The thing is, very few Pakistanis listen to metal. So we kind of made the album ourselves, we released it, we promoted it.”
Wikimetal (Daniel Dystyler): Hi Hashim, how are you?
Hashim Mahmood: I'm fine, excellent.
W (Nando Machado): Hello Hashim, it's great to talk to you.
HM: It's great to talk to you too. And I'm here with Tayyab, the vocalist.
Tayyab Rehman: Hi, this is Tayyab.
HM: And I'm with the guitarist, Mubbashir Sheikh Mashoo, you can call him Mashoo.
W (NM): OK, Mashoo.
HM: And Daim Mahmood and Saad Javed too, the bassist. And Daniel already spoke with the manager.
W (DD): OK, so almost the whole band is there with you, right?
HM: Yes.
W (NM): I'm very impressed with your English, how did you learn to speak English?
HM: Is it good?
W (DD): We are impressed, it's very good.
W (NM): It's very good.
HM: Yes. Pakistanis are very good at English. We speak with a bad accent. You have a good accent.
W (NM): Could you record an ID in Pakistani? Something like "You are listening to Wikimetal" in Pakistani?
HM: Sure. (Phrase in Pakistani)
W (NM): OK. We read that Blackhour was created in 2007 to raise awareness among Pakistani youth. Can you talk a little about that?
TR: OK, when we started, there wasn't a metal scene around here, so when this band was formed, it wanted to revolutionize the music scene, to create awareness about metal in Pakistan. So over time it did its job, and we have a much larger community around us, thanks to us, and many other metal bands from this city and other cities. So that was the main thing we worked on, and another thing we wanted to do, in terms of awareness, you know Pakistan has had a lot of political disputes lately, so we wanted to take people out of that, to a sense of power, of having control of the situation, not depending solely on the government. So the song "Age of War" suggests that this world is in chaos, but we need to take control.
HM: You know, we wanted to raise awareness among young people and get our message across in all the music we make. So that was the little concept we came up with in our heads.
W (DD): So what's the metal and rock scene like in Pakistan? Do you have any specific venues or clubs? Are there many bands and shows? How does it work in Pakistan for heavy metal fans?
HM: Things are really tough for rock and heavy metal. It's hard to find places to play. You have a small audience to play for, and the venues aren't very supportive, they don't help much, because few people like metal, but there is a small audience that is very loyal to this metal scene. If you call some bands in this city, or… If they have 6,000 people, maybe they have at least 800 people who will be metal listeners. So we have a small community, but one that is very loyal to metal. So things are difficult here, but they still work with this small community that we have.
W (NM): Is there any repression or prejudice against people who play and enjoy heavy metal in Pakistan?
HM: Yes, you can say that. It starts in your own home, in your own family. Your parents, sometimes they don't approve of you playing metal because they don't understand the energy and the power, they just say, "What kind of noise are you making? Stop with that racket." And if you have friends who don't like that genre, they want you to play something else. And I have friends who listen to R&B and hip hop, which are the main genres here currently, more than American and European metal as well. I've heard that trends are also changing in the United States, going towards R&B and hip hop, it's the same thing here. And on the other hand, metal is also a vital genre here, so we face prejudice, difficulties.
We really want to reach the international market because Pakistan can do very little for us. The key is to go where the music scene is. Blackhour is aiming globally because that's our future.”
W (DD): Excellent, thank you. We have a classic question on our show that we ask everyone we interview, which is, imagine you're listening to the radio on a rock station, or listening to your iPod on shuffle, and suddenly a song comes on that makes you lose your mind and start headbanging immediately, no matter where you are, you can't contain yourself, you need to headbang. What song is that so we can listen to it on our show now?
HM: It's a song by Insomnium, "Mortal Share".
W (DD): Excellent, excellent.
W (NM): Is this a band choice? Is it a song that everyone likes or just you, Hashim?
HM: All of us.
TR: I love this song, I don't care.
W (NM): Excellent. Hashim and everyone, what would you consider to be the biggest influences you have when writing music?
HM: For me, especially, it's Iron Maiden. In 2007, when I started the band, I… I started playing guitar because of Iron Maiden. I'm a big fan of Janick Gers, so whatever he does, I try to reproduce it on stage as well. Maiden inspired me a lot, and the way they produce their melodic tracks, and the way heavy metal is, in a way, very melodic, so we also try to do that in Blackhour. We want that; we want our songs to be very melodic, and we want songs that really touch people's hearts, that they can headbang to, or jump to, or do whatever they want to do. So for me, mainly, that's the inspiration. I try to put that into my songs, into our songs.
W (DD): Excellent, so Hashim, do you spin the guitar like Janick Gers?
HM: Yes, I do that a lot.
W (DD): Very good. Excellent.
HM: I even have a video of it. I was doing something with the guitar, a 360-degree spin, and I was practicing, and I messed up and the guitar fell to the ground and shattered. Then I had it repaired.
W (DD): So what can you tell us about the amount of information you receive about the latest releases and bands… What is the main source for you in Pakistan to listen to music?
HM: The internet is... YouTube.
Daim Mahmood: Basically, you know, overall, I'd say YouTube is the biggest promoter of all music, because you can easily post your music and analyze how it's doing, access social media, and everything else.
W (DD): So the internet isn't restricted in Pakistan, right?
DM: No, it's not, on the contrary, you have a lot of new music, many ways to explore through the internet.
W (NM): So I hope you can listen to our program online, it will be amazing to have you as listeners.
HM: Yes, definitely.
W (DD): Have you guys seen the movie “Heavy Metal in Baghdad”? And if so, could you tell us if you relate to those guys?
HM: It's a documentary, right?
W (NM): Yes.
HM: I saw a documentary on NatGeo once, but I only watched the final part. It showed the struggles of other bands, but I missed it… I didn't see it.
TR: There's another documentary by an anthropologist who traveled the world looking for metal bands…
W (DD): Sam Dunn?
TR: Yes
W (NM): “Global Metal”?
TR: Yes. "Global Metal".
W (DD): Yes, we interviewed him and did two episodes about him, and he was very nice.
W (NM): You can also listen to his episodes on our website.
TR: Okay, let's check it out.
I started playing guitar because of Iron Maiden, I'm a big fan of Janick Gers, so whatever he does I try to reproduce on stage as well.”
W (DD): Great. You recently released an excellent album, “Age of War.” How has the album been received, and how can people purchase it?
HM: People can buy it on iTunes and Amazon, and I can pass around the links to help. But aside from that, the album in Pakistan is doing both well and badly. The thing is, few Pakistanis listen to metal. So there are few listeners of this type of music. So we kind of made the album ourselves, we released it, we promoted it. We promoted the album to literally everyone we knew. So I'd say we did a good job, but if we had a channel or a record label, then it would have gone further, I believe. But since that wasn't the case, we had limited resources.
TR: Internationally, he's having more success.
HM: Yes, internationally he's having more success than in Pakistan. In Germany, Poland…
W (NM): Can you choose one of your songs that you're very proud to have written so we can hear it on our show now?
HM: I would choose three songs: “Suicide and Comfort”, “Crucifix” and “Age of War”… “Crucifix”!
W (NM): Crucifix, by Blackhour, on Wikimetal.
W (DD): Guys, if you had to choose your top three guitarists, Hashim, who would you choose besides Janick Gers?
HM: Now it's difficult. I'd say Slash. Janick, Slash and… I also like Petrucci. Yes, Janick, Petrucci and Slash, but Janick is at the top because of the way… Because of what he can do with the guitar.
W (DD): It's an excellent trio, right? Janick, Petrucci and Slash. Very good.
HM: Yes.
W (Rafael Masini): Hi Hashim, I'm Rafael. I have two questions for you: do you know any Brazilian heavy metal bands?
DM: Yes, Sepultura… “Roots Bloody Roots”
W (NM): We'll tell them you mentioned them. They'll be very happy.
W (RM): So what are the plans for the future of Blackhour?
HM: Global and international success. We really want to reach the international market because Pakistan can do very little for us. The key is to go where the music scene is. We're trying to change that, but we want to reach European countries, and, you know, Brazil. We even received an offer to play in India, but at the moment we're in a bad financial situation, so we can't do that. But I'm sure that in the future we will be able to. But Blackhour is aiming globally because that's our future.
TR: We want to forge our own path through social media.
W (DD): Very good, very good. We're almost finished with our interview, so before you go, could you leave one last message for the Brazilian listeners, please?
HM: Yes, promote Blackhour in Brazil, and support metal and stay true to metal.
TR: Listen to our album and buy our album on iTunes, it's called "Age of War" by Blackhour.
DM: And thank you, Wikimetal.
HM: And I hope that one day we can play in your wonderful country, especially at Rock In Rio, in those places. We dream of playing there.
W (NM): And I really want to thank you and congratulate you for believing in metal, believing in your music, and I want to thank you for your courage, and say that we want to support you and all heavy metal around the world. I think heavy metal is the only type of music that makes people come together and strive for a better world, so I wish you all the best in the future, and count on Wikimetal to promote your great band, Blackhour.
HM: Thank you very much. We would like to thank you for having us on this program.
W (DD): We are very happy and proud to welcome people from all over the world battling and trying to contribute to the heavy metal scene. And we know that heavy metal has to fight against everyone, and it's not easy anywhere in the world, so thank you very much for supporting this kind of music.
HM: Thank you.
W (NM): All the best, everyone, good luck!
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