:: Interview with Barbut Band ::

By Savaiz Bokhari

Lucky is he who knows what to do and how to do it. Those who realize their natural talents at an early age and start practicing them no doubt earn name and fame and lead a happy life. Pakistan is a country with fertile soil and talented youth. Music is a field in which our youth actively participates as well as in other fields of life. The band we are going to have chit chat with is Barbut Band and there are four guys who rock the scene. They are young, talented and confident and above all, they have a mature attitude towards their profession, behavior and life. When I first saw them I got the impression of meek, frail young boys holding guitar waiting for me to receive them in front of the office of daily the Post. I thought they were just the routine run-of-the-mill type of pop group who are merely infatuated by the idea of being pop singers and just churn out a stereotyped sound, often copying some famous singer. My views changed when I heard them live in our office, after our chit chat. Yes! They certainly rock with their innovative music and lyrics and melodious voice. Let's share what they told us about their band:

A brief introduction:

Denial Arshad: lead vocalist, doing his MBA from UMT College.

Rizwan Asif: lead guitarist, is doing intermediate second part from Crescent College.

Rehan is the bassist he has done his BCom from Leadership College.

Adeel Akhtar is the media manager of the band and he is doing his degree in chemical engineering from Comsat .



Red: Why did you chose the name Barbut as your band name and what does it stands for?

Denial: It's a Persian word for any stringed instrument. Whether eastern or western, any instrument based on strings called is called a barbat. It includes guitar, sitar, violin, etc.

Rizwan: We named our band Barbut because the music of our each and every one of our songs is based on a stringed instrument.



Red: How did you guys enter this field?

Denial: I am very much inspired by Atif Aslam and I felt I could sing for I used to sing in my home and college and people used to appreciate me. Then I start taking part in college competitions and won some of those. Moreover I used to sing in family functions. Thus I start singing with the full support of my family.

Rizwan: I use to hear Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Kishore Kumar a lot. Thus I fell in love with music and one day I bought my own guitar, because I love the sound of a guitar and I was keen to play it!



Red: How did you guys get together?

Denial: You have no doubt heard about internet marriages and friendships but our band is the first one who got together on internet. Actually we all love Atif Aslam for his unique and original style. We had joined a community of Atif Aslam's fan club. There I met Rizwan and he told me that he can play the guitar and I was looking for a guitarist. I found we were in tune with each other and thus all of us get together on net.



Red: What is the speciality of your band?

Rizwan: We always try to come up with new things which are innovative and inspiring. We don't want to follow settled trends and want to come up with something original on our own.



Red: Did you take any training from somewhere?

Rizwan: Nope! Not at all. We compose our own lyrics and play them. I myself search for new ideas on the net and try to adapt them with my own creative sense.

Denial: Even my mom helps me a lot and most of the lyrics have been written by my mother. She teaches me a lot.



Red: Tell us something about your performances?

Denial: We have performed in various universities and colleges like Numul University, Virtual University and in Alhamra. Apart from that, we have given performances in many cities like Multan, which is Denial's hometown and in Islamabad club as well.



Red: Why are you so much fund of Atif? Why not anyone else?

Denial: He is a role model of youth in the field of music. Moreover what we admire him for is that he doesn't copy anyone and has his own unique style. He has his own standards so people tend to follow him. He is self-made artist and his voice is energetic.



Red: Why do our artists especially in the field of music, tend to settle in India? Do you have any plans to settle there?

Barbat: It's like a trade; they provide us facilities and give us a chance to go over there and sing, but that doesn't mean one should settle there on permanent basis. Our artists should sing over there and get appreciation, regard and glory and then they should come back, because Pakistan is our identity. In the future we would love to hear from Indians that this band Barbut is from Pakistan and they really rock!



Red: Do you guys have any plan to take music as a profession?

Denial: No, we are not doing this for money and money doesn't matter for us. It's just our hobby to sing and it's creative. We just want to air our passion through music. What matters for us is proper regard, encouragement and appreciation from our audience.



Red: What is your biggest achievement till now?

Barbut: Our song Hum Rahain was the No. 1 track on different websites. Other than that, in Pak Media Revolution ( www.pakmediarevolution ) in Top 5 Pakistani Songs, Hum Rahain was on 2nd spot for five consecutive months ..

Another achievement for Barbut the Band was that Atif Aslam listened our song Hum Rahain and he appreciated us and felt that the song is very good, very well composed, good music and good lyrics.



Red: What message would you like to convey to the youth of Pakistan?

Barbut: Always keep your hopes alive and believe in yourself. For it is hard to achieve your dreams but not impossible and one should be consistent and confident enough to fulfill ones dreams.