Pakistan Guitar Heroes

Founder of arguably the biggest Pakistani band Junoon, Salman Ahmed started his career with the pioneering Vital Signs, before leaving to set up his own group. Salman broke new ground by being one of the first artists to bring together Western music with the Muslim world. He learnt to play the guitar by listening to bands like Led Zeppelin during his teens in New York and made it a personal mission to spread rock music across South-East Asia. With over 30 million record sales to his name, his fans include Bono and Al Gore.

Picking up a guitar for the first time at the age of 14, Faraz Anwar, the frontman of the progressive Metal band Mizraab, puts his inspiration down to the likes of Allan Holdsworth, Yngwie Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert. He considers himself a ‘disciple’ of Allan Holdsworth and was blown away when he was given appreciation from Allan on his solo instrumental album ‘Abstract Point of View’. He’s worked with artists including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Hadiqa Kiyani, Ali Haider, Sajjad Ali and Junaid Jamshed.

Asad Ahmed has played with a host of bands throughout his career, including Awaz, Vital Signs and Barbarian, a group widely recognised as the first Rock band of Pakistan. He currently plays with Karavan, a group that he’s a founding member of. He’s worked as a session musician and has worked with artists including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Najam Shiraz and Sajjad Ali. As well as being a part of Karavan, Asad is also a house band member for the Coke Studio sessions and has been a part of the show for the past five seasons.

After studying at the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mekaal Hasan was exposed to a range of genres and musicians that have influenced him to this day. He went on to form the group Mekaal Hasan Band, who consider themselves to be a progressive band inspired by Jazz, Soul and Sufi Rock. They have released three successful albums. The band is also unique as its members are from Pakistan and India. Mekaal’s influences include Led Zeppelin, Kate Bush and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

After moving through the piano, drums and saxophone during his childhood, Aamir Zaki finally settled on the instrument he loves after being given a guitar as a birthday gift at 13. He initially teamed up with a drummer to form the group Drug Enforcement, who went on to shock Pakistani audiences with their covers of the The Who, Cream and Jimi Hendrix tracks. He also featured in the group Axe Attack and produced an album called The Bomb, which no label would release as it was the first English language album recorded in Pakistan.