“I want to make music videos that matter.”

Being the youngest child has its drawbacks – you’re often at the mercy of your older siblings. Uzair Jaswal would disagree though. As the youngest of a trio of extremely talented brothers – Umair and Yasir being the elder two– the rocker from Islamabad says his brothers are the biggest influences on his career.

“The only reason I wanted to make music was because of my brothers. When I was a kid, Yasir bhai had a band Irtaash and the band members were always over at our place, jamming. I grew up attending their concerts and they provided me with my first introduction to Islamabad’s underground music scene,” recalls Uzair in an exclusive phone conversation with Instep. “I was the cool kid in school because of Yasir and Umair bhai, and the kid no one dared to mess with!”

He might have grown up in their shadows but the 24-year-old musician came into his own at a very young age. Before a stint at Coke Studio landed him in the international spotlight three years ago, Uzair had already garnered a loyal social media following with his musical offerings. Coke Studio made things a whole lot more serious.

“I was one of those pesky teenagers who messaged Rohail Hyatt every year since I was 16 to please give me a chance on Coke Studio. When Umair’s band Qayaas got a spot on the show, I pestered my brother to put in a word of me. As luck would have it, the CS team had already reached out to me but had emailed me on an address that I never bothered to check!”

The show made the Jaswal brothers not just a household name in Pakistan but also landed Uzair within the radar of Bollywood director Bobby Khan, who contacted him to provide music for his Sunny Leone-starrer Ek Paheli Leela. Despite Leone’s scant wardrobe and equally limited acting talents, the one good thing about the film was Uzair’s melodious ballad ‘Tere Bin’.

“It was the most popular track of its season,” says Uzair of his Bollywood debut. “It topped the charts all over, from India to the Middle East, along with Atif Aslam’s Jeena Jeena which released around the same time. It was an overwhelming experience for me.”

Bollywood may have opened up a whole new avenue for the musician, but he has made a concerted effort to not let influences from across the border seep into his local work. With a brand new single releasing over Eid, Uzair promises that his fans will hear a side of him that they haven’t been exposed to yet. ‘Sajna’ is a groovy and fast-paced number with an electronic feel to it.” The accompanying video, which features Uzair along with Armeena Rana Khan and Osman Khalid Butt, is directed by Yasir Jaswal and builds on the retro feel of their previous collaborative video together, Bolay.

“Both Yasir bhai and I have influences that are very different from Bollywood. Hence our videos are also not typical. Sajna is an ode to the ’80s and has references to many of the popular Hollywood movies of that time because that is what Yasir grew up with. His vision is very different and unique,” explains Uzair.

Osman Khalid Butt, Armeena Rana Khan and Uzair Jaswal will be seen in a fun, retro ’80s-inspired avatar in Uzair’s upcomi

Tell that to the audience of Yasir’s directorial film Jalaibee, who went to the cinemas wooed by the slick trailer and the promise of a Tarantino-esque drama only to be left scratching their heads at the weak plot. Uzair, who’s honed his acting skills since he made his theatre debut at the age of 14 performing with the likes of Hamza Ali Abbasi and Osman Khalid Butt, appears in a cameo role in the film but isn’t blind to its faults.

“The film did good business in the first week, managing to recover the money that was put in. I think it suffered because of the script, which dragged in a number of places. Jalaibee was a learning experience for us, it taught us what the audience wants in a movie. Yasir’s next film will be more safe and commercial.”

While more film roles are definitely in the offing for Uzair (“I’m very comfortable in front of the camera,” he says, “unless it’s Yasir bhai’s camera! He is really hard on me.”), it is music that is in store for him in the near future.

“I want to make music videos that matter. Musicians these days are not making good videos anymore because they know if they put in one lakh rupees, they will not recover the money, given the lack of concerts, royalties etc. I’ve saved up because I want to give the audience something that not only sounds good but is visually appealing too.”

With ‘Sajna’ slated to release over Eid in Pakistan as well as on Indian channels, and two interesting projects across the border, one for a Bollywood film and one independent single, to look out for, fans of Uzair haven’t heard the last from this rock star yet.