Rafay Rashid was born in Islambad, Pakistanin but it was in Providence, Rhode Island where he formed Ravi Shavi, a garage pop doo-wop/new wave/ quartet who recently released their debut album on Brooklyn based Almost Ready records.In August, Rafay is heading back to Pakistan to play some shows. Here’s hoping that the audiences are a bit more enthusiastic than the one found in the video for "Indecisions". Who the hell reads a book at a gig?We spoke to Rafay to find out more.Noisey: Have you played many shows similar to the one in the video?
Rafay Rashid: I heard once that the idea behind any music video is to sell the artist and make them look cool. So naturally, you see videos that recreate the same 'everybody's feelin it so hard and dancing' thing that doesn't really represent what a lot of DIY shows are like on the road. I think a lot of people have played at least a few shows that look like the one in the video.Who reads a book at a gig?
Multi-taskers. Or someone who is bored and/or doesn't know how to impress you with conversation or dancing. I've seen it more than once at shows.What’s the scene like in Pakistan? Can you sing any songs in Urdu?
The scene is rather stifled by an increasingly conservative shift after the 80s. There a handful of indie-type musicians who exist on the fringes playing electronic and 'avant-grade' music. One of the shows is at a wedding and the other one is in a cafe in Karachi. I'm hoping to book a few more. I actually sang "Mera Joota Hai Japani" to an Hindi-speaking convenience store clerk in NYC the other day after he kept asking in a sort of aggressive manner, why I spoke Urdu and not Hindi. He started smiling, hopefully realizing that despite his insistence on drawing a cultural border, we both knew the same song word for word. I hope to write a few songs that could work in English and Urdu while I'm in Pakistan. Let's see what happens.Ravi Shavi’s debut album is available now through Almost Ready.Like this story? Like NOISEY on Facebook.
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Rafay Rashid: I heard once that the idea behind any music video is to sell the artist and make them look cool. So naturally, you see videos that recreate the same 'everybody's feelin it so hard and dancing' thing that doesn't really represent what a lot of DIY shows are like on the road. I think a lot of people have played at least a few shows that look like the one in the video.Who reads a book at a gig?
Multi-taskers. Or someone who is bored and/or doesn't know how to impress you with conversation or dancing. I've seen it more than once at shows.What’s the scene like in Pakistan? Can you sing any songs in Urdu?
The scene is rather stifled by an increasingly conservative shift after the 80s. There a handful of indie-type musicians who exist on the fringes playing electronic and 'avant-grade' music. One of the shows is at a wedding and the other one is in a cafe in Karachi. I'm hoping to book a few more. I actually sang "Mera Joota Hai Japani" to an Hindi-speaking convenience store clerk in NYC the other day after he kept asking in a sort of aggressive manner, why I spoke Urdu and not Hindi. He started smiling, hopefully realizing that despite his insistence on drawing a cultural border, we both knew the same song word for word. I hope to write a few songs that could work in English and Urdu while I'm in Pakistan. Let's see what happens.Ravi Shavi’s debut album is available now through Almost Ready.Like this story? Like NOISEY on Facebook.