Wednesday 4 February 2015

Asim Azhar

Asim Azhar: (Urdu:عاصم اظہر : one of the youngest artists out there and also a favorite of many girls. Now a days rocking Pakistan by the covers he's doing. This young guy has a passion of sharing music in different forms to the world. According to him "music has no boundaries." A good looking guy with a charming voice. What else can one ask for? Here are few words we had with Asim.
Name: Asim Azhar

Nickname: Don’t really have nicknames as my name itself is pretty short aha.
D.O.B: October 29th

Zodiac sign: Scorpio

Favorite dish: Steaks.
Dream: My dream is to be overall successful in life. And do what I like to do for living. Sounds easy but I know I’ll have to work hard to achieve that.
Tell us about yourself? Well I’m just a regular teenager. I like to have fun in life, never get tired of going out. Love to play sports! I’m the type of kid who can be very mature where its needed but at the same time still have the young kid inside me. One thing though, I’m not much straight forward which I need to be. I’ll go out of my way to make someone else comfortable which sometimes I regret.
Asim Rockin’ the Acoustic:
I first learned about the talented Asim Azhar through his YouTube video cover of the hit song, “A-Team” by British songwriter Ed Sheeran. Within the first few minutes of the song, I knew this kid was either a star or going to be one very soon. So I reached out to him and requested an interview. After a couple of email exchanges, we finally spoke a few days ago and here is his story.
Asim is 16 years old heartthrob of Punjabi descent, living in Karachi and comes from a musical family. His father is the world famous pianist, Azhar Hussain who’s been a staple of the desi music scene since the 70’s. His older brothers are also musicians who compose, produce and perform their music. However, with a musical DNA as solid as Asim’s, his first interest was not music.

When I asked him if he was always interested in music, he laughed and said, “actually I initially wanted to be a soccer player, then I changed my mind and wanted to be a cricket player…” His response wasn’t too surprising, after all he is only 16, at this age it’s hard to tell what you want to do for the rest of your life. Luckily for Asim, he had a chance to become his own fan and that sparked the flame that is now blazing a trail through the music scene.                               


Turns out that Asim was ‘mic shy’ growing up, although he had a passion for singing around the house as a hobby, he never felt comfortable singing on a microphone. Until he sang at his cousins wedding in New Jersey, USA and then later saw himself on the video from the wedding. It was at that moment when he thought, “I sound pretty good singing on a mic…”
A Star is Born:
His father never pushed him to become a musician, in fact he always supported Asim’s non-musical aspirations, but his father certainly didn’t waste any time fueling his momentum when Asim finally decided to pursue his musical interests after the wedding in New Jersey.

Shortly after, Asim knew he wanted to get the word out beyond his immediate friends and family about his musical talents, so he campaigned to produce a number of cover songs; which you can find on his official YouTube page. (click here)

The purpose behind the cover songs was to get people familiar with his look, his style and his sound. It certainly worked, because I learned about him from across the world here in Houston, TX. Many of his covers have gone viral and this is only the beginning.In May of 2013 he will release his first original song titled, “Sunley” (“Listen” in English) which he has written & produced himself. This song will be followed up with a full-length song list of originally produced music.Speaking with Asim; you hear a very confident, calm and self-aware teen who is musically intuitive. He certainly sounded determined to share his music with the world and I am glad to have had the opportunity to catch up with him.In Pakistan he has built a cult pop following as both a musical talent and teen heartthrob. I imagine it won’t be long before his sound is exported in mass effect to other parts of the world.But you really have to hear his music for yourself to appreciate what he has to offer, so check out his latest cover of the hit song, “A-Team”, which he has mixed with Urdu & English lyrics. I have included the YouTube video below.If you like his story, then ‘like’ and ‘share’ this interview to spread the word. It’s people like Asim who entertain and inspire us to follow our own dreams and passions
SWAG or CLASS?
I’ll be honest. A bit of both

Studies?
Don’t enjoy it very much. I’m being honest aha. But that doesn't mean I don’t. Its obviously very important and even if you don’t like it you have to and think how its going to benefit you later.

First things first your voice… why is it so pleasant, what’s the secret behind your voice?
I have a fairy. That comes at night and gives me magical candy to eat for my voice. Haha just kidding. I don’t know man, is it pleasant? And if it is, I think its just what I came with in life maybe.

Who inspired you to become singer?
No one. Music itself inspired me.

You kind of look like Justin Bieber? 
Any proposal from any girl coz of the same looks?I do? I don’t think so. I mean not that I hate him but I think we both look different. So not exactly because of that reason maybe. But I do get proposals more than I ever used to now.. Wonder why. Aha

How do you manage all of these things together like singing and studies?
I don’t let any of them come in each other’s way. Because both the things are very important to me. I sing when I don’ t have anything to study, and I study when I don’t have to sing.
You are now a known celeb of Pakistan how does it feels when people are like “wo dekho asim”?
I’m starting to get used to it now. But I honestly feel very blessed. Because not everyone gets the opportunity you know. So I try to be as much as thankful and humble towards the people who approach me.

What were the most embarrassing moments you faced in a gig or concerts?
As far as I remember.. Nothing yet. Thank God haha.

Any stupidest thing you did and still remember it?
I put the car lighter on my thumb while it was on when I was around 6. I didn't know it was a lighter so out of curiosity I put it on my thumb. Can you believe that? How stupid do you have to be to purposely burn yourself? Unless you’re done with life.. Very stupid of me.

Favorite singer?
Michael Jackson, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, John Legend, Craig David


Any one female and male singer you would like to collaborate with?
Female singer would be Zoe or Rachel Viccaji and male singer I don’t know yet.

Any upcoming projects?
Yes, a lot of things are in process. Just waiting for the right time to announce.

Who is that one person you would like to thank and say sorry to?
I would like to thank my mother for being such an amazing mother and say sorry to the same person as well because I know sometimes I can be hard to deal with. Haha

Define love?
Love is not a fairytale, but its also not suppose to be as hard as people make it. Oh and one more thing, teenagers claiming to be in love every other day now, trust me, its not love.

You after 5 years?
No one knows the future so I guess God knows better. But where I think will be is on my couch watching a football game eating chips with my belly hanging out. Okay, just kidding. But I hope its somewhere in music. Good music.
Any message for your fans?
Yes, well obviously I’d like to say thank you. Because they are the ones who are spreading and appreciating my music the most. And remember, keep calm and eat pineapples. Don’t worry, my fans know how random I am.
Views about islotimes?
It’s a very cool website/blog. To be honest, this is the first time I heard about it but its pretty cool. The design of the website makes it pretty attractive which is a good thing. Keep doing what your doing IsloTimes!