Jehangir Aziz Hayat () (born 5 June 1989), also known simply as Jehangir Aziz, is a Pakistani singer, guitarist and composer.Hafeez, Zara (16 March 2014).
"New age musicians: Rock on"
''

The Express Tribune ''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Lakson Group'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Intern ...

''. Retrieved 16 March 2014. He released his début album ''Read Between the Lines'' in 2009Hafeez, Zara (25 March 2014).
"Jehangir Aziz Hayat and the Pashtun rock scene, finally uncovered!"
''

''. Retrieved 28 March 2014. and is known for his track "Pretend to Be" which won three awards at the Indie Music Channel Awards 2012. Hayat belongs to a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family. His musical influences include

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

. His first track, "Never Change", was released in 2004 which made him the first

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

musician in Pakistan to appear on the national scene. The track reached the national charts in its first week of release and was nominated for the Best Début Award at the

MTV Pakistan MTV Pakistan was the Pakistani subsidiary of MTV, a cable television network owned by Viacom. The Pakistan franchise was set up in collaboration with Pakistan's first satellite channel media group known as Indus Media Group (Indus TV). ''Ind ...

awards.Indus Music Awards
, Retrieved 9 May 2012. Hayat won awards for the Best Male Alternative Artist, Best Alternative Recording and Best Alternative Video Under $5,000 at the Indie Music Channel Awards 2012.Ewing, Christopher (16 March 2014).

'' Indie Music Channel''. Retrieved 16 March 2014.

Early life and education

He was born in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, to Nilofar Aziz, a furniture designer and the former Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khalid Aziz.(16 March 2014).
"Biography"
. Retrieved 16 March 2014. His family belongs to the

Mohmand The Mohmand () or Momand is a prominent tribe of Pashtun people. Distribution They are based primarily in the Mohmand territory, which is located in Nangarhar, Afghanistan and Mohmand Agency, Pakistan. In Afghanistan, their areas of presence i ...

clan of the Pashtuns and they own the ancestral furniture manufacturing business M. Hayat & Brothers in Peshawar.Shinwari, Sher Alam (15 September 2012).
"Jehangir Aziz Pakistan's First Grunge Musician"
''

''. Retrieved 13 March 2013. The youngest of the six children, he was described as a sensitive and shy child while growing up as a teen."Khalid Aziz"
Retrieved 9 May 2012. Hayat showed an interest in music at the age of nine when his sister was taking piano lessons in a private school. When asked about his interest in playing the guitar, he answered: "I never really wanted to play a musical instrument. I loved music but I never thought of ending up here. They (the guitar lessons) were a way for my parents to push me to take part in an extra circular activity since I was very shy." Hayat's earliest lessons of the guitar were conducted by Sajid Ghafoor. Later, he enrolled in an after-school guitar lesson group in the International School of Peshawar and learnt the fundamentals of guitar from Sarmad Abdul Ghafoor. When he was ten years old, his father was persecuted at the hands of General

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

during the

1999 Pakistani coup d'état The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharr ...

.Staff (6 October 2010).
"Khalid Aziz Acquitted of Corruption Charges"
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

''. Retrieved 13 March 2013. Later, Hayat stated that the coup had a profound impact on his life and had channeled the lyrical and melodic content in his compositions. While in his early teens, Hayat released a demo tape which was circulating around Peshawar. Subsequently, the demo was heard by

Fasi Zaka Fasi Zaka (; born 9 October) is a Pakistani political commentator, columnist, radio talk show host, and television anchor. Zaka attended Somerville College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He rose to prominence for his satirical views of the War ...

, a music critic, and was positively perceived. In the following months, Zaka met with Hayat's father at a gathering where Zaka discussed the possibility of Jehangir pursuing his interest in music by making a music video for his track "Never Change". Zaka recommended his cousin,

Zeeshan Parwez Sajid & Zeeshan ( pronounced as "Saa-jid and Zeesh-shaan") are a Pakistani electronic music duo from Peshawar, composed of Sajid Ghafoor (guitars and harmonicas) and Zeeshan Parwez (synths, laptops and FX modules). Both members released thei ...

, as a video director for Hayat.

Career

Early career: ''Never Change'' (2004–2005)

During the summer of 2004, Hayat met with Parwez and decided to launch the video for his single "Never Change." The track was co-produced by Hayat and Sarmad Abdul Ghafoor in Peshawar 2003. The video for the track was recorded in the industrial area in Peshawar during the summers of 2004 by Parwez. According to Hayat, the track was influenced by the events that took place in his life when his father was persecuted during the military coup. The lyrical content of the composition mainly dealt with issues of depression. The video ''Never Change'' had a profound impact on the Pakistani music industry. It had made Hayat "the first Grunge musician in Pakistan" to appear on the national scene. The track made it to the third position on the "IM Top Ten" after its release and was subsequently nominated in the Indus Music Awards for Best Debut.

''Read Between the Lines'' and ''Pretend to Be'' (2009–2010)

After a hiatus of five years, Hayat started recording his debut album in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

at the S&M Studios with Sarmad Abdul Ghafoor. The record showcased a much heavier sound than Hayat's previous demo tapes which incorporated alternative-rock and heavy-metal genres. The recording process took less than a year and was released on iTunes in the winter of 2009.Lamonthe, Rodolphe (23 October 2013).
“Read Between the Lines "
''Spirit of Metal''. Retrieved 16 March 2014. According to Hayat, the album's lyrical content had dealt with issues of depression and

perseverance Perseverance most commonly refers to: * ''Perseverance'' (rover), a planetary rover landed on Mars by NASA * Psychological resilience Perseverance may also refer to: Geography * Perseverance, Queensland, a locality in Australia * Perseverance I ...

. He also mentioned that most of the songs were influenced by his father's ordeal, which can be recognised through the album's lyrical content. The album received positive reviews from numerous music critics. "Read Between the Lines" received ratings of 4/5 on PakMediaRevolution and 3.75/4 on the IAMEntertainment magazine. Subsequently, the track "Pretend to Be" was chosen as the promotional single for the album and was released on

in 2010. The video was directed by Parwez and the track won three awards at the Indie Music Channel Awards 2012.

Singles and awards (2010–2014)

Hayat has released three singles after the release of the album on his website. The tracks were titled "Inside, Outside", "Mend to Break" and "What Makes Me Happy". During 2011, he reached the semi-finals and finals for the songs "Pretend to Be" and "Show Me Something Real" respectively on The UK Songwriting Contest.
UK Songwriting Contest. Retrieved 17 February 2013. In February 2013, Hayat reached the semi-finals for in the genre of "Unsigned Only" and "Adult Contemporary" for "Pretend to Be" and "What Makes Me Happy", respectively.International Songwriting Competition 2013
Retrieved 17 February 2013. During the spring of 2012, Hayat's track "Pretend to Be" won three of the four awards at the annual Indie Music Channel Awards.

''Above the Fray'' (2014)

Hayat released his second album ''Above the Fray'' on 4 February 2014.Millen, Andy (11 February 2014).
"Above the Fray"
'' MetalTalk''. Retrieved 16 March 2014.

Discography

Album

* ''Read Between the Lines'' (2009) * ''Above the Fray'' (2014)

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* , his official website
Indie Music Channel 'Alternative' Winners 2012MuzikReviews: Reverbnation Featured Artist SpotlightInternational Songwriting Competition

The News International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayat, Jehangir Aziz 1989 births 21st-century composers 21st-century Pakistani male singers 21st-century Pakistani singers Alternative rock bass guitarists Alternative rock singers Alumni of the University of York Grunge musicians Heavy metal bass guitarists Industrial musicians Living people Pakistani bass guitarists Pakistani expatriates in England Pakistani composers Pakistani rock guitarists Pashtun musicians Pakistani heavy metal guitarists Pakistani heavy metal singers Pashtun male singers Musicians from Peshawar 20th-century bass guitarists Male bass guitarists 21st-century bass guitarists