The music of Taimur Tajik

The musician is working with Gumby and Omran Shafique on his debut album which is still in progress.

Taimur Tajik is a guitarist and vocalist who has travelled extensively but in 2005 came back to settle in Pakistan. In 2009, he began working with Gumby and Omran Shafique on his debut album which is still in progress. However, three of Tajik’s singles ,“Let it Burn”, “Somebody’s Son” and “All in your Head”, have been released online.

When did you become interested in music?

I’ve been a lover of music for as long as I can remember. If I recall correctly, I picked up my first guitar when I was 15 and have spent countless hours trying to play along to my favourite songs. Rock and blues, in particular, have had the biggest impact on me because I admire the way the artists are able to balance technical skill with raw feeling and emotion. Artists such as Slash (Guns n’ Roses), Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne) and Joe Perry (Aerosmith) have had an immeasurable influence on my guitar playing, not to mention my life.

How do you think you have been able redefine the different genres of music?

Personally, I don’t believe that I’m reinventing the wheel, that’s not what I set out to accomplish.  Instead, I think I have done more to bring a truer form of rock and metal music to Pakistan. I’m fortunate enough to have spent many years growing up in countries where I could attend concerts of my favourite bands and my dream was to bring that culture of music back home.

This comes through in a variety of aspects such as the types of riffs I write, the lyrics I choose as well as the quality of the guitar tones, solos, etc. Whenever I set out to write a song, I do my best to ensure that it delivers an entire experience.

The beauty of music is that it is unquantifiable; it means different things to different people. For inspiring artists, the best thing is to follow your emotions and see how they translate into music.

You have to stay true to who you are, otherwise your art will never be sincere. For me, music allows me to expel a lot of difficult emotions such as anger, ambivalence, and loss.

Hard rock and metal seem to be the most appropriate platforms for me; you can call it ‘therapy’. I guess it also has to do with the fact that rock music was born out of counter-culture and rebellion, and I love the fact that nobody can tell me what to do or how to do it.

There isn’t much activity in the music scene in Karachi and many people cite the reason to be the security situation. What do you feel is the major reason?

I think making music for a living in Pakistan is a very difficult (and slightly unrealistic) venture.

Our industries do not operate as they do in the West, so the idea of becoming a rich and famous sensation overnight is usually a bit of a pipe dream. Also, financing an album is not easy.

With that said, I still think there is plenty of room to command artistic respect and notoriety within our society. In terms of live shows and concerts, I think security is somewhat of an issue, but no more than it would be for any high-profile event.

I think one of the major reasons our music scene isn’t more active is probably because a lot of the talent doesn’t have the chance to gain exposure. There are very few platforms that promote amateur artists, so you usually end up hearing the same names over and over again, which is a bit of a shame.

You have been working on your album, when are you planning to launch it?

I have been working on it, however it’s very hard to say when it will be done. We have a few more tracks in process at the moment and I think 2011 is a safe commitment, at the moment I can’t be much more specific than that.

What’s your plan for the future?

I try not to think too far ahead into the future. I’m enjoying myself thoroughly right now and the response I’ve been getting has already been overwhelming and satisfying enough to tide me over. Yet, hopefully some more live shows and the chance to work with some more cool people. As long as I continue to get to spend time in a creative space, I’ll be pretty happy.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2010.