Jon-Alec Raubeson spekas to Aicha Khalid on the liberation and soaring high of the Junoon sound Junoon had a present of their own for Pakistan on its 50th birthday.

Their fourth album, Azadi was recorded and released within a month and hit the market coinciding with the Golden Jubilee Independence anniversary. The album brought with it the professional expertise of Jon-Alec Raubeson, to Pakistan. He was the producer of the album. Two years later, Junoon have their fifth album, Parwaaz, all set to be released. Once again Jon-Alec’s hands have worked the production.

Growing up with Salman Ahmed and Brian O’Connell and knowing them for 25 years, introduced Jon to Junoon that has forged a strong bond between him and the band. "We went to high school together. We were all guitar players, playing in each other’s bands and getting into trouble together. Salman would come in and sit in with my band. We know each other well enough to have a good argument about something and still get through. This type of relationship is very important when its producer and artist as you need to trust the person you’re working with."

Azadi and Parwaaz are the handiwork of Jon’s proficiency and he talks about both the experiences. "We could not have done Parwaaz without Azadi, as Parwaaz was the result of Azadi. Azadi was an experiment, where the idea was to do an album which was a rock album without drums, incorporating the tabla and dholak to give a big rock sound and still be true to the South-Asian musical tradition, rhythmically, lyrically and melodically. I had pretty much of an idea what to do but we didn’t know whether it would work. We did three songs, ‘Kyun Pareshan Haye Tu’, ‘Khudi’ and ‘Sayonee’, evaluated whether we were on the right track and we all unanimously said, yes to that. Azadi wasn’t exactly Junoon’s sound, but was more acoustic." "When we even talked about doing Parwaaz, we knew exactly what we wanted to do. On Parwaaz every track has drums and dholak. At the end of Azadi, we decided to take those songs and transplant them into Junoon’s live sound. In Parwaaz that sound has been cranked up a few notches. There’s no tabla on Parwaaz. We played the songs, toured and worked together to discover how this sound would work best. Over the course of ‘97 and early ‘98, I traveled with them and mixed a lot of their shows for them and it helped me a lot."

"What really did it for us was the August 9, 1998 show in Central Park, New York. The 24 track show was recorded, which I mixed in the studio. That really was where it all came together and I had the concept in my head of how it would work in the studio. It was a very grueling mix because while recording a live show, whatever you play, that’s what you get. And we don’t like to play with click tracks. That would be death to Junoon’s music, because their music has to move, songs which like to be laid back in the verses and to drive more in the choruses."

Azadi and Parwaaz were both recorded in Pakistan and were very eventful affairs. "Azadi was recorded in Karachi in five weeks. We had lots of bijli problems. We’d be doing a take, sounding really good, be almost at the end and then; Kaput! Sometimes the electricity would go off for a coupla minutes, otherwise for eight hours. When the electricitywent off for half a second and then came back on, we had one problem when it ate the tape and we lost everything on it. We had to go to our backup copy that didn’t have everything but was close. Parwaaz was recorded at Digital Fidelity studio in Lahore, so the electricity was more reliable. It had sometechnical limitations but that made up for the space we were allowed.

The only problem we had was kite flying because they would short out the electric wires. "The album was recorded in three weeks in studio sessions of 12 to 18 hours. About two weeks into the recording, my ears were just shot! Could you imagine recording an album with no ears? You’re listening for tonality, pitch, equalization, frequencies, etc. Junoon went and did shows, while I regrouped for 2 and a half days. We finished up the tracking and then mixed, another grueling mix. Each mix on Azadi took about half and hour to 45 minutes, while the shortest mix on Parwaaz was five days and the longest one, 2 days. You have the complex element of drums, dholak and electric guitar. Everything on the album is played by people and that’s what makes it real making you feel the life and emotion in the songs."

Parwaaz is a torturous anticipation for Junoon fans’ resulting in audible withdrawal symptoms. Jon offers an insight into the mystery. "There’s ‘Bulleya’, ‘Piyar Bina’, ‘Mitti’, which to me capture best the sound of the album in terms of the dholak/drum combination. The guitar comes in, bringing you back to the dholak, when the bass is going when the drums synch in and the melody lines just swims in on top of all that.

‘Ghoom’ is another very powerful song. From beginning to end all the songs in Parwaaz sound like a body of work. They’re never consistent and yet they sound as if they’re on the same album. From beginning to end you’ll be listening to similarities and yet they all explore different rhythms, melodies and lyrical concepts. Very deep album."

Dubai, home to an enormous amount of Pakistani residents, was the venue,
once again, for the staging of Pakistan's two most widely-acclaimed pop music bands, Junoon and Vital Signs. The two bands performing together was, indeed, a treat to watch. They have both performed here before, individually, but this time under the organisation of Channel V, a local radio station 'Radio Asia' and 
Sprandi Shoes, they were performing together for the first time .The Al Nasr Leisureland's Ice Rink, an all-time favourite for such concerts, was absolutely
jam-packed by the time the concert started that Thursday evening on December 18, 1997. People who couldn't find seats simply perched themselves on the barriers separating the various sectors or even opted to stand.

Junoon were the first to come on stage, with Ali Azmat displaying his usual
strength, vitality and and electrifying energy. This energy was so contagious
that it caught on to the crowd in a matter of seconds and before anyone knew
it, the whole auditorium was at its feet, swaying to numbers like 'Mera Mahi',
'Khwab', 'Saeein', 'Heeray', 'Husan Walo' and many more from their latest
yet, Azadi. Salman Ahmed stuck to his calm-occasionally-vibrant attitude and
provided backing vocals. Brian O'Connell at bass guitar, had the characteristic 
grin on his face and was his usual quiet self. During the past few years, 
Junoon's popularity has accelerated to extraordinary heights especially
after their album, Inquilaab, which included hits like 'Saeein' and 'Mera Mahi'. Their appearance in Dubai earlier this year had been very successful, too. 
Another feather in their cap is their patriotic hit Jazba-e-Junoon, which was
the last song they sang before leaving the stage. 

The break that followed featured a raffle organised by the Standard
Chartered Bank. At this point, the crowd was simply dying for Vital Signs
whose popularity seems to have a slight edge over Junoon's in this part 
of the world.

With the break over and the mood just right, Vital Signs stepped on stage
amid a standing ovation. They kicked off the show with 'Woh Kon Thee'
followed by various other other numbers including favourites like'Sanwali', 
'Dil Dil Pakistan', 'Aitebar','Gori', 'Yaarian', 'Mera Dil Nahin Available', 
'Tere Liye', 'Yeh Shaam' and a lot, lot more. The three consistent band members Junaid Jamshed, Shehzad Hasan and Rohail Hyatt were in full stead and the fourth fluctuating member was Amir Zaki, who is also an established solo performer. The most active participant of the proceedings was undoubtedly 
Junaid Jamshed while the other three were fairly passive. The crowd, on the 
other hand, was anything but passive with screams from the female following evident throughout the show. The Vital Signs had last appeared in Dubai in May 1994 and had been sorely missed since that memorable concert.

The last item were the unforgettable 'duets' sung by both groups on stage.
Patriotic hits 'Jazba-e-Junoon' and 'Hum Hain Pakistani' were sung jointly
and they, along with Salman Ahmed's amazing acoustic representation of the
National Anthem, provided the best grand finale ever experienced at such a
concert before. The professional way in which Channel V, Radio Asia and
Sprandi Shoes organised the show was truly remarkable. Pakistani residents
in this part of the world always do look forward to such events. In line with
Pakistan's Golden Jubilee celebrations, this provided to be the perfect setting
for the show. From all of us down here, we just hope there's more to come.