When we think about Karachi’s electronic music scene, Haamid Rahim - commonly known as Dynoman - has always been at the wheel driving the scene forward with Forever South, a collective he formed with Bilal Nasir Khan A.K.A Rudoh. Since the label was formed, the collective played a significant role in portraying a new side to Karachi’s music, be it live shows, album releases or just some good ol’ collaborations between producers on the Forever South roster.

Last month, Dynoman released the first single ‘Lana’ off his upcoming album Travels to Janaicah 2: Songs for Lana. The album, which is currently in its mastering phase, is the second part of the four-part Travels to Janaicah series. The first one Cheebay’s imagination was launched in 2014 with an exciting live show at Amin Gulgee’s infamous art gallery rooftop.

The new tune comes as a refreshing continuation of what we heard in ‘Cheebay’s imagination’. A basic three-minute song, yet it has the ability to keep you captivated throughout with various samples that Dynoman experiments with. It has always been difficult to put Dynoman’s sound in labeled boxes and his songs are not your everyday peaks-and-valleys EDM. ‘Lana’ gives us a nice taste of what to expect from the new album and the album art that goes with it already has us imagining a new side of Janaicah we didn’t experience before. Haamid recently got selected to perform at SXSW 2016 where he plans on performing this album live.

But lately the collective as a whole has been lying low in Karachi when it comes to live shows.

Instep reached out to Haamid online, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in entertainment industry management, to catch up with him on what’s new with Dynoman and Forever South. This is what he had to say…

Instep: So… Masters in the US, how is that going? Tell us a little about the degree you are pursuing.

Dynoman: It is going well! I’m studying a Master in Entertainment Industry Management, essentially looking to stay in the entertainment space. The cool part is that I get to move to L.A in August, which I‘m really looking forward to.

Instep: Why have there been no Forever South gigs in Karachi since you left?

Dynoman: Bilal and I kind off took a hiatus from gigs after Soundcamp 2015. We are now focused more on recording tracks, and have had offers to play gigs at reputable festivals [abroad]. We did gigs for 4 years straight, maybe we got burned out, but it’s a well-deserved break I feel.

Instep: The song ‘Lana’ is from an EP which is part 2 of Travels to Janaicah right? Can you explain the concept behind Songs for Lana?

Dynoman: Yeah! But this is going to be a full-length feature. The album is about an hour long, and it is part 2 of Travels to Janaicah. Songs for Lana is the progression in Cheebay’s story. If you downloaded part 1 off Bandcamp (no longer available) there was a short note explaining Cheebay’s story. In Songs for Lana, Cheebay is a little older and understands the Magic world that is Janaicah, a bit better.

Instep: In terms of the first album, what is the connection between the two? How is the sound different and what did you do differently while composing?

Dynoman: Aside from the progression of the concept, the sound is more mature, and will continue to mature as Cheebay ages in Janaicah. I left the first album raw compared to the second, and made it more dependent on melody. The second album is more about maturity and space, leaving tracks open, letting them breathe other than cluttering them, which is what Cheebay’s Imagination was all about.

Instep: Is Dynoman taking a new direction with the release of this album? And when will this come out?

Dynoman: Not really! I think it’s the same direction, only more mature! The L.P will release sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Instep: But, are you taking a new direction with your music generally?

Dynoman: That’s a good question. I have about 4-5 albums, coming out as EP’s mainly, between now and 2017 end, so why don’t you all be the judge of that.

Instep: When will you be back in Karachi and what are your plans for Dynoman and Forever South in the future?

Dynoman: I come back for the holidays to see my family. I’m playing at SXSW in Austin this year, and FXS will be in Berlin/Germany over the summer to play live shows. We also have many releases coming out so stay tuned for that!