MUSIC IN HIS BLOOD AND SOUL
Music is one of the greatest pleasures enjoyed by humans, and the pleasure is divided into the lovers and the makers. Shumraiz Awan was born with music coursing through his blood and deep in his soul. At the age of 10, he learned the piano which paved the foundation for his career in music. He counts the tabouka, morchung, mandolin, rebab, harmonium, bass and mouth or
gan as the instruments besides the guitar and piano that he can play. At the tender age of 17, he took to the stage and performed professionally in Islamabad,. His skill and deep passion for the guitar led him on a journey discovering and performing his favourite genres - blues and rock. Perhaps being born and raised in Pakistan both inspired and fed his love for music as music is everywhere, from traditional sounds on the streets, weddings and sufi shrines to concerts and music festivals featuring modern western music. This blend of different sounds, and being trained in both the eastern and western music worlds fuelled Awan's crossover between many genres and cultural realms. Not settling on just being a mere performer and sessionist, he moved to Karachi to tap into the commercial value of music in the entertainment industry. For more than a decade he performed, composed, recorded and produced music for himself, other artistes and various music projects. Collaborating with renowned singer Abbas Ali Khan and various other musicians to form the band Sufi Synthesis, they released one album that blended the sounds of the East and West - "Tamam Alam-E-Mast" - The Whole World is High. In 2015, he moved to Kuala Lumpur for personal reasons. In Kuala Lumpur he was exposed to the massive club culture, which Pakistan did not offer, thus began a new music evolution in Awan's soul. "I'm versatile, I can produce any kind of sound and music- even country & western and rap except a couple of genres which I find very elusive to grasp"
"I have all kinds of music playing in my head constantly. It needs to be exorcised"
One morning in 2016, he woke up to electronic music playing in his head, marking the beginning of another genre crossover. And he hopes the whole world will get high from it.
