Shahzad Haroon

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, your date of birth, childhood and siblings?

My name is Shahzad Haroon, I was born in Hyderabad, Sindh on December 14th, 1973. I have a sister who currently lives in Kuwait. I have spent most of my early childhood in Iran, moved back to Karachi, when I was five. I had most of my education done in Karachi. After completing high school, I moved to Chicago for further studies. I completed my under-graduate studies in Electrical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and graduate degree from DePaul University.

I have always been into music, either playing different instruments or listening to music (LOUD!!) I took some classes for keyboards, guitars and drums when I was in Karachi. I mainly played keyboards and have been writing songs since I was fourteen or fifteen …

Q: How you define yourself in three words?

Hmmm … I guess, Thoughtful, Creative and Ambitious …

Q: What genre of music do you sing? Why did you choose this genre?

I don’t like to get attached to one specific genre of music. If you listen to my music, you’ll find everything from slow ballads to rap to bhangra.

Q: What is your source of inspiration in music?

Well, when I first started playing music there were not many pop bands or artists in Pakistan and I used to listen to Vital Signs and Nazia/Zoheb songs. I guess you could say that they did some what inspired me to get into pop music …

Q: Do you compose all your songs? If not, who does?

I compose all the music my self. I don’t think I will ever have anyone else compose music for me because … where is the fun in that? right?

Q: What is the best in your opinion that first write lyrics and then compose OR compose and then write lyrics?

Well, it really depends, it’s really hard to say what’s best … Sometimes, I would have a melody line in my head that I write the lyrics to, sometimes I start off with lyrics and try to build music around it. There is no best or worst way to write a song really …

Q: You have your dream come true through the Music Studio. Please share with us how you made it happen?

I have pretty much learned the music production on my own through reading books, listening to different CDs and artists etc … being an electrical engineer also helped me with music because, I understood the theory behind the audio acoustics, sound generation and propagation. So, putting together a music studio helped me use all the knowledge from what I have learned throughout the years and it was also a great learning experience. It also helps me experiment with my music and record the sound that I really want for my music. Renting a studio for a few days or weeks really leaves you at the mercy of a recording engineer and you don’t get to produce the sound that you as an artist have in mind.

Q: How do you describe your album ‘Aaghaz’? What do you think it has that is different from the rest?

I’ll actually let the listeners decide what’s different but, one thing that is different, and I am really proud of, is that I have arranged, recorded, produced and mastered the entire project my self. You pick up any artist’s album and you will see a list of people that worked on their project, I believe that really doesn’t show artist’s talent.

Q: Have you released ‘Aaghaz’ in Pakistan?

No, not yet anyway. Aghaaz was a promotional album that I was trying to complete for years, and finally I decided to release it in the USA, just to see the response I get from the listeners. The response I got was amazingly positive and it really helped motivate me to record and produce an album that I can release worldwide. I am currently working on a major release that will include mostly new songs and some remixed songs from Aghaaz.

Q: What is your favorite song to perform live – and why?

I love performing Soniyaay live because of its dance oriented music.

Q: Are you satisfied with the current situation of music in Pakistan?

I think the quality of music has greatly improved. Back when I was there the only band that was worth listening to was Vital Signs (actually my favorite back then …) Now there are quite a few bands that are doing well. One band I will mention is Fuzon, the vocals are absolutely amazing.

Q: What are you currently up to? Are you touring or working on new material?

I am currently writing new material, hopefully in the next few months I will start recording.

Q: What are some of your biggest and reasonable musical dreams you’d like to accomplish?

My only dream is that I would like people to remember me from my music.

Q: Who do you consider as a role model? Why?

My parents, of course. I thank them for bringing me up the way I was brought up. I thank them for teaching me everything I needed to live my life the way I am living now … They are truly my role models.

Q: Have you ever visited Rewaj.com? What are your comments and suggestions for it?

Yes, I have visited Rewaj.com many times and I think it is a great entertainment related site. In fact, I have not seen that many sites promoting the entertainment industry in Pakistan. I think you guys are doing a great job and I would really like to congratulate you guys for all your efforts.

Q: Any message would you like to give to your fans through Rewaj?

Remember … there is nothing in this World that you can’t achieve. You just have to work hard for it …

Leave a Comment