[3] He started devoting most of his time to a music career upon moving to Calgary, Alberta in 1995,[3] releasing his first album Splat independently that year.
[5] His album The Basement Songs was produced by Steven Drake of Odds and won critical acclaim, with music writers citing the maturity of the folk-rock songwriting, as the songs addressed issues of racism and religion.
[6] His subsequent independent release, While You're Down There included collaborations with Jules Shear and with Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's.
[8] In 2011, Hussain won the Maxine Sevack Award for Creative Nonfiction from the University of British Columbia, as well as receiving his master's degree in creative writing from the institution.
He currently teaches courses in the Faculty of Arts, mainly focusing on creative and lyric writing.