Misplaced Pages

Asad Ahmed

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Assad Ahmed) Pakistani guitarist (born 1971) For the British news presenter, see Asad Ahmad.
This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous.
Find sources: "Asad Ahmed" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Asad Ahmedاسد احمد
Asad with his Minarik Shattered Mirror InfernoAsad with his Minarik Shattered Mirror Inferno
Background information
Born (1971-07-21) 21 July 1971 (age 53)
Karachi, Pakistan
OriginKarachi, Pakistan
GenresHard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s)Musician, Songwriter, Record producer, Entrepreneur
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1987 – present
Member ofKaravan
Awaz
Vital Signs
Musical artist

Asad Ahmed (born 21 July 1971) is a Pakistani guitarist. He has been a member of various musical groups and some of the earliest Pakistani rock bands like The Barbarians, Awaz, Karavan, Junoon, Vital Signs and Coke Studio Pakistan.

Early life

His family moved to Dubai when he was quite young. His elder brother was a guitarist and when he left for college, he left his guitar back at home. Asad picked it up and quickly learnt to play. His family returned to Karachi in 1984.

Personal life

On 14 February 2019, Ahmed married Hira after dating her for two years. They got married in a nikah ceremony surrounded by close family and friends in Karachi.

Career

Coke Studio

Asad played in Coke Studio (Produced by Rohail Hyatt) and was one of the house band members from season 2 to season 6 and reappeared in season 13.

The Barbarians

Asad started his music career in 1987 with The Barbarians, which is regarded by many as Pakistan's first rock band. The band's first single "Yeh Zindagi Hai" (This is Life) set the foundation of Pakistani rock. They got their first big break when The Barbarians participated in "Rock vs. Rock" show at the Taj Mahal (Agrah, India) and won a prize of 20,000 Rupees. They released their only album, the self-titled "The Barbarians" in 1989, which did not fare well in the then rock-repellant Pakistani music industry. The Barbarians fell apart in 1990.

Junoon and Vital Signs

Asad did a gig with Salman Ahmad of Junoon at a party in 1991. On Salman's invitation, he hopped on board with Junoon and played bass with them for about a year. In a performance at Marriott Islamabad in November 1992, he met Haroon and Faakhir of Awaz and Rohail Hyatt of Vital Signs. This led to his performances on Vital Signs' Aitebar and Hum Tum .

Awaz

Awaz was formed in December 1992, by Haroon, Faakhir and Asad. The band went on to become the next best thing in Pakistani pop scene after Vital Signs. Awaz were highly skilled and talented musicians, producers and composers. The band's skill at composing and producing was often overlooked and the focus was on their good looks, glossy videos, catch songs and wild stage performances. Awaz was the first band from Pakistan to appear on MTV on 20 April 1992 with the song Janeman. Awaz released three albums. The first album was the self-titled album Awaz, more commonly known as Awaz 1. The second album was Jadu Ka Chiraagh and the third and last album was Shola. After Shola, the band fell apart due to the differences among the three and they went their ways. Haroon and Faakhir started their solo careers. Awaz has sold over 3 million albums worldwide.

Karavan

In 1997, foreseeing a disintegrating Awaz, Asad established his own studio. Simultaneously, he joined hands with Sameer Ahmed to form Karavan, thus returning to his rock origins. They brought the already established solo singer Najam Sheraz as the first vocalist and Alan Smith as drummer to complete the line-up. In 1999, Najam Shiraz returned to his solo career, vacating the vocalist's slot for newcomer Tanseer Daar. Karavan released Rakh Aas in 1997, Safar in 1999 and Gardish in 2002. In 2005, The band issued an internet only Unplugged album which had over 100,000 downloads. Karavan released their fourth and final studio album, Saara Jahan in 2010. The band broke up in 2012. Karavan has sold over 800,000 albums.

Solo

Over the years, Asad has done extensive session work contributing his guitar work and compositions to albums by Vital Signs, Ali Zafar, Haroon, Sajjad Ali and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to name a few. In 2017 he released Rebirth his first solo album which is also Pakistan's first all guitar instrumental album. Animal was released as the first single and got heavy airplay on radio and TV. On 14 August he also released a guitar rendition of the Pakistani National Anthem. Rebirth the title track was released as the second single and video on 18 December. Will You was released as the third and final single on 4 July 2018. Rebirth has had 500,000 downloads and streams on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music and over 800 online platforms. This makes it the largest selling guitar instrumental album in South East Asia.

Asad released his second solo album Severe Cuts in July 2020. The first single, "Dream of Right Now" was sent to Radio on 14 July.

Discography

References

  1. ^ "Veteran guitarist Asad Ahmed ties the knot". The Express Tribune. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2024. Awaz got disbanded in 1999 and then, Asad went on to form Karavan with Tanseer Dar, Alan Smith and Sameer. Simultaneously, he became a permanent member of Coke Studio's house band in 2008 and remained associated with the show till Rohail left in 2013.
  2. "Reflections – Profile: Assad Ahmed". PakiPop.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
  3. "The Pioneers of Rock Music in Pakistan". RAW.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
  4. Severe Cuts (The EP) by Asad Ahmed on Apple Music, 7 July 2020, retrieved 16 December 2024
  5. Asad Ahmed Official (13 July 2020). Asad Ahmed | Dream Of Right Now (Official Visualizer) | Severe Cuts. Retrieved 16 December 2024 – via YouTube.
  6. "Rebirth is me shedding my skin and coming clean: Asad Ahmed – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
Awaz
Studio albums
Related articles
Categories: