In conversation with Abida Parveen

With a career spanning several decades, Abida Parveen has become one of the most well-known voices in the history of Pakistani music.

Along the way, the flag-bearer of Sufi music has played a huge role in the popularization and progression of her genre. Not one to shy away from exploring new horizons, the legendary singer has now collaborated with Sweden-based electronic dance music (EDM) DJ Shahrukh Sheikh for a series of remakes and original tracks that are set to be released in the coming months.

So what inspired her to delve into EDM? “Keeping in mind the latest trends in music, I felt the need to evolve in a different way while staying true to my roots,” the singer tells Instep. She acknowledges that EDM isn’t her genre, but she felt drawn towards it after hearing DJ Shahrukh’s 2011 spin on her song ‘Ghoom Charakhra’.

“I really appreciated DJ Shahrukh’s remix because he succeeded in keeping the essence of the kalaam intact. He knows his job really well. His experiment with my composition was a very bold step. I had never thought of my kalaam being treated so differently but I am glad he didn’t let me down. I was truly impressed, I must say.”

It was this remix that eventually brought the two artists together to work on new versions of her kalaams along with a couple of original songs. “As an artist, I feel it’s my responsibility to spread the message of peace and humanity to the masses,” she comments. “We have experimented officially to spread the same message of love, peace and humanity with fresh and different music.”

The first single from this project, ‘Hori (Aj Piya)’, was just released, and the singer is very proud of the material that the duo has produced. “We have worked very hard for this, considering its experimental nature and the geographical challenges. We hope people will like it just the way they have enjoyed my earlier works.”

Seeing how this project started with the ‘Ghoom Charakhra’ remix, how does she feel about other artists doing remixes or covers of her work? “I encourage it, but only with due respect to the original artist,” she replies. “It must be considered that the original artist puts in a lot of effort and hard work researching the poetry of the Sufi saints, and it’s even harder to create soulful compositions for them. I take the task of composition as a great responsibility on my shoulders as I have to do justice to the lyrics. The original artist does not really bother about day or night, food or no food; it’s just the divine driving force that keeps us going, at least I can say that for myself. Whoever copies should acknowledge the fact that the voice may be theirs but the entire effort behind the composition and research of the kalaam belongs to the original artist, for which they should seek permission and pay due credits.”

Abida Parveen will soon unveil more of the music she has created with DJ Shahrukh, including a music video that will be out in May this year. As for her other upcoming projects, the singer reveals that there is a lot more to come. “We are working on a music video series, Bazm-e-Rang, which is an in-house production. We have featured various artists in it, DJ Shahrukh being one of them. We plan to release it real soon.”