How Junoon took Parvaaz

Former band member Brian treats Junoonis with an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of their fifth studio album

KARACHI:

Before Salman Ahmed became an inquilabi, Ali Azmat shaved off his long locks, and way before Brian O’Connell left the band, these lauded musicians were busy producing music in the studio and deliberating whether or not to order chicken salad from MM Alam Road. With Junoon’s 25th anniversary album slated to release later this year, there couldn’t have a more suitable time for Junoonis to take a peek into what made the band top-flight. O’Connell recently took to his Facebook page to post a fun-filled behind-the-scenes video of their fifth studio album Parvaaz.

One of the interesting moments in the video is when O’Connell is discussing with someone whether to order a cheese or a beef burger, ultimately deciding on the former. He then walks up to the camera and says, “I’m a little concerned about this cheese burger.” The video also shows glimpses of a young Ali Noor and model Vaneeza Ahmed sitting on a couch and relishing the music during the final mixing sessions.

 

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Ahmed spoke about the video and what went on during their recording sessions. “I remember the year was 1999 and we were coming off with hits, such as ‘Sayonee’ and ‘Saeein’,” he said. “We had hit Mekaal Hasan’s studio for one month and our audio engineer, John Alec, had flown to Pakistan and joined us, as he was also co-producing the album with me,” he added.

 



 

Ahmed spoke fondly of his interaction with Noor of Noori fame during the recording sessions. “I knew Ali Noor through his grandfather as he was our lawyer when Nawaz Sharif banned Junoon in Pakistan. He was just starting out back then and, when he told me about his musical aspirations, I gave him my 12-string acoustic guitar just to inspire him.”

He shared that Noor and Vaneeza Ahmed were not the only ones who used to join the band during their jamming sessions. Zia Mohyeddin and Mekaal Hasan’s father, Masood Hasan, also visited them in the studio during the recording of their song ‘Ghoom’. Ahmed termed Parvaaz as a ‘special album’ as, unlike their previous albums, it was ‘much deeper’. He singled out the songs ‘Mitti’, ‘Ghoom’ and ‘Pyar Bina’ as some of his most favourite tracks from the album.

Towards the end of the video, Brian, Salman and Alec are shown talking about the listing of the tracks during which Alec reasons, “There are some songs that people are going to resonate with much more on the surface, and there are other songs that are really going to go within.” Apart from Ahmed, producer-musician Mekaal Hasan, who provided the band with the facilities to record the album, shared, “Parvaaz is one of my favourite albums and, although I wasn’t involved in recording or producing it, I remember having witnessed some of the recording sessions first hand.”



Describing the album, Ahmed said, “Parvaaz was not an easy album to listen to because of its deep nature, as it carried influences of people, such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Bulleh Shah.” He added that with the album, which was “way ahead of its time,” the band experimented with Sufi and rock music way before it became famous on Coke Studio. “Even the sound was different when compared with our previous works, as Brian played a much funkier bass on the album,” he stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2015.

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