Superman
03-03-2004, 10:41 AM
IN the past few years, Said Omar has surged into the Afghan music scene in the West and has added new quality as well as his own influence. His solid voice, rhythmic music and profound lyrics follow closely the Amatouri (Amateur) Musical Movement of 1970s Kabul, which he was a part of at Istiqlal High School.
His 1999 released CD Dukhtar-e Zargar, with some new variations of contemporary Western tunes, still retains the Amatouri Movement style. Praised by many, he has become one of the most prominent Afghan singers of recent times.
Said Omar extended to us the privilege of a candid dialogue:
Question: When was your earliest encounter with music and what was it like?
Said Omar: I think I was 9 or 10, and I was naughty at home and breaking things and destroying things. I was not allowed to touch any musical instruments that we had: harmonia, tabla, a guitar and mandolin. And when everyone was gone to work or school, I would sneak in there and get the harmonia and start playing. And learning actually by watching my uncle and my brother. I was getting better than everyone of them. There was a guy teaching my brother tabla. And I would sit down and watch.
And one day I surprised everyone when they asked my brother to play the harmonia and sing.
And then I said, "Can I play the tabla?"
And he said, "You can't play the tabla!"
And I said, "Sure I do!"
And I started playing. I could hold a rhythm. I was allowed to play the harmonia and tabla after that. And that is how it started. My uncle was very good in playing harmonia and singing.
Question: So you think your uncle influenced you?
Said Omar: Oh yeah. In a couple of things: calligraphy and music. He was very talented, but doing it only at home.
I think I remember Mahsor Jamal [a musical conductor of Radio Afghanistan] come to our place once because he was my uncle's friend and some of my uncle's other friends would come and play music. And it was encouraging me. It was fascinating to watch and listen.
Question: When you gave your first public performance, what was it like?
Said Omar: I think it was in the 10th grade. Before that some of my classmates, you know those buddies that come to your home, they heard me play the accordion. And they liked it. And then I remember one of my teachers, his last name was Qayoumi. He actually was singing in Radio Afghanistan. And he was our Dari, Persian, teacher. And they had a concert for 'Jashen' [Independence Day].
And I asked Mr. Qayoumi if I could play, and he said, "Well, if you have an accordion, that is fine."
I said, "Yes, I do."
I had a Russian accordion that my uncle brought from Russia a long time ago; it was still working. I remember when I went to the auditorium, and Mr. Qayoumi, introduced me to the other kids. And Nasrat Sharqi was there. Nasrat was originally playing the accordion. And Mr. Qayoumi asked me to play, and the group liked it a lot. Me and Nasrat were playing the accordion and some guys were playing the bongo. And the other group was playing the harmonia and tabla.
So, we had a good concert in the Jashen. It was held at the department of Education Administration, they used to call it "Club", but it was a big concert place, and it was kind of designed for concerts and weddings... And it was outside. We were supposed to play one night, but since the audience liked it a lot, we...I don't remember, at least we played three nights.
Question: How did you feel about it? Where you nervous or excited?
Said Omar: Of course, I was excited. The first time I was also very nervous. And then once you get into the music, and you see the reaction of the people, you get confidence. And then you see other kids, and you realize that you are doing better than them. That gives you a little boost.
And then next year, I started singing. I asked Mr. Qayoumi. He didn't know that I was singing; I was doing it at home. And the next year, when we all gathered for the concert festival I, asked Mr. Qayoumi asked if I could sing.
He said, "Oh yea, sure!"
Then when I started singing, they were very excited-- much more excited than when I was playing the accordion.
Question: What was the music scene like in Kabul in the mid-1970s? What was the feeling?
Said Omar: At that time, Ahmad Zahir was the man. And I was actually encouraged by one of my family members. I was singing [Ustad] Zaland's and Ahmad Wali's and everybody's songs, including Ahmad Zahir's. And then my relative asked if I could sing Ahmad Zahir's song.
She was like, "Oh my God! Your voice is very close to him."
She was encouraging me every time to sing Ahmad Zahir's songs. And that is why I got hooked to it. And whenever I was singing, it was all Ahmad Zahir's songs that were requested.
So that was the time Ahmad Zahir was very popular. He had new ideas in music. And especially being the son of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdul Zahir; Ahmad Zahir changed the whole thing about music. And back then there were only a particular group [Kharabati] who were playing. Then performing music in public came into the regular, middle-class families.
Question: Was this new movement an encouragement?
Said Omar: Oh yeah. That is why you remember Mirza Qalam. Mizra Qalam was a comedian... A lot of groups came out in the 1960s and 1970s and bands. Some of them sucked and some of them, you know, were just decent. And he was making a joke of these people.
And I think the reason why music changed was because of Ahmad Zahir...most of all, besides Ustad Nangalai and the music school [in Kabul]. It was not bad, it was good.
When you are a teenager, you just don't go very deep into the lyrics. But later when you grow-up, you see that Ahmad Zahir not being a Kharbati or a professional singer. Singing was a hobby for him. And there you realize his choices and the lyrics, the rhythms, the melodies, the whole thing. It just takes you beyond these other people.
It is amazing-- this guy, at his age, his instinct and the whole thing. It attracted me a lot. His voice-- just his incredible voice.
Question: In three words, how do you describe Ahmad Zahir?
Said Omar: Three words? I am not sure if I can in three words. [laughs]. But...there is so many things I can say. I mean he was the best in picking the lyrics, the right timing, the melody, the way he was doing it with passion and...feeling. That was his major part of his success. He can be very technical or he can be what do you call it "toned" or on the rhythm. But if music doesn't come out of your heart with passion, you cannot listen to it often. So, his success, I think, was his love and passion.
Question: What is your favorite Ahmad Zahir song?
Said Omar: I love his song, Tanha-to-e, tanha. The lyrics and the whole thing. Just his voice is in my ear when I sing it. His age and his passion are incredible. And I still think later in his life, he lost his momentum. He could have been much better than what he was at the end of his life. Even now a days, none of us can match him twenty years later.
Question: When you left Afghanistan in the early 1980s and came to the US, why did you take a break from music and what made you come back to it in the mid 1990s?
Said Omar: When I think of it now, I was not really thinking of getting into music. When I first came out of Afghanistan, I went through some depression. Especially in the first days when I came to the United States, I remember landing in Seattle Airport, it was like somebody took something away from my heart, without me having any control over it.
There is a depression and loneliness; I went through some rough times. Then it came out slowly, but I never paid much attention to music. Not being very passionate about it. And I think all this...the whole drama that happened in Afghanistan, the whole change, the whole revolution, the invasion, the whole thing affected me a lot. You become desensitized. I was kind of emotionally struggling to get back into life.
After the mid-1980s I was guided. I can say, clearly, I was guided by God. What I learned is just whatever you do in life, we are involved with God. I started to read the Koran. And for five to six years, I performed no music... Every Saturdays we would gather, and with our groups reading and studying. Some people used to call me "mullah".
Question: Did you approach your studies in a Sufi manner?
Said Omar: Yea, It was some thing like that. I am still interested. The lyrics [Sufi poetry] that attract me, as you mention, it has to be there-- the connection. Because when you understand the purpose of your being on this earth, and what you are and what you are for, that gives you that advantage and feeling to understand...you can go back to God and understand God.
His 1999 released CD Dukhtar-e Zargar, with some new variations of contemporary Western tunes, still retains the Amatouri Movement style. Praised by many, he has become one of the most prominent Afghan singers of recent times.
Said Omar extended to us the privilege of a candid dialogue:
Question: When was your earliest encounter with music and what was it like?
Said Omar: I think I was 9 or 10, and I was naughty at home and breaking things and destroying things. I was not allowed to touch any musical instruments that we had: harmonia, tabla, a guitar and mandolin. And when everyone was gone to work or school, I would sneak in there and get the harmonia and start playing. And learning actually by watching my uncle and my brother. I was getting better than everyone of them. There was a guy teaching my brother tabla. And I would sit down and watch.
And one day I surprised everyone when they asked my brother to play the harmonia and sing.
And then I said, "Can I play the tabla?"
And he said, "You can't play the tabla!"
And I said, "Sure I do!"
And I started playing. I could hold a rhythm. I was allowed to play the harmonia and tabla after that. And that is how it started. My uncle was very good in playing harmonia and singing.
Question: So you think your uncle influenced you?
Said Omar: Oh yeah. In a couple of things: calligraphy and music. He was very talented, but doing it only at home.
I think I remember Mahsor Jamal [a musical conductor of Radio Afghanistan] come to our place once because he was my uncle's friend and some of my uncle's other friends would come and play music. And it was encouraging me. It was fascinating to watch and listen.
Question: When you gave your first public performance, what was it like?
Said Omar: I think it was in the 10th grade. Before that some of my classmates, you know those buddies that come to your home, they heard me play the accordion. And they liked it. And then I remember one of my teachers, his last name was Qayoumi. He actually was singing in Radio Afghanistan. And he was our Dari, Persian, teacher. And they had a concert for 'Jashen' [Independence Day].
And I asked Mr. Qayoumi if I could play, and he said, "Well, if you have an accordion, that is fine."
I said, "Yes, I do."
I had a Russian accordion that my uncle brought from Russia a long time ago; it was still working. I remember when I went to the auditorium, and Mr. Qayoumi, introduced me to the other kids. And Nasrat Sharqi was there. Nasrat was originally playing the accordion. And Mr. Qayoumi asked me to play, and the group liked it a lot. Me and Nasrat were playing the accordion and some guys were playing the bongo. And the other group was playing the harmonia and tabla.
So, we had a good concert in the Jashen. It was held at the department of Education Administration, they used to call it "Club", but it was a big concert place, and it was kind of designed for concerts and weddings... And it was outside. We were supposed to play one night, but since the audience liked it a lot, we...I don't remember, at least we played three nights.
Question: How did you feel about it? Where you nervous or excited?
Said Omar: Of course, I was excited. The first time I was also very nervous. And then once you get into the music, and you see the reaction of the people, you get confidence. And then you see other kids, and you realize that you are doing better than them. That gives you a little boost.
And then next year, I started singing. I asked Mr. Qayoumi. He didn't know that I was singing; I was doing it at home. And the next year, when we all gathered for the concert festival I, asked Mr. Qayoumi asked if I could sing.
He said, "Oh yea, sure!"
Then when I started singing, they were very excited-- much more excited than when I was playing the accordion.
Question: What was the music scene like in Kabul in the mid-1970s? What was the feeling?
Said Omar: At that time, Ahmad Zahir was the man. And I was actually encouraged by one of my family members. I was singing [Ustad] Zaland's and Ahmad Wali's and everybody's songs, including Ahmad Zahir's. And then my relative asked if I could sing Ahmad Zahir's song.
She was like, "Oh my God! Your voice is very close to him."
She was encouraging me every time to sing Ahmad Zahir's songs. And that is why I got hooked to it. And whenever I was singing, it was all Ahmad Zahir's songs that were requested.
So that was the time Ahmad Zahir was very popular. He had new ideas in music. And especially being the son of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdul Zahir; Ahmad Zahir changed the whole thing about music. And back then there were only a particular group [Kharabati] who were playing. Then performing music in public came into the regular, middle-class families.
Question: Was this new movement an encouragement?
Said Omar: Oh yeah. That is why you remember Mirza Qalam. Mizra Qalam was a comedian... A lot of groups came out in the 1960s and 1970s and bands. Some of them sucked and some of them, you know, were just decent. And he was making a joke of these people.
And I think the reason why music changed was because of Ahmad Zahir...most of all, besides Ustad Nangalai and the music school [in Kabul]. It was not bad, it was good.
When you are a teenager, you just don't go very deep into the lyrics. But later when you grow-up, you see that Ahmad Zahir not being a Kharbati or a professional singer. Singing was a hobby for him. And there you realize his choices and the lyrics, the rhythms, the melodies, the whole thing. It just takes you beyond these other people.
It is amazing-- this guy, at his age, his instinct and the whole thing. It attracted me a lot. His voice-- just his incredible voice.
Question: In three words, how do you describe Ahmad Zahir?
Said Omar: Three words? I am not sure if I can in three words. [laughs]. But...there is so many things I can say. I mean he was the best in picking the lyrics, the right timing, the melody, the way he was doing it with passion and...feeling. That was his major part of his success. He can be very technical or he can be what do you call it "toned" or on the rhythm. But if music doesn't come out of your heart with passion, you cannot listen to it often. So, his success, I think, was his love and passion.
Question: What is your favorite Ahmad Zahir song?
Said Omar: I love his song, Tanha-to-e, tanha. The lyrics and the whole thing. Just his voice is in my ear when I sing it. His age and his passion are incredible. And I still think later in his life, he lost his momentum. He could have been much better than what he was at the end of his life. Even now a days, none of us can match him twenty years later.
Question: When you left Afghanistan in the early 1980s and came to the US, why did you take a break from music and what made you come back to it in the mid 1990s?
Said Omar: When I think of it now, I was not really thinking of getting into music. When I first came out of Afghanistan, I went through some depression. Especially in the first days when I came to the United States, I remember landing in Seattle Airport, it was like somebody took something away from my heart, without me having any control over it.
There is a depression and loneliness; I went through some rough times. Then it came out slowly, but I never paid much attention to music. Not being very passionate about it. And I think all this...the whole drama that happened in Afghanistan, the whole change, the whole revolution, the invasion, the whole thing affected me a lot. You become desensitized. I was kind of emotionally struggling to get back into life.
After the mid-1980s I was guided. I can say, clearly, I was guided by God. What I learned is just whatever you do in life, we are involved with God. I started to read the Koran. And for five to six years, I performed no music... Every Saturdays we would gather, and with our groups reading and studying. Some people used to call me "mullah".
Question: Did you approach your studies in a Sufi manner?
Said Omar: Yea, It was some thing like that. I am still interested. The lyrics [Sufi poetry] that attract me, as you mention, it has to be there-- the connection. Because when you understand the purpose of your being on this earth, and what you are and what you are for, that gives you that advantage and feeling to understand...you can go back to God and understand God.