Keeping the romance alive

Son of Ahmed Faraz to compose musical renditions of ‘Muhaasara’, ‘Mat Qatal Kero Awaazon Ko’ and others

ISLAMABAD: Musician Sarmad Faraz, who is also the son of late poet Ahmed Faraz, is set to return to the music scene after a three year hiatus. 

Also a member of the band Corduroy, Sarmad is currently working as a marketer but is determined to get back into music to string together some compositions that have been running through his head.

Fusing his father’s works into his own melodies, Sarmad’s work provides a contemporary twist to his poems. “I will be working on a compilation of Faraz sahib’s poetry fused with contemporary music,” Sarmad tells The Express Tribune. “It will be primarily aimed at our younger generation who don’t understand the nuances of Urdu and are not able to appreciate poetry as such.”

Ahmed Faraz’s poetry orbited around the themes of individuality, freedom of speech, romance, human suffering and social activism. Sarmad will be composing renditions of three of his father’s works — Muhaasara, Mat Qatal Kero awaazon ko and Ranjish hi sahi dil hai. For Ranjish hi Sahi dil hai, Sarmad will be coming up with a guitar based adaptation of Mehdi Hassan’s version of the ghazal.

Read: Sarmad Faraz goes back to music

Stating his preference of an audio release, he believes that making a video could at times take away the essence from the music and the words. “The riffs that I plan on using are an amalgamation of electronic, ambient and rock as they were in my2012 rendition of Shayar,” he adds.

Back in 2012, Sarmad released a musical rendition to his father’s poem Shayar, which he released on his father’s fourth death anniversary.  He opted for Shayar because it was the pilot poem of Ahmed’s first-ever published book, Tanha Tanha.

“Poetry from Tanha Tanha — Faraz sahib’s first ever publication over sixty years ago — has really inspired me. His words are eternal. What he wrote half a century back, still holds true in today’s times,” says Sarmad.

Shayar discusses the role of a human being’s transformation by challenging fears in order to live in harmony with one’s true passion and purpose. “For an experimental track and a unique format, the combined response on radio and the internet was phenomenal and truly encouraging,” Sarmad articulates about Shayar.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2015.

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