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Nazeel Azami was born in August 1981. He
was born into a Muslim family and continues
to follow it having read up on it and, more
importantly, having spent time with good
Muslims. He grew up in London and Manchester,
UK
Nazeel went to a primary school in London,
which he found quite enjoyable, although
he was very quick to pick up on the fact
that it was a different culture to what
he had experienced at home. Living within
two cultures has been a major generator
of concepts for his songs. He went on to
secondary schools in 3 countries, and that
wasn't always easy. His favourite subjects/activities
during his education were using computers,
technology and languages. He is currently
attending Manchester university studying
Physics.
Musically, his family does appreciate
meaningful songs, particularly those about
family, love, God, friendship and so on.
One or two people have taken that interest
through to become singers and producers
of songs. They performed at various venues,
formally and otherwise.
He never knew what he wanted to be when
he grew up. But he did like to enjoy himself
and have a good time with friends. He didn't
think of making a profession out of singing,
but loved it from a very early age. This
talent he recalls was encouraged by his
mother.
His musical influences start with his maternal
uncle, whose songs he listened to while
his mother cooked. She used to leave the
cassette player running, playing the songs
as well as other spiritually-inspired songs
in Bengali. He heard a lot of English and
even Arabic and Urdu songs. Nazeel also
listened to other early 'Muslim' music like
Yusuf Islam's material and some songs by
Malaysian children.
These days, he has discovered many more
meaningful songs that really move him. Mainly
these are uplifting songs by people like:
Sami Yusuf, Kareem Salama, Angelis, Garth
Brooks, Raihan, Il Divo, Jackson Browne,
Muhammad Husayan, Outlandish and Ronan Keating.
Nazeel is currently based in Manchester,
UK. Currently he is writing some new songs
for the next album, which is going fantastically
well. There's so many different thoughts
he has noted down and it seems impossible
to merge them into songs! But he is hopeful
for a development of material and style,
from the previous album.
He has been taught aspects of 'Islam' since
childhood, and says he considers it to have
a role in his music. A role that he sees
as one that will unite communities in mutual
benefit rather than divide them.
His music at times has some specific messages;
different people will pick up different
things. Generally speaking though, the songs
are about human values that have kept us
going in the world. He believes these values
originate from God and at other times, it
is just a feeling.
In his spare time he likes to call his
family, play football with friends, sitting
with eminent muslim scholars, singing songs
by different artists, reciting the Quran,
a bit of martial arts too, eating, sleeping,
etc...
In 2008, Nazeel would like to become closer
to God, saying that when you get busy with
life's demands, you can lose your touch
when it comes to prayer and feeling the
Quran. Besides that, he plans to travel
and learn a language. The main goals he
wishes to achieve are firstly, to read the
Quran, understand it directly, and have
the character to live it. Secondly, he would
love to be able to read all the books of
all the wisest people we know of in history!
Nazeel's message for his fans is: "Pray
for the world - with word and action."
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