Matched Hearts is the first release from
Shehzad Bhanji
Bhanji’s third solo album DREAMS. It is an anthem that describes deep and intimate love as two people’s hearts being in sync with each other. The song is about celebrating the different moments that come with love unedited and completely raw: from moments of desperation to moments of pure bliss.
Click below to stream, buy the song or the album DREAMS. http://bit.ly/shehzadbhanji
“I love the arts so when Shehzad Bhanji first shared his video with me, I was anxious to watch it. I can’t help but be inspired by these two amazing talents coming together. A mix of modern dance with Shehzad’s guitar skills was just what I needed to feed my thirst for art that inspires. They have created a beautiful expression of elegance, style and grace that allows you to dream and believe in fairies. Thank you for making your video a special experience to watch. ” – Jacqueline Jax : Host of AvALiveRadio.info
Artist: Shehzad Bhanji – Instrumental Guitarist
New Release: Matched Hearts
Genre: Instrumental Rock, Melodic Rock, Soft Rock, Pop Rock
Sounds like: Lady Antebellum (for the new song Matched Hearts) and Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani (For the majority of the tracks)
Located in: Doha Qatar
Matched Hearts’ is an anthem that describes deep and intimate love as two people’s hearts being in sync with each other. The song is about celebrating the different moments that come with love unedited and completely raw: from moments of desperation to moments of pure bliss.
I’m an instrumental rock guitarist whose powerful melodies have touched millions of hearts. I’m also a senior financial services marketer. While the two professions are not readily correlated, they play a vital role in configuring my life as it is today. I’ve listened to so many guitarists from various genres, but Joe Satriani has been my source of inspiration. For reasons unknown his music reached out and grabbed me. I don’t think anyone can explain why they have a direct link with particular artists. But you know it when you hear it—the sound that they make just somehow touches you. The song Matched Hearts is a love song that has a strong connection with my life and my journey with my wife. The track is melodic, soft and easy to listen. Something you would like to listen to when you are sitting in the evening with your partner, or while reading, having a coffee or just trying to chill after a long day. The track has a completely different sound compared to my other tracks as it combines various instruments such as acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, mandolin to name a few. So this particular track has a combination of Country sounds and Soft Rock guitars. As an artist, I love to experiment with various genres and instruments. I feel it gives a unique sound to a track if an artist manages to blend them. I feel this track has the perfect combination.
Is there a story behind your video?
It was very clear from the beginning that I wanted a conceptual video rather than a performance-based on. That was the starting point for me. The track depicts the feeling of love and its relation to a fairytale. So when 2 people are in love, everything is in sync and that’s where the magic of love happens. So the music video highlights a love story with classic fairytale references. Through talented choreography, stunning old town and forest location in and around Nuremberg Germany, and a lighthearted narrative, the video highlights a whimsical daydream about living in a fairytale. The vision is wild, colorful, and fun to reflect the brand new single.
What was your vision for the video?
While I was deciding about which song to pick as the first one, I immediately went towards Matched Hearts. And the reason was simple. It touches emotions on various levels, listeners can connect with the track since it’s melodic and easy to listen, and most importantly, it has a unique sound and somehow the combination of various instruments worked pretty well. So yeah, there’s heartfelt stuff on the new album Dreams that takes you somewhere warm and nice, but then I have other tracks that just rocks—and that’s another kind of escape. It’s that feeling of being super-excited and having positive energy pulsing through your hands. And I want to spread that around with listeners.
How did the video come together?
The video was divided into 2 days of extensive shoot, inside the old town of Nuremberg and outside deep into the forest. The weather wasn’t on our side as on the first day which allocated for the old town, it was constantly raining. It didn’t stop at all. So we had to improvise and look for spaces under the shade and at the same time it must offer some sort of creative angles too. But we managed to find very interesting locations as the old town has so much to offer.
2nd day was dedicated to the forest. It was one of the toughest days of the shoot I have ever experienced. We were carrying all the equipment in our hands as the car cannot go inside. But the best part was the sun was out and we had the opportunity to shoot the video in the bright daylight. My family (wife and teenage daughter) were with me throughout the shoot and they were a huge support for me.
Who worked on the video with you?
Video Concept Written & Directed by: Lara Celenza Produced by: Natalie MacMahon
CAST Shehzad Bhanji , Silke Hess – Dancer CREW DoP: Siddhant Sarin MUA/Hairstylist: Nadine Weber
Editor/Colorist: Lara Celenza
The music…
Matched Hearts is the first release from my 3rd Album DREAMS. While I was deciding about which song to pick as the first one, I immediately went towards Matched Heart. And the reason was simple. It touches emotions on various levels, listeners can connect with the track since it’s melodic and easy to listen, and most importantly, it has a unique sound and somehow the combination has worked pretty well. So yeah, there’s heartfelt stuff on the new album Dreams that takes you somewhere warm and nice, but then I have other tracks that just rocks—and that’s another kind of escape. It’s that feeling of being super-excited and having positive energy pulsing through your hands. And I want to spread that around with listeners.
I love to experiment and that was my starting point for Dreams. The album has “modern meets traditional” written all over it, and it contains elements from many musical genres such as instrumental rock, blues, funk rock, pop-rock, EDM and acoustic. Something which wasn’t there in my previous 2 albums namely Never Say Goodbye and Profound Beginnings. So I would say that’s the biggest difference.
Music inspires imagination…
I think that instrumental music always has its place because there’s nobody’s telling you what the song is about. That leaves your imagination free to associate your story with what it is, and you can make it about whatever you want. This is the freedom that instrumental music has always held for people – it gives them the ability to write their stories into it.
Also, everybody listens to music for various reasons. I always wanted to produce instrumentals that provide an escape to the listeners. The world needs an escape. I know I do. I never put on music to remind me of how terrible the world is. I put on music to make me feel good or to make me forget what is happening, something that puts me in this great place.
So I wake up in the morning and I’ll have a feeling about a place or somebody or something that happened to me. I might read something or bump into somebody and some feelings will hit me and I go with the inspiration. If I want to write a song about summer coming and I’m driving in a convertible, I’m going to write a summer song or if I have bought a new car, I would like to write a song to express my happiness. That’s my true passion: simply to write music around what I experience in life.
But the biggest difference between an instrumentalist is that there are no geographical boundaries. I simply hand over my instrumentals to the audience, and they are free to associate any feeling with it they like.
Right now…
I’m releasing a music video of Matched Hearts, which will provide the launchpad for the release of my 3rd solo instrumental album.
LINKS:
Presave the Album: http://bit.ly/shehzadbhanji
New Music Video: http://bit.ly/matchedhearts
Website: www.shehzadbhanji.com
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KosB6pUaplw6UBAFgw9vc?si=RqlItbnbTOyD6wirAJQfcg
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shehzad-bhanji/matchedhearts/s-dVnAP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shehzadbhanji
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shehzad.bhanji
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShehzadBhanji