“I believe a natural artist cannot stop being an artist.”

Seasoned guitarist, singer-songwriter, producer and founder of music group Mizraab, Faraz Anwar, in a recent interview with Red Bull, spoke about what it means to be an artist, his love for the guitar and his introduction to western music among other things.

“My first introduction to music was through my father. As a child I was introduced to ABBA and I was hooked – even then I knew it was something different. Not much later, Yngwie Malmsteen, whom I first heard when I was in grade 6th became one of my champion inspirations and that’s when I realized that I wanted to play the guitar,” recalled Anwar in the interview.

Speaking of dedication and his younger years during which he practiced for hours without a break, the guitarist said, “A natural artist cannot stop being an artist – if art is something they were meant to do, it’s going to seep into their lives and no one can do anything to erase it.”

Reflecting on how the music scene changed in Pakistan after 9/11, he noted that the underground music scene, that was once thriving, became quiet. “Things changed pretty rapidly,” he observed. “I remember during the ’90s that we used to sit around and jam pretty regularly. There wasn’t fear of any sort. There was so much art back then. People were unafraid to express themselves. Then they just started staying back home for the fear of retaliation, of terrorism, but they also wanted to be ‘informed’ and then came the news channels.”

Having appeared on Coke Studio on multiple occasions, Anwar added: “Now that we have music TV shows and reality shows around music, we at least have a platform, no matter how limited.”

He also observed that there is a need for “mass education when it comes to music” before adding: “We need academies, we need people who are sincere with the field of music itself and we need people who consider it art and people who consider that art is valuable enough to impart knowledge. There are so many different forms and styles of music – it’s an artistic field so beautiful, so human and that’s something which we need to explore.”

The master guitarist also spoke about how he loves to teach and would love to open a school one day. “I want to open a school where we can teach young kids not only music, but also help them explore their field. There’s a lot of talent here, we just need to hone it.”

He added: “I’ve never made music to be famous. I make music because I don’t know any other way to exist.”

Working on an Urdu record as well as a progressive rock/metal album, the singer-songwriter is cautiously optimistic about the future. “I believe a natural artist cannot stop being an artist; doesn’t matter what sort of pressure you put on them. I believe everyone is sent on earth for a reason, for a role only they can fulfill – this is how we’ve been designed as humans. If art is something they were meant to do, it’s going to seep into their lives and no one can do anything to erase it.”

– With information from RedBull.com