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The Jal war
A single song, Aadat, did the trick followed by news of Jal's break-up and then the release of the controversial album, Jalpari. But the former vocalist of Jal now gone solo, Atif Aslam, sits back with an unconcerned expression over his face. He says he couldn't care less simply because "people will believe what they want to and I don't interact much with them anyway."
A recent entrant in the arena of music with a break-up credit to his list of achievements, it was time Images got to the bottom of the whole break-up affair. "Jal was a feeling ... a concept. Water has always been my source of inspiration, which is why I named the band Jal." The band, according to Atif, was formed three years ago when he won a singing competition at college and was looking for a guitarist to play his compositions. "I met Goher and hired him." Surely, their claim to fame resides heavily on Aadat, which was formed on the stairs of Lahore's Alhamra Hall when Atif was humming a tune. "Goher suggested the initial lyrics. The rest of the lyrics are mine."
So did Goher compose Aadat? Atif says, "No. Goher didn't play anything, nor did he contribute anything towards Aadat. He just suggested the initial two lines and I had to amend them because it didn't make any sense. After the song was recorded, he asked me to tell everyone that he has played the guitars on it." Atif, I discovered, had a lot of beans to spill. "Around a year ago, when we started receiving concerts, we felt a need for a manager. Goher suggested that we should appoint my brother, Shahbaz, who left his job to work for our band."
According to Atif, Goher persistently complained that he was not getting a fair share of the money and tried to keep him away from attending major concerts. "One evening, he came to my house with his brother and started shouting at me. He said that if my brother acted as the manager, then I would get most of the money and he (Goher) was not okay with this." At one of the last concerts they performed together, Goher approached Atif saying that it was time for Jal to break up. Atif says that despite this, he wanted to work with Goher.
According to him, a number of people including big names such as Meekal Hasan tried to patch things up. "I asked Goher in front of everyone who had named the band in the first place. But when he said that it was he who called it Jal, I realized that I wanted nothing to do with him anymore." The band's website has quite a story to it as well. Apparently the boys initially registered www.jaltheband.com in Goher's name. "So even today, he has possession of it. I don't have any say in it, and it is basically serving as a forum to badmouth me. Since then, I've had my own website, www.h3o.info."
When asked to comment on the perception among many listeners that Goher was the brain behind Jal's compositions, Atif said: "Had he been the man behind the music, how did I manage to release the CD first? The controversies are on songs like Aadat and Dil Haaray. But who made the rest of the songs? They are all my conceptions and I did it all. I hired Goher to work for me and today, I'm regretting it because people believe that he has done all the work." One thing is for sure: Aadat did not become the major hit it is today because of any amateur production values. The credit goes in large part to Meekal Hasan. "He produced, mastered and mixed Aadat, and I am very thankful for his support and guidance. Besides, Sarmad, who is on guitars, provided rhythms and bass as well."
One can't help but be curious as to why this band turned into a bedlam in the first place. Atif Aslam says some things which might provide some insight. "We were never really friends to start off with. At college, I was always surrounded by my circle of friends so perhaps he felt left out. Whenever Goher got to know that I had come up with a composition, he would get jealous. I have a natural potential to produce quality compositions. I never compose intentionally; it just comes to me, like a blessing," Atif says. Atif, however, is not done yet. "Goher wanted fame. He wanted to be in front of the camera all the time. But my idea of a video was entirely different. I wanted to reveal ourselves as little as possible, just to make something non-cliched."
And the Aadat video provides proof of the fact.No doubt, music buffs have already heard the song Bheegi Yaadain on Jalpari. But the song's video was released on TV by the Jal which now Goher leads. As to how he feels about it, Atif says: "I just sat back and watched the video. But once people listen to the song, they feel that I have done a much better job, and at the end of the day, they buy my album." Is there anything he wants Goher to know? "I don't want to say anything to him except that he should start creating his own music. Once a song is released in the market, copies follow, but they are never as good as the original."
Ironically, Atif has released the remixed version of one of Junoon's oldies, Yaro yehi dosti hai. Much to fans' disappointment, he sounds throttled and the tasteless jarring guitars make the song an ordeal to listen to.
The stamina one finds in his voice in Aadat is missing and throughout the length of the video, one is fed one-too-many close-ups of Atif doing his head-banging act. And there is even a reference to Aadat at the end. Does he feel threatened by Goher professionally? "I trusted him a lot. I believed that he wouldn't go this far. I have kept a low profile on the truth and I don't talk to people much. I do music only for my satisfaction and I don't care about the money or the controversies. I wish him the best of luck and to the new vocalist as well, but my Jal is polluted now," he replied. One can only wonder for how long Atif and Goher will remain at daggers drawn. "I can't sit and listen to all that happened between us, or the fact that I tried every possible way to patch up. With the release of my second album, I'll prove that I am right."
The latest on this bad boy of music is that he has been taken under Tariq Amin's wing and if Ali Zafar's case is anything to go by, the prospects seem bright for Atif. We saw it with Awaz then Aaroh, and more recently Junoon. But outdoing everyone is Jal who broke up after recording their first single, and all this when the masses had just started putting high stakes on them. As the Jal war grows hotter each day amidst album launches and legal strife, the thought of seeking out Goher's side of the story was followed by many apprehensions. We were in for a pleasant surprise. Though Goher was in Karachi for a day and was really pressed for time, he was quite cooperative. The session began with a composed Goher recalling the time when it all started.
"I met Atif in one of the singing competitions held at our college, in Lahore, and I asked him to sing Aadat which along with Jaagay I had already composed way before the band was formed. Aadat was the first song we recorded. I wrote and composed it, Atif sang it. We then gave it on the Internet and received a concert offer. We officially formed the band in 2002 and named it Jal." Why call it Jal? "Jal means water which is essential for life. The underlying aim was to create a kind of music which becomes essential for existence, the kind one can't live without."
A single song, Aadat, did the trick followed by news of Jal's break-up and then the release of the controversial album, Jalpari. But the former vocalist of Jal now gone solo, Atif Aslam, sits back with an unconcerned expression over his face. He says he couldn't care less simply because "people will believe what they want to and I don't interact much with them anyway."
A recent entrant in the arena of music with a break-up credit to his list of achievements, it was time Images got to the bottom of the whole break-up affair. "Jal was a feeling ... a concept. Water has always been my source of inspiration, which is why I named the band Jal." The band, according to Atif, was formed three years ago when he won a singing competition at college and was looking for a guitarist to play his compositions. "I met Goher and hired him." Surely, their claim to fame resides heavily on Aadat, which was formed on the stairs of Lahore's Alhamra Hall when Atif was humming a tune. "Goher suggested the initial lyrics. The rest of the lyrics are mine."
So did Goher compose Aadat? Atif says, "No. Goher didn't play anything, nor did he contribute anything towards Aadat. He just suggested the initial two lines and I had to amend them because it didn't make any sense. After the song was recorded, he asked me to tell everyone that he has played the guitars on it." Atif, I discovered, had a lot of beans to spill. "Around a year ago, when we started receiving concerts, we felt a need for a manager. Goher suggested that we should appoint my brother, Shahbaz, who left his job to work for our band."
According to Atif, Goher persistently complained that he was not getting a fair share of the money and tried to keep him away from attending major concerts. "One evening, he came to my house with his brother and started shouting at me. He said that if my brother acted as the manager, then I would get most of the money and he (Goher) was not okay with this." At one of the last concerts they performed together, Goher approached Atif saying that it was time for Jal to break up. Atif says that despite this, he wanted to work with Goher.
According to him, a number of people including big names such as Meekal Hasan tried to patch things up. "I asked Goher in front of everyone who had named the band in the first place. But when he said that it was he who called it Jal, I realized that I wanted nothing to do with him anymore." The band's website has quite a story to it as well. Apparently the boys initially registered www.jaltheband.com in Goher's name. "So even today, he has possession of it. I don't have any say in it, and it is basically serving as a forum to badmouth me. Since then, I've had my own website, www.h3o.info."
When asked to comment on the perception among many listeners that Goher was the brain behind Jal's compositions, Atif said: "Had he been the man behind the music, how did I manage to release the CD first? The controversies are on songs like Aadat and Dil Haaray. But who made the rest of the songs? They are all my conceptions and I did it all. I hired Goher to work for me and today, I'm regretting it because people believe that he has done all the work." One thing is for sure: Aadat did not become the major hit it is today because of any amateur production values. The credit goes in large part to Meekal Hasan. "He produced, mastered and mixed Aadat, and I am very thankful for his support and guidance. Besides, Sarmad, who is on guitars, provided rhythms and bass as well."
One can't help but be curious as to why this band turned into a bedlam in the first place. Atif Aslam says some things which might provide some insight. "We were never really friends to start off with. At college, I was always surrounded by my circle of friends so perhaps he felt left out. Whenever Goher got to know that I had come up with a composition, he would get jealous. I have a natural potential to produce quality compositions. I never compose intentionally; it just comes to me, like a blessing," Atif says. Atif, however, is not done yet. "Goher wanted fame. He wanted to be in front of the camera all the time. But my idea of a video was entirely different. I wanted to reveal ourselves as little as possible, just to make something non-cliched."
And the Aadat video provides proof of the fact.No doubt, music buffs have already heard the song Bheegi Yaadain on Jalpari. But the song's video was released on TV by the Jal which now Goher leads. As to how he feels about it, Atif says: "I just sat back and watched the video. But once people listen to the song, they feel that I have done a much better job, and at the end of the day, they buy my album." Is there anything he wants Goher to know? "I don't want to say anything to him except that he should start creating his own music. Once a song is released in the market, copies follow, but they are never as good as the original."
Ironically, Atif has released the remixed version of one of Junoon's oldies, Yaro yehi dosti hai. Much to fans' disappointment, he sounds throttled and the tasteless jarring guitars make the song an ordeal to listen to.
The stamina one finds in his voice in Aadat is missing and throughout the length of the video, one is fed one-too-many close-ups of Atif doing his head-banging act. And there is even a reference to Aadat at the end. Does he feel threatened by Goher professionally? "I trusted him a lot. I believed that he wouldn't go this far. I have kept a low profile on the truth and I don't talk to people much. I do music only for my satisfaction and I don't care about the money or the controversies. I wish him the best of luck and to the new vocalist as well, but my Jal is polluted now," he replied. One can only wonder for how long Atif and Goher will remain at daggers drawn. "I can't sit and listen to all that happened between us, or the fact that I tried every possible way to patch up. With the release of my second album, I'll prove that I am right."
The latest on this bad boy of music is that he has been taken under Tariq Amin's wing and if Ali Zafar's case is anything to go by, the prospects seem bright for Atif. We saw it with Awaz then Aaroh, and more recently Junoon. But outdoing everyone is Jal who broke up after recording their first single, and all this when the masses had just started putting high stakes on them. As the Jal war grows hotter each day amidst album launches and legal strife, the thought of seeking out Goher's side of the story was followed by many apprehensions. We were in for a pleasant surprise. Though Goher was in Karachi for a day and was really pressed for time, he was quite cooperative. The session began with a composed Goher recalling the time when it all started.
"I met Atif in one of the singing competitions held at our college, in Lahore, and I asked him to sing Aadat which along with Jaagay I had already composed way before the band was formed. Aadat was the first song we recorded. I wrote and composed it, Atif sang it. We then gave it on the Internet and received a concert offer. We officially formed the band in 2002 and named it Jal." Why call it Jal? "Jal means water which is essential for life. The underlying aim was to create a kind of music which becomes essential for existence, the kind one can't live without."
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