Spirit of my silence I can hear you, but I’m afraid to be near you/And I don’t know where to begin.” – ‘Death with Dignity’ by Sufjan Stevens 

An antique clock is churned, the pendulum swings and we’re transported to a dining table where a toxic behaviour of masculinity is almost overwhelming. It is a patriarchal household in ‘How’ by audio-visual artist, Wooly and the Uke (Jannat Sohail) for whom this has “a personal connotation in a traditional, South Asian family”. As the narrative builds, we see Wooly as part of the cast with a group of actors that deliver the idea behind the music video so well that the first thought is casting coup. The patriarch in ‘How’ is essayed by the illustrious Sarmad Khoosat, filmmaker as well as theatre, film and TV actor. At this South Asian “dining table”, he is joined by an array of other individuals, each playing what is a necessary role (such as Muhammad Moiz, famous activist, academician, and public health practioner; Adeel Afzal, known more recently for his national drama serial, Parizaad; Wajeeha Zaeem, fashion model, and Usman Rana, a NY-based budding actor – with the last two making their debut with this music video). 

‘How’ by Wooly and the Uke (director) is just as much a visual project as an audio one, Wooly tells Instep in an exclusive conversation from Berlin, Germany, and there is a reason for it and we’ll get to that. If the cast has you convinced that the music video should be interesting, the song ‘How’ (with music, lyrics and composition by Wooly) from her upcoming “ambient, genre-fluid, expressive” album, to be released in 2022 called Rebirth: These Days, will make you yearn for it to drop. 

Palpable within minutes that Wooly is best articulate as she speaks in visual context about music or stories, she allocates ideas to their visual figurine, and therefore directing the music video for ‘How’ doesn’t turn out to be a surprise. What is surprising is just ‘How’ good and provoking it is and feels so very familiar. ‘How’, the ambient, visceral, quiet and ferocious and one of the most engaging tunes from 2022, is produced by John Mark Nelson, “a songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles, CA. Some of his acclaimed work includes engineering Taylor Swift’s album, Red (Taylor’s Version).” 

Working with Taylor Swift was just one facet of John Mark Nelson’s musical side. He makes other music as well and it was that particular brand of music that compelled Wooly to write to him. “The collaboration with Wooly came about as a result of a ‘fan mail’ Wooly had sent to John, admiring his work in 2016,” says a press statement. 

‘How’ also features two of Pakistani music’s most talented musicians, Haniya Aslam, on audio mixing and the wickedly talented Zahra Paracha as sound designer and editor, making this a female-driven project, a rare sight in the music industry carried on, in this fashion. ‘How’captures a toxic side of human nature and because the actors play this role so well, it almost feels that there is something wrong with them but of course, the vulnerable quiet one is struggling and she has both alpha male brothers who want to please the patriarch and the one brother who sees the struggle. If art is metaphorical (and it is), this music video is not exactly about some divine perspective but what a typical South Asian dining table is like. The people involved with ‘How’ show these artists wouldn’t have gotten involved if it was an ordinary song. There are layers of gender and identity wrapped within ‘How’. Wooly gently asks or nudges us to ask ourselves these questions that have been presented through her audio-visual music. It is not described as just indie music but “music with a strange otherness”. Though she made a mark as an instrumentalist through Pakistan’s first all-female ensemble that rose to global popularity via Nescafe Basement 4 and went onto create Wooly and the Uke in 2016 - from a need to understand and “deconstruct that very mainstream frame of individuality and comfort one desires” - Wooly tells me that she moved to Berlin, Germany 2 years ago and cannot fully articulate her music. Wooly and the Uke admits that as far as her music goes: “I don’t think I’ll ever know what my music is – it just is, as it comes out. Do we really care?”

 “Is this the real life?/Is this just fantasy?/Caught in a landside/No escape from reality” – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen 

As much as we know about ‘How’ and it features a Taylor Swift engineer (without the Taylor Swift sound) as well as Haniya Aslam and Zahra Paracha from Pakistan, and Wooly and the Uke, what lingers after watching/listening to ‘How’ is wondering who she is. 

Jannat Sohail (Wooly) is originally from Lahore, Pakistan. She moved to Berlin, Germany two years ago and is the force behind Found Records. “I wrote this song around two years ago,” she begins her story as the sunlight beams into the room. “I don’t know but in Pakistan there are these difficult tangents that touch you and my perspective comes from what remains the visual narrative of depicting emotions within and without.” 

“Can you walk on the water if I, you and I/Because your blood's running cold outside the familiar true to life.” – ‘Familiar’ by Agnes Obel 

A great deal of Pakistani music that is being made in Pakistan now has gone beyond the Sufi. Subjects from personal trauma, death, political upheaval, seeking answers from those seated in the power structure, is most palpable in rap music.On the other side, pop music todayis also being madethat is catering to disenfranchised youth. If there is crunchy pop and empowering female anthems, there are also some perspectives of emotional rollercoaster we go through that seem to be missing or not as striking as the art-pop made by as Wooly and the Uke. 

This sacred artist (given her work) is looking to address emotions within and without, and an artist who has an audio-visual narrative to share will always find an audience even if it is not sitting on top of the YouTube charts. Having a smaller audience that grows organically is something Wooly knows and is not concerned about in the larger scheme of her music. With genuine sincerity, Wooly says, “I always see, regarding my observation of society around meas just absurd strangers and objects including myself. I see all of us as creatures and that shows in a lot of my work. The way I portray people and talk about people, they all seem like wild, primitive creatures and that's why I write music like this because it helps me observe that from an aerial point of view. Wooly points it out: "They all seem absurd. If you listen to 'How', it says: 'How Do I Lie Next To You When The World Sees I'm The Same As You/How Do I Feel The Way I Feel When The World Sees Its Getting Too Real'.” 

Wooly observes that in Pakistan, it is a society where everyone feels frustrated. “But instead of being expressive within ourselves, the society kind of hammers you down and you hammer somebody else down.” Music that shows a mirror to society even it is a form of a traditional dining table in an unfathomable fashion even though it feels all too familiar, I wonder if this will pigeonhole Wooly and the Uke to a certain “otherness” music genre – irrespective of the fact that she has maintained her music is genre-fluid. Wooly – who counts the likes of Fiona Apple, Thom Yorke, Bjork, and Adrianne Lenker, takes a moment before she speaks. 

With Rebirth - These Days, what we will encounter are a spectrum of visual ideas ranging from traditional personal experiences to that which is hard to articulate given the deteriorating fabric of our society. "We, as individuals, are the sum of many, many things. But, within these songs, there is always an underlying message like immigration, but there is also always a silver lining integrated within.The way I portray people and talk about people, they all seem like wild, primitive creatures and that’s why I write music like this because it helps me observe that from an aerial point of view.” 

Wooly has nothing but kind words for music producer John Mark Nelson, Haniya Aslam and Zahra Paracha along with Sarmad Khoosat who agreed to do the music video even though he doesn’t star in music videos as he directs them and that too, when it appeals to his aesthetic sense. From the cast to these illustrious names, Wooly acknowledges what their input meant to her as an artist and to her upcoming record. “My goal is to work with people – who may not be making ten new tracks but – are doing innovative work in different manner.” 

Moving back to Wooly, she admits words come first. “I necessary don’t know what the arrangement is going to be but I know the verses, this is how it’s going to sound and this is the melody,” she says of her initial musical process. And then the producer follows and for each track, she works with a different producer. “The reason I call myself an audio-visual artist is because I always think of music and lyrics in terms of visual narrative so if I want to talk about an emotion, I think what that emotion would look like. If it is about an insidious change that’s come inside me so I imagine roots, and I imagine very-cinematic roots sprouting out and its stark and it spins and what happens to it. My thoughts are a tunnel of visuals.” 

As a director, the music video is gut-wrenching. There is isolation and struggle and a deeper emotional current, visual motifs to it. And the personal connotation makes it so. When pressed Wooly notes, “It comes from an environment we were living in, which is Pakistan and when you are carrying like a lot on your head, back and your body, eventually it starts to go down and you don’t even realize it because it’s been that way for such a long time. I’m grateful enough that I found an opportunity to move away, so I’m able to see a bit more clearly. Other things came on me but they were very different like immigration and other things, and they’re burdening but very different. In Pakistan, I think my arc of emotions growing up was feeling unaccepted, feeling like there’s a lot of violence, there’s a lot of domestic violence, patriarchy, bomb blasts and desensitization, people groping you. If my life or anybody’s life was an emotional, visual montage, growing up, you take a breath, baby cries, smiles and punches, domestic violence, a huge clock ticking, noise, there are people, and endless amounts of wardrobes closing and shutting because you can’t wear this or that. You’re in a bad relationship with your body, and there is always something. So, with the song it reaches a crescendo; it’s all that build me up so it comes out like this.” 

As this beautifully expressive interview comes to an end, with ‘How’ trailer already out, Wooly says on a parting note, “I’m trying to move towards a complete pure expression of all these emotions. Previous songs I have done are nowhere near the sound and expression I want to portray. That’s also why the debut album is called Rebirth – These Days.”¬