Today we’d like to introduce you to Ammar Ahmed.
Ammar, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My journey actually started back in high school (NY) when my best friend Igor asked me to be the drummer in a new band he was starting. I never played drums but I loved them so I said, why not. Problem was we had guitar, bass and drums covered but no singer – so we really just played cover songs – instrumentals – in the beginning and I essentially taught myself how to play drums. Then one day, he just asked me to sing and I went for it. From that point, I think where I really focused on singing.
In the end, he and I wrote 3 albums (alternative rock) and I moved to Atlanta in 2004. As life took over, we didn’t make as much music, due to distance and careers but that didn’t stop my passion for singing and writing songs. I practiced every day (literally). I would pick the hardest singers in the industry and try to match and hit their notes and I would not quit until I did. I was always into the American alternative rock culture until I went to this house party and I started singing Bollywood. The first song that I sang was, “Tere Bin” by Atif Aslam and apparently it sounded good. Then, more and more with the support of family and performing at various events I started to switch my focus to Bollywood.
Now although, people would think that the transition would be easy, it actually was not. It took me years, as I am self-taught, to really learn how to sing Bollywood songs. The reason being is that American alternative rock has a focus on your chest voice where Bollywood is more head voice. What the essentially means is English songs are more bass oriented where Bollywood is more nasal. Regardless, I took on the same approach to train my voice by emulating existing Indian/Pakistani singers. (i.e. – Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Kishore Kumar, Sonu Nigam, etc.)
Finally around the 2014 timeframe, one of my good friend who has heard me sing on numerous occasions told me that I really should think about making this into a career. At that stage, I really only sang because it was my passion and I had a corporate career. But, it was that belief to where I really started to look at potential opportunity to put myself out there as a singer. So over the next 2 years, all I did was focus on songwriting and releasing my first solo Bollywood album. I came up with a new melody almost every day and by the time I found my producer (Christian Fiore in Nashville), I had over 300 melodies in my voice notes.
On November 5th, 2016, I officially launched my very first album titled “Aks” as well as released my first music video “Khudgarz”. All the hard-work and belief that my friends, family had in me came to fruition.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Success is never easy. But, I believe that through the hardship and hard-work, the sense of achievement is far more satisfying.
My parents are 1st generation immigrants. My father was a high level banking official in Pakistan and when he moved here to give his children a better future and education, he ended up having to start over. So, his focus on anything other than education was not promoted. More than that, after 9/11, he lost his job and also suffered a major heart attack. With his health concerns and us being a lower middle class family in the US, I worked full-time and went through high school and college (undergrad and grad school) full-time. The ability to potentially go on the road and pursue music or go to Pakistan and try my luck there was not available.
At the age of 20, I became the primary supporter and caretaker for my parents. With that responsibility, my mindset was more focused on having a stable career to financially support not only myself but my parents. So, I never really believed that I had a future in music or that I can even pursue it as a career. As I grew older, I saw that path slowly disappearing into the fog of life.
At the end of the day, I realized my age has nothing to do with my voice. There is an actor in Bollywood named, Boman Irani. He was giving a speech at the Indian Film Awards after winning best supporting actor. And, I can still remember that speech and I replay it whenever I feel like the deck is stacked against me.
Boman Irani was a dyslexic kid who ended up becoming a Bollywood star. He fought through his doubts and short-comings. Moreover, during his speech he mentioned that he didn’t actually start pursuing acting till he was 41 years old. And by, 43 he established himself in the industry. It was that message that really drove me past my own doubts and misconceptions – and what has led me to my current success.
Please tell us about Ammar Ahmed.
I am a singer, songwriter and lyricist. I’ve been singing both American alternative rock and Bollywood now for over 20 years. Although, there was a learning curve in writing Urdu/Hindi lyrics (I grew up in NY, Atlanta and didn’t speak my native country tongue very well), I still wrote all the lyrics in my album (which people still don’t believe I did).
What I’m known for? – Well to simply state my voice. And I wouldn’t just say for my tone but I think (or so I’ve been told), when I sing sad songs, I have natural pain in my voice and vice versa for upbeat, love songs. Stretching that a little further, since I do come from a rock background, the other thing I’m known for is having a big voice. Meaning, I sometimes don’t need a mic to really project my voice.
What I’m most proud of honestly is the fact that I achieved the first step of my dream as a singer/songwriter. Launching my album and music video was such a large undertaking that with my normal activities and work, I didn’t think it would ever finish.
I think what sets me apart from others is my affinity for classical and old songs. A lot of artists, especially the younger ones, are so fixated on this new age of Pop that art and even the sound is gone. And don’t even get me started on the lyrics. My focus in writing is that the song has to be meaningful. Now I won’t go as far as saying I will never write a pop/club song, but majority of my songs are meaningful. And that’s another thing that I’m very much proud of.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I think if I had to do it all over again, I would probably put the time and passion at an earlier age and definitely take vocal lessons. I am taking classical Indian vocal lessons now and I can feel a major difference in my vocal strength and tone.
Also social media, I’m not big on social media but would probably focus more on building my brand through that route.
Contact Info:
- Email: ammarahmedmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ammarahmedmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ammarahmedmusic
Image Credit:
MNK Photography, Hakim Studios, Ria Mushfiq
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