Even though he is a producer in ABC radio, he is mainly known in the music circle for his love of music. This Rainbow Goli veteran talked to us about his current playlist; he mentioned that his everyday playlist consists of songs from Snowy White, Mark Knopfler/ Dire Straits and Pink Floyd.

1) “Can’t Find Love” by Snowy White: I listen to Snowy White everyday and I think this is the best song in the entire world. Actually, if I had to choose top ten songs of the day, I might have chosen all from Snowy White.
2) “Once Upon A Time in the West” by Dire Straits: Another artist that I listen to everyday from my childhood. It’s really hard to choose one song that I have been listening to, at this moment ‘Once Upon A Time in the West’ is coming to mind.
3) “Now Is the Time” by Jefferson Airplane: Every time I listen to this song I feel inspired and speeds up anything I do at that moment.
4) “Coming Back to Life” and “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd: It’s impossible to choose one song from Pink Floyd!
5) “Mone Pore” by Warfaze (The original version sung by Sunjoy): One of my friends used to sing this song really good and he died a couple of years ago. Whenever I listen to this song, it reminds me of him.
6) “Ektu Bosia Thako” by Kanak and Kartik: It’s one of my very favorite songs.
7) “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake: Coverdale is one of my very favorite rock vocals who has an amazing blues flavor in his voice. A few days back we produced a special Coverdale show at ABC Radio and I have been listening to this song, which has been an absolute favorite of me from the school days, since then.
“Before The Dawn” by Judas Priest: Somehow this song puts me into a sad mood. Everything about this song is just perfect.
9) “Cyclops” by Bruce Dickinson: I have been listening to this one for last few days.
10) “People Are Strange” by The Doors: Amazing song by an amazing band and sung by the man himself. What can I say…it’s just superb!

“Music fills the infinite between two souls,” Tagore had said once. Shireen Jawad certainly lives by it, as she continues to touch many a heart with her music.

Shireen who had been singing since she had been child, had grown up listening to her father’s croon Bangla songs to her until, as she says, “the tune locked into her brain, the melody of it sunk into her brain”. Her mother, a fan of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Shefali Ghosh and Noor Jehan instilled her love of music into her; it’s by listening to them that little Shireen first started singing. Shireen was a big lover of Hindi songs. As a precocious six years old when her mother challenged her to sing two songs (Punjabiwala and Dil Ki Arma Asoo Mein Beh Gaye), Shireen practiced the songs almost “ten thousand times” before singing it in front of her mother who declared, “You’re going to be a damn good singer”.

Her first album “Panjabiwala” was recorded during a tumultuous time, just after her mother had passed away. Shireen had been in Chittagong when Habib Wahid had called her up to record some songs, she had done it, and when a year later, she got a call that her album was ready to come out, she was shocked. Eight of the songs she had recorded, had been made into an album, “Brilliant,” she had exclaimed and just like that, “Panjabiwala” the album was born. “Something very touching about this album to me is that it has all the songs my mother used to love,” muses the artist. “Panjabiwala” the track from the album went on to be one of her biggest hits, playing what seemed like was every corners of Dhaka at that time.

Talking about her friendship with Habib Wahid, who had been one of her more frequent collaborators she smiles, “Habib is a very close friend of mine. When Habib had first come to London to study Sound Engineering, I was doing stage shows in there. His father Ferdous Wahid really liked my voice. We got together and did music then, gradually turning into very good friends. So, it was just like my friend asking me to sing!”

Shireen spoke of her love for the old, folk music as opposed to the new because, as she puts it, “they live forever”. While others in London experimented with the new, the different, Shireen stuck to her root sounds of classical and folk. Her love for old folk songs drove her to keep singing them, as they still manage to reign over her heart; something that sets her apart from her other ex-pat compatriots. Shireen credits her love for Bangladeshi culture to the Bangladeshi community in the UK who, even among all their daily grind of living, holds on to the culture, the music and the festivals and passes on their history to the next generation faithfully.

When it came to her next album, Shireen Jawad experimented some more. Having been introduced to Fuad Al-Muqtadir by her friend, Habib Jawad, there was an instant synergy in their work chemistry. “He is a very good guy” she smiles. The next album, although meant to be mainly a Sufi music based album, but after she added some of her own favorites, it became something for everyone. “Mathwali” reached out to a wider range of audience for Shireen who had through it experienced an incredible upsurge of popularity. When asked, she smiles, naming “Nodi” as her favorite song, on which a video had been shot in London.

Her third album, true to her nature of experimenting, has about seven composers, namely, Fuad Al-Muqtadir, Hridoy Khan, Romel Ali, Bappa Majumdar, an Italian composer and finally, an Indian composer from London. “About thirteen songs….” She laughs, “or, maybe ten” she smiles. Talking about her latest album, Shireen jokingly confides that every time she’s in the recording room, she ends up catching a bad case of cold. Something that has her composers in a fit! The new album has some old classical numbers, along with the new, some by one of her favorite singers – Kari Amiruddin.

Lyrics play a big role in her albums and Shireen is the first to admit it. She had always been a big fan of those by Shah Abdul Karim, whom she names as one of her biggest influences – A person who had maybe inspired her to sing for years. For her lyrics, she travels all over Bangladesh, meeting talented, but obscure writers – collecting numerous songs from which she chooses a few. A lyricist Shireen especially has a preference for would be Al-Mamun Chowdhury. Fuad had once told her that “he (Al-Mamun Chowdhury) was born to just write for her!”

Talking about work, Shireen lets us in on some of her newer projects in London, involving her childhood love of Hindi music. She is working on an album for them! While Shireen remains tight lipped about the content, there may be some classical Hindi numbers, along with some that she had written on her own. Since that is something that hadn’t been attempted by many Bangladeshi artists, this will be an album that we would watch out for!

Sajeda or more widely known as Saj, was one of the most popular VJs of the country. Her confidence, presence and deliverance were loved by her fans and admirers. She is also extremely successful as an RJ but little did we know about her singing talent. Well, in Rumman’s debut album JOWAR she did just that and did with panache. Let us know about it all from Saj herself!

30 years. A handful of bands that changed the business of Music in Bangladesh and went on to survive – Then, there’s Miles; still thriving.

There is no easy way to project a definitive picture of “Miles”. It’s easier to say that they are a legend in our music scene but that does not explain the complex layers and aspects of the band that make them more than just a great band. It might be difficult to describe them but you do not have to be a psychology major to understand the root of the complexity of the group dynamics, the fact that unlike any other legendary bands in the Bangladeshi scene, Miles is a rare breed to avoid being a one man show.
Our quest for putting Miles on Sonic was not an easy one; our timing for sitting with them was never proved to be a convenient one. When we sat with them early last year Miles was preparing for celebrating their 30 years journey, going through every detail about putting up a show that would reflect their journey, accommodating their past members and international friends in the show and give the audience a performance that they would remember all through their lives Even with their tight schedule we were able to sit with Hamin Ahmed, Manam Ahmed and Iqbal Asif Jewel but the other members were absent. It would not be a problem if Miles was a one man show, then we could have sat with one person and get the story, but they are made of these 5 individuals of big personas and who are considerably different from each other even though they share the same sort of an intense love-affair with music. The Pancha-Pandavas consist of the charismatic and the vibrant Shafin Ahmed, A.K.A Shaf, the visionary Hamin Ahmed, the talented and straight-shooting Manam Ahmed, the soft-spoken, multi-dexterous Iqbal Asif Jewel and the Prince of Coolsville – none other than Syed Ziaur Rahman Turjo a.k.a. TJ.
Our wait was for a few months, as Miles was busy with recording their albums and nationwide non-stop shows. We talked to Iqbal Asif Jewel and TJ within these months but missed out on Shafin Ahmed. As Miles went to their USA tour we had to wait again. After successfully completing the near 3 months tour, Miles came back and we were finally able to sit with Shafin Ahmed just before a show in Dhaka. This though, is not a story of the band’s journey because we all know about it; this is a mere attempt to define the idea of why Miles is – Miles. There is still to know a lot about the band – we realized that every time we sat down with a member. When we asked Shafin Ahmed about their recent US tour, he said: “US tour was awesome, in one word. This was the biggest tour by far. We went to North America for the first time in 1996 and we made history because that was the first time any Bangladeshi band has gone to USA. That was a tour of 8 dates. One of them was in Canada. This time it was even bigger, a single band toured 10 cities of USA for shows.

We started in New York (NY), had three shows over there, and did a couple of shows in Los Angeles (LA). Then, we did shows in Seattle, San Jose, Houston, Atlanta, Florida (West Palm Beach). Then the gigantic Hurricane ‘Sandy’ hit the East Coast and because of that the New Jersey show was cancelled.”
“I believe that there is a huge market in North America – because the country is big, and there are a lot of Bangladeshis there; by the time you end the tour – you can start again with the first city you started the tour with. Considering the number of Bangladeshi people in NY and LA – there could be a several more shows there.” He added.
“A point of note being, we have changed the course. What can I say – we have always done it. A Bangladeshi show in USA means lots of artists from various backgrounds – modeling, acting, dance, comedy; usually a mash-up of everything, which doesn’t work very well. This time though, one band did each show – we entertained the audience excellently for over two hours and people were dancing from beginning till end. We showed the Bangladeshis there that one band/artist can do it. It was an eye opener for the promoters as well. You don’t need that many artists for one show in one package. We hired proper sound companies, auditoriums were good (regarding acoustics and size) and, we toured for two and half months. We didn’t go to Canada this time though.”
The truth is Miles are pioneer to a lot of things. As Hamin Ahmed and Manam Ahmed revealed to us before, Miles was the first band to achieve a lot and set the industry benchmark. They were the first band to do solo shows in Dhaka, selling tickets, release single’s album, the first band to release CD in Bangladesh, and many more.
We asked more about the US tour; whether going back to USA after 16 years, if they found the audience to be different.
“The audience in the truest sense had not changed that much. For Miles its usually a bit of family crowd, who are professionals now, as we have been going for 30 years [entertaining 2/3 generations! ], and the younger crowd, students, who are discovering Miles now.. 16 years back– when we went there for the first time – the audience was mainly young students. This time the number of students was even bigger – and it also had young professionals. When we went to San Jose – it is the city of APPLE. Every building you see is an Apple Office. Every person we met seemed to be working for Apple. When we went to Seattle it’s the Microsoft City. All the young boys and girls worked for Microsoft.” We visited the headquarters of Apple and Microsoft, and so no doubt that was an interesting experience for the band too!
It doesn’t come as a surprise that this band, after playing for more than 30 years would still rock the stage. When we were at their practice pad a few months back, we wondered what it took to keep it going for 30 years.
“The only way it works, from our experience is the love for music because when we joined Miles, our entire career in music was Miles, at least for me. The reason why we have covered all these years and are still going very strong is that we are very passionate about music. The love for it overrides everything else. From the point we started to the point we became successful – we never chased success, we never tried to be the number one band. If we did so, we would release an album every year after Protisruti became very successful. To be in the number one position, we would not have waited 3 years for the next album. Our PR is very little, our media presence is barely, we are completely based on our fans and the music we do. What we have accomplished in all these years is for the love for it,” mused Hamin Ahmed. That gave us the answer to the question we were going to ask next –why, unlike the other Legends, Miles had released a lot less albums. Regarding this they said, “We never pushed ourselves to the state where in every year or periodically we have to come up with a new album or song, we do music for the love of it. On the other hand, when we released an album of 12 songs (As the cassette could hold 12 songs), let the songs roll for a while; let it breathe instead of coming up with a new album or songs every year. You do understand that whenever a new album comes up, it is compared to the previous one. Regarding our songs, there are a few songs that click instantly and there are some that grow on you, slowly. Moreover, creativity is not an industrial work; we need to feel it from the inside. We need to feel that a song is being born within. Basically, these factors are the reason behind coming up with albums later than the norm. Moreover, playing live and other commitments also contribute to the fact that we came up with a small number of albums in the last 30 years. One thing is significant that though there are lesser albums but maximum of the songs are getting big in the commercial sense, big in the artistic sense. So proportionately, there are a huge number of hits in the 8 albums released so far, including the first 2 English albums.”
Manam Ahmed: “If we come up with an album of 12 songs, let us enjoy them for a while with the listeners. If we come up with new album or songs every year, it becomes messy (The word he used here was “Joga Khichuri” and we like it!)
Jewel: “Also, you need to have to create something new. The mood is very important, if you are not feeling it, it’s never going to work. Miles also talked about how time and environment affects creating music. They supported the fact that the surrounding, the state of mind and a lot of other factors contribute to the music they create.”
Hamin: “We are not following any trends; there is no trend. What we feel transcends into what we do.”
Manam: “When we do it (music, that is) we continuously challenge ourselves. If you perform well in a show today, you want to do better in the next one. It’s same with the songs, if we release 12 songs in an album and 5 of them gets popular it becomes more challenging for us. For the next album, there is a natural tendency to make a better album. I don’t know if the next album would supersede the previous release but there is always a challenge to come with something better.” Hamin Ahmed seemed to disagree with the statement; arguing that it’s more important to feel it than trying to do better. Manam Ahmed wanted to add that beside feeling and doing it, the presence of the subconscious effort to do better cannot be denied. Hamin Ahmed continued to support the role of feel, as he said, “it’s not an industrial output! The feel comes, you capture it and translate it to music”
The more we talked with the band the more we found that even after playing for the past three decades, and being wildly successful, their hunger for music still subsists. Chatting about their playing style, tones, and composition style made it clear why these guys are always at their best. Talking about tone, Hamin Ahmed told us how serious he is about taking the added pain of bringing his amp to all the shows. “I even bring my own cables to the shows’ he added. And there is nothing much to talk about Manam Ahmed’s playing, he is a magician when he has the keys with him and he is the example of how a keyboardist plays the roles of different musicians, sometimes a flutist, a saxophone player and sometimes an entire orchestra. When we asked Shafin Ahmed about how he manages to play bass and sing at the same time, considering the vocal lines and bass lines go in different directions and we got a detailed response.
“I have been asked this question many times. It is difficult for me to explain how I manage it. I can try to explain how difficult it is. Our melody is going in one direction; MILES’ melodies are rich, with lots of ups and downs and vocal works. It’s not a straight line, and the bass line goes somewhere else. Now that the two things are going in different directions – it is enough to trouble any musician.
Then when I perform you have to realize that the bass has to sync with the drums. So there is a matter of matching the timing, too. If I was not playing the bass and was only singing – the drumming would not matter as much while I am singing. Therefore when I am performing – I split my brain in different sections. One part of it is working on the bass; concentrating on the groove/line – that syncs with the drum, Another part of the brain is concentrating on the lyrics [all memorized] , melody and the song, as well as expressions, details of how I am starting and finishing a line. In spite of having to cope with all this and my movements on stage, – I never compromising my playing or singing no matter how tough it is at times– and that is why I think that there is only one me [ wink ].
There is no scope for escape. When I take on something – I give a hundred percent. If I wanted – I could have made it easier for me. Maybe I could simplify the tune that was on record…. And NO! We still have not lowered the scale after all these years and I still deliver as best as I can. Further to that, let me add something – you probably noticed that I am more of a groove player than anything else – which is why I love this instrument – it is a sexy instrument. The sound of it, the feel of it, and how it fits in the music – it’s SEXY! I had an attraction for this instrument since I was in my childhood (initially though, Farid used to play the bass). The tricky part is that – it’s not only the melody is going in different direction – They are, sometimes of a different rhythm. A lot of bass players told me that – they found it difficult to play just the bass itself of any of our songs (He mimicked playing the grooves of jaala jaala and firiye dao).
These are grooves that I have created that are essential part of the songs.”
The younger members Iqbal Asif Jewel and TJ have their own stand, musically. Iqbal Asif Jewel actually was the first musician to put out an instrumental album. Miles’ own Manam Ahmed was also a part of the album. And TJ has his own cult following and why wouldn’t he? He is the grooviest skin basher you’ll find around both musically and visually.
We wound up asking the band about their 30 year celebration, a musical extravaganza showcasing the astonishing journey they had for years. The ex-members and international musicians were flown in from abroad. “We did the show at the Ruposhi Bangla hotel because we started over there (Previously known as Hotel Intercontinental). The band has lots of attachments, memories to that place.” They said.
“All put together – accommodating the guests, the venue, the sound – TV recording – it was fantastic!” said Shafin Ahmed. He also added “We respect our fans, we love them so much. We have been doing music and we survive for them; they have been with the band for the past 30 years.”
Are you going to release a DVD of it? (We had to ask it for those who missed it)
“We really should have. This is something we have always neglected, and many other bands would have done if they were in our position. We could have done a DVD on the 30 years celebration, we still can. We have done a complete audiovisual documentary for the 30 years celebration. It had all the information and rare photos.”
We could have done a DVD on the US tour also.
When we asked Manam Ahmed how he differentiates his work with Miles from his session playing we had an amazing insight into the mind of the musician, “I write (compose) for the vocalist, I try to capture his/ her essence and attitude and create the song according to that. It’s important that you compose a song according to the character and strengths of the vocal; it should not be the other way round. When I write for Miles it sounds like Miles because Shafin and Hamin sing them and put their signatures in the songs and when I write for other projects they are different in the same way”. It did explain why Manam Ahmed is who is. We also asked Shafin Ahmed how he managed to keep his Solo albums sound different from the albums by Miles, “I have been maintaining something very strictly from the beginning, I never took any Miles Member for any of my solo project. That was a conscious decision, I wanted the solo projects to sound different, and I did not want them to sound like Miles. I have about 200 songs released so far and many of them are excellent compositions but I did not take help from any Miles member and deliberately stayed away from it. I have been doing a lot of TV shows in last 2 years and I have been singing my solo songs with just an acoustic guitar and now people tell me that they don’t hear much like these songs, how amazing those are.” The truth is all the members of Miles are musically active that transcends the border of Miles. Hamin Ahmed has been the President of BAMBA (Bangladesh Association of Musical Bands) for last couple of years and he is one of the most renowned spokesperson of Artist’s Intellectual Rights. Iqbal Asif Jewel has been one of the key persons to promote and help the Underground Music scene, being a producer of countless bands like Aurthohin, Artcell, Black, Arbovirus, and Dour etc. TJ in his off time plays with the young guns and anybody who knows him personally knows that how much music means to him.
These 5 big personas are the driving force for Miles to keep them on the top of the game but it must be really hard to manage it.
As Shafin Ahmed puts it, “In our case, this is different – because we try to operate in a democratic way. This is one band that is different from others because it is not a one-man show. Every one of the five members is important and also very good in their own field. Each member could actually run their own band, and everyone has their own respectable position in the market. So when we work We share ideas – we take opinions from everyone and the result is magical, be it live performance or recording a song.”
That’s Miles for you. Enigma.

Shafin Ahmed’s Corner
The Charismatic Shafin Ahmed talks about recent radio Show of his own and his take on new music:
“I just started this show on Radio Foorti – and it is very close to my heart. All English classics. The songs I am playing and want to play in future – are those that made history. I am picking the songs very selectively, these are albums or songs that have made huge impacts in music at different times. The oldest song that I have played is dated back to 1950’s-probably a Sam Cook / Little Richards song from 1954 or 1955.
What I am playing and why I am playing is very important – these albums are mind blowing and industry changing. I am telling the stories behind these albums and songs That makes the difference. It’s not that I am just playing the records, I am actually giving listeners the rear story – that they will not get anywhere else.”
But Shafin Ahmed is not all about classic songs, he is always open to new music and here is what he has to say about it:
“There is a lot of rubbish that is going on internationally – I was frustrated two three years back, I wasn’t getting anything worth listening to. Suddenly last few years something has changed. Artists like Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Rihana, Adele, and Taylor Swift have emerged. There are some new artists and there are some new trends – very simple production – acoustic based, vocal up front, not too much instruments. There have been a few like that – I am enjoying those – they are refreshing and different.
I know that Hip Hop is big, but I am not into that.
I was a big fan of Linkin Park as well. They had a mix of Rap and Rock, which was unique. They have changed a bit now. I know what’s going on. I am into good songs wherever that comes from.”

The story of ‘ School of Niloy’ sounds like a complex childhood, borned under one name, going through transformations and stepping into the state maturity that incorporates its past and the hopes for future. Sonic sat with the band to all about it and here is the what we found out:

Band line up/members:

School of Niloy Line up:
Shahriar Sadat Ahmed Niloy: Vocal
Isfandiar Ahmed (Isfan) : Guitars
Mustafizur Rahman Khan (Bappy) : Bass
Sakib Ahmed Nadeem (Nadeem): Drums
Guiest Appearance : Maruf Ahmed Saami(Saami) :Guitars

How did the band come to life? ::

……..The band is actually formed from an old band line up named Bivishika (Dinbodol, Lokayoto, Aguntuk-3 Etc). At the end of 2010, the line up reformed with the new name ‘School of Niloy’.

Individual Influences ::

……

Niloy: Adam bono (u2) ,Bon jovi, Jim morrison (doors) , Kurt Cobain (nirvana),Chris Cornell (sound garden), Chester bennington, Jonathan, James hetfield etc
Isfan : Paul Gilbert, Joe Satriani, Dimebag Darrell ,Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Yngwie Johann Malmsteen , Eddie Van Halen , Zakk Wylde

Bappy: Schumann Zaman, Victor Wooten, Steve Harris, Stuart Haalm & Flea

Nadeem: Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Brad Wilk (Audioslave), Lars Ulrich (metallica,Chad Smith (RHCP), Dave Grohl (nirvana)

Does is help to have a sound engineer in the band::

….In our debut solo album (School of Niloy; the self titled, released at 2012/Ramadan Eid, from E Music) , Nadeem did all the mixing and mastering works and it was almost the exact output we wanted.
Besides that, all of us are very much alert and we always try to enrich the sounds so that audience can enjoy some nice melodies

Why the band is named after the vocal::
….After Bivishika, Niloy became the runner up in First Drockstar and also he came one of the top 10 finalists in South Asian superstar.
in the mean time, Firebrand (Ognishikha ; from G series), bridge etc various projects and albums came out.
When the line up was reformed , we were searching for a cool name which will represents those past achievements also.
Then the name was selected , with a bit of inspiration from the movie named ‘School of Rock’.
Niloy ‘ as our frontman, the name is established as ‘School of Niloy, ‘ as a unique brand as well.

You just released your album….how was it?

…….We just released our debut solo album ( Ramadan Eid 2012) from E Music. And we got great response from our audiences.
(It was the first band album of this year 2012 also! Somehow!!!)
Now, we are preparing us for few mixed albums and then we have plan to start the recordings for our next solo album .

You guys are in the music scene for couple of years, how did your approach towards music change? :::

……….. We always try to create some unique melodies with the touch of rock flavor.
The thing is, the audience is now very much alert and active with their feedback through social sites and various online portals, so it is much more challenging to perform.
On the other hand, technologies are taking place and as far it is being used to make sound more compact and polished (By without making the sound artificial ), we dont have any negatives on the new wave.

‘The Manager’; the new rock band in the limelight with their latest single “Natok.” With “Natok” making waves, we really had to get to know them better. Here is what we found out!

Lineup:
Vocals – (Ratul) Bin Haque
Bass – (Tawsif) Mahbub
Guitars – (Mayoukh) Hassan
Guitars – (Tazim) ul Hasan
Drums – Raad Islam (Tomo)

How the band started:
Started with members of different bands jamming together – Mayoukh (Onnoshob), Tazim (Arnical) & Tomo (Plan-B). Vocals with Ratul (Aggronymph), and Tawsif (from the Ashes) on bass, finally brought about THE MANAGER.

Influences:

Alter Bridge, AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, Opeth, Genesis, Rush, Creed, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Dream Theatre and more.

Genre:
ROCK! (Pure ROCK)

Memorable Moment:
The first LIKE on our page that wasn’t in any of our friends’ lists! Tawsif almost cried.

About Natok:
We made this song for a Natok (TV Drama) that was supposed to be aired on national TV; Things didn’t work out when we realized the Natok wasn’t what we expected. So, we released it on YouTube, instead. Hence, the name!

Debut Album Recording:
We are done making 12 songs, i.e. an album and a half. But, we just got into recording, looking for a sponsor and the perfect label, which seems like light years away! So if you like us and our songs, give us money! We can make an album, two albums, three albums, become rich, stand in election, get rejected, stand in election again, win! Have a Swiss bank account, a bungalow in Bangkok, and we shall return your money!

Rumman Chowdhury has burst into the music scene with his debut album JOWAR. The album was released on the 9the of February 2013 under ‘Siren’ a concern of Incursion.

Rumman, born in Abu Dhabi, UAE and brought up in New York, USA moved to Bangladesh at the very young age of 22. He completed his studies in music history and composition from one of the most renowned and prestigious liberal arts colleges in USA. Although well versed in the western style of music, it is his love for the Eastern style of music that lead him back to Bangladesh and pursue music here in his homeland. The album JOWAR is a great display of his passion for music and the magical fusion between the Western and Eastern styles of music shows how talented he is when it comes to composing and producing. Rumman Chowdhury is definitely someone to look out for!

When Adil told us about Depui, the Norwegian act, the first thing that came to our mind is “Brutal Technical Death Metal. Yes, we have to admit that our limited knowledge about music drove us to the massive generalization of Norwegian music as only one genre. And when we heard of Depui’s music at soundcloud.com, the emotional and hypnotic music of Depui there was no doubt that Depui was going to the international flavor of this issue. As Adil already knew him through the social network, we had an amazing conversation with Bent Iver Depui Tverssland, the vocalist, guitarist and the songwriter of Depui over internet.

How did you get into music?

I first got into music when I was 10-12 years old. I always found joy in making noise, and playing on my dad’s electric guitar that was a Gibson copied Epiphone was probably something that inspired me:) Which he had won in a poker game by the way:)
After he started giving me some musical tips it started with Gun´s N Roses with “Spaghetti For Destruction” and my first cover was of course, “Knocking on Heavens Door” by Bob Dylan.
I bought this old tape recorder for 50 NO kr where I got a cassette with Guns Roses and Sputnik. These two artists are of two very different genres. Sputnik was a kind of country/dance band, and Gun`s N was more straight forward Rock.
Guess that’s where most of my roots come from. And of course some Tom Waits-ish stuff:)

Tell us about the band, how important it is for you to have chemistry with the other members?

The band is parted in two between my feelings for the music, and the structure a band should have. Organizing the tours, pictures, interviews, radio play and so on. All those stuff is the “feeling-less” duties we have to have in place to succeed.
But, our chemistry on the road and when we meet outside the rehearsals is good! We normally travel about 9hours trip one way, and if somebody is feeling down, we do what we can to cheer them up. Something we have been gotten good at is to learn new dialects in Norway. Guess its a better way to spend your time then counting cars.
One of our musicians is at the moment studying in Boston in USA at the Berklee University. So we don’t meet him on a regular basic. The other two are working as freelance musicians in Oslo. I run a small Record company in Oslo where I have my steady salary from.

Your music is not limited to one genre or type, it incorporates different type of music…was that a conscious decision or a natural thing to happen.

If our music is limited is hard to say because I am still looking for a way to describe our music. Making a thread is some of the hardest thing in my music. But also some of the coolest too, because I can say that this album sounds like this, and the other one sounds like that:) But the first album “manhood” can be describes as a dirty pop album with a twist of Tom Waits in it.
The natural explanation to how my music turns the way it does, is beacuse I have to many emotions in my real life that needs to escape. Making something new and experimentation is one way to please my desire for life.

What are your influences for writing music? Is there any specific philosophy that leads you to do so?

My philosophy is about trying new ways combined with the old way. Explore feelings. Going up, means down tunes. Turning low means up-tempo songs.

Tell us about your approach regarding recording your album, Share the experiences with us.

I love vintage sound! When I approach studio I often have a “Kind of plan” I like to expend. The best, but also the most expensive way is to go in with two verse, one chorus and start scratching with the producer That’s what I did. And the result was much like what you hear. The only difference from this album that’s coming in April and “Manhood” is that I used 14 musicians on the debut album. And on the 2nd, I have only used 8… he he.

Now that your album is getting Attention and songs are being played in radios, how are you feeling about it?

I think the national radio station in Norway has opened a lot of new doors for Depui. We have already been booked for some festivals in Norway this summer. We also have been getting a lot of new fans from the radio. I still feels pretty strange hearing my own voice on TV and radio still, but I have always been the kind of singer/songwriter who wants to reach out with my message. “Change the world to a better place”. Some say it’s boring, but I have seen a lot of unfairness in Egypt, Thailand, China, USA and so on when I am touring.

Do you have any plan to come to Bangladesh? What are your future plans?

YES!! We would love to come to Bangladesh!! One of the musicians on piano from new album” Håkon Møller” from Casa Murrilio told me that they had their time of their life. After touring in China, USA, Ireland, England and so on. I really really wanna see how you explore music and how you experience it:)

Today our 2nd single hit the National Radio stations in Norway (Queen of Mercy : https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/queen-mercy-feat.-katrin-fr/id575936065)
And they have started playing it already I’ve heard. Our vision is to play on the moon, but our goal is to tour and take over the world.

Funeral Anthem, a band excelling in power metal, just released their full length power metal album on 16th December, 2012. Sonic had the chance to sit with the band and talk about the launching ceremony of the album at Incursion Music Headquarters.

On being asked how the band felt, they replied: ‘”We have been waiting for this day for a long time. We planned everything for the day so well. We thought we would be there with all our fans right from the first minute. But we were late as usual. We were having calls from Incursion that the people were starting to gather and they were becoming restless having to wait for getting a copy, even though they have waited a whole long year (our album was supposed to be released on the same date last year)

By the time we arrived, we could not believe our eyes. The whole place was jam-packed with a massive swarm of people. When we were trying to push our way through the whole place erupted and greeted us with the loudest possible roar. Some of us were pinching ourselves to test the reality as to whether this was true. We were thrilled, honored, excited, overwhelmed by the turnout of audience, fans, friends and well wishers who came to our launching ceremony in such huge numbers and who bought the album on the first day of release. We are especially thankful to all the senior musicians who came to support us, we felt blessed.”

The event started with people cheering up and roaring whenever a new song was played from the album. The Incursion Team (Arafat, Mishu, Shuvo, Bacchu, Ruhul, Naser, Kakon, Manik, Shumon and Hakim) and its owner Saadi Rahman was crazy busy decorating the venue making it look mint and fit as ever. People queued for the pre-orders and the Incursion crew worked so well to deliver almost 310 pre-ordered albums on the spot. The pre-order deliveries were soon followed by the arrival of some of the best musicians in Bangladesh which made the crowd go frantic starting with George Lincoln D’Costa from Artcell, Iqbal Asif Jewel from Miles, Sarfaraz from Cryptic Fate, Aftabuzzaman Tridib, SK Reaz and Tamzid from Mechanix, Jamshed Chowdhury and Samir Hafiz from Powersurge. Many colleague and up and coming bands from the underground scene came to the event in full support. Funeral Anthem says they are really thankful to them. There were flashes and clicks of cameras from all angles. Photographer Mahmudul Hasan Rony (official Incursion photographer) seemed really busy. Ekushey TV (ETV)’s EML crew including Rayo seemed all energetic covering the entire program. There were also representatives from amadergaan.com and bdmusicnetwork.com who are also the official media partner of the album.
All in all, the launching program of OPROTIRODDHO was one of the best album launches of this year. The band is receiving very positive feedback regarding the whole album on facebook and various social network sites. The band says it is thankful to each and everyone supporting their endeavors.

Effects Chain Order.
Sadi Muktafi

Hello again. A lot of people ask me about the effects chain order of my
pedal board, so I will explain the whole process gradually

No guitar setup is complete without some toys… you know, effects! When you
listen to bands like Radiohead, perhaps you say, “Wow, awesome sound. It
must require a lot of effects to make a sound like that!” You probably ask
yourself, “How can I get a guitar to sound like that?” You need to understand
effects. Here’s the info you need to get started with.
Guitar effects are an interesting phenomenon. No matter how much you spend
for guitar effects, you’ll only get a good sound once you learn how to chain
these guitar effects to work together and how you set up your effects can
help you achieve your dream tone. In this tutorial I will explain more
about effect chain order.
Before we discuss which categories of effects, we have to know the types of
effects first. Here they are:

1. Pre-Gain Effects

Pre-gain effects are the effects you place first – effects that clip the
signal. These include: utility effects (such as tuner pedals and
metronomes), filters (such as wah-wah, envelope filters, other filters and
sequential), dynamic controllers (or compressors), and intelligent
processors (like harmonizers, pitch shifter or whammy).

2. Utility Effects

Utillity effects are the tuner pedal, metronome and noise gate. For example,
noise gates are, in their simplest form, merely a switch which gets rid of
the noise you hear during quieter parts of a signal by muting (switching
off) the sound. This effectively reduces the perceived level of noise in
the signal.

3. Filters

Filters are the process of boosting or attenuating parts of the frequency
spectrum. It is one of the most powerful ways to shape your sound. This
includes wah-wah, envelope filters, filters and sequential. For example,
wah-wah is a resonator that can have its center frequency moved up or down
by moving a pedal. The “wah” name comes from the way it mimics the moving
resonance of the human vocal tract in speech as the sound “wah” is made.

4. Dynamic Controllers

Usually a compressor or limiter is the first effect used. This helps to
boost the signal level, which helps reduce the amount of noise generated by
subsequent effects. However, they are sometimes used after effects which
reduce or boost the volume level significantly, like modulation effects and
wah-wah.

5. Intelligent Processors

Intelligent processors include harmonizers, pitch shifters and whammy.
Intelligent processors work by changing the pitch or adding extra ‘voices’
which are harmonically related to the original sound. For example, pitch
shifter is an effect which enables a user to transpose the pitch of the
input signal. The simplest pitch shift effects can add octaves above or
below the input pitch. More sophisticated pitch shifters can add fourths or
fifths. Understanding Step 2 can help you order pre-gain effects on your
pedal board effectively.

6. Gain-Related Effects

In an effects setup there is usually gain-related effects which produce
sounds by clipping. These effects range from overdrive, fuzz, and
distortion.

7. Overdrive

Overdrive boosts the clean signal so the sound is a bit distorted. You may
have produced overdrive by putting too large a signal into the input of an
amp, causing the signal to be distorted at the speaker. You are
“overdriving” the inputs.

8. Distortion

Distortion is produced by cutting, strengthening and destroying a clean
signal to the extreme to produce a broken and distorted sound. “Distortion”
is the more generic term, and started when folks noticed that you could get
a distorted sound from a little solid state amp that was very non-linear.

9. Fuzz

Fuzz boosts and clips the signal sufficiently to turn a standard sine wave
input into a waveform that is much closer to a square wave output. Fuzz
sounds also tend to have lower mid-frequencies than other distortion
types. Pretty much everyone involved agrees that fuzz is a harder, harsher,
and buzz-ier distortion than overdrive, and is usually considered harder and
harsher than distortion by itself. There are no real boundaries to all this
– it’s just which words you want to use, and not strict definitions.

Lets digest that for now  see you in next issue…till then, chill out.\m/

Concert Photography with Tahsin Rahman

Concert photography is all about capturing moments and playing with the lights. The performers, the illuminations, the stage, the action, the vibe all come together in moments of spectacular images. It is all about being at the right place at the right time. Although it’s all in the timing but there’s one more thing to it though, passion – it’s all about passion; a place where the passion for photography and music meets. Every great concert photographer has passion for music.

Photography is not something that came to me naturally and I certainly never planned to be a photographer. As all stories go, it all started in 2009, when I started my university life at NSU and joined NSUPC. My first concert as a photographer was the 10 year celebration of Artcell in 2009 – That day I realized that this is one of the most exciting things I had ever done in my whole life! Shooting the rock stars, whom I had followed from my school life, to me was like a dream come true. I never looked back after that and still now, whenever I get the chance to shoot a live performance, I end up rushing there with my camera. As a concert photographer I was lucky enough to cover some major live shows like concerts of those like Shahrukh Khan, Asha Bhosle- the legend, Jal and Gusion live in Dhaka, 10 years celebration of Bangladesh Test cricket, Banglalink music fest 2011, to name but a few.

I started out kitted with a Semi-DSLR named Fujifilm 1000d then after a year later, gradually shifted to Nikon D60. For almost 3 years since then, I had worked with this amazing little camera but recently shifted to a Canon 5D Mark 2. To shoot, I prefer prime lenses, to be more specific Canon 24 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm. To be honest though, it’s not the gears that end up making someone a great photographer, by default. It’s true that high-end cameras will give you fast focus, low noise and all that more but the most important thing in photography is the mind of the person behind the camera – It’s the creativity that is in you! Of course, perfection can then be brought about by editing softwares; I prefer Lightroom to Adobe Photoshop myself.

To reiterate, concert photography is a bit different and tougher than other forms of photography. There are never specific places for photographers around the stage. I have to fight for the place to shoot a perfect image. You can’t control the stage lights and nor the performers so getting sync’d with the lighting condition and the motions on and off stage is a major issue during shooting. One has to read the lights instantly and judge what will be the best settings for the image- an exercise requiring a lot of practice. I have my own way of shooting live shows – I usually target some specific performer and focus majorly on that performer rather than running around. Some of my favorite performers are Mizan, Oni (Warfaze), Tridib (Mechanix), Zohad (Nemesis), Linkon (Artcell), Nahian (Powersurge).

In the past year, along with still concert photography, I have also started cinematography. That means, I am currently looking for rock/metal bands to shoot interesting and unique music videos with. So if you have a band and a rocking song do contact me!

Amir T. Rashid
February-26th-2013

From solemn reflections on friendship and the obstacles it may overcome, to the hardships of war and the unknowable nature of death, one band from Seattle ventured out into the world to make their mark. With naught but pure unbridled passion and a lyrical range that spanned personal musings to deeply philosophical themes, Alice in Chains distinguished themselves from other heavy hitters of the grunge movement (such as Pearl Jam and Nirvana) through their unique sound and depth.

The band was formed in the late 1980s by lead guitarist and primary songwriter Jerry Cantrell and former lead vocalist Layne Staley. With bassist Mike Starr and drummer Sean Kinney, the band soon established a reputation for itself with its harmonized vocals, and surreal instrumental power. From psychedelic riffs, to alternative sounds on the acoustic, to strained and melodious vocals, Alice in Chains was placed in a number of categories, most commonly metal and grunge. With albums like Facelift and Dirt, they soon gained international fame and a dedicated fan following.

Songs were written mostly by Cantrell and Staley, who showed a trend with their respective songwriting; the former dealing with personal relationships and thoughts in a heartfelt manner and the latter crafting a plethora of poems on angst, apathy, depression and anger. Yet, never was there any monotony in approach or musical style; each song dealing with something different and transcending the boundaries of genre clichés. When the band’s tenure on metal was at its zenith, songs like Them Bones explored nihilistic themes on the afterlife and death, questioning the typical tropes of existance. While venturing into a broader spotlight, one song in particular: Rooster, penned by Cantrell for his father a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, conveyed personal musings on fear, yearning, supposed invincibility and national disillusionment, while arguably their most famous Man in the Box with lyrics by Staley, detailed an abstract account of loneliness. Their sound evolves still and pushes the boundaries of what to expect from the genre.

The band underwent a great deal of changes, such as the departure of Mike Starr and his subsequent replacement by Mike Inez, but continued to put out good material. Yet, perhaps the most drastic change of all came with the tragic death of vocalist Layne Staley from a lethal drug overdose. The band soon went on hiatus although never officially disbanded.

Fast forward to 2009 and Alice in Chains releases a new album: Black Gives Way to Blue, one that conveys a smoother sound while still maintaining visible signs of its roots in grunge. William Duvall, a singer from Washington D.C. replaces Staley, and yet, in spite of the enormous changes, quality and promise are still to be felt. From deep lyrical meanings dealing with notions of consequence in songs like Your Decisionto the sarcastic undertones felt in Check My Brain it doesn’t seem like Alice in Chains is bound to run out of steam any time soon, and with a new album on the way: The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here it’s likely we’ll see more yet.