One of the most iconic images of all time is The Beatles walking across Abbey Road in London. It’s just four lads and a striped road, but it’s immortalised in pop culture history, inimitable regardless of how many tourists attempt to recreate it.
That’s why, when 17-year-old Hasan Malik flew from the UAE to London to record his first EP in the eponymous studio, he could feel the pressure. It wasn’t just The Beatles who had recorded at Abbey Road Studios — it was everyone from Pink Floyd to Badfinger.
“The day after I performed [at Abbey Road], Lady Gaga was in the same studio. It was this whirlwind, but I think you just have to say to yourself, ‘Look, I’m here, I’m capable, and I know I have the potential. This is what I want to do for the rest of [my] life,’” Malik told Gulf News tabloid!.
Malik spent two days working with top engineers to record a five-track acoustic EP titled We Are Young. The project, about “someone who’s young, and how they view their first experiences in life, whether it’s their first crush, their first argument, or their first experience of excitement”, is tentatively set to release on January 1; Malik is far too busy with his final year of school at Dubai College to release it any sooner.
“I love education, but music is my one passion. If that means I have to wake up at four in the morning to rehearse, or get up at 5am to do my homework, I would do it,” said Malik.
EMERGING TALENT
Last year, Malik won a year-long residency at The Village in du Arena, as part of the annual Emerging Talent Competition held in Abu Dhabi. He had to make some pleasant sacrifices as a result, like taking a few days off class to open for Olly Murs and Coldplay.
Luckily for him, his Abbey Road adventure came during an official holiday; Universal Music Mena pulled a few strings and sent him off to the UK. Malik was both ‘incredibly intimidated’ and determined to make good use of the opportunity.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m 17, I can’t walk into Abbey Road.’ But at the end of the day, you have to be ready to approach these places. I still remember walking up into Abbey Road, and just looking around and thinking, ‘Oh my God, where am I? Why am I here? I don’t belong here,’” he recalled.
He put his jitters aside and focused on what he does best — slow, emotional songs, akin to the power ballads of Adele, John Legend and Alicia Keys. Most tracks lasted over three minutes, bleeding outside the confines of a marketable pop song.
“The day I write a three-minute song, I get really excited, because I’m like, ‘Oh, this could possibly have radio potential,’” said Malik, laughing. He’s wise enough to know what’s commercial, and wiser yet to realise he may not fit that mould. Still, he sees more upbeat music in his future: “Inevitably you need songs that will get people excited and get them dancing.”
Malik, born to Pakistani parents in Houston, Texas in December of 1999, barely qualifying him as a ‘90s baby, lived in Canada briefly before moving to Dubai at the age of five. He’s been here ever since, and says he’s witnessed a recent explosion in the local music scene that coincides with his own growing success.
“A lot of musicians have been working together really hard [here] to say, ‘We have original music and we want to play it.’ I think finally the nation is taking interest,” said Malik.
*Keep an eye out for Hasan Malik’s latest updates on Facebook and Twitter.
