Khurram Waqar


Khurram Waqar is a Pakistani guitarist and content creator. He is best known for his involvement in the band, Brothers in Arms. Waqar is also a member of other bands such as KW and The Facedown Movement,' which collaborates with the "Guitar Collective" initiative.' In 2019, KW and The Facedown Movement won Rock Song of the Year for "Todi the Smoker" at the annual VIMA Music Awards.
In 2010, Waqar's band Qayaas won the Best Rock Band at the Rolling Stones/Jack Daniels Annual Music Awards.

Personal life

Waqar was born on July 23,1975 into a Punjabi Muslim Jat family and grew up in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad. His father is a retired bureaucrat and his mother is a housewife.

Current ventures

Dawn in the Dark (2022–Present)

Waqar features in Dawn in the Dark with his wife Heather, based out of San Francisco. They released their debut album, Can't Count Me Out on their wedding anniversary on September 19, 2025.

Brothers in Arms (2021–Present)

Brothers in Arms is an Indian-Pakistani-American-based rock band, consisting of 3 artists:
  • Khurram Waqar – Guitars/Production
  • Prateek Bhaduri – Vocals
  • Greg Ellis – Drums/Percussion
They have collaborated online from their respective countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the belief that music transcends all boundaries.
Their first debut single "Khuda Kay Bandey" was released on July 14, 2022. The themes of the single centered on the impact of war on humanity and the importance of unity of mankind.

Guitar Collective (2021–Present)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Waqar launched Guitar Collective, an initiative designed to connect guitar players from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Dubai on one platform for live online discussions on guitars, technique, and theory. According to the project, its goal "is to establish an online collaborative environment to engage, facilitate, and encourage independent musicians and raise awareness among the general masses to diversity in music." They cite the COVID-19 pandemic as one of their motivations for the initiative.

KW (2018–Present)

While he has been part of various rock outfits since 1992, Waqar has also dabbled in solo guitar instrumentals. A few instrumentals were released sporadically, but the vast majority of them are unfinished. However, in 2018, Khurram retrieved the material and collected it in an instrumental album, which was released in the latter half of 2019.
The first instrumental from the upcoming album "I'll be with you" was released in December 2018. It was an entirely independent initiative, every aspect of which was helmed by Waqar, from the songwriting and music production to the hitherto untested waters of video direction, editing, and production. In Waqar's words, "This is a guitar instrumental, and the idea originated almost 14 years ago, when my eldest son was born. Now, this is for my three kids. They have been a part of the journey of the idea from inception to finish line. This is a completely independent initiative, and I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to do it on my own."

KW and The Facedown Movement (2014–Present)

KW and the Facedown Movement is a rock band founded in 2014, with Khurram yet again donning the multiple hats of guitarist, songwriter, and producer, accompanied by Solomon and Kami on the vocals and drums, respectively. Their song "Todi, the Smoker" won "Rock Song of the Year" at the annual Virtuoso International Music Awards 2019, beating bands from countries such as India, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
In June 2019, the band released their debut EP called Facedown. It features the following original numbers:
  1. "Facedown"
  2. "Painted Grey"
  3. "Into The Light"
  4. "Bend It"
  5. "Time"
  6. "Todi, the Smoker"
Of these, videos were released for the singles "Bend It," "Time," and "Todi the Smoker."
The EP was the first time a Pakistani band had had its music mastered by the music producers Ryan Smith and Ted Jensen of Sterling Studio, New York City.

Collaborative ventures (2018–Present)

Bazm-e-Rang (2019)

Bazm-e-Rang is the brainchild of Sarang Latif, son of Madam Abida Parveen, an acclaimed Sufi singer. The main concept of the programme is to get artists from various genres and musical influences to give voice to Sufi Kalam curated by Abida Jee and also set to music by her. Bazm-e-Rang has compositions by Abida Jee from Kalams of legendary Sufi poets like Baba Bulleh Shah, Shah Niaz Barelvi, Bedam Shah Warsi, Amir Khusro, and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

KW & Nikhil (2018–Present)

In 2018, Khurram collaborated with Dubai-based musician Nikhil Raj Uzgare, who is the vocalist of the rock band Point of View, which is based in Dubai. Their collaboration resulted in the soft ballad "Baatein".

With Taimur Khan and Sarfaraz Khan (2019)

Khurram has played guitar in songs featuring Taimur Khan on sarangi and Sarfaraz Khan on tabla. They presented their take on Raag Charukeshi, Raag Basant Mukhari, Raag Multani, and Raag Bhairon as Facebook Live sessions.

Past ventures

Fantazia the Band (1992–1996)

The first band Khurram was in was "Fantazia" with schoolmates and close friends Suhaib Kiani, Taimur Khan and Sabih Zaman. The band performed both covers and original music at several gigs held in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Lahore (1996–2001)

In Lahore, Khurram was part of various rock bands. Initially, he played a few gigs with Coven, the band, when their guitarist Hamza Jafri left for London. During this time, he befriended Ali Noor, Ali Jafri, and Abid Khan. He briefly played with "Entity", featuring Ahmad Ali Butt, Qasim Khan, and Salman Albert, before branching off with Qasim to form kNuMb.
kNuMb played a mix of guitar instrumentals and original songs in gigs around the country. In 2001, Khurram left for the US to pursue his graduate studies.

Pittsburgh (2000–2002)

While in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States to pursue his master's degree in Information Systems Management, Khurram formed an instrumental band, "Cocytus," with a group of fellow CMU students. The band was multicultural and multi-ethnic, with Rodrigo Escobar, the bassist, hailing from Chile; Frank Boucamp, the rhythm guitarist, from Germany; and Ammar, the drummer, an American of Indian origin.

kNuMb (2003–2008)

Upon his return from the US, kNuMb reunited with Khurram on the lead guitars, Qasim on vocals, Faraz on bass, Abdul Ahad on rhythms, and Sharjeel on drums, to be later replaced by Kami. kNuMb performed concerts in Islamabad and Lahore. kNuMb's hallmark became their mixed set of instrumentals as well as originals like Anjaani Rahain, Lamhe, and Majhi, while their covers of Audioslave were particularly well-liked. Around this time, a couple of Steve Vai-Joe Satriani-inspired G3 concerts were arranged by fans, in which Khurram performed alongside eminent guitarists like Faraz Anwar, Sarmad Ghafoor, and Zeejah Fazli.

Qayaas (2008–2014)

In 2008, Khurram formed the rock band Qayaas with Umair Jaswal on vocals. The band received Best Rock Band award at the 2010 Rolling Stone-Jack Daniels annual rock awards. In 2012, their song "Charkha Naulakha" featured in Coke Studio Pakistan. The song also featured in a special limited-edition CD of "Coke Studio's Greatest Hits."
Their debut album, Uss Paar, featuring 13 original songs, was released in 2011 to critical acclaim. In 2013 the band also contributed three songs to the soundtrack of Waar, the highest-grossing Pakistani film at the time. Qayaas also composed the single "Vadero Pajero" for the animated show Burka Avengers.
In 2014, the band parted ways.

Awards and recognition

  • 2010: "Mera wana" was selected as part of the Metal Asia Compilation of work by rock and metal bands from Lebanon to Singapore.
  • 2010: Qayaas won the Best Rock Band award by Rolling Stone magazine India in collaboration with Jack Daniels. The band was chosen among more than 25 other nominees from Pakistan.
  • 2011: Qayaas won in the following categories at INDIEGO awards
  • *Best Rock Song
  • *Best Rock Video
  • *Best Rock Vocalist
  • 2019: "Todi the Smoker" won Rock Song of the Year 2019 at the VIMA Music Awards with kW & The Facedown Movement.