Raza S. Mahmood: Powering Through the Pandemic With Heavy Metal Music
August 13, 2020
The D.C. Bar presents the series “Conventionally Unconventional: Wellness Practices During the Pandemic,” spotlighting how D.C. Bar members are maintaining their mental health and assisting others using unconventional means in this time of crisis.
“Give an artist four minutes and they just may change your life,” says local attorney and established musician Raza S. Mahmood. As the first heavy metal riff thrashes through his piercing yet subtle four-minute single “The Offspring,” Mahmood communicates the joy and gratitude he has found in his life.
As a solo appellate attorney, Mahmood mainly represents U.S. veterans, specifically in their fight for disability compensation benefits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Raza undertook this area of law because he saw a need. “The first time I heard about appellate law was in law school [when] I got to write an appellate brief. While most of my peers were more interested in litigation, appellate work really stuck with me,” says Mahmood. “The appeal is a closed universe, limited to evidence that is already in the record. Basically, your job is to identify procedural and substantive mistakes — details and loopholes. I liked the idea of brief writing and figuring out where things went wrong. There was something about that process that really resonated with me.”
The theme of delving into margins is reflected throughout Mahmood’s choice of music as well. His first album, Savor the Dissonance, debuted in 2016. In it, Mahmood uses inverted power chords to shred his listeners’ images of reality. Writing such intense lyrics over a collection of riffs and drum beats brings him complete joy. Despite the fact that his band is called Solamente, which means “only/alone,” Mahmood believes music is a tool with the ability to unite people.
“Music shows us that we are not alone; we are all connected. What might seem like an insurmountable difficulty in someone’s life becomes conquerable when we invoke empathy and listen. That’s the purpose of my music: to invoke an emotional response from the audience and allow them to objectively think about an issue they wouldn’t necessarily care about,” he says. Given the times, his message has become an even more stark reminder of the need to listen and learn.
The global pandemic has forced everyone to recalibrate their normal, and Mahmood’s practice has not been immune to the current economic upheaval. When it comes to small businesses, the statistics are clear: evolve or face possible ruin. As with countless other solo practitioners, Mahmood has had to pivot to keep his practice moving.
“I consider veterans’ appeal work to be public interest work. There is a need and will continue to be a need. But as a result of the pandemic, my workload has increased significantly because of procedural backlog. There is a lot more of a delayed response time, and basically everything court-related has slowed down,” says Mahmood. “Clients who rely on VA benefits are now facing even more uncertainty due to the increased delays — and their stresses affect me directly.”
In this time of uncertainty, Mahmood has chosen to focus on the positive things he has gained this year. In his second album, Mere Nal, slated to be released later this year, Mahmood laments on the here and now amidst the global pandemic. “It’s been tough, but I am grateful that we were able to adapt. Without the work commute, I had more time to explore creative ideas without the guilt, and in turn, I tried to use this unique experience as inspiration to create art,” he explains.
“The pandemic brought my family closer. The logistics of working from home actually made things easier, and the family all being home and easily accessible helps,” adds Mahmood, a husband and father of two school-age children. His conventional training as an attorney prepared him for his work as a public interest advocate, but his musical leanings enabled him to tackle everything else.
Overall, Mahmood uses his musical gifts to sort through the unpredictable twists and turns of 2020. “Without your mental and physical health, everything else will fall by the wayside. Creating music keeps me sane and grounded,” he says. “I am able to observe information and process it in different ways. For me, it comes out in beats or lyrics. This year has given me plenty inspiration to go along with the music I create.”
Take a break and rock out to a sample of Solamente music here.
June P. Johnson is an attorney, yoga instructor, and founder of True Bliss Television.
