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Pop music welcomes a heart set on going on...
Instep has a one on one with Yousaf Rizvi – the singer behind the melodic track, 'Dil Nahin Manta'

By Sonya Rehman
 
Yousaf and Nauman are the latest addition to the already growing number of pop musicians within the country. With their first single, 'Dil Nahin Manta' released towards the end of 2006, the yellow brick road ahead looks bright and welcoming.

"I was never interested in singing professionally through my years as a student", Yousaf tells me as we sit at a local coffee shop in Lahore. "It was only until I met and befriended Nauman in college that we began working on 'Dil Nahin Manta' in 2002."

Yousaf comes across as a pretty decent guy. He's down to earth, unpretentiously candid and quick witted at the same time. Dressed in a black jacket with a parrot green T-shirt underneath, jeans and sneakers, Yousaf is like the boy-next-door...cultured, brought up with good values and an acute business sense. He's having coffee whilst I nurture a cold (the city faced a heavy downpour the night before giving every Lahori a bout of hypochondria, a pink nose and the sniffles).
 
Yousaf and Nauman's first single brought with it mixed reactions. While some lauded its unpretentious and acoustic simplicity, others felt the video perhaps 'downplayed' the song's depth. The Director of the video, Zeeshan Parwez, has been someone whose always had a penchant for doing things differently...with a 'twist' if you may. The video was made in chroma, and had a very animated yet lingering effect. It carried the similar 'evocative somberness' as Ali Azmat's 'Teri Parchaiyaan'. The last bit of the song especially was done quite superbly – depicting several Yousaf, Nauman and Pappu's in a stark-white room, giving it that Hollywood-ish-SFX touch.

"The theme of the song is about one's search for eternal happiness or your first love. But once that's lost...you move on, and get on by with the help of your friends," Yousaf says. "Actually no one expected your video to feature a model. Because it was so close towards the end that it came as a bit
of a surprise...", I say letting my sentence linger. "Haan yaar we thought the video would look too gay without the presence of a female model", he says as we laugh in unison (although I laugh harder in incredulity of his candidness).
 
 
Yousaf and Nauman's debut album is to be released "sometime in 2008" and will be "melody-based" as Yousaf puts it. It's no wonder people warmed up to their single and hopefully to their album too, once it's released. A predominance of music listeners in the country tend to favour lighter melodic tunes. Look at artistes like Atif Aslam and Ali Zafar, their album ratings as well as album sales are phenomenal.
People dig their music more than say, for instance, death metal. That's just the way it is. Whether musician A's music is better than B's...is besides the point.
 
 

As rock music has gained dominance in the music scene, it is indeed a welcome for a duo like Yousaf Rizvi and Nauman Bari to join the pop bandwagon. Ultimately, any genre can make it big provided there is a melody. That being said, it should also be a little different. It is this reason that makes 'Dil Nahin Manta' stand out. Not only is the song a melodic number but also has an ambience to it, thanks to the simple usage of flute in the track. It creates a mood for the listener. Ambience is what Ali Azmat did with 'Teri Parchaiyaan', Rushk did with 'Behti Naar', Fuzon did with 'Khamaj' or what EP did on a monumental scale in their one and only album, Irtiqa.

As new bands are sprouting up from everywhere, it is this mood that remains missing from their albums. That doesn't mean that those bands are not making listenable, hummable melodies but it simply means that they can't or won't play around with structures.

Currently Nauman is wrapping up his Masters from a university in the United Kingdom and upon his arrival both he and Yousaf are due to start recording their debut album almost immediately.

So how does Yousaf feel about becoming a commercialized singer? Would he and Nauman welcome it or would it make them apprehensive? "There's nothing wrong with becoming commercial," he says matter-of-factly, "I think people get scared of becoming commercial because it curbs their innovation and they feel too caved in."

I had to agree here. Considering how 'refreshingly' commercial Ali Zafar has been and is (what with his current video being sponsored by a telecommunication company), if artistes are talented enough and can actually 'handle' being promoted by towering MNC's (and not losing their individualism in the process)...what's the biggie?

Currently, the duo isn't pressurized in speeding up their album, "No half-hearted efforts," Yousaf affirms, "We haven't signed a record deal yet because we're taking our time and working at a methodical pace, we're not pressurized to hurry it up. If something good comes along when we're in the right place at the right time, we'll go for it."

With Nauman due in September, both boys not only have a lot to get working on, but much to look forward to at the same time.