As soon as we hear the name Ali Noor, pop/rock songs from Noori instantly come to our minds. However, quite recently, Ali Noor, who is an advocate of producing original music, has been experimenting with different genres such as ‘A cappella’ (singing unaccompanied by instruments).
InstepInterVIEW
The singer-songwriter talks about BIY, experimenting with ‘A cappella’ and the need for embracing innovative music.
As soon as we hear the name Ali Noor, pop/rock songs from Noori instantly come to our minds. However, quite recently, Ali Noor, who is an advocate of producing original music, has been experimenting with different genres such as ‘A cappella’ (singing unaccompanied by instruments).
To start off, Noor and Strepsils Stereo recreated the A cappella version of ‘Khayal Rakhna’ that was released on Independence Day earlier this year. Originally sung by Alamgir, the song featured a number of artists including musical siblings Zoe and Rachel Viccaji, singer-songwriter Sara Haider as well as artists Saad Hayat and Ahsan Pervaiz. “In a bid to produce original music and promote originality, we decided to cover Alamgir’s iconic song the A cappella way. And though it is very nascent to us – the main aim was to explore and see what works best and how musically coherent the song turns out to be,” shared Noor.
Several weeks later, Noor is back with another collaboration with Strepsils Stereo in the form of ‘Rang De’, a desi wedding song. This time around, he has teamed up with the very talented Parizae Azhar, Safeer Jaffery, and ‘Khayal Rakhna’ cohort, Ahsan Pervaiz. The festive tune has an old school feel to it. “It was not supposed to be a wedding song; it was just an afterthought. We were just trying to come up with different versions and ended up with a wedding number,” Noor told Instep.
The year, 2017 is an important year for Noor, as he revived the Believe in Yourself (BIY) music label and also participated in Coke Studio 10 alongside Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on the song ‘Sayonee’.
Moreover, Noor also released a Black Friday song, a rock number meant to promote Daraz Pakistan’s Black Friday sale and managed to hit it out of the park.
Regarding BIY Ali Noor noted, “BIY, Believe in Yourself, is a platform where artists will go through a journey that will enable them to become a true musician. In times where different platforms such as Nescafe basement, Coke Studio, etc. are gaining competitive edge in the music industry by fancifying already existing songs, BIY Music intends to become the pioneering force in bringing back the narrative content/original music in Pakistan.”
“BIY encourages serious artists across different genres to craft original music and learn the art and technique of live performances within a creative environment under the supervision and in collaboration with renowned and experienced musicians of the industry,” he continued. “In a time where people are not aware whether they want to listen to original music, BIY’s mission is to awaken the need for such content. It will act as a fierce and consistent movement to bring about positive change in the music industry of Pakistan, both in terms of listeners and music makers.”
This year, Noor also launched a series of video logs that can be found on the YouTube channel, ‘This is Ali Noor’- where he has been showcasing a very personal side of himself. In one of his vlogs, Noor can be seen constantly talking about a caravan now that he has turned 40. According to Noor, by caravan, he means collective functioning. “You can only bring about a change when you (as a group) realize the need for it. Collective existence is what is needed in this society, in this country. I am not just talking in terms of music, but as a whole,” he stated.
“Now, coming back to music... there needs to be a proper structure when it comes to making the whole process of bringing a musician out in the market. In my time, I did what I felt like. But this doesn’t work now. It usually backfires. We neglect a lot of processes in between that affect the artist’s music career in the longer run. Due to which, everything comes back to either making covers of songs or ending one’s music career. Believe in Yourself will make sure the artist has all it takes to become a musician before entering into the market. And will also stand by it as a powering engine,” added Noor.
When asked why he backed off as a producer for Coke Studio 10, Noor said, “Well, that’s because I feel there is a bigger need to awaken listeners, whether they want to stick to the regular music being produced these days or understand the difference between innovative or non-innovative music. I have been busy all these years, trying to figure out a way and develop this habit of being consistent in passing on this message to the masses. So, BIY is what I am working on. This platform is all for this purpose. And I hope, within a few years, I can see this platform and its processing become crystal clear for all the passionate music innovators and listeners.”
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Ali Noor in a still from ‘Rang De’, his second collaboration with Strepsils Stereo.
