East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

By Anuja Madar

When VH1 personality Aamer Haleem and his friends get together they don’t play Monopoly, Clue or even Scrabble. They gather round instead for what the 30-something dubs “the table setting game,” where players are required to throw a piece of their place setting on the floor every time they drop a name. For most people, they’d finish the meal will all pieces in tact. For Haleem, however, he’d be lucky to be left with just a napkin ring after listing Madonna, U2, Sting and Annie Lennox as just some of the people he’s recently sat down with.

For the past four years, Haleem has been on air at VH1, chasing down disbanded groups in “Bands Reunited,” and now as host of the Top 20 Video Countdown. In the past year he’s had one-on-one chats with Prince, Eminem and George Clooney, just to name a few, and if his recent travel schedule is any indication (20 hours of flying time in a span of four days), he has no plans of slowing down any time soon.

Haleem was born in London and moved to Canada when he was 3 years old. He grew up in Ottawa and during his late teens, the family relocated to Toronto before he headed off to Vancouver as an adult. Haleem describes himself as the typical class clown, and says that if anyone were to know the truth about him as a kid, it would be his older sister. “I was born a little early,” he says, “and her comment was, ‘You just couldn’t wait to get out of there.’ ”

Haleem spent a lot of time “getting into trouble and trying to cover up the fact that (he) got in trouble,” and quickly gained a reputation as a bit of a talker. “People would always ask my sister, ‘How come you don’t talk like your brother?’ and she’d say, ‘He talks for both of us.’ ” That outgoing personality and talkative nature prepped him early on for a career in broadcast journalism, but it took a bachelor’s in political science and some time in a law office for Haleem to realize it was his calling. After completing a master’s from Humber College’s School of Journalism, Haleem started interning at “The Sports Network,” a “Nightline”-esque sports show in Canada. He quickly moved through the ranks from intern to chase producer and finally was promoted to associate producer. In 1996, he left for Hong Kong, where he worked as a VJ for Channel V, a music video network, and in 1997, he headed back to Canada to host Vancouver’s VTV morning show. After too many days of waking up before dawn, Haleem received a call from VH1 about a demo tape he had sent. The channel was interested.

The fit at VH1 couldn’t have been better for Haleem, who grew up in a house filled with everything from Bollywood music to Elvis. His parents introduced him to rock and roll through the Beatles’ “Give Peace a Chance,” and while he’s still listening to John Lennon, he’s also into music from newer artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Leela James, James Blunt and Broken Social Scene. He’s an avid listener to local radio in his home in Los Angeles, and though he admits he’s still not completely plugged into the digital music world, he makes compilation CDs for friends to introduce them to new artists.

While being exposed to up-and-coming artists is one of the job’s perks, getting access to them and those who came long before them, is what makes it that much more fun. While working at Live 8 this past summer in London, Haleem recalls being treated to a surprise rehearsal. “At midnight, it was sort of ominous, we heard music and a ten-minute break was called. We all filtered toward the front of the stage and Pink Floyd was rehearsing. I was like, are you kidding me? There were only 200 of us, so it was like a club gig. I said to a colleague of mine, ‘You know, sometimes my job doesn’t suck.’ ”

To most, Haleem’s job seems glamorous, and although he won’t contend that it can be that way at times, he also notes that a lot of work goes into what he does. “In Canada,” he says, “we come from a place where you really have to do your homework.” And study he does, whether it be listening to a band’s music beforehand, doing independent research online, or reading a press pack during one of his hours-long flights. “I figure,” he says, “if they’re taking the time to sit down and talk to me, I have to take the time to do the work.”

Interviewing big names isn’t as intimidating as it seems, he adds, and points out that “the bigger they are, the nicer they are.” When it comes time to ask questions, Haleem looks to Radiohead and John Coltrane to help him come up with a few offbeat questions. “The energy of the music,” he says, “it’s there and it’s not there. There’s an energy yet an individuality that forces your brain and prompts it to literally open up. Your mind wanders a little and stuff starts to hit you.”

Haleem may be a natural interviewer and at home in front of the camera, but he wasn’t always that way. He recalls his first live taping after which his mom innocently asked, “Did you read the script beforehand?” The nervousness is now gone, but the anxiousness and energy are still there. That same excitement is one of the reasons he’s gained such a large following from viewers who feel he reflects genuine emotions that they would if they were in his shoes. “You have to remember that what you’re doing as an interviewer is providing a service to your viewers,” he says. “You’re asking questions that they want to know the answers to.”

Haleem’s life of asking the right questions of the right people is far from over, and his routine of “go to airport, get boarding pass, fly for six hours, go for wardrobe fitting and go to hotel to interview Prince,” is something he’s not willing to give up, at least not yet.

The hectic schedule keeps this self-described “traveling homebody” away from his West Coast home quite a bit, but when he’s back amidst the California sun and traffic, he’s just like the rest of us. He likes to go to dinner with small groups of friends, is a huge fan of movies (he counts the Hindi movie Dil Chahta Hai as one the best films of all time), and yes, he does his own laundry. The only thing that makes this gregarious, gracious and funny guy different than the rest of us is that when he sits down for a meal, he has to eat quickly or be prepared to eat sans silverware.