When it comes to alternative rock, Adil Rashid never disappoints. After being involved in group projects with The Underground Authority and Paloma and Adil, January 21 marked the release of his first solo single, Maverick. Keeping it instrumental, Adil has included influences of the ’80s classic rock era with guitars, drums and bass. It was only through some POV videos of jet fighters that the inspiration came to him and the single was born. A chat with the 33-year old guitarist
What made you release your first instrumental solo now?
For the longest time, I’ve concentrated my musical endeavours to group efforts and they’ve been great. But during the lockdown, we all got a lot of time to ourselves and I think I discovered a part of me that wants to say things musically, with my own personal signature on them. And there’s no better time than now because everything else has taken a back seat and it’s the perfect time to try new things.
Was it something that came to you overnight or was it that you put a lot of work into?
I’ve been dabbling with these songs for a few years but I always kept them in the background because I never got the time to sit and record them on my own terms with complete care and control. The melody actually came to me suddenly but the song took a while to complete.
Could you tell us a bit about the sound and instruments used?
It’s straight out rock instrumental with guitars, drums, bass and keyboards. It’s reminiscent of ’80s classic rock, which is my favourite kind of guitar playing. It comes to me naturally. And playing my Kramer and Gibson guitars on the record makes perfect sense because they represent the era and the sound that I’m trying to achieve.
Is this release a part of anything that’s upcoming?
It’s the first of many songs that I’m releasing soon as part of my solo project. Not sticking to genres, I will soon be releasing songs in different languages and styles of music that represent me as a person.
Why have you called it Maverick and what does the melody stem from?
The melody came to me while I was watching POV videos of jet fighters, and I visualised that when I was writing the melody. A friend heard the song and I was explaining my inspiration and he just randomly mentioned Maverick like Top Gun, and it just clicked. The working title of the song was ‘Lettuce Spinach’ till then.
