some time now, sat down for a chat with host Ahsan Khan on his show Time Out with Ahsan Khan. The duo shed light on their inspirations, as well as their eventual claims to fame. They also spoke about the toll not being on stage for two years has taken on performers, with both Zoe and Uzair itching to return to live shows.

Speaking about his initial career, Uzair shared that his key inspirations were his brothers, Umair and Yasir Jaswal. He explained, “For as long as I remember, I’ve been making music. My older brothers [Yasir and Umair Jaswal], they were musicians. They still are musicians. Growing up, I’d attend their concerts and record them with a handycam… Watching them made me want to do it as well.”

The singer also credits his parents for nurturing a good taste in music in him and his brothers. Uzair shared, “Both of my parents have really good voices. They never sing in front of anyone, but whenever their old friends are over, they tell us about their singing skills.”

In a similar vein, Zoe spoke about how music runs in the family for her too, with both her sister Rachel and her inheriting a love of music from their mother and grandmother. She shared, “My first inspiration was my mother. She used to sing. Even my grandmother. Growing up, my mother had a band and my grandmother would sing on the radio.”

Elaborating on her background, Zoe continued, “She used to sing English jazz. She had a beautiful voice. So, I guess it was always in the family. Her husband used to sing beautifully as well. Naturally, my mother started singing too. My mother’s family is all Christian, and they’d sing a lot in church. My mother made us go to church every Sunday and we’d sing on Christmas. That exposure was there. My mother also used to play guitar. I picked up her guitar and started writing at 15 after my dog died. That’s when I wrote my first song.”

Heartbreak is what motivated Uzair to pick up a pen and a guitar as well, with Tere Bin being a dedication to his highschool sweetheart. He reflected, “Tere Bin was a song that I made for someone. I was in school, fell in love, highschool sweetheart. Yasir bhai was a new director at the time, so we shot it while roaming around the parks of Islamabad.’

On the nature of the song, he added, “It was very honest and real and that’s why it connected with people. The song was very simple and that’s what Rohail [Hyatt] heard as well. It led me to be on Coke Studio. That was the big push because people started listening to me internationally. The same song later made it to Bollywood. So, it has been very special to me.”

Talking about her first big break, Zoe shared how singer Haroon gave her the push she needed at the beginning of her career, with a cover of Mera Bichra Yaar truly propelling her into the spotlight. She shared, “Funnily enough, the first person that I recorded my album with and who took me with him was Haroon. He heard me singing once and he thought I was amazing. He helped me record the demo of my first three songs and he took that to Shahi Hasan. Then I recorded my first album, but I was writing in English and that went nowhere here. Then, when I came back from college, Levi’s was doing this thing where you had to perform songs, so I picked one called Mera Bichra Yaar, which I love. I performed that acapella, and that went viral. Strings joined me at the end as well. That was my first big break.”  
Talking about Covid and being unable to perform live, Uzair lamented, “When you’re on stage, you get an instant response from the crowd. The energy that you receive, half of your learning happens on stage and when you’re performing regularly. Last year to now, the biggest drawback has been that we haven’t been performing. We haven’t had concerts in two years.”
He added, “Last year, when all of this happened, it affected me mentally and emotionally. I was exhausted and had writer’s block. I couldn’t write and I wasn’t getting inspired. But I feel like, now, because this is how we have to live, you adapt and you learn. I started slowly getting back into the zone and writing again.”

Giving her two cents on the matter, Zoe shared, “People who love being on stage and getting their energy from the audience, if they don’t get that then… you feel like, who are you writing for?”

When asked about her favourite singers, Zoe answered after a little bit of struggle, “Natasha Noorani, my sister Rachel Viccaji and, oh gosh, Nazia Hassan and Sanam Marvi.”

On the other hand, the singer shared that she would not want to be “enemies” with Meesha Shafi. When asked, Zoe responded, “Meesha Shafi, I don’t know, she looks like a dangerous woman. She looks intimidating. She has a great presence on stage and I feel like, recently, with the Mango Chutney song, I was like, she’s intimidating.”

Answering the question about his favourite singers, Uzair replied, “Internationally, my favourite musician is John Mayer. As for Pakistani, if we talk about all-time favourite, then Atif Aslam. As cliche as it sounds but, he’s everyone’s favourite. He’s been so consistent."