ISLAMABAD: While a few members of the Butt community have made headlines for crashing protests, there is a certain Butt whose presence at a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) rally is palpable and celebrated.
From Khyber to Karachi, DJ Asif Butt is the man of the musical hour at any PTI rally, and the gana bajana and soaring entertainment quotient at the ongoing sit-in at D-chowk is no exception.
"At first, people didn't care about me because I came from a low-income background, I was a commoner. However, that perception has changed tremendously," DJ Butt tells Dawn, shouting over the thunderous cheers of supporters and deafening music.
"It feels good to know that people know me now."
With a mix of regional and Urdu music, Butt says he gauges the mood and mix of the crowd when preparing a playlist. “For this sit-in, I am playing Pashto music [as well] as a lot of participants are from K-P.”
“The playlist is not the same each time. It's eclectic and depends upon the mood of the rally. The crowd is always cheering madly — Khan sahib has gained a tremendous fan following because of my music.”
Butt describes his flair as an “innate skill cultivated over the years”. He terms himself the (musical) pilot of the PTI ship.
“Prior to a sit-in, I compile the entire list of songs which I intend to play but the collection and selection is my own,” he says. “The songs are finalised after extensive research on all kinds of human emotions… I play songs which will be most appropriate to the mood of a particular rally."
Closing in on two weeks, the ongoing PTI sit-in at D-chowk has been the highest revenue-making stint of Butt’s career. While he is tight-lipped about numbers, he does say the money made from playing music at rallies is more than enough to sustain him.
“I make enough money from PTI jalsas — so much that I don’t need to play anywhere else,” he says with pride.
Butt's talent and prowess at bringing a crowd to fever pitch is also given due credit and respect; he is the one making the call for when PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s fiery speeches are to be punctuated by bursts of music.
“No one gives me any cues. It’s my call and I know when to start or stop the music. Speakers don’t know when they will be cut off during their speech at any given point,” Butt says.
Despite numerous flyers emblazoned with DJ Butt’s name and cellphone number featuring at PTI rallies, his encounters with Imran are however, limited. “The only time I met Imran Khan was on April 22, 2011, a couple of days before his massive sit-in in Peshawar. I was given two tracks and then it was up to me to figure out how to get the crowd going.”
“However, I believe that we are both on the same page when it comes to music,” he says confidently.
