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Overtone is a band known for it's taste towards Classical Rock. A band which is busy doing gigs lately, youthsparks caught with the bass player and the vocal to discuss about their band.

How did it all begin for Overtone?

The band started off in 2009 with me and a friend of mine name Shovon. We wanted to form an acoustic duo but soon we figured out that it’s not going to work. So, we started looking for other members, which is how we recruited Shafquat as our guitarist. I found Parisa in a club in NSU. I was a member there for about a year and she was trying the piano out. As time went by I came to know that Parisa sings and sings pretty well. So, I approached her and offered her to be our back up vocalist. Meanwhile on the other hand, Shovon left the band as he went abroad and we discovered that we are not finding any proper bassist. That was a point when I decided to pick the bass up for the band. I had my interests on that instrument. So, me and Parisa saved some money up and bought my first bass guitar. Rakat came in a lot later. I came to know about him from my friend, Tilok (Orfred), which is also the time we realized that it is almost impossible to run this band without another guitarist, which is why we welcomed him into our band. This is pretty much how the line up was established.

What musical style does Overtone follow?

We are more into classic rock than anything else, or at least we emphasis on classic rock more. Though at some point the guitar works stay a bit bluesy but nevertheless, our main objective in this band is to make everything we play sound old. When we say “sound old”, we do mean that this is actually the playing style that we prefer. You don’t really need to beef up a specific track with a lot of guitar effects just to make it sound old. There are techniques by which you can do that and we want to show how it is done properly. Our playing dictates whether we will sound old or not. We have two singles up and running now [we do it in gigs]; though they are they are still in the production process. If anyone listens to our singles, they would understand what we do with the track and how we keep it simple and old.

All over these years, all the bands that come up to the scene have male vocals, though there are exceptions. All the classic rock bands out there have male vocals. How do you cope up with this specific genre having a female vocal and how does a female vocal helps here?

If we are not then we certainly are trying to and trying very hard. All of us in this band come from different musical backgrounds and we try to explore music as much as possible. Shafquat and I went a long way into blues, funk and jazz and at times, we try to mix all of them together so that everyone enjoys what we do. So yes, I believe we are trying hard.

Speaking about a female front, it is a question that has been asked frequently as to why a female vocal in a band influenced by classic rock. We think, why not? As musicians, we should stick to our roots but we should never back down from trying out something new. The lyric that she sings might sound very awkward at times, for example in Whole Lotta love, there is this line which goes like, “I want to give you inch of my love”. These may sound very awkward but it still is worth a try. After all, it is the music that matters. It is music which struck the chord in peoples’ mind.

In terms of composition, as we said, our motive in this band is to make everything sound old. There were times when people come up to us and tell us that the riff in Lukuchuri is very generic blues riff. We are okay with it. As long as it sounds old and reminds you of the musical Gods and where the roots are, we are fine with it.

It is a known fact that almost everyone in this band came from different musical perspective. So, how do all of you cope up with the difference?

Whenever we want to cover something, everyone starts to pitch in with their ideas and at times it does get hard for anyone to compromise. Most of the times it is me (Saif) who steps down and let others do their thing but I am grateful to have these 5 people in the band because even though there is an argument, at the end, everyone is understanding enough to act accordingly and even though there is a huge difference in terms of personal influences in the band, we still manage to get our thing right, which I feel gives this group a “band” feeling.

What is Overtone’s take on the music scene?

There are too many bands nowadays and it is getting very hard for music to stay good. The quality is deteriorating very fast. Bands these days do not really care of covering a track perfectly. It seems that they cover just because they have to deliver but they overlook all the small details a track can have, all the small details that make a song perfect. Using this as a fuel, there are organizers who are satisfying their greed. They know that all these bands will want gigs. So, now they are just selling the slots off, raising push-sells all over and making it even worse. I believe it is high time that everyone realize what is happening. Back in the old days we used to have tribute shows and all the bands that used to get up on stage were better than the previous ones. The quality of music was outstanding and we believe, now is the time we start going back to that phase. It is of everyone’s’ best interest that gigs these days have no more than 6 properly sounding quality bands. When everyone can set the benchmark high enough, only then these bands will realize that they need to put in the effort to fetch shows for them and this is actually how they can improve. Doing this, the organizers can benefit as well, because if they emphasize on quality rather than quantity, people are bound to come to shows.

What do you have installed for your fans in the future?

For now we plan to do gigs and work on our singles and make it better. Along with that, we also plan to produce the singles that we have but, we really are not certain about what is ahead of us in the next year or years to come. If Rakat gets to go abroad for his graduation, then it is a big question mark on us then and there. Nevertheless, whatever happens to the band, we will never stop working. May be we will go inactive if Rakat leaves but we will still be working on more tracks and we will be working online; that is not only the case if Rakat leaves, that is something we will do if anyone leaves. We will continue to work and if we can compile 7-8 tracks then we might give a solo album a shot so all of the plans are conditional but we still hope for the best.

Anything for your fans?

It is tremendous to see your support. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Thank you so much for the love and appreciation you show. We hope to keep up to your expectation.

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People take him to be the mystery guy of our music industry. With long hair, devil-beard and a metal attitude, we sat down with arguably the most influential person of our metal music scene today, Mr. Emran Ul Shifa.

How did you enter the world of music? How did it all start?

I was nowhere near music. I was into the subtlety of life. I was into poetry, painting, etc. The time was around 1993, when I used to see my elder brothers play with their guitars. One of them was a guitarist, and the other was into bass playing. I used to observe how they play it and whenever they went out, I used to take their guitars out of the bags and tried to imitate what they did. As time went by, I grew fond of the bass guitar and started to learn it myself. Though, my brothers wanted me to play the keyboard for them; keyboard was the “real deal” back at that time. I also bought a replica of Paul McCartney’s bass guitar which I found in Kolkata, India. As time passed by, I opted for newer stuffs, which is why I tried to play with the six-stringed instrument. I used to play it like a bass guitar, playing two notes at the same time but as time moved on I realized that distortion appealed to me more than the bass. The sound spoke to me and to my feelings. Therefore, gradually, I shifted towards guitar playing, and to be precise, riffing.

How did Poizon Green come to existence?

It goes way back in 1996. Mullick and I were students in St. Gregory’s High School. He was a grade older than me. So, I used to see him playing the snares during his time with the scout group. One day I went up to him and asked him to jam; I got a positive reply. After a couple of days, Mullick comes up to my place and asks me to go with him to his house, he told me that he had a drum kit in his place and we could jam there. So, I went there with him and started jamming.

We came to know about Tanvir a bit later. Tanvir was a guy who was into rock music and he used to play solo in all the musical stages Old Dhaka used to have back in the days. We came to know that our influence matches his and we thought, why not ask him to tag along? We met Enayet in our school; he was a grade younger than us. The young lad was interested to play with us and we recruited him as our bass player.

Poizon Green is said to be the first Thrash Metal band of Bangladesh. How do you enjoy having the tag along with you? What responsibilities did the tag bring along with it?

At Poizon Green, we always wanted to be true to the music we played. Back in the old days there were other senior bands that played heavy and thrash metal and with all due respect to them, they were very good but, something went missing somewhere. Every time I went to a concert I used to think that this should be a bit more extreme, that should be a bit more expressive, and that should be a bit more aggressive. They were correct on their part too; they had to make music so that everyone can listen. So, we basically did what they did not do, went in with the aggressiveness, and kept it as raw as possible so that the very small cult we used to have back in those days can enjoy to some pure thrash metal. All in all, it was never about us enjoying the tag, we always wanted to be true to the music we do and true to the listeners and I hope that we did exactly that.

Tell us about the unfolding of events which made you part ways with Poizon Green.

Everything has an end. No matter how far you go, you still have to come to a finish line and that is what I think I faced at one point of time. We started to have a lot of differences between us and even if we had to unite for our fans, it felt very difficult and almost next to impossible. We did not have that chemistry anymore and that is when I decided that I should part ways with them.

There were a lot other tragic events in my life which forced me to quit music completely. I started to think that music is not my place and maybe I should walk forward and find something more out of life. So, I went into movie making and ad business. At one point I found myself writing a full-featured film but something was back there in my mind which kept telling me that the place I was in now, is never mine. When I looked further into this I was shocked to see that the way they see the world, their views, judgmental criterions, criticisms and opinion do not match mine at all. I felt like an alien amongst them. Those are the moments it struck me think that maybe I actually do not belong here.

There were times when I am chatting with my buddies, or I am writing a script when there is this tune playing in my head, may be a guitar riff or a bass line but something always kept playing in my head and then I was convinced that I really need to contribute all my thoughts into a place which is truly mine: Music. Therefore, I came back and started Sent Men Revolt.

Sent Men Revolt is said to go by a genre called, “Spiritual Metal”. How does the music SMR make, goes with the genre?

We have problems around us. Let it be the murders, the rapes, the corruption, the abduction or the wars, we need to realize that we have problems that we created, and we need to realize that all these problems can be tackled. Even though a lot of people know that all these problems can be tackled with care, we still do not act wisely and try to do something about it. So, what we wanted to do is to connect with the spirits of a human being with our music. For example, this track was released in the Rock Series name, “Chotto Porir Golpo”. This is a track which speaks about all the girls who went astray, who were used and abused, gullible and so badly de-motivated that they forgot why they came to this earth, who forgot that their existence and innocence means a lot to the world and they are here to give their innocence, not their sufferings. We want to connect to the spirit of human beings through the music we do and tell them that their innocence needs to be protected. We need to establish equilibrium on earth; an equilibrium which has to shift for the welfare of our society and culture and that these innocent little faces are our culture and a big part which defines our society and as long as we do not act properly, we shall see it all ruin, which in any part of the world, cannot be accepted.

Even though SMR wants to spread a message of goodwill, the music that you do restricted to a cult, not a big one but still a cult. So, how does spreading the message among the small cult help achieve the bigger picture of helping the society?

The extreme bands of the 80s were more into preaching the dark side of life, more into portraying aggression and darkness and even though these bands do not play anymore but they left their mark into this culture in a way, that this specific kind of music is now known to represent the dark side of life. From the 80s till now, we might have new listeners into our cult but the people who were the cult back in the time are destined to be in the hierarchy of the corporate world and in the highs of politics, with a mentality which favors destruction, aggression or fascism, which I consider to be wrong. I am fortunate enough to have all these people even in my time because now I can tell them that this is not the right way. Using music as a tool, I can show them the right path, something which all the other bands did previously. So, even if my music do not reach the mass public, I know my music is still reaching the people I do care about and it feels to good to contribute even a percent to the welfare of our society.

Since you started Sent Men Revolt, you have been playing with young, yet talented musicians. Someone of your age and caliber, does it not hurt you in any sense that you are in a band with people who are very young compared to you?

Age does not and should not dictate the will to do music. Similarly, age does not define one’s ability to do music. I do agree that I have been playing with musicians who are younger than me but let us look at the practical world for a minute: how many musicians do you see out there are still busy with their music and are devoted to it? I would say very few. Most of them are busy with their businesses, with their married life; some are even busy enjoying their corporate highs! But these people I have, they are young and willing to do music and devote themselves to the music that they believe in. Passionate is the right word to describe this bunch. All the people I have been playing with in Sent Men Revolt are without a doubt very skilled and they know what they are playing or what they want to play and as long as I have passionate music lovers around me, who are skilled enough to qualify, I have no problem at all playing with them because at the end of the day, it is the heart that you pour into the music and when all of us share the same passion in music, we believe that no boundaries can stop us.

What does SMR hold for us in the future?

Sent Men Revolt always wanted to stay back to the roots and be the old school thrash metal band. Simply put, we always wanted to stay as far way as possible from the glam and the media of the industry; do as less shows as possible and appear in as less interviews as possible. We wanted to give full freedom to ourselves in the studios and play to our own capabilities and let our music speak that way. All the music we do and all the efforts we put in, it is going to last forever, and we want to last in everyone’s memories as that one old school metal band that forever stayed back to the roots.

Being a person who has seen the whole music industry and the underground scene change, how do you address all the existing problems and what do you think can be a proper solution to it all?

Doing music to have some fun- I believe that is what ruins our industry. I want to tell all these musicians that if you are serious about your music and if you want to be devoted to your music, only then pick a guitar up and start playing your mojo. If not, then please quit now and go one your separate ways and lead your life to the fullest. It is all because of the mentalities. All the fun-loving mentalities out there form a band, play a few shows and when the fun is over, they go abroad and do what they are actually aspired to do. This has given rise to unnecessarily huge amount of bands in this country, upon which the greed of the bluffing organizers is fed. They take this opportunity and capitalize it. It is also wrong on the organizers’ part as well. If he is aware of his profits then he should run behind the quality, not the quantity. If he can pull a quality show, the audience is bound to attend his shows.

Similarly, piracy can only be tackled by talking to the conscience of the people. It needs to be fed to them that they are going to be the reason of pushing a band of their own country to extinction. We have seen how De-Illumination suffered, and it is sad on our part that we still could not do anything. So, it goes out as a request to stop piracy and to stop the killing of a term which means a lot than words- Music.

Anything for your fans?

It is their appreciation and their support that is making me run today. I cannot explain how much I love them. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

It is general knowledge to us now that music is a tool. A tool to fight crime, a tool to spread goodwill or it can also be a tool to fix humanity. All the young musicians out there who want to be big, aspires to use music for the welfare of the society we live in. Mr. Shifa is not only an inspiration to those, but he is a role model as well. He has shown exactly how it needs to be done. We wish him the best of luck for the service he is providing. Salute to you.

Click Here to visit Sent Men Revolt on Facebook

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When you see that a band has decided to take on the twisted side of music, you have to realize that it has to be either Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree, or Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth. But what can be better than seeing both of them collaborate and create some magic for our aural pleasure? If you have that kind of a dream, your dream is surely taking its shape! Youthsparks today presents to you, a band which the metal heads need to know of, and the others just have to look out for: Strom Corrosion, comprised of the highly talented guitarist and vocalist of Swedish metal legends, Opeth- Mikael Akerfeldt, and the man who has everything in his head, is considered to be one of the greatest musicians to walk on this earth who can turn wood to gold by his music; singer and guitar player for Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson.

The fans who were following Opeth for a long time know that Opeth and Wilson have worked on a few projects where Mr. Wilson acted as the co-producer of the band, for example Blackwater Park. For this pair, that was the start of something new, in terms of musicality. They always wanted to collaborate in order to make some music, and they finally got the chance.

When Akerfeldt was asked about the project, he replied, “We never discussed what we were going to do. I went down to hang out at Steven's house, and we drank wine and talked about music, but neither of us had anything prepared. We wrote the song ‘Drag Ropes' [Storm Corrosion's opening track] that first night, and we both thought it was pretty cool. We'd never heard anything like it and it doesn't really sound like our bands. We found our own niche, right then and there."

According to Wilson, “It was special, different and intriguing. We ran in the opposite direction of the idea of a prog metal supergroup that people had been talking about and expecting from us. It was a chance to delve into more experimental ideas. We were being wilfully self-indulgent in the best possible way, making music to please ourselves. There's something wonderfully pure and liberating about that you can hear that in these songs."

This specific project is planning to deliver music that is refreshing to the ear; which has never been heard. As their recent works, “Heritage – Opeth” and “Grace for Drowning – Steven Wilson” has added a whole new dimension to aural palates of the listeners, the type of sound and the music that this group is willing to create is something that is worth waiting for.

Wilson commented, “For me, self-indulgence is one of the fundamental things about being an artist. Do not make music or art to please other people. If you do, you've stopped being an artist and you've become an entertainer. This is a very cinematic, impressionistic and immersive record. We just got together and it poured out of us. With this record you're entering into a very unusual and unfamiliar sonic universe and that's a very exciting thing to be part of."

The album is due to come out on 23rd of April, 2012 through Roadrunner Records. As the release date draws near, it will not act as a surprise that anyone who knows their bands and the music they do are eagerly waiting to hear from this duo. So, watch out for this group-they are here to blow us away!

Click Here to visit Storm Corrosion on Facebook

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As the ABC gig is knocking on the door, we decided to have a chat with Cryptic Fate’s front-man and talk about the bits and pieces that makes them who they are and discuss about the issues which are affecting the music scene today.

What was Cryptic Fate’s motive when it started back in 1993?

As a band, we wanted to prove a point. If we go back to our time, we would see heavy metal or hard rock bands like Warfaze or Rockstrata struggling with their sound. The productions of those albums were of low quality, which is why they struggled to find a good sound for their bands. What we wanted to show is that even in those times, it was possible and very feasible to make heavy metal music in Bangla. It was also possible to make heavy metal music in Bangladesh, even in English. We wanted to prove that the equipments and technology we had back in the time, was enough to make a good heavy metal album, in terms of production quality.

In that specific timeline (1990s-2005), is there anything that Fate has achieved and is proud of?

We believe that we were a part of a movement which helped revolutionize a new guitar-based Rock music in our country; which is the release of the album Charpotro. We believe, that is something that we are proud of, like working in a compilation with bands like Artcell and releasing our first Bangla track. It is a big achievement for us.

What were your thoughts on your first album? How did you think that the public would react?

All of us were in Scholastica, which, as you know is an English medium school. So, it was easy for us to write lyrics in English. I will admit that lyrics were not up to the mark. They were amateur and very childish. Still, it was easy for us to write those childish lyrics in English as we were proficient in English and not in Bangla.

Another fact that struck us- our drummer Farshed and our original guitarist Wahed were going abroad for their further education. So, we thought of making music in English so that they could distribute the tapes to people outside of our country. In this way we wanted to let the people out there know that there is a band in Bangladesh which exists, and which can make heavy metal music, and also in English. At that time, all of us were around 19 years old. So we did not know the market mechanism, and hence, did not care how the public would react to it. We just went on with our own way of doing music.

So, for Cryptic Fate, does the composition has to satisfy the band OR it has to satisfy the public, the audience?

We would prefer both. To us, an artist is blessed when people all around the world like his or her work. Cryptic Fate is a heavy metal band and like it or not, heavy metal music is not liked by everyone. So, it is listened and admired by a small proportion of people, compared to the people who listen to Jennifer Lopez or Britney Spears. Therefore, when you make an informed choice knowing that your target is very small, the message comes out loud and clear that you’re making heavy metal music because you like to. So, as a band, we definitely do what we want to do and we definitely like the music that we produce. It is as simple as that. No one can make music if they keep on thinking about the public, even Michael Jackson would not do that. Everyone makes music that they like and a few artists, who are good enough, are blessed with the gift of people liking their work. For example, if I say that you cannot be popular if you do heavy metal music in Bangladesh, I will not be able to justify my point because Artcell has already done it; they are good enough that public liked their work. So, ideally, we would want to do what we want to do and we would want the public to like it.

Around 2005, Fate suddenly went missing. Why did it happen?

Farshed went to The States in 1995 and settled there. He used to come to Bangladesh for a month or two and basically, that was the time we used to record our solo albums. In between, we did go for gigs but without Farshed. We had Turjo, from Vibe, play with us. He played in Cholo Bangladesh as well. We had Manzur, who is my friend from IUB, play with us. We even had Shaju play in a few songs for Sreshtho! It was very gracious of them to come out and play with us but at one point of time, I did not like it anymore. I wanted only four guys who would be sticking together and playing together. Along with that, all of us had to work during the day. So, because of the pressure, it got difficult for us to give time to the band and gradually, the band went inactive. It was still alive but totally inactive.

What is your take on the addition of so many new bands in the underground scene?

After Charpotro was released, I saw school and college kids getting hooked to the album. This was basically the step where the new bands started to come along, and I, myself, is very happy about it. I feel proud to see that we, the musicians, have inspired kids to take up guitars, drums and mics and start playing some music and it definitely makes me happy to see a thriving Rock culture in our country!

Understand this, Team Bangladesh plays 2 cricket matches and they lose both of them. They play 5, they lose 5. They play 100, they win 5. It is the similar case scenario here. You do see bands like Artcell and Black coming along from the underground scene back in 2005 and now going big. So, if you do not let bands perform according to their will, the chances of getting good bands out of it will decrease. So, the more the bands perform, the probability of better sounding bands with better talents coming out obviously increases. I don’t see any reason why the public should complain about it. If you talk about the degrading quality, it is still in the hands of the crowd themselves. If they don’t like how a band is performing and how they sound and think they completely suck, they can easily boo them off and give them a reality check. The ultimate power is with the people. There is no point of hindering this thriving culture.

Piracy is a growing and a pressing issue now. According to Cryptic Fate, what do you think can be done to stop it?

Piracy is here to stay- that is what I think. In order to control it, you need to provide the people with an option to control it. Understand this- the methods of piracy also prevail in countries like USA or the European countries, but we do see how iTunes is really getting off the hook. It is something like this: iTunes is providing the customers with the opportunity to appreciate the music they listen to. For example, I’m a fan of Iron Maiden and Maiden releases an album. It is obvious that I will want to give them my money because I appreciate the music that they do and therefore, buy a record from iTunes or from any website I can buy. It does not apply only for me. It applies for a lot of fans out there. Obviously, if you love the music a band does, you will eventually come up to them and return them the favour by giving them your valuable money. Now, if there was a website in Bangladesh from which the public can buy tracks for affordable prices, I am sure that there will be a lot of people who will buy tracks. Obviously, you cannot put a complete stop to piracy but certainly, piracy would be controllable then and would be much more manageable. It is all about marginal utility. If we can improve the situation by 10%, then that 10% is what we shall fight for.

Among all these bands, Fate has a distinct sound that makes them different from all the other bands. How did the band come up with it?

It is still a mystery to us. We actually have no clue how we sound like and how we ended up with this sound. The thing is, for every band in this world, their first album stands out loud to tell you who their influences are. For example, if anyone listens to Ends Are Forever, they can tell you that Cryptic Fate, as a band, is influenced by Maiden, Megadeth, a bit of Metallica and a bit of Alice in Chains. So, for all the bands, the first album is like a transition phase: A phase where you don’t know what your sound is. We do not think our sound changed much in our second album. Though, the funny thing is, there is a big gap between the release of Ends Are Forever, which is our first album, and Sreshtho, the second album. In this time, all of us in the band got to listen to more music and got to learn a lot from other kinds of music as well. So, the sound changed a bit and then at Danob, it all clicked and we had a thing going. As a listener, if someone listens to Ends Are Forever, and directly to Sreshtho and then to Danob, they will notice a big jump in our musical style and sound from album to album. Although, someone who listens to all our singles in the right order, along with our albums, they will find a connecting thread there and he would understand how we were experimenting with our sound in the singles.

As a band, right from the start, we always tried to maintain the quality of our music. We always tried our best not to sound like anything that has been done before. This is where I would like to put forward a criticism. There are a lot of bands who give their music to me so that I listen to them. What I admire about them is that they are technically top-notch, but the tracks are very safe, and by safe I mean that there are a few basic guitar chords that they are playing, a basic drum beat, compiled with an uninspiring vocal tone. The thing is, even bands like AC/DC play with around two-to-three chords only but the way they put forward those chords and the way they sing the song; it sounds totally refreshing and it sounds unique. It does not match with anything else. A good example would be Nirvana; someone who listens to Nirvana would easily understand this.

So, as a band, we always put tremendous efforts on quality control and we always criticized among ourselves. Obviously the guitarists come up with riffs, leads and other stuffs. Even I come up with them too, but at the end of the day, we discuss among ourselves and if someone says that he had listened to this before, we clearly discard that. We always wanted to sound refreshing and that is pretty important for any band.

What is Cryptic Fate coming up in the ABC event?

We took some learning’s from the previous show. We are going to reduce the number of songs. 15-20 songs by us and Artcell each clearly suggests how long the show was. Usually the crowd can take in up to 4 hours of concert music but the brain just numbs after that. We also decided to add some gimmicks, like there is a “Dhol” in Raag, so we are going to add that in the gig as well. We are going add some new tracks to our set and bring some special guests to the gig as well. So, I think the show is shaping up to be a very big one.

What are your plans for your new album, “Jantrik Golojog”?

If you listen to Danob, you would realize how complicated we went in that album. Danob took a lot out of us and we are simply tired of producing complicated stuffs. So, this time we took a decision that we are going to keep this album simple and make some straight-out and refreshing heavy metal tracks and we hope everyone is going to like it.

What plans do you have regarding the band and its’ future?

I was watching this Pearl Jam documentary named “20”. The guitarist said that he always wanted to be in a band which will last forever. That sounded very interesting to me and this is something that I want as well. I would want to be in Cryptic Fate till I die. Cryptic Fate is a not a profession for us, it is a very serious hobby and I hope I’ll see the band right here in this stage even after 20 years, and I hope to continue this band till the day I die.

Anything for the fans?

Whenever a fan comes to us and says that he likes our music, or our music has helped him during his time of need or for example, whenever Bangladesh wins a match, someone comes to us and says Cholo Bangladesh, it strikes a chord inside us. I, for one, feel that we live in a nation which appreciates unique and refreshing stuffs. We tried out with something which is very new for Bangladesh and they still supported us and appreciated our music- that is something we are very lucky to get and we will always be very grateful for that.

There is always a solution to every problem. That is what this band advocates for. Let it be piracy, let it be over-populating amateur bands, there is always a check and balance in the system which prevents us from the harm. Thoughts as such are indeed applauded. That is why; they are respected by a lot, loved by many. We wish an everlasting journey of Cryptic Fate.

Click Here to visit Cryptic Fate on Facebook.

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With the recent success of the Cuppa Rock Fiesta and all his bands hitting the peak, especially Poraho headlining almost all the shows, Youthsparks decided to sit down with Shahed Hossain and discuss about his plans for the development of music. Here is how it went.

How did Strident come to existence? Why Strident turned to From The Ashes?

I was in a band called Hedonism, but I had issues regarding the band. I was into heavy and thrash metal but my band mates were not, and also, the band had very low activity which was not amusing to me. So, I left that band. Then, I met the Strident guys. They called me on for a jam, and I loved it. So, that is how I joined Strident, but unfortunately the band broke up as two of the members went out of the country. One of the members is out of Dhaka. So, Rahul and I decided to form a band to satisfy our hunger for metal music. Then Tanin joined us as our vocalist and this is pretty much how From The Ashes started its journey.

How did you put your first steps into the world of music?

It all started in an empty room, with a wooden table and my attempts to sneak out for guitar lessons. “Society went modern and thus there is more freedom”, is a total myth. I struggled to make it to guitar lessons and still study hard for my exams. I struggled with my gears. I fought with almost every aspect regarding my music and I am thankful for the people who were there with me in those times. In the initial stages, my family did not support my music. I started out as a drummer. I went to Shaju bhai [Artcell] for six to seven months for drum lessons. I used to play pop tracks on the drums. I did a few shows as a guest drummer but my cousin, Cezanne bhai [Artcell] suggested me to get familiar with Rock Music and start playing Rock tracks. Meanwhile, he tackled my family and gave them the assurance that music will not ruin my life and career and he fought for me and my music all the time. So, I am thankful to him. Cezanne bhai gave me an album called, “Train of Thoughts” by Dream Theater- an album which marks the turning point of my musical career.

I listened to the whole album and I decided that I will pursue Rock music. Then I got to listen to a lot of other bands until I got stuck to Megadeth. The moment I saw Dave Mustaine shredding and ripping his guitar apart, was the moment when I decided that I will have to be like him in one way or the other. I needed to master the art of the six strings, and this thirst led a pathway for me to take up guitar playing. So, I went and got myself enrolled for Kamal bhai’s [Warfaze] guitar lessons.

The other difficulty I faced was with my gears. It has only been around six months that I got my own gears. All this time I had to borrow guitars from my friends. I had to go through the pain of carrying a guitar from a lot of parts of Dhaka to Uttara in a bus just so I can play for 4-5 hours with complete pleasure. That’s not all, I, being a leftie, had to change the guitar strings every time I brought a guitar home; that was a huge hassle. There were times that my friends stopped lending me guitars just because of the fact that I change the strings. Well, it is justified though. Frequently changing guitar strings can ruin your guitar. I have a friend name Ricky who is fortunately left-handed, like me, and has two left-handed guitars. Whenever the hassles went out of control, I used to borrow his guitar, keep it with me for a few months so that I could do gigs and then I used to return it to him. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ricky for what he did. I just cannot imagine what could’ve happened if he was not there. So, struggle is always a part of life and if you do not struggle, you do not put the effort in and do not pour your heart and soul into something, you cannot achieve glory. I still have a long way to go but for all that matters, the friends, companions and teachers I had are solely responsible for my walk till now but at the end of the day, it’s a long way to the top if you wanna [want to] rock n’ roll.

Why do you want to bring about a change in the functionality of our musical front?

You see, the society in which you and me live in is very dynamic. The necessities for a good show keep on changing. We have reached a point where it is seen that the crowd itself is being vocal for a change, but the “change” itself is missing. It was not a long time ago that I was busy running around just to get a show out for my band, calling around 10 people up for a slot. When I get one, I am asked to pay a certain amount of money and comply with the push-sell rules which is nothing else than ridiculous. My band used to get up on stage and we used to pray so that the sound output goes fine throughout our gig. I believe all this can work as an inspiration to give all the new bands a break these days. I want to ensure that the new and upcoming bands do not have to deal with the dirty push-sell business strategy. I try to ensure that the new bands get more time to show their skills and talent, rather playing just so they bought their slot. I wanted bands to play with a good sound output so that their performance skill can really be heard and I believe, it is a worthy change to advocate and to put forward as a mechanism. Obviously, if I do not do it for myself, then where is the difference between me and them?

Why exactly did you come up with the concept of Cuppa Rock Fiesta?

I have jointly organized quite a few shows in the recent past. Rock Out Loud marks the start as a solo organizer for me and from that point till now, all my concentration has strictly remained to develop music and the music scene of this country and I believe, the best idea that came through in developing the music scene was the Cuppa Rock Fiesta. It is a different type of gig comprised of small number of bands, almost half of them being headliners. With the low number of bands, I get to ensure more time for each band to be on stage and perform. As far as crowd response is concerned, it got a lot of positive feedback. Though the public turn-out is small but the ones who walked into the gigs told me that the shows were good and they enjoyed it thoroughly and with the crowd being low, they relaxed and enjoyed some quality music. I hope to come up with new editions every month all throughout this year; I hope all of them will be successful as the previous ones were.

What does “Shahed – the music guy” identifies to be wrong about our music scene?

It will not surprise anyone if I say that push-sell is what is wrong with music in Bangladesh today. What we all need to keep in mind is whenever we try to come up with something regarding music, the sole purpose should be to contribute to our music and its industry and to improve our music scene in anyway possible. There are a lot of organizers who are hampering this process because of their greed, thus hindering development overall. With a growing number of push-sells shows being organized these days, the bands do not put in the extra effort that is required for them to improve. They are buying the slots with a certain amount of money and they just do not care what they do in their slots. Even if they come up to the stage and play some football, you cannot complain! Instead of deserving a spot, they “bought” one! This also acts as an incentive for the greed of those organizers. They know once the bands are in, they have no other responsibility. Therefore, in order to save some money, they go for poor sound arrangements and instruments, which ruin the quality of a show completely.

Those greedy organizers are not the only ones to be blamed. A huge chunk of it also goes to the bands as well. There are numerous bands who do not know their basics properly and never took advanced guitar/drum lesson. However, they still form a band since it’s a “trend” to form a band and “to look cool”. This “trend” is causing the downfall. As the number of bands rise up, the hunger for shows, even though they know they can’t play properly, rises proportionally, and this hunger fuels the ever-so-dirty game of push-sell- that is what is wrong with our music industry, and that is what we should mend.

What can be done to save our music scene?

Simply identify all those greedy organizers, the people who are at fault. Show their faces to the society and warn the people against them. After you do that, it is the responsibility of all those musicians out there to avoid them and their shows. Once you are able to avoid them, you destroy their business and one push-seller down means one enemy down. It is a slow and gradual process but if the bands can stick to the motive, the music world here in Bangladesh is surely to develop and surely to prosper. I’m doing my part and I am trying my best to ensure proper slotting of the bands. I am trying to ensure that the bands who deserve a place gets a slot and gets time to make their voices heard and get their talents all out in a good musical environment and it is not at all hard. It just takes determination and patience: Determination to be a good and a proper musician; patience to deserve a show. When you know you deserve what you got, you are bound to put an extra effort and that extra push can do wonders for you.

As someone who works for developing music, what do you have to say to the people out there?

It is not hard to revive something that is almost dead. We all need to unite together and fight against all odds to stand as a great music industry. We need to save ourselves from push-selling greedy organizers and saving the scene is eventually saving ourselves. All of us should work for the development of music and for the sole purpose of it. We should not be concerned about our own profits. If we are true to ourselves and our music, profits are bound to follow. It is just our principle upon which we stand, and that is what reflects our work ethics. It is still easy to save our own music. It is still easy to make a way for our future musicians to have a healthy musical growth.

Last words?

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who were there in my life and contributed to my musical career till now. I would like to thank Cezanne bhai for being there for me, no matter what happened and supporting my music all along. I want to thank “Heal” for staying there with me from when I just stepped into music, till now and supporting me all throughout. I would also like to express my gratitude towards Samee [A.K. Samee, Owned] for being there for me and watching my back all the time. I will give to him a huge share of my credit as he deserves it. He has supported me through my ups and downs and I really owe a lot to him. I thank him from the bottom of my heart. Lastly, to all those people out there who are contributing to music in its rightful manner and to those who are willing to contribute, it is your contribution which can make this a better and a far more developed industry. Music is for passion, not for fashion and I shall stick to my thoughts.

Youthsparks understands the fact that there might be a certain part of our community who would be criticizing this specific piece by simply saying that Mr. Shahed did not come of age to be taken into an interview of such proportions but, we really do not care. What we all need to understand is the motive behind the interview. It is people like Mr. Shahed who understands the need for a good change in the society, who comprehends the fact that our music scenario simply needs to be developed, with no questions asked and yet being so young, he is doing whatever he can to contribute. This is something that needs to be appreciated and applauded. The kind of character he is showing is what we need now and we hope that he can make a change- and a good one, too. Mehdee Hossain Shahed, you are a true role model for the young generation to follow and Youthsparks salutes you. God bless.

Click Here to Visit 'From The Ashes' on Facebook

Click Here to Visit 'Cuppa Rock Fiesta' on Facebook

Click Here to Visit 'Poraho' on Facebook

Click Here to visit Youthsparks on Facebook 

From the fame in DRockstars to the release of their first album to the scandals that shook the music industry- this band has seen it all. Powersurge has seen the good sides and the bad sides of doing metal music in our country and Youthsparks went down to discuss all of it with their frontman Jamshed. This is how it went.

How did it all start?

Powersurge was formed in the middle of 2006 by our ex-drummer Samiul, Nahian and Sezan, our ex-bassist. At that time, I used to sing for a band called, “Synopsis”; I knew Nahian and Samiul for long. We used to hang out together and go to same tutor classes. This is how I got to know that the three of us share the same weakness for metal music and how our influences tend to overlap. For instance, all three of us were crazy for Metallica. So, this is how I was incorporated into their jams and band practices; Powersurge was also searching for a vocalist at that point of time and therefore, I ended up getting a call from them to take up the mic for them. As soon as I joined, the band went in to record its first single name, “Durboddho Monushotto” which was released in a mixed album called “Underground”.

What are the things that made Powersurge a band of the gravity that it is now?

Firstly, what we need to take into consideration is the fact that none of us started our music careers with Powersurge. All five of us had their own projects. I had Synopsis. Samiul, Sezan and I once worked for a band named “Disciples”. Nahian had “666”, more commonly known as, “Severe Dementia”. So, to us, doing music was not new and also, it helped us to put the pedal on the accelerator right from the start. So, having our own projects and working on them did give us an upper edge, in terms of musicality and technicality. Secondly, DRockstars played a huge part in our lives. We can never forget to appreciate the things we learned from all those big names in the music industry, being contestants of that show. We personally believe that the biggest lesson we learned from DRockstars is how to keep your feet on the ground and do music. We learned that it is not okay to fly a lot. It’s better to be simple let the stars in the sky be your goal.

Take A Listen to 'Hangor' by Powersurge:

What does Powersurge think about DRockstars? How did DRockstars contribute to the music industry and how it is today?

DRockstars did not only change our lives but it also shook the total music scene up. Initially, we did not even think of participating but Cezanne bhai from Artcell encouraged us to do so. He told us that the judging panel is going to be different than any other commercial talent hunt and that it is going to be managed by BAMBA. Public voting is on as well so no matter what, all the bands will get a fair voting. So, we thought of trying our luck and giving it a shot and believe it or not, we won it through. It is only then that teenagers and young generation of that time realized that it is safe to do underground music. The idea people perceive about underground music, that it is a total chaos, changed. The kids understood the authenticity of underground music. This triggered the revolution of underground music in Bangladesh. If we go back to 2004 – 06, we would see a music scene where Artcell and Black went mainstream and Cryptic Fate suddenly went missing. This definitely killed the underground music scene. After Drockstars and we coming through, the number of people coming into shows increased drastically, more mixed albums came out, for example the Rock series, Dabanal, etc. Therefore, DRockstars, definitely acted as a revolution and created a platform for young guns to come and do music.

As a band, what is required to do music and hit a peak in today’s industry?

You got to be true to the music you do and you need to believe in your music. You need to have people in your life who are related to music. For instance, I hang out with Rafa, Hythum and others; we are always talking about our music and how we can improve on it. Having these kinds of friends hanging around us also encourages you to do music. You also have to practice and practice hard. There is no alternative way of improving other than practicing. We also believe that in order for someone to turn out to be a “musician”, one needs to listen to all types of music, definitely, “quality” music. For instance, I might dig heavy metal but I still listen to Experimental music, I still listen to Rock, Pakistani Fusion, and what not! Listening to new and better kinds of music increases your knowledge and helps you to be a good musician in the future. Lastly, one needs to be passionate about his or her music. For instance, in one BAMBA concert [Rage Against Violence Against Women], something happened to Nahian’s guitar just before the show. So, Nahian went up on stage with Zeheen’s [Mechanix] guitar. During our performance, Nahian was headbanging so hard that he dashed his forehead open and blood was pouring out but he still did not stop. It was the passion that drove him to achieve that extra mile. This passion will not come if you don’t have your feet on the ground. You need to be simple and down-to-earth. If you fly too much, you can never be passionate and do good music.

Powersurge did dodge a few bullets during the Nahian controversy. What does Powersurge take the most from this specific incident?

It will not come as a surprise to anyone if we say that the incident was an accident. A total blunder of some sort but, this incident made us realize that there are still people out there in our society who segregate people with long hair and a guitar to be chaotic, vulgar and the “evil” part of the society. At the end of the day, what we understood is that it could have been anyone instead of Nahian. He might be affiliated to BAMBA but not the same case with everyone else. So, this specific incident was an eye opener, for all of us I should say, that even if you mind your own business, a certain part of our community might want to interfere and might try to suppress you.

How was the first album experience?

We faced a bit of complications regarding the release of our first album; as a consequence, we had to release our album within two weeks. It was hard but we had to challenge ourselves. We had to play throughout the clock and try to come up with good tunes and we believe we were blessed to have people like Sumon bhai, Rafa and bands like Artcell helping us continuosly during the process and we are thankful for their contribution. We owe it to them. All in all, though quick but it was indeed a good production.

Take A Listen to 'Oprostut Juddho' by Powersurge:

Why is it that there is low amount of support from the corporate world to our music industry?

It seems that the sponsor companies do not trust the abilities of bands these days. Powersurge, as a band, believes that it is high time these companies realize the benefit of spending behind the music industry of Bangladesh. If we look at the West we would see how bands like Metallica and Opeth have created their own brand and sell their merchandises. These brands are not small-time businesses. They are huge and the amount of investment that goes into these is huge as well. These businesses are not only profiting the bands or the merchandising company, it also benefits the economy they belong to and we believe that it is a good time for someone to come up and start a new trend in this country.

Anything for the fans?

We request all of our fans to listen to good music, and to those followers, who are musicians themselves, please listen to new and newer music. It enhances your creativity. We would like to thank all our fans for the support they give us all the time, throughout the good and bad patches of Powersurges’s existence. We are going through a re-shuffling of our line-up and it’s good to see our fans keeping themselves updated and coming with queries if they have any. It is always good to see that support. We hope we will be supported like this all throughout. We love all of you.

Powersurge is not a name anymore. It is more than a name. Powersurge portrays passion. The band exhibits the fact that doing music is not enough. You need to believe in the music you do and you always need to take authority and yet be simple. They are indeed the raw sound of underground music.

Click Here to visit Powersurge on Facebook

Click Here to visit Powersurge on Reverbnation

Click Here to visit Youthsparks on Facebook 

How did it all start?

Orfred: Orfred started out as a side side-project for all three of us. We had, and still have our respective own bands. Nevertheless, the band started its journey from NSUPC. There were two members of the club name Orpita and Alfredo and we were thinking that something was going on between them. So, just to be funny while we portray their love affair, we started to sing songs to entertain the whole club, and that entertainment marked the inception of Orfred. Though funny way of starting a band, we still had our motives. We wanted to be different from the very start, wanted to be unique. That is basically the reason why we opted for Acoustic numbers rather than anything else, and also, not to forget how funny we wanted everything to be.

Why acoustic numbers only?

Orfred: It is just some kind of an urge to be different, an urge to be against the norms of the society, or in this case, the music scene. Along with that, we believe doing acoustic numbers enhances our creative freedom. You simply cannot always produce magic with plugged up fat guitars, and we believe our acoustic nature brings out the best sound output for our band, as well.

Every band has a certain ideology that they follow. What does Orfred follow, being an acoustic act?

Orfred: We believe Orfred has no specific directions, when reaching a point is concerned. We are happy and okay as long as we are playing what we want to play. Since the start, we have been writing stuffs about student life, as this is a good way of expressing ourselves as we are students ourselves. Our lyrics reflect upon what we faced in our lives and we do, our beliefs; it reflects a lot others as well.

What is your take on the existing music scene? What do you think is the problem?

Orfred: We think it’s safe to say that musicians in our scene today do not have the guts to go for something different, to try something new, and to bring in a change. We take that to be the biggest problem in our music scene. With no one trying anything new, the music scene today has become monotonous with no talents to explore. Even if there are talents, they still sound the same. We see 10 bands out of possible 15 in a show covering Lamb of God, not that covering Lamb of God is easy but, the monotonous mind set of our music industry killed the fun of doing music here. At the end of the day, as musicians, you need to stand in amongst all others and still stand out loud. If you are not unique, you just cannot dictate in the scene.

How does a side project benefit you?

Orfred: Orfred is a kind of a band which always wanted to explore music, as a whole. That is an advantage itself of having a side project. Moreover, we believe that working for a side-project gives you a vibe of not being liable or accountable to anyone for your actions, from a musical point of view. Whatever you play or you want to play, goes and that is just the right approach we should have in order to make good music because music is to us and if we cannot feel the music we are playing, then there is no point of making music at all.

Being a side-project and still reaching the high. How did that happen?

Orfred: As a band, Orfred did reach a peak at a certain point of its existence and we are very grateful and thankful to those who supported us throughout. We believe, reaching a peak is a gradual process and in some cases, happen eventually with time. Our first track called, “Picture Perfect” which is also the theme song of NSUPC [North South University Photography Club] was the start. We played this track in a few shows and got good public response and that is also because the track reflects on the life of us students. The responses gradually build up and we just continued to play our music. That is all.

Listen to 'Picture Perfect' by Orfred

The Wireless Sessions experience?

Orfred: Two words to sum it up, “Mixed reactions”. We got up as an act, rather than as a band. We went in there, played our music, experienced screw ups, laughed at it, still continued, finished our act and got down. By the end of it, when we looked up to see a house full Platinum Suites, half of them face palming themselves. The rest, were just dancing to the tunes, but most of all, we enjoyed what we did up there and that’s the best thing we take from The Wireless Sessions.

What does Orfred plan to do in the future?

Orfred: We plan to chill, at this very moment but we do not know for how long. The way we see it, Orfred really needs to plan about its education and plan to get the grades up!

Anything for your fans?

Orfred: We cannot repay the debt to the Orfredians who supported us throughout the existence of this band. They are the special people. We will ask all our Orfredians to be open to music, to explore beyond boundaries because you never know what you might find outside of your little world. Good music is everywhere. You just need to find it and when you do, that is the moment when you are unique. God bless.

Click Here to Check Out Orfred's Facebook Page

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Youthsparks caught with the pioneers of Black metal in Bangladesh and discussed about their journey throughout these years and how they tackled all the problems and are still going strong. The band is none other than Satanik.

How did Satanik get the idea of forming a Black Metal band and how did the idea came to existence?

Satanik came to existence in 2001 and it had me (Shawon) on guitars, Kakon on bass and vocals, Xem on guitars and vocals and Rupom on drums. The initial idea behind forming a death metal band at that time in Bangladesh was just to do something out of the box; something unique. We need to understand what happens outside of our country. Guys with a unique sound succeed and the others cannot, because their sound, as a band, matches with someone else, and this does not give the listeners anything new from their music.

The listeners ask this question. What is Technical Brutal Black Metal? How does Satanik put forward the idea and present it?

Simply put, these 4 words are just there to define our sound and nothing else. If we look at the technicality of the term, our sound includes technical death metal patterns; it also includes brutal black metal patterns, in terms of the guitar riffages. So, to sum it up, the sound we produce is a combination of all these genres and it does create a new and "not monotonous" sound for our listeners.

What were the inspirations that drove Satanik towards Extreme form of Metal music?

There is a certain misconception we face today. People think that we only listen to death metal or black metal and other stuffs related to these. That is wrong. What everyone needs to understand is the fact that we are musicians and we listen to music, and it is wrong to tag us like that. For example, I might do extreme metal music but I never backed down from listening to Bach, Mozart and Pagnini. I never backed down from listening to progressive stuffs, bands like Dream Theater or Opeth. We do admit that we got inspired to do extreme music from other international extreme metal bands but we always chose rich music to listen to, pieces from which we can learn from. So, when we are questioned on this, obviously, the word “music” is our inspiration.

What were the problems that Satanik come across, along their 11 years of journey?

I don’t think we need to go to the depth of this issue. The problems we faced were somewhat obvious to us. For instance, there was a time we used to go up to musicians and we used to tell them that, we do extreme metal music. The other musicians and seniors of course, used to give us a very weird look as if we did a sin by opting for extreme music! There were also times when the band struggled, in terms of having proper musicians. Within this glorious 11 years, believe it or not, Satanik changed band members for up to 20 times at least! On further levels, we did not have a large pool of people to make them listen to our music and give us a good feedback. There were instances when we used to record a track and we used to give those records to our friends and tell them to listen to our track patiently, regardless of the fact that you don’t like the genre at all. We did a lot in a musical “stone age” of this country but this never discouraged us, neither did we back down. We had a vision in our minds and we still do. We dreamt that our music will expand, it happened and now we are dreaming big. This might be a few good words for newbie’s in our music scene. We never stopped dreaming big. Dreams and visions do not have limits attached to it. So, the more you dream, the more you prosper.

Listen to Satanik's single 'Ceremony':

What is the exact philosophy upon which a Black Metal band like Satanik stands upon?

Well, it is obvious that there will be no general set of ideas that a black metal band follows but there are certain areas that we all need to cover. If anyone visits our website, they can read the philosophies upon which this band stands upon but I believe, for one to understand the real meaning of the words written there, he needs to think, analyze and reach the depth of the material there. What everyone needs to understand is the initial stage of the band. It is obvious that these philosophies do not exist right from the start of the band. It took us time to search for them and to create a set of ideologies to follow. Now, explaining this; understand this, everything has two sides. Positivity and negativity. This is a universal truth. For every electron, there is a proton. For every positive current terminal, there is a negative terminal. Similarly, for every human being, there is a positive side, which is driven by God or a positive energy. The other is the negative side, which is driven by a negative energy and in this case, we take this side to be driven by Satan. For the kind of music we do, the first one is already cancelled. This does not at all mean that we are bunch of bad guys spreading Satans’ propaganda and telling people to come to the dark. That is not true. What we need to understand is how Black metal is conceived by artists all over the world. They have a different attitude, in terms of presenting themselves in front of the people. For instance, Dimmu Borgir or Cannibal Corpses. If you analyze the lyrical content of Cannibal Corpses, you would definitely understand that the things they write are not the things they do, but they carry an attitude which is easily recognizable as the “dark side”. Now, in order to do this kind of music, it is must that we carry the same attitude. We are representing the works of Satan, and in order to do it, we need to have the perfect attitude for people to understand what is good and what is bad.

So does your lyrics spread Satanik propaganda? Or does it suggest something else entirely?

As I stated just now, People need to understand what is good and what is bad; and this is exactly what we do with our lyric. We do not spread any Satanic propaganda, neither we tell people to come to the dark side, nor we preach the words of Satan, but we do tell the world about what is good and what is bad. Our lyrics are nothing but metaphors. Sounds like “Satanic” but means something different entirely. Simply put, if something is bad, we tell them bad. The rest is for them to choose. For example, in our single Azrael, the message portrayed to the people is plain and simple, and something we all know. We depicted two images of Azrael and we let people know that these are the two versions you can face. You might see Azrael looking all horrific and a huge reaper, ruthlessly pulling your soul of you while you cannot breath, neither can you stand the pain, nor can you do anything about it. On the other hand, we portrayed another picture of Azrael greeting you properly, and with proper manners, he is asking you to go with him as your time is over. Thus, you experience a pain-less death. At the end, the message is conveyed. It is up to you to choose which version of Azrael you want to look into because, you are the one deciding it with your own actions in your lifetime. Therefore, the choice is yours and yours only. All our lyrics convey a certain message which aware people of the good and the bad and, in some cases, about their consequences.

Listen to Satanik's single 'Azrael':

As the pioneers of Black Metal in Bangladesh, what advice would Satanik give to the new and amateurs of this country?

For instance, I am making a sculpture and there are a lot of girls around. If my vision is to impress the girls around me so that they stare at me or if my vision is to impress any random person, then I would be looking around me and I would be concentrating on my surrounding more than my work. This mindset would ruin my art work and I would be left with no art work and no-one to impress. Similar is the case with music. If you think you play music to bang your head in the air, or to impress girls or to do a few shows, then definitely, you are not on the right track and this will cut down your chances of mastering the art. In order to be successful with the music you do, you need to determined of your goal and you need to put all your concentration on it. As a musician, you always need to be practicing your art. Practicing will only make it perfect. Do keep in mind to compare yourself with musicians outside of our country. That is why, regular practices are a must. With proper grammar and with ample amount of practice, you are destined to be successful.

What is installed for your fans in the future? What awaits them?

We would hit the studios this February for our solo record. We hope to make this an international record. We have a few international record labels in our hands and we will initiate talks with them after the recording is complete.

Where does Satanik see itself after 20 years?

We believe we want to go till the very end. We want to see this band till our last breath. So 20 years is a very short time to ask.

Anything for your fans?

We request everyone to listen to good and rich music. Music from which everyone can learn, fans and musicians alike. This will help u make a society who loves good music.

Musicians such as these are no less than inspirations. A band which was struggling for so long and were still able to stick to what they are doing is a mammoth job deserving nothing but respect and applause. On their 11 year, Youthsparks wishes Satanik the best of luck on their international album and hope that they will continue to make better music than before, and uphold our country in the international arena.

Click Here to check out Satanik's Facebook Page

Click Here to check out Satanik's Official Website

It’s always good to see fine, young, and talented faces up on stage, right? I am sure we all enjoy listening to new and newer versions/type of music everyday. Stating that, Youthsparks would like to introduce to you, a bunch of talented musicians who will always stay true to metal but will never back down from experimenting. A band heavily influenced by “British Heavy Metal” but turned out to be opting for progressive rock, when genres are concerned; a band which lives to experiment with their music, Undeity Grounds.

Undeity Grounds is amongst the very few bands in Bangladesh which are heavily influenced from Porcupine Tree and Iron Maiden, all in the same time. So, when I say “experimenting with their music”, I am sure you get what I mean. The band was initially formed back in March 2008 when Rakat, the guitar player, sat down and made the first composition of the band, called “Hold Your Breath”. He passed the composition on to Tilok who liked it instantly and wrote a lyric down for it. Rakat asked Tilok to join the band and this is how Undeity Grounds started its journey. After a few months Faisal joined the band as a drummer but shortly after that, he had to leave to organize his own life. Raj came in to join the band as a drummer but his guitar skills were better than his drumming, so he decided to stay with the 6 stringed wooden instrument and the band continued without a drummer. Later, Anika joined the band but she had to leave at the beginning of 2009 to focus on her studies. Tilok took up the bass guitar while being on the vocals and the band continued without a drummer. They remained as a “home band” for almost two years, jamming inside their houses and making their own composition until July 2011, when they finally found Raafi M. Matin who took duties of the drum throne and completed the lineup. Shabab Mashuk joined the band as a session bassist and the new and current lineup of the band is as follows:

Rakat Zami - Guitars

Tilok Mania – Vocals

Raj Wraith - Guitars

Raafi M. Matin - Drums

Shabab Mashuk – Session Bassist

Undeity Grounds basically was Rakat, Raj and Tilok all the way, heavily influenced by Iron Maiden back in their early years. Their sound was pretty much hinting with the sound of the “new wave” of British Heavy Metal. They were young back then and as they grew with time, they uncovered new music. Their core never changed, they stayed true to metal as their genre. Now, they just make music; metal is only a word that describes a part of them in general. With time, the three of them uncovered more music and bands like, Alter Bridge, Porcupine Tree, Stone Sour, Opeth, Mastodon and many more, and as they did, their ideas grew. Rakat went as far as to research on noise music, also on ambiance and drone, they are still experimenting and they will keep doing that. If anyone listens to their demo of “My Rain” you can find the evidence of their core, mixed with the new aspects they learnt throughout all these years, those old heavy metal riffs with 80's blues solos and a bit of ambiance elements and so on. We believe that is how anyone can describe Undeity Grounds and the music they do.

Take a listen to Undeity Grounds's Single 'My Rain'

Undeity Grounds plan to make their music known to everyone. They believe that their music will be appreciated by the scene today in Bangladesh but to a certain extent. After that, the listeners just might get “lost” in their sound, and they are pretty convinced of this unfolding of events.

Take a listen to Undeity Grounds's Single 'All of Me'

Undeity Grounds plan to hit the international market with their music and expand their territory; we believe it will be absolutely wonderful to see such a band on an international stage. With the kind of music they do, it will be unjust if they don’t get any international exposure and we believe it is high time that we get some fresh new faces out there for the world to see.

Click Here check out Undeity Grounds's Facebook Page

Youthsparks caught up with one of the most emerging bands of Bangladesh, Circle of Sixth, who are now nothing but a phenomenon themselves; we(me and Rakil) discussed about their musical careers and about the underground music scene in Bangladesh today. Here is how it went.

How did the idea of a progressive band come forth?

Before all of this, me and my brother Shakil were in a band called, “Nightmare” where we used to cover Iron Maiden. Awkwardly enough, we didn’t know that both of us were very fond of Dream Theater, even though inside we were the same, and lived just a few rooms apart. So, while we were in Nightmare, we decided to form a band where we would just be jamming to progressive tunes and we would be doing it only for ourselves. It was around January of 2008 when I and Shakil started this band. After a long time, we thought that we needed to expand. So, I told my school friend Anik (who’s a big Dream Theater fan too) to play bass with us and he agreed. The three of us jammed for almost a year and realized that we need to take this band seriously and that is when we started incorporating other musicians into the band.

Why did CO6 choose progressive music as their genre?

All the members in the band have tried a lot of genres. On a personal level, I played death metal, heavy metal, alter rock, punk rock and what not, but nothing seems to amuse me more than progressive rock, and that’s pretty much the case with everyone in the band. The aura of an ever-changing melody is what I find really interesting. Unlike a heavy-metal track, where you would find two verses followed by a solo and then a verse and a song ends, progressive rock gives you change at each and every moment. It is not certain that the drum beats used on the first verse would come back again in the same track. It is like nuclear radiation. It’s spontaneous; unpredictable, to be exact and that’s the fun of it.

How would CO6 describe them and how would they tag themselves to be unique musicians?

Difference would definitely be on how the band sound and how it stands out loud. Not naming any band ,but there are a few who face mixing problems and the problems are so bad that it kills their talent, in some way or the way. Difference would also lie on the fact that there are also bands who are self-proclaimed progressive rock bands, which eventually they are not. They covered two or three progressive rock tracks, at maximum, during their entire lives and still calls them to be progressive rock bands. That’s not done. Therefore, I would say, the difference lies there, we seldom do heavy metal. Other than that, it’s good ol’ progressive rock.

How would you explain progressive rock to someone who lacks the knowledge of it?

If a guy comes up to me and asks for the explanation of our genre and I know that progressive music is like an alien to him, I would advise him to listen to some progressive rock first. Bands like Dream Theater or Opeth, for instance. Eventually, he would understand what progressive rock is all about. The misconception that today’s society has that Progressive Rock is all about odd-beats, tempo changes and what not but that is not the case. Dream Theater has tracks like “Hollow Years” or “Another Day” which are relatively a lot slower and soothing to the ears, which sums up my point that listening to progressive rock will make you understand what the thing is.

What does CO6 thinks about the people who play music without any kind of grammatical knowledge about their own music?

Suppose that I am a very big rockstar and I go to shows, I compose music for my band, I go to album launchings and I go here and there, do this and that and what not. Obviously, watching me go crazy with the music stuffs will make my younger very interested into these stuffs. He would be thinking that he can get fame out of all this and it would easy enough. He knows a few chords so why not form a band? This thought process kills everyone and this mentality is the reason why we see a lot of bands with minimal amount of knowledge about the music they do. On second level, this problem was boosted by the “Push-Sell” shows. On further levels, the push-sell shows have deteriorated the level of our underground music and the reason why we see so many people without the ample amount of knowledge necessary to do good music.

What are your future plans?

We submitted our single in “Hatiar” and it was supposed to be released on November but because of some technical glitches, it did not. So, I hope it would be out soon. After Hatiar, we will start working on our solo album. I have set up a home studio inside my house and I feel it is high time Circle of The Sixth concentrates about a solo album, and the advantage of having a personal home studio would be on our side of the court. No matter what, it is difficult to hold on to a certain thought when it passes your mind. Same goes for musical tunes. Having a home studio makes it easier for you. You have a tune roaming in your head and you can immediately sit down and make a composition out of it. So, yes, it is definitely helping us.

What would be the biggest problem CO6 face while they are in the studio and producing a solo album?

From composition to production, the biggest problem that this band will face would be to find a good sponsor and I believe I would on behalf of all the underground bands in Bangladesh in this case. The fundamental reason behind this “mess” is the underground music scene itself. If we compare the underground music scene now with the underground music scene 5 years ago, we would be facing a huge wall of differences, in terms of the crowd and the music being played. I have my elder brothers who had been to those shows and they know what it was like. All of the shows were as awesome as it could get. Everyone used to go to those shows, musicians and fans alike. One show used to attract around 400 people in a venue like RCC. Nowadays, the underground shows cannot even attract 200 people properly, even if the show has a few big headliners. That draws the line. The fans decreased, mostly because of the poor quality of music. After this, it would be an easy decision to make, if you are standing in the sponsors’ shoes. They backed out knowing the fact that most of the bands these days don’t make good music and why would they be sponsoring a band if they know it cannot bring about good promotion for their own company? These sponsors were not like this. There a lot of profit-motive companies who sponsored a lot of albums, when the music was good. At this point, we are to blame ourselves only.

What is the possible solution to this great problem?

Keeping this plain and simple; firstly, we all should go to all the underground shows. We need to support the musicians and the underground scene today, even though there is a lack of proper music but the support is a necessity. Secondly, buying all the albums that are released. When you download or take an album from your friend, you’re leaving that band with one album not being sold. You’re leaving the band with a huge amount of loss that they need to incur and you leave the sponsors with a spit on their backs. If the music scene is demoralizing for the sponsors then why on earth would they even volunteer? So, we all need to buy all the local albums of all the local bands, in order to show some love and respect for the music a band is trying to produce for us and to give a pat on the back for those sponsors who took the initiative, being bold enough to sponsor a band and their music in these tough times.

What advice would you give to the emerging bands and as well as those people who do music without knowing anything?

For all the emerging bands, I believe practicing is the key. Jamming with your band should be the first priority when you are in a band and I believe a jam per week should be enough for a constant improvement. Other than that, I would be believe bands should concentrate more on earning the hearts of the crowds rather than playing in front of known people in shows because when you see strangers shouting your name and giving you an encore, you know that you just nailed it. Lastly, I would advice all of the bands not to change their line-up frequently unless there is a dire necessity to do it. This affects the progress of a band. I would not go into details but you would know if you indulge in this.

Anything for your fans?

This would actually be a request. Please, stop piracy. This phenomenon is not only ruining our music industry but also the ruining the inspiration of all the bands behind making good music.

Stop yourself from doing drugs, musicians and non-musicians alike. Doing drugs won’t make you Mike Portnoy nor Neil Peart, neither will it make you Myles Kennedy. It would downgrade your performance and nothing else. It’s better to stay sober all the time.

Lastly, CO6 appreciates all the efforts our fans put into supporting us and we promise you we would never let you down. We love you all.

Our industry truly lacks good, proper and young musicians like these. Someone who acknowledges the fact that doing weed and alcohol is not the new “shit” clearly clarifies their stance on an anti-drug musical career and further strengthens their musical grounds. We need more of them and less of the drugged.

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