Asad Ahmed

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Asad Ahmed
اسد احمد
Assad ahmed.jpg
Asad with his Minarik Shattered Mirror Inferno
Background information
Born (1971-07-21) 21 July 1971 (age 53)
Karachi, Pakistan
Origin Karachi, Pakistan
Genres Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s) Musician, Songwriter, Record producer, Entrepreneur
Instrument Guitar
Years active1987 – present
Member of Karavan
Awaz
Vital Signs

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. [1] [2]

Contents

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 learned to play. [3] 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. [2]

Career

Coke Studio (Pakistan)

Asad played in Coke Studio (Produced by Rohail Hyatt) and was one of the house band members from season 2 (2008) to season 6 (2012) and reappeared in Season 13 in 2020. His style of guitar playing has some flashy showmanship in it. [1] [4] [5]

The Barbarians

Asad started his music career in 1987 with The Barbarians, [3] [4] [5] which is regarded by many as Pakistan's first rock band. [6] The band's first single "Yeh Zindagi Hai" (This is Life) set the foundation of Pakistani rock. [1] [3]

They released their only album, the self-titled "The Barbarians" in 1989 with the label EMI (Pakistan), which did not fare well in the then rock-repellant Pakistani music industry. The Barbarians band fell apart in 1990. [3] [5]

Junoon and Vital Signs

Asad did a gig with Salman Ahmad of Junoon at a party in 1991. [5] On Salman's invitation, he hopped on board with Junoon band and played bass with them for about a year. [5] In a performance at Marriott Hotel 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. [4] [1]

Awaz

Awaz was formed in December 1992, by Haroon, Faakhir and Asad Ahmed. [3] 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 Jan-e-Man. 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 own ways in 1997. Haroon and Faakhir started their solo careers. Awaz had a 'sold out' concert at Wembley Arena, London in 1995. [3] [5] [1]

Karavan

In 1997, foreseeing a disintegrating Awaz, Asad established his own studio. [3] Simultaneously, he joined hands with Sameer Ahmed to form Karavan, thus returning to his rock origins. [3] 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 Sheraz 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. Karavan released their fourth and final studio album, Saara Jahan in 2010. The band broke up in 2012. [3] [1]

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 2020. [7]

Discography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Pakistan Guitar Heroes". BBC.com website. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Nida Raza. "Asad Ahmed profile". The News International newspaper. Archived from the original on 26 July 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rahul Aijaz (13 July 2017). "Rebirth is me shedding my skin and coming clean: Asad Ahmed". The Express Tribune newspaper. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Muniba Kamal (January 2001). "Reflections – Profile: Asad Ahmed". PakiPop.com website - source: The News International newspaper. Archived from the original on 19 September 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  6. ↑ "The Pioneers of Rock Music in Pakistan". RAW.com website. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  7. ↑ "Severe Cuts (The EP) by Asad Ahmed on Apple Music". 7 July 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
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