Faraz Anwar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Faraz Anwar
Born (1976-07-15) 15 July 1976 (age 45)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
GenresRock music, Hard rock, Heavy metal, Speed metal, Progressive rock
InstrumentsGuitar: Electric/Acoustic
Years active1996–present
LabelsFire Records, Coke Studio, EMI Records, Lion Music, Gnarly Geezer, Inc., NTM Studios
Associated actsJunoon, Vital Signs, Strings, Ali Haider, Fakhar-e-Alam, Sajjad Ali, , Yngwie Malmsteen, Allan Holdsworth, Mizraab (1996–present), Dusk (1994–2004), Noori (2011–present)
Websitewww.farazanwar.com

Faraz Anwar (Urdu: فراز انور; b.15 July 1976) is a Pakistani musician, composer, singer-songwriter, bandleader, and a guitarist who founded the Mizraab— a heavy metal music and hard rock genre band based in Pakistan.[1] His musical act on electric guitar as been described by the country's musical critics as "Pakistan's master of progressive rock.[2][3] Anwar is currently signed to Lion Music— a Finnish production and record label company.[1]

Biography[]

Anwar was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 15 July 1976.[1] His interests in rock music was primarily influenced by the Swedish guitarist, Yngwie Malmsteen, who later inspired him to become a guitarist.[4] Starting his career in music in 1996, Anwar has collaborated with Pakistani musicians such as Ali Haider, Junoon, Fakhr-e-Alam, Junaid Jamshed, Sajjad Ali,Strings and Nadeem Jaffri to name a few. His first international live performance was with Sajjad Ali for his album Babia. His first composition "Akela", roared across the screen and at the famous music charts MCC 1 way back in 1993. In 1996, living in Pakistan, he sent his instrumental demo tapes to Berklee College of Music Boston resulting in winning him scholarship but due to domestic issues he could not go. Later as an acknowledgment, they presented him with "Outstanding Musical Achievement Award 1996. A name known & admired internationally; Faraz Anwar, made his first experimental album ‘Panchi’ in 1998 which the record label released unfinished and without Faraz's permission. In 2001, Gnarly Geezer released his first solo instrumental album "Abstract Point Of View". The record label of late Allan Holdsworth. The album earned him international recognition. The album received appreciation from Allan Holdsworth. This album earned him a place among Gnarly Geezer Artists. Later in 2004, Lion Music Records of Finland re-released the album. He wrote the music, played all the instruments and sequenced all the tracks himself and was recorded in DFS in just four months. Currently, Faraz is Lion Music Records artist. In 2004, His black/death metal band "Dusk" & a progressive metal solo project "Mizraab" was launched. Dusk consisted of Faraz Anwar (guitars) and Babar Sheikh (vocals). Faraz composes, synthesizes and played guitars. The first album by Dusk was "My Infinite Nature Alone", which a Portuguese label released in 1996 followed by the 2nd album named "Jahilia" which was released in 2003 by Epidemie Records. Dusk toured Czech Republic and performed 13 concerts in few parts of Europe in 2006/2007. Faraz's solo project "Mizraab" exposes Faraz as a skilled multi-instrumentalist. Mizraab was post-grunge, progressive metal. Faraz single-handedly managed to create concepts, compositions, guitars and drums, and khalid mustafa played Bass guitar in the album. Faraz and Jamie together mixed and Jamie mastered the album. Mizraab's first ever album "Mazi, Haal Mustaqbil" was a concept album. The videos launched are of "Insaan"(Human being) , "Meri Terhan"(Like me) , "Izhar" (Expression) and "Kitni Saadian"(many centuries). Faraz played countless sessions in collaboration with many musicians and singers. The guitar work in Junaid's famous song "Keh do jo bhi" and numerous other songs is remarkable & still gives an identical flavor of Faraz's musical vision. Faraz displays his incantations in multiple genres of music with equal ease and virtuosity, be it blues, jazz, funk, rock or metal. Faraz has made multiple appearances in Coke Studio. First time was in 2011 when Faraz performed "Kuch hai" with his band Mizraab.In 2014 Rohail Hayat again invited him to play in a song "Malhar" followed by another performance of his song "Ujalon mein" in 2017 season 10. Currently,Faraz Anwar new album"Ishq Ki Subah"is out & available on www.farazanwar.com 

"Ishq Ki Subha" is a combination of Pop,Rock and progressive songs & instrumentals. Faraz is also materializing his English album for international Music scene which is to be announced very soon.

Solo discography[]

Discography[]

With Mizraab[]

Solo albums[]

Live albums[]

  • Live at the Rock Musicarium (with Noori) (2012)

Other projects/bands[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Bio | Faraz Anwar | Gulshan-e-Iqbal". Faraz Anwar OFFICIAL. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Faraz Anwar – On Being an Artist in Pakistan". www.redbull.com.
  3. ^ "Pakistan's progressive rocker Faraz Anwar just released a new track | SAMAA". Samaa TV. Retrieved 27 December 2020. Faraz Anwar is one of Pakistan’s finest guitar players. He has defined the sound of progressive rock music in this country.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Faraz AnwarOFFICIAL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

External links[]

Retrieved from ""