If you're looking to unwind with Salman Ahmad you better forget it. Ever felt like you're in the middle of a mini tornado? Well, that is pretty much what Junoon's lead guitarist is like on even a Sunday. Salman is always wired up, tuned in and ready to (rock) and roll with the kind of long life batteries that could earn him a packet if he could replicate them and sell them in the open market . I've been fitted into this whirlwind schedule somewhere between a flight in from New York, a post-production meeting with documentary maker Ruhi Hamid with whom he has just finished shooting a second documentary after 'The Rockstar and the Mullahs,' and an onward flight to Oslo where Salman is going to collect an award for promoting peace in South Asia. Most of the interview is conducted on the Piccadilly line en-route to Heathrow and then we get sidetracked by all the 900 other things Salman and I want to gossip about but aren't printable.



We go back a long way; I first got to know Salman when I reviewed a Vital Signs concert somewhere in 1988 and Salman Ahmad was strumming the guitar to 'Dil Dil Pakistan.' A few years later there was the controversial break from the group and the forming of a new rock-pop act called Junoon. The rest as we all know is history. Like all good and highly opinionated friends Salman and I have had our ups and downs. A year in there somewhere we didn't even speak to each other. But I sang on Junoon's debut album and continue to feel very closely knit with its motley crew of band members. I can always look forward to arguing with Salman Ahmed and just bouncing off each others energies. We knew each other when he was a fledgling musician and I a fledgling journalist. Fifteen years down the line Junoon headlined a huge show I organised at the Royal Albert Hall with President Musharraf as Chief Guest. Somehow our lives will always be interlinked. Musharraf by the way is known to be a bit of a Junoon fan. At Albert Hall he rolled up his sleeves and stood up and clapped to the encore of 'Jazba-e-Junoon' which he specially requested.



Salman and I meet up at the tube station and head off to collect his carry-all from a small Earl's Court B & B. He is wearing his trademark Peshawari cap which is very much part of the persona but it's good seeing Salman off-stage. I feel he has grown since he moved to New York. He still whizzes around the world doing concerts and picking up awards and speaking at seminars, but New York seems to have tempered and toned him. He says he hasn't changed but I like this older and possibly wiser version of Salman. The angry young man is now 30 something; still passionate about everything but softer around the edges. And while he will always be a rocker, there is now much more to Salman Ahmad than being the driving force behind Junoon. In any case, the musical soundtrack of Salman's Ahmed life will always have some great songs.







Q. Are you the same Salman Ahmad you were years ago when you started off playing guitar with Vital Signs during the 'Dil Dil Pakistan' days or has life changed you?

A. I'm still the same Salman Ahmad who used to stand up on my bed with a tennis racket and play air guitar to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The only thing that's changed is that I now play Junoon songs with a real guitar on a global bed!

Q. You've moved your base to the US from Pakistan. What's this been like for you and your family?

A. I have always seen myself as a global soul. I've been a traveler ever since childhood because of my father's airline job and though my father isn't in the same job anymore I'm still traveling. I was born in Lahore, then lived in Virginia, London and Kuwait, New York and Karachi. And now I'm back in New York to continue my journey. Living in New York is like being plugged into the 21st century's biggest cultural melting pot. I love its multicultural, multi-religious mix and it's very inspiring creatively. You just meet the most amazing variety of people. One day you're talking to Mira Nair and the next you're bumping into Sting or being asked to appear on TV with people like Gene Simmons from Kiss. It's an absolute trip meeting musicians that I have admired all my life. Also the U.N. headquarters is there so I have the opportunity to talk to them about how to take my work as a Goodwill Ambassador for AIDS awareness forward.

Q. Do you feel you have accomplished something in that role?



A. The U.N. goodwill ambassador role has given me a wonderful platform to raise awareness about issues like HIV/AIDS and conflict resolution in the subcontinent. These days, I'm working on an informative video so that we can reach out to young people. I also visit colleges and talk to people about the dangers that are out there; see we live in the kind of society where people don't like to discuss these things so you have to go to them and make them listen. I've received letters from Bono (U2) encouraging me in my work in my region. We have to show people in India and Pakistan that we face similar issues and can work together to resolve them. That's what 'Ghoom Tana' is about too.



Q. How come you ended up working with Shubha Mugdal, Nandita Das and Naseerudding Shah for Ghoom Tana?



A. 'Ghoom Tana' was a project I did to pay tribute to my mother's birthplace, which is Patiala, India. I wrote and composed the song and then looked for the ideal female voice from India who could complement the melody and the lyrics. Shubha Mudgal's got this ethereal voice and she seemed to be the perfect choice. I got goose bumps in the studio when I recorded with her. I was also very honored and deeply touched by Naseerudin Shah agreeing to do the voiceover and Nandita Das, who is a fabulous actress in her own right working with me on this. There were other people who we considered for the video. I spoke to Bipasha Basu on the phone and met Aishwarya through Naseer and we discussed the project. Aishwarya's a gorgeous woman but this role demanded a woman to be a daughter-in-law and a widow. I just couldn't imagine Aishwarya pulling that off. I saw Nandita in 'Earth: 1942' and I thought she was brilliant. In these things you just have to go on instinct so I called her up to see how she felt about the project. Here is someone who was just as committed to social activism as me. She just won my heart. I didn't think Aishwarya or Bipasha could grasp the true spirit of Ghoom Tana; Nandita was perfect for the part because she really believes in the message behind it.



Q. Is Ghoom Tana a bid to establish yourself away from Junoon?

A. Junoon is my real identity and the focus of my musical passion. But all through the years I've kept doing other creative and social projects to satisfy multiple interests. These include Ghoom Tana, doing documentaries, acting in television plays and continuing working for peace and various charities. There is no conflict here - it's all part of the same person. Just different parts.

Q. Are you scared at all of aging?



A. I believe we're all infinite souls who appear on earth for a short human experience and this is all a natural process. One of the lines from the Junoon song "Mitti' is "mitti mein mil jayenge bhoolo na" (we shall all turn to dust, don't forget that) which is a common destiny. So it's nothing to be scared of. Basically, I try to live completely in the here now and to really enjoy the ride. I think that's what allows me to be totally inspired about what the future holds in this life and beyond.



Q. What's it been like working with a firebrand like Ali Azmat? The two of you are both very forceful and opinionated personalities so it must have been an up and down journey?

A.I like passionate people even if I happen to disagree with their opinions or vice versa. Ali and I are both very free spirits but also very different individuals. His is an outer passion while mine is a deep inner Junoon. You put the two together and a wonderful creative tension results. I think one of the reasons for Junoon's longevity is that we give each other freedom and space to do our thing so there's never a feeling of being strait-jacketed into one specific role.

Q. What would really put you off in a person?

A. The two things that really put me off - deceit and insensitivity. If a person indulges in either I don't want to know him.

Q. There were times in your career where some people felt that you were flying high on Junoon's success and lost perspective. What do you think?

A. I've always been a driven person and I'm not going to apologize for that. I can't imagine wasting a single moment of my life and maybe some people might have a problem dealing with me on that score. But on a personal level I've always been very clear about where I come from and who my real friends are. Success is just a byproduct of ones journey and even though I'm deeply humbled by the love of my fans and peers I'm not an applause junkie. I live to work and would hope to die with my guitar strapped on.

Q. Your documentary, 'The Rock star and the mullahs' won awards and invited debate. What was it like going to Peshawar and talking to all those mullahs?

A. Well as a Muslim growing up in the age of 'the war on terror,' I'm very concerned about how Islam is being portrayed in the rest of the world. Ruhi Hamid and Angus Macqueen were doing a documentary about Islam, music and politics in Pakistan for the BBC and US channel PBS. They gave me the opportunity to travel throughout Pakistan and examine the question of music's role in Islam. I found a wonderful diversity of opinion and debate happening in Pakistan. where over 90% of the people have a progressive and modern perspective of Islam which is at odds with the Mullahs' intolerant and obscurantist views. Pakistanis want to definitely modernize but not necessarily westernize. And the fact that a longhaired Pakistani rock musician can sit and discuss Islam with a Mullah from Peshawar shows that there's real hope for the future.

Q. Some critics have not been that enamoured of Junoon's most recent music and feel that the band may now have outlived its prime. Where do you think Junoon now stands?

A. Being in a rock band is like mountain climbing - you may scale dizzy heights but in trying to do so you also have to be prepared to slip and fall from time to time. I would much rather continue to push the envelope and evolve rather than settle on a tried and tested formula for success. As for where we stand, Junoon's just been asked by Yoko Ono to contribute to John Lennon's song "Give Peace a Chance." It's a multi-artist remix with John singing the original verse and chorus followed by other global artists. It's ironic that as a 10-year old watching the Beatles goof off in their film 'A hard day's night' I remember saying to myself that's not a bad job to have. Who would have thought that one day I'd be singing with Lennon! So yeah I would say the same thing about being part of Junoon now - it's not a bad job to have at all. Being asked to sing on 'Give Peace a Chance' is just out of this world. EMI will release it sometime in early 2005.

Q. The second documentary you're doing with Ruhi Hamid shows you turning the tables and travelling across the USA to get a picture of how things have changed after 9/11. What has that been like?

A. The recent documentary film that I shot in the U.S. looks at the American Muslim community after 9/11. I came across a number of people who after 9/11 have inched closer to Islam yet are still very loyal to their American cultural roots. In fact it's within an American cultural context that they are developing a modern-Muslim identity. It's a rare silver lining to the turmoil that 9/11 has brought to the Muslim world and American Muslims. The film will be broadcast on BBC in February, 2005.

Q. A lot has been made of Junoon's Sufi leanings. Did the music come out of the faith or did the faith come out of the music?

A. Junoon's Sufi leanings were inspired mainly due to my work and association with Nusrat fateh ali Khan. I studied and performed with him in the early nineties and he has remained a lasting influence. At the same time I also developed a deep passion for the poetry of Rumi, Iqbal and other Sufi poets like Baba Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussain. The book that had a profound impact on me was Idries Shah's 'The Sufis.' Early on within Junoon I started to experiment with my own musical style with songs like 'Jogia,' 'Heer' and 'Saeein' which then got totally hijacked by the mass media and labeled as "Sufi-rock." That had quite a bit do with the success of 'Sayonee' during our first tour of India. I don't like musical labels because they are usually inaccurate. The Beatles played all kinds of music inspired from the west and the east yet they were always known as a pop/rock band. That's the way I see Junoon - a band which plays music to express joy, freedom and love.

Q. Many pop stars such as Junaid Jamshed and Najam Shiraz have become heavily involved in Tableegh (preaching Islam) and Junaid has even given up music. Could you ever identify with something like that?

A. My view of Islam is that it encourages us to live and enjoy the pleasures of material life yet at the same time be God-conscious and sensitive to the needs of others around us .So I'm very comfortable in my skin as a modern Muslim and I certainly don't need a cave to protect my religion. I think outward symbols such as beards and head scarves are fine ONLY if you are tolerant towards other Muslims and non-non-Muslims who prefer not to do adopt them.

Q. Of all the places in the world that you've been on stage which has been the most memorable?

A. Quite a few places come to mind. Playing to 20,000 people in Central park, New York City and at the Royal Albert hall last year in front of a sold out audience which included the president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf are right up there. Also, sharing the stage with Sting and Def Leppard at Nehru Stadium, Delhi, where we won the Channel V's Best International Group and playing to a packed audience in Dubai for the One World/ Peace concert with Sonu Nigam were pretty spectacular.

Q. A lot is made of the sex, drugs and rock and roll connection. So is it all bunch of lies or is it that what really happens in the big bad world of rock stardom?

A. Well a rock musician is as susceptible to vice as say a corporate banker or a doctor. It's just that because of our public image the vice associated with a rock star makes far more interesting copy than that of a banker or a doctor.

Q. Do you believe in love? And do you think that it lasts?



A. God is love and I certainly believe in a God who is infinite...



Q. Have you ever thought of composing music for Pakistani films?



A. I have composed 'Azadi,' which is the theme song to the film 'Jinnah' and also the music soundtrack to 'Leading from the front,' a docu-film on Imran Khan directed by Shoaib Mansoor so that's a start. But I'm definitely interested in composing for films and Broadway plays.



Q. What do you usually do on a trip to Dubai?

A. In Dubai I love driving around in fast cars, going to the beach and meeting friends.

Q. What's been the biggest compliment anyone has ever paid you?

A. I can never forget receiving an e-mail from a fan in India who was a medical student. He said that he was contemplating suicide as a result of the pressure of exams and it's only when he listened to Junoon's song 'Khudi' that he felt hopeful and got back on track. 'Khudi' is all about finding oneself and being able to rise above the storm on the basis of your own will. What greater compliment could I ever get?

Q. You developed a very distinct fashion style on stage for Junoon with the long hair, the Peshawari topi, taavizes, achkans and kurtas. So does Salman Ahmed like making political statements out of fashion statements?


A. As an artist and a musician when you go up onstage your audience demands you to play a larger than life role - Queen did it with their outrageous outfits and David Bowie with Ziggy Stardust. Over the years I've experimented with clothes which give me a stage persona which serves as Salman Ahmad's alter ego. I felt it would be totally incongruous to just go on stage in jeans and a t-shirt and so songs like Saeein' and 'Mahi.' Pakistani designers like Maheen Khan, Zain Mustafa and recently Sarmad have designed clothes for my somewhat eclectic tastes. Do you know I even used to do the clothes for Ali and Brian in the early days because it was so difficult to convince them! So I'm not sure it is a political statement but it does fit in with what the ban is all about.

Q. What is the one thing you never leave home without?



A. I never leave home without my sense of humour, a good book, and of course music.



Q. So while others listen to Salman Ahmed and Junoon who does Salman Ahmed listen to?



A. I listen to a lot of Blues, rock, Qawwali and Old Bollywood film songs. My CD collection includes Robert Johnson, John Lee hooker, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Radiohead, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and R.D.Burman. The latest CD I have playing right now is U2's 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.' I think it's going to be stuck in that CD player for a while now!



Q. If there was one music act in the world that you would kill to do a collaborative song with who would it be?


A. Now that my yearning to collaborate with John Lennon has been posthumously fulfilled I would love to collaborate with U2 while we're both still alive!

Q. Will you be a rock and roller till you die?



A. I'll be a rock and roller even in the afterlife.