Q Singer, composer, lyricist. You wear many hats and you wear them so well. How do you manage to do so?
Suheil Rais Khan: I wear them all very well and I do so with pride due to my father’s legacy. My younger brother Farhan also plays the sitar very well. I would regularly attend recordings, listen to people, see how lyricists are working, composing, and I would visit world famous music directors and sit with them and learn from them. I am the only sitarist and instrumentalist in the world who writes, composes, arranges and does playback singing. I also make my own music. I have my own sound studio and a lovely team working for me who make it all possible.
Q. So your favourite subject in school was music?
SRK: Music has been my passion, my lifeblood right from the start. My entire focus was on music because my father, the late Ustad Rais Khan, was such a great artist. There was a time when I was more inclined towards pop and rock, and not into classical music. Then there came a time when I saw my father performing, started listening to his recordings and then decided that I want to pursue classical music as well. I learned how to play the sitar and classical singing under the expert tutelage of my father, and finally I was able to take up classical singing.
Sitarist, composer, lyricist and singer Suheil Rais Khan is the illustrious son of the legendary sitarist Ustad Rais Khan and carries forward the classical musical legacy of his late father. He was in Karachi recently, visiting from India, where he now resides and performs
Q. Does being the son of the legendary Rais Khan weigh heavily upon your shoulders?
SRK: Oh, yes it certainly does! People compare me to him all the time, but I believe that there can never be another like him. I try not to copy him and have developed my own distinct style when it comes to playing the sitar and singing classical numbers.
Q. You recently performed at Napa. How would you describe the experience?
SRK: Napa is a great platform for artists. I was visiting Pakistan with my mother to meet an aunt who is not well, and I also got a chance to visit my father’s last resting place after a gap of almost eight years, as I couldn’t visit earlier due to visa restrictions. It was [music curator] Sharif Awan who convinced me to perform and sing at Napa, giving tribute to the great legends, to honour all the old masters from both India and Pakistan.
Q. Music has changed so much in the digital age that most of it is all happening online now. Comment.
SRK: Music knowledge is best imparted and learned face to face. But much has changed in the recent past, due to remarkable new advancements in digital technology, and now it is also possible to learn classical singing remotely. All that’s needed is a good guru who will guide you properly in your quest to learn classical. Music can be learned from around the world in this context.
Q. After spending 20 years in the music business, what are your observations and thoughts?
SRK: Sadly, music has now become increasingly commercial to the point of becoming just a business. Most of the good artists have been limited to their homes and forced into early retirement. Music has changed completely. All I can say is that real, talented performers should be given a chance to come forth.
Q. Who do you listen to?
SRK: I try to listen to everything, be it pop, rock, ghazal, fusion etc. I also try to adopt the best elements of these music genres into my performances.
Published in Dawn, ICON, March 2nd, 2025
