Biography Of Nazeel Azami
Nazeel 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! His message for his fans is: "Pray for the world - with word and act
