Aha Moment: Led Zeppelin “IV”

Mubashir Mohi-ud-Din grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC, with two brothers and Kashmiri immigrant parents. His father is a doctor, and the family had expectations of equally “respectable” professions for the boys. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, Mubashir had no idea, and sometimes resorted to lying.

At age 13, while visiting relatives in Kashmir, he found a copy of Led Zeppelin “IV” in a shop in a drawer of dusty cassettes. It was the first time he had discovered and bought music on his own, and the album became an obsession. “It was a mystical experience,” he remembers. “I knew right then and there that I had to pursue music.” This life decision, which seemed so natural to him, was a source of utter bafflement to his family.

Led Zeppelin — and Jimmy Page’s guitar playing in particular — inspired Mubashir (who now goes by Din) to pick up a guitar, write his own songs, and ultimately form the band Zerobridge, named for an actual location in Kashmir. His brother Mohsin is the drummer, with guitarist/producer JP Bowersock and Greg Eckelman on bass.

Din’s relatives still had trouble taking his dedication to music seriously — until Zerobridge did a tour in Kashmir, which finally gave him and Mohsin the chance to perform in front of their family members. “The songs I’m playing aren’t sung in Kashmiri,” he says, “but there was definitely a connection. They loved it so much. I felt vindicated.”

Produced by Anne Pope.