Asfar Hussain

Some Lesser Known Facts About Asfar Hussain

• Asfar Hussain is a Pakistani singer, music composer, and songwriter who rose to prominence after appearing in the first season of the Pakistani show ‘Nescafe Basement’ in 2012 after which he became the vocalist of the Pakistani rock band ‘Bayaan.’

• Growing up in the picturesque mountains of Chitral, where music is deeply rooted in the culture, Asfar spent his childhood observing his family friends and relatives singing the verses of his poet father in the musical get-togethers i.e., mehfils. Meanwhile, his elder brother played the Chitrali sitar.

• He moved to Peshawar, Pakistan, for a while during his middle school days. The city of Peshawar introduced him to Pakistani pop music that was gaining popularity in the early 2000s. In an interview, while talking about his days at Peshawar, he said,
  

  Because back then in Chitral I didn’t have cable or the internet. Over there [in Peshawar] we did. And so, I got influenced by pop music there.”

• Following his schooling in Chitral, he enrolled in the National College of Arts (NCA), where he first took the center stage as the lead vocalist.

• He has also participated in and secured the second position in the Thumri (a style of Indian music) category in the music event ‘All Pakistan Music Conference’ (APMC).

• In 2012, the creators of ‘Nescafé Basement’ went around college campuses in Pakistan looking for young, exceptionally talented, but unknown musicians to cast in the show. During the auditions at NCA, Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, a producer and mentor of the show discovered Asfar Hussain. He sang the songs Raza-e-Fitna and Tau Kia Huwa in the auditions.

• During the jam and recording sessions of ‘Nescafé Basement,’ Asfar made acquaintances and became fast friends with other participants of the show. Gradually, the musical chemistry escalated leading to the origin of alternative rock/contemporary pop band ‘Bayaan.’

  

• The band comprised of Asfar Hussain (vocalist), Shahrukh Aslam (guitarist), Haider Abbas (bassist),  Muqeet Shahzad (guitarist), and Mansoor Lashari (drummer).

  

• It was Asfar Hussain who came up with the name Bayaan, which translates into a narrative. The name perfectly exhibited the band’s ideology of expressing the experiences and emotions in relation to different life situations.

• The band came into the limelight with its first original song, Nahin Milta (2015), which was written by Asfar. In 2019, the song featured in the extended play ‘4 Saal’ (2019), released under the record label Rearts records. The EP also featured the hit songs “Farda” and “Din Dhalay.”

  

• In 2017, the band made its Lollywood debut when its song ‘Nahin Milta’ featured in the blockbuster Pakistani war film ‘Yalghaar.’
  

• Bayaan performed its first live gig at the Pak Media Revolution concert, which was held in Lahore.

• The band announced the release of its debut album, ‘Suno,’ at the 2020 Lahore Music Meet. The nine-track album featured crowd-puller songs like “Teri Tasveer” and “Mera Musafir.”

• In an interview, Asfar revealed that he wrote the introductory lines of “Mera Musafir” imagining the mountainous terrain of his hometown Chitral.

• Although Bayaan had already garnered a loyal fanbase, it struck stardom after winning the Pakistani music competition TV series ‘Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ (2018). Defeating the competitor band ‘Xarb,’ Bayaan acquired a cash prize of Rs. 50 lakhs and an album contract with PepsiCo Pakistan.

  

• The collection of songs sung by Bayaan during the show ‘Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ are featured on various music streaming services.

• In 2018, during an interview, Asfar revealed the fact that besides being the vocalist of Bayaan, he also worked as a music and performing arts teacher at a private school. He talked about his job as a teacher and said,
  

  We all have day jobs and beside that [Bayaan] we just enjoy making music. Music itself is so time consuming that we hardly get any time to do something else.”

• The band returned on Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ stage during its fourth season to collaborate with the Season 2 winners, Kashmir – The Band.

• The band has released various singles like Bekhabar (2019), Aaj Bazaar Mein (2020), and Faryaad (2021).

• All of Bayaan’s work is distributed and licensed by the Lahore-based record label Rearts records.

• Asfar Hussain, along with various other artists, voiced the hit 2020 cricket song “Khel Ja Dil Se,” for PepsiCo Pakistan.
  

• After the release of “Khel Ja Dil Se,” Asfar featured on the labels of limited edition cold drink bottles of PepsiCo Pakistan.

  

• In February 2022, Bayaan received the Silver Creator Award for its YouTube channel for exceeding 1,00,000 subscribers.

  

• In 2022, in the Pakistani musical TV show ‘Coke Studio,’ he collaborated with the Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Arooj Aftab to voice the song “Mehram.”

  

• An avid dog lover, Asfar posts numerous pictures along with his pet dog named Roussie on his Instagram account.

  

• The singer is also trained in playing numerous instruments like rabab, guitar, tabla, and Chitrali sitar.