Naseer & Shahab

Naseer & Shahab

The logo consists of a Pakhtun turban atop an inverted electric guitar and speaks of the multiculturalism they're out there to promote.[1]
Background information
Origin Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Islamabad, Pakistan
Genres Soft rock
Alternative rock
Years active 2010–present
Website facebook.com/naseerandshahab
Members Naseer Afridi
Shahab Qamar

Naseer & Shahab (Urdu: نصیر اور شاہاب‎) is a Pakistani soft alternative rock band from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[2][3] Formed in 2010, the band rose to stardom with their debut single "Za Pukhtoon Yam".[4] The band is a duo of Naseer Afridi, who is a lead vocalist, musician and songwriter, and Shahab Qamar, a producer, director and web designer. Naseer & Shahab release singles independently, in mainly Pashtu language, propelled to international success by social media, Naseer & Shahab's four singles "Za Pukhtoon Yam" (2012), "Za Sta Pashan Na Yam" (2012), "Meray Yaar" (2012) and "Ghalti Mein Shta" (2014), tops many charts and made them most influential and first Pashtu rock band of Pakistan.[1]

For their work, they have received a nomination of Best Radio Rock Band at Radio 91 Awards, Best Emerging Band at 12th Lux Style Awards. For "Ghalti Mein Shta" duo received two nominations including Best Music Video and Best Music Single with the former winning for Shahab.

History

2010–2015: Za Pakhtoon Yam and Ghalti Mein Shta

In 2010, Qamar Shahab and Naseer Afridi both met online through Facebook, having an origin of Pakhtoon ethnicity. Qamar resides in Australia while Naseer lives in ISB. However they came across and recorded their first two single through internet, "Rise on Your Broken Knees" and "Za Pakhtoon Yam", in an interview Naseer stated, "For our first two songs, "Rise on Your Broken Knees" and "Za Pakhtoon Yam", Shahab used to send me his music. After that, I would record my vocals on it and send it back to him. That's how we started."[5] Among their first two singles duo release 'Rise on Your Broken Knees' first which wasn't a hit and did below the average at topping charts, however this gives the duo enough recognition so they would upload their second release. Overwhelming response from the audience led the artist to eventually meet and work on their second single for a better music video and re-release of the "Za Pakhtoon Yam", for the video the maximum shot was done in Peshawar, while the rest was shot in Karachi. The song is entirely sung in Pashtu language, giving an inspirational message about Pakhtuns, according to duo its about giving them their identity, speaking about song Naseer explained, "The song is thematic. The reason why we recorded it in the first place was not only because we wanted Pakhtuns to relate to it but also to encourage like-minded Pakhtuns to celebrate their identity."[6]

Success of "Za Pakhtoon Yam", established the duo as a music band in the industry, cherishing the success Qamar says, "The most exciting part is the non-Pakhtuns coming in and expressed their genuine feelings and I think that is our biggest achievement to date", while Naseer who penned down the song summarize, "I have tried my best to put the true Pashto identity in a compressed form in these verses. We have had so many peace loving people in our cultural history but sadly we never promote them. People aren't even aware of the fact that musician Haroon Bacha was threatened by conservative parties that he would be banished from Pakistan if doesn't stop making music in K-P."[3]

After the success of "Za Pakhtoon Yam", the duo released "Za Sata Pashan Nayam" (I am not like you), which added further acclaim to their success which leads them to national success earning wide spread acclaim. The duo sung this song in the seventh installment[7] of Pakistani music series Coke Studio,[8] in the series finale episode[9] It was well received by critics, earning critical acclaim, song was declared as a hit[10] and was among the Top 10 songs of 2014.[11] In 2012 duo released their first Urdu single "Meray yaar",[12] song was also a major hit[13] and duo gets it first nomination at 12th Lux Style Awards as a Best Emerging Band.[14] The duo then digitally released single called "Pakistan" on their official Facebook page.[15]

In 2013, duo released their fifth single "Ghalti Mein Shta" (It is my fault),[16] which added further acclaim[17] and was ranked on number ten in top songs of 2014.[18] Song gets the duo two nominations at 3rd Hum Awards.[19] The duo released their sixth single "Born a Dead Man" on April 13, 2015, for which they have earlier released a prologue[20] and currently the band is working on their first studio album.[21]

2016–present: Hero; and upcoming album

On January 26, 2016, duo announced on their facebook page about their sixth single "Hero" from their upcoming album to be released on February 5, 2016.[22] In an interview with The Express Tribune, Naseer explained, “Our latest release is primarily a rock song infused with elements of electronic music and electro-rock,” shared Naseer. “The idea behind the track is for people to acknowledge that every person is the hero of their own story."[22] Talking with same publication Sahab describe their experience for making the video visually aesthetic and strong animation, he said, "The main challenge was to learn most of the VFX from scratch, which involved spending hours watching tutorials for chroma key [green screen] and 3D, online,."[23] Shahab said their influence behind "Hero" was "deep spaces, supernovas and alien landscapes".[23] According to Shahab, ambient, spacey synths were the triggers behind the concept which took shape after discussions with band member Naseer Afridi saying, "I shared the initial draft with Naseer and asked what sort of emotion it stirred within him. He came back to me with a few paraphrased lyrical ideas which helped narrow down my visual approach,."[23]

Music style and influences

The duo debut single "Rise on Your Broken Knees" (2011) predominantly a rock music record, containing elements of soft rock, alternative rock, pop rock, with hard rock and rock influences. Duo greatest musical inspiration are generally rock and alternative, Naseer said in an interview, "We lean toward rock and I am heavily inspired by bands like Green Day, Blink 182, Alter Bridge and Evanescence. Strangely enough, we fused the non-conventional genre of rock with the Pashto language and somehow it worked." while, Qamar's inspirations includes U2, Nirvana and Coldplay, discussing his music interest, "We like mixing it up but most of our music is straight-up rock."[1][6]

Members

The band has two members:[3]

He was born as Naseer Afridi, in KPK on 13 March 1991, is a lead vocalist, musician and songwriter. Afridi resides in Islamabad and did his graduation in Development studies from Bahria University. He mainly writes songs for the band and is the most active interactive member.[24]

Shahab born as Shahab Qamar on 13 September 1987, also belongs to KPK, is a producer, director and web designer. Qamar is an engineer and resides in Brisbane, Australia. He mainly produce, compose and direct the music videos for the band's discography.

Discography

Singles
Extras

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Work Results
2012 Radio 91 Awards Best Radio Rock Band "Za Pukhtoon Yam" Nominated
2013 Lux Style Awards Best Emerging Band "Meray Yaar" Nominated
2015 Hum Awards Best Music Single "Ghalti Mein Shta" Nominated
Best Music Video Won

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Breaking barriers: A Pakhtun and his electric guitar". Haifa Badi-us-Zaman. Dawn News. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "A message of music and Harmony from FATA". Aeel Wahid. You Lin Magazine. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Naseer and Shahab and the success of "Za Pakhtoon Yam"". The Express Tribune. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Naseer Afrdi and Shahab Qamar's "Za Pukhtoon Yum"". Human of Peshawar. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Naseer & Shahab: From online to offline". The Express Tribune. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Naseer & Shahab: Songs of peace from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa". Awaz Today. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Coke Studio Season 7 Official Artist Lineup". Pak Media Revolution. Sohaib Shah. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "Coke Studio Season 7 Hidden Facts Revealed". DND. Asad Haroon. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "Coke Studio Season 7 releases episode 7". Dawn News. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Coke Studio Episode 7 review: Moonlight music". Madeeha Syed. Dawn News. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Top 10 songs of 2014". The Express Tribune. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Naseer and Shahab Meray Yaar". MYiPedia. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Naseer & Shahab – Meray Yaar – Music Video Review". Skotato. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "LUX Style Awards announces Nominations in 23 Categories". Profashion Style. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Naseer & Shahab – Pakistan". Kool Muzone. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "NASEER & SHAHAB – Ghalti Mein Shta". DFNY Productions. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "This Year in Music". The Express Tribune. 21 December 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Best Song of 2015". Blush.com. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "3rd HUM TV Awards 2015 Nominations – Viewers Choice". Fatima Sheikh. Latestlifestyle. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "Naseer & Shahab – Born A Dead Man (Prologue)". Faiz. Kool Muzone. 9 December 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  21. ↑ "Naseer, Shahab emerge on Pushto music scene". The News. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Naseer and Shahab to release new single". The Express Tribune. February 1, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 "The artist’s artist". Hasan Ansari. The Express Tribune. February 14, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Naseer Afridi in an Interniew". Usman Tariq Awan. Solo Times. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Naseer Afridi, Shayna & Sarmad Ghafoor – Za Na Manum". Kool Muzone. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

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