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Gohar Mumtaz, the lead guitarist for Jal, cleared the air about his relationships with singers Atif Aslam and Farhan Saeed — both of whom began their musical careers in the band alongside Mumtaz.
Controversies surrounding Farhan Saeed
In a recent appearance on Ahmed Ali Butt’s podcast, Excuse Me, Mumtaz addressed controversies surrounding his former bandmates, stating that he still had “equal respect for both of them”, despite past differences. Speaking about comments he made about Saeed in an old interview, Mumtaz acknowledged that he should have never said what he did, adding that he and Saeed still met.
He clarified that he was asked a question about the band’s journey after Aslam left, and he said Saeed had to groom his voice in comparison to the band’s first lead vocalist. However, he said that the podcast was clipped to suggest that he was alleging that Saeed was not as good a vocalist as Aslam.
“Even though I told them not to do that because we have good relations. People take things the wrong way on digital [media]. I’ve avoided making statements about others and tried to focus on my work. [However], in the social media era, no one can be saved from this.”
Mumtaz said that he later spoke to Saeed and explained that the interview did not reflect the truth. He added that Saeed understood and that the conversation was about their matters from 2004 to 2007, but people believed they had issues in the present.
Relations with Atif Aslam
The Jal frontman revealed he was under a lot of pressure because of the hardships he faced following Aslam’s departure from the band.
“You do something pure-heartedly for somebody and things don’t work out how you planned. And [our] age was such that you’re emotional and not mature, and want to prove yourself again. Back then, during tours, I used to be constantly planning what to do next.”
He said after his fallout with Aslam, he struggled personally. However, he believed in controlling himself emotionally instead of talking about others.
“We’re an inspiration for people, ‘Adaat’ is a big song, people love us and we need to inspire them instead of telling them what happened. A lot happened but I suppressed it so that fans and those who want to make music and bands wouldn’t be disappointed,” he said, adding that being in a band is generally a harsh reality.
Mumtaz said that he did not want to speak negatively about anyone and wanted to prove himself through his work instead.
However, the musician maintained that he was upset about an interview Aslam did with Samina Peerzada where he spoke about Mumtaz in a negative light.
“I was quite hurt when I heard it. I also appeared on that show and she asked me the same questions, however, I did not talk about it.” Mumtaz said Aslam later came to him and apologised, claiming that Peerzada asked questions in a leading manner.
“I told him that he could speak badly about me, but requested that he not bring my family into it. It [the matter] was sorted that same day when he realised he shouldn’t have spoken that much.” He added that he and Aslam were both older now and that he wanted to inspire people with positive things because fans still tagged them on musical social media posts.
Songwriting for Jal
When asked if he wrote all the songs for Jal or if Saeed contributed to the process, Mumtaz said he always encouraged his bandmates to write anything they could because it was a “beautiful process”.
“When you’re making something, you remain positive and satisfied. They tried, for sure, but there was a lot of workload on me. For every album, I wrote almost nine songs — because I liked to, I wouldn’t feel the burden. I had to lay down all the tracks and tell them to come sing and play the bass.”
Mumtaz admitted that while he wrote all the songs, it wasn’t Saeed’s job as the vocalist to contribute to the songwriting. He added that the singer did have input on changing tunes which would be good for the process.
“For ‘Adaat’, there was no pre-chorus or chorus, because I did not know how to write songs. Atif added his own input and vocalisations which made the song shine. Everyone has their own input and that makes the band’s flavour.”
The guitarist said he realised that the only way to move forward with the band was to put out new music, regardless of who wrote their previous hits. “You put out new music and fans will understand, so we rallied together and decided to stay in the studio for two months.
Talking about reuniting with Saeed to make more music, Mumtaz said the only way that might be possible would be through a reunion, otherwise, neither Jal nor Saeed needed that window to remain open.
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