Sibling duo Raudiah and Nawwar Ashiquzzaman on their musical inspirations
Raudiah and Nawwar Ashiquzzaman, children of renowned musician Ashiquzzaman Tulu, have been involved with music from their early childhood. Along with the guidance from their father, Raudiah and Nawwar's love for music inspires them to be established artistes in the future. Their song, "Kon Kagoje" releases today (November 28). In a candid chat with The Daily Star, they talk about their journey, goals and more.
How long have you been performing together, or individually?
Raudiah: I am in the tenth grade now, and I have been performing since I was in the fifth grade, when I was 10 years old.
Nawwar: I am in the eighth grade now. I started performing a little later after Raudiah did, playing the piano when I was 10 years old.
As musicians, who are your biggest inspirations?
Raudiah: We have a long list of people who inspire us to be better musicians. I love Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Whitney Houston, RD Burman, Rageshri Das, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Yanni, the Beatles, Eric Clapton and K J Yesudas, among many others.
Nawwar: I idolise Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Duke Ellington, Micheal Jackson and Stevie Wonder. All of them inspire both of us.
Your father, renowned composer Ashiquzzaman Tulu, is a well-known musician in Bangladesh. How has he inspired you?
Raudiah: He is always honest and transparent with us, and his guidance is really important to us. I have sung three original songs, composed by my father. We value his knowledge and experience, but we also bring a young perspective on the table, to make the best music that we can.
Tell us about your latest song, "Kon Kagoje".
Nawwar: I have composed, mixed and mastered "Kon Kagoje", written by Sheikh Zaman Jonny. Raudia has lent her voice to it. It took some deliberation, as I am still new to mixing. We loved working together.
How do you plan your music videos?
Raudiah: All of our music videos so far are filmed and edited by our father. I started learning editing and colour grading just recently. I hope to edit our videos in the future, and execute meaningful ideas through them.
How do you balance your time between school and music?
Raudiah: Both school and music are our top priorities. We try to keep in mind that many established musicians have excelled in both academics and music, and they are our role models. For example, Brian May, the guitarist of Queen, also has a PhD in Astrophysics. Musicians like him inspire us.
Where do you want to see yourselves in the next 10 years?
Raudiah: We never want to stop learning about music. There is so much that we have yet to do and so much that we have yet to learn.
Nawwar: All we know is that we want to keep making music for as long as we can.