Omair Anjum and Mohammad Shah created the House band Fake Shamans from their mutual love of the underground music scene.
What makes Fake Shamans interesting is not only the niche music they’re creating, it also has a lot to do with their backdrops of 17th-century Mughal mosques, where they blend tribal beats and modern mixes.
We reached out to the duo to talk more about their music and how it feels to be part of LMM’s lineup.
Okay first things first, explain the name.
So, the name Fake Shamans basically came out of our interest in the shamanic culture. As for the word fake, let’s just say fake is the new real. It adds some flavour into the character and concept.
What are some ways you’d like to see the rave culture change in Pakistan?
There’s no rave culture in Pakistan. There can never be a rave culture. It’s just that we believe that teachers and musicians should perform at better platforms. The listeners need to be serious too and the musicians should get the appreciation they’re due as this music form has potential.
What are some struggles you think EDM artists are facing currently in Pakistan?
Again, it’s about them not getting decent platform where they can perform their art. There isn’t any recognition and on top of that, it’s a very underpaid job. Honestly, there’s no future for them as record labels don’t sign them and they get challenged by the authorities. You see, EDM artists don’t get the same level of respect that the so called ‘legit musicians’ get from the government, other authorities and even the audience. So yeah, there’s a lot of struggle an EDM artist has to go through and it’s a very long way before you become a DJ who earns a decent amount of money.
What can fans expect from your performance at the LMM?
LMM is a personal milestone for us because we’ll be performing along very well recognised musicians. We’re also excited because we’ll be performing our first live set along with talented bunch of musicians like Rakay, a great sittar player, Farhan and Azaz. We’ve been all working together on an album so, we sort of have some kind of a synergy with them. And people haven’t seen us together, so, we’re really excited to show the collective energy. And we assure you we’ll be doing something we’ve never done before. So, people can look forward to that.
Where do you get the inspiration for your music from?
Inspiration is everywhere man! When it comes to music even silence can be a great source of inspiration. We don’t necessarily get inspired from a particular band or anything but we listen to all kinds of genres. Be it qawali or Pakistani pop or hip-hop, we don’t really discriminate when it comes to genres & music. So, inspiration we’ll say kabhi bhi, kaheen se a sakti hai. Uski koi limitations nahi hain.
How was your experience in your residency in Thailand? What are the differences with the rave scene and the crowd?
It was amazing man, like living a dream.We never expected that our music would take us to such a place where we would receive this much appreciation. Also, the crowd was very well educated about music. There were a lot of Europeans, who you know have grown up to this kind of music. Basically, what we’re trying to say is that they know their shit. Good words and good feedback coming from them held some you know, authenticity. Because not many people here know much about our genre. So, really it doesn’t matter much what they say because it doesn’t hold any value. It’s different when you’re getting criticised by people who don’t know anything and then there are people who are educated and when they praise you, it feels like an achievement. That really motivates us.
Lastly, what’s next for Fake Shamans?
Next for us is Berlin, man. We’ve worked six years for that and now we think we are in the position to have some gigs in Europe. Because that’s where we eventually wanted to end up and we’re pretty positive that’s what we’re going to do in the coming summer, perhaps. Fake Shamans will be performing at Lahore Music Meet happening at Alhamra this weekend. Also, if you want to know more about your favourite artists performing at LMM, stay tuned to ProperGaanda. We’ve got a lot more in store.