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An announcement on Khumariyaan’s Instagram recently informed the world that the band has introduced a vocalist, Obaid Khan — a much-needed addition to the outfit, its fans said in the comments section.

The same post declared that Khumariyaan would now be bringing the languages of its land — Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — to the common folk.

Over the years, being an instrumental act without an epicentre has been Khumariyaan’s USP. While Farhan ‘Bogey’ Bogra, a rubab player and cultural activist, started the act in 2005 — Khumariyaan officially came together as a band in 2009 — he never claimed to be its “lead”.

Bogra has always stressed that Khumariyaan is equally owned and represented by all its members. The quartet, comprising Bogra on the rubab, Shiraz Khan on the zerbaghali, Sparlay Rawail on lead guitars and Aamer Shafiq on rhythm guitars, has remained focused on bringing Pashtun folk instruments to the mainstream.

Their music doesn’t make merely a perfunctory effort to “represent” Pashtun culture, rather, it holds on to that identity. The rubab and zerbaghali dictate the melody of their tracks while the guitars act as a canvas.

So far, Khumariyaan has represented Pakistan in the US, UK, Europe and Gulf states. Khumariyaan has also performed at the critically acclaimed South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Texas.

Now that the act has finally opened up to a vocalist, it is sharing its hopes for the future.

A vocalist and a new mission

After promoting music from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for over a decade, Bogra felt that the band had finally reached a point where it became interested in promoting languages. For this reason, Obaid, a 28-year-old artist and anthropologist, was the perfect fit.

“Obaid has done his masters in anthropology. He’s been singing and playing in KP for many years now. He is also a multi-lingual vocalist. With him, we are looking to promote Pashto, Kohistani, Hindko, and eventually, languages from Sindh and Punjab — particularly those we have lost,” Bogra told Images.

The rubab player, who started Khumariyaan as a form of defiance against the stigmatisation of music in KP, recalled how people also had reservations about it being an instrumental act. “Music has always faced resistance due to cultural and religious perceptions. Being solely focused on the music has also been an act of defiance from our end and because of that, we’ve had to bear losses. But we achieved our goal of preserving Pashtun instruments and dances. Now, we will move towards languages.”

Rawail, the long-haired architect, NCA grad, and son of left-wing politician Ismat Shahjahan, remarked, “You might think that Khumariyaan is being hypocritical. Many of our fans might feel cheated too. But we owe it to Pashtun culture to pull back our ideology and use our band as a platform.”

Even with a vocalist, Rawail feels Khumariyaan has maintained its core identity. Their concerts remain predominantly instrumental, and they aim to keep the essence of Khumariyaan alive.

“Our USP remains,” assured Bogra. “Rubab, zerbaghali, and sitar will continue to be at the forefront of our performances. Obaid is a bass guitarist too. He will also perform our instrumental songs with us. We just felt that, even with the chants in our songs, we weren’t doing a good job because none of us were vocalists. So, we needed someone like him.”

All for one and one for all

“Khumariyaan is an experience,” said Bogra. “We’re live performers. We make people sing and dance. We don’t care if people know our names. They should know the band. With Obaid onboard, we will continue to be a band. We will stand in one row and perform.”

The addition of a vocalist is expanding their reach rather than diluting Khumariyaan’s core ethos. As Rawail put it, “We’re still very much about the music.” The guitarist recalled how his band was considering collaborating with multiple vocalists at one point and having them on rotation, like the Mekaal Hasan Band. However, performing with Obaid changed their perspective.

“I still stand by the fact that when you have singers joining a band, they break it up by eventually leaving. That’s what happened to Vital Signs, Junoon, and Qayas. EP is an exception because Fawad Khan comes and goes. But if there ever were a singer who wouldn’t break up a band, it would be Obaid,” the guitarist said.

Recalling an instance where Humera Channa — a six-time Nigar Award-winning playback singer — patiently watched Mekaal Hasan play a four-minute guitar solo without interrupting him onstage, Rawail said, “If someone like Humera Channa ji can do that, then I think there are vocalists out there who are great at what they do and are not willing to make it all about themselves. Obaid is one of those people.”

A song with Atif Aslam

Bogra also shared that Khumariyaan has a song with Atif Aslam in the pipeline. “It’s called ‘Qataghani’,” he revealed.

Rawail recounted how this collaboration came to fruition. “During the 18th Lux Style Awards, when we won the Best Song of the Year Award, there was a mix-up. Atif was supposed to present us with the award but he was changing backstage so Momina Mustehsan presented it to us instead. I loved getting the award from Momina, she’s a massive star. But such awards are usually presented by seniors and Momina is our peer. So, when we went backstage for a photo session, I saw Atif and took a swipe. I told him that he owed us an award and to my surprise, he instantly apologised and offered to take a selfie. We eventually exchanged numbers, and a few months later, we recorded a demo version of ‘Qataghani’ with him.”

The track features a blend of traditional Pashto melodies with modern elements, a hallmark of Khumariyaan’s sound. “Atif sings in Pashto in the track. In his debut TV serial, Sang-e-Mah, he played a very dark Pashtun character named Hilmand. The raag of the track fits perfectly with that character. We told him to go into that character and give us a song. He memorised the whole thing and we helped him with the pronunciations but he was natural,” recalled Rawail.

‘Qataghani’ is expected to release by the end of this year, he confirmed.

The band also has a song with Bengali singer Sharmista Chatterjee in the pipeline. “We were recording ‘Sakal’ with Mekaal Hasan when Sharmista was in Pakistan. We just wanted her to listen to our track. To our delight, she was moved by it and contributed two layers of vocals. Her rendition of Bengali lyrics in an Eastern European style added a unique dimension to the song. It’s an exercise in world music,” said Rawail.

Khumariyaan remains at the forefront of innovative music in Pakistan that bridges traditional and contemporary elements. Their journey so far reflects a commitment to both their heritage and their evolving sound, making them a force to be reckoned with.