“We make music because we like music but you have to keep in account people’s reactions.” – Nauman Bari
Yousaf Rizvi and Nauman Bari discuss their new record, the music industry and more…
Maheen Sabeeh
Karachi
After debuting on the music scene towards the end of 2006 with the beautiful ballad, ‘Dil Nahin Manta’, Yousaf Rizvi and Nauman Bari are back with ‘Aa Jao’ – their latest single off their first record. Instep Today catches up with Yousaf and Nauman and discusses the new album and more…
Instep Today: After the success of the single, ‘Dil Nahin Manta’, you guys disappeared. And now you are back with an album and a video. Will videos be consistent as they remain a memorable marketing tool for the artist?
Nauman Bari: Yes, we are planning to come out with the video of ‘Nostalgia’ because it’s a very young and fresh song. We’re also listening to people and what video they think we should release because we’re getting great feedback from people. For example, the market for ‘Nostalgia’ includes anyone who understands college life and has graduated and has entered professional life. People relate to that. Then ‘Aik Ajnabi’ is for the young teenagers cause it’s a very pop/rock song so people like that a lot too. We’re just waiting to see the reaction of the target market and then we’ll see how to go about it next. We make music because we like music but you have to keep in account people’s reactions and what they like or dislike.
Instep Today: What is your target market?
Nauman Bari: The song ‘Mein Tere Qurban’ is an old kaafi. We made a new version of it, so naturally the market we’re looking at is between the age group of 15 to 35 years…
Yousaf Rizvi: It could be 40. I wouldn’t go above 40 because it’s a young album, one that people above 40 might not enjoy as much.
Instep Today: The licensing of music has begun, slowly but surely. As new artists, where do you stand on the issue?
Yousuf Rizvi: The question to ask is: who is gaining out of this? If it’s the record label, then it’s completely wrong. As artists, we put in a lot of effort and it’s not cheap to record a song. A good recording studio like Mekaal Hasan’s takes a lot of money. We still come from a good financial background but someone who doesn’t and who needs money; imagine how much he will suffer. If the deal is to get royalties, then it is a good deal. If your song is good and people are demanding it, then naturally you will get royalties. But it should go to the artist as well.
Instep Today: Concerts are rare and corporate sponsorship is also limited…
Yousaf Rizvi: Yes, it is difficult to generate revenue as an artist in this market. Everyone wants artists to do something like you do this for me and I’ll do this for you then. There is no liquidity and no transparency. It’s up to the artist to survive on his own. And the media says that the artists shouldn’t go to India but where do we go or what do we do then? India is a big avenue but what happens is that people end up going there and they sign deals that do nothing for them in the long run.
Instep Today: Is India on your agenda?
Yousaf Rizvi: Yes, it is. I would say why not? We have the same language, same kind of people, then why not? We’re looking at it right now and we’re talking to all our friends and references, but nothing concrete as yet. We’re looking at it.
Instep Today: Are their any shows in the pipeline?
Yousaf Rizvi: We don’t see it happening but gigs are happening. We are doing gigs with televisions channels and we are also going on radio channels. We thought that since we signed with The Musik Records, we won’t be going to Aag because they are a part of the company that also owns Fire Records. But no such thing has happened. I think as long as the music is good and people are demanding your video, you get airtime. We are looking forward to live concerts and we would love that, but acoustic is what we love doing.
Nauman Bari: I mean, we would love to sing ‘Dil Nahin Manta’ with acoustic guitars if the opportunity opens up. It’s very unfortunate and I wonder what avenues of entertainment our youth has. Coke Studio, though, is a huge success. We would love to be a part of it.
Source: Instep Today
