SHIRONAMHIN Untitled as Always
23 August 2013, 18:08 PM
UPDATED
21 August 2013, 16:20 PM
Photo: Mortuza Alam
Shironamhin finally came out with their self-titled album- Shironamhin (Untitled as Always) after 17 years since the band was formed. They have stayed true to their 'untitled genre' throughout their entire musical journey and this 5th album is no exception. They have been 'touring' in Dhaka to promote this album, not performing, but meeting and greeting their fans. With ten beautiful tracks, this album has all the elements to meet the sky-high expectations of Shironamhin lovers. The band's vocal, Tanzir Tuhin, speaks to Sadia Khalid about this new, much anticipated album.
How has the response been so far to your new album?
MashAllah. The response is good. We released the album in CD and online at the same time. Anyone can download the songs from Incursion.
You have made your songs available online. All we have to do is pay a small amount through card/BKash/Paypal. How is that working out?
It is quite a new step for Bangladeshi music industry. It's working well considering the fact that our audiences aren't yet accustomed to this mode of payment. The artists won't be benefitted much at this stage. But down the line, I'm sure the bands will reap it's benefits in a few years time.
You have filed cases against some of the illegal sites that are uploading your music for free. What is the outcome of these cases?
Qinetic is dealing with this. They are tracking the sites that are illegally uploading our music. Some of these sites have already been closed.
What was your favourite song in this album?
'Michhil' and 'Shonshon Jodio Kashbon'.
From a total of 20-25 songs, the band decided to keep 10 songs in this album. Will we get to hear those unreleased tracks in the future?
We had 18 or 19 complete songs to choose from. There were some other incomplete ones; some lyrics and some tunes. We took feedback from the audience and picked the 10 songs that we thought represented our band and satisfied our audience the best. We have no plans to make the unreleased tracks available. The band will decide what we'll do with those songs.
There are some changes in your lineup for this album. Diat in guitar and Rashel in keyboard- are new additions to Shironamhin family, whereas you, Zia and Shafin have been there since the beginning. How does that impact the rapport within the band?
We have never faced any problems regarding our rapport. Diat and Rashel joined Shironamhin 2 years ago. The old members and new members gel really well. Maybe some issues could arise if another vocal joined in. But we all have our specified tasks. We are 5 different members with 5 different jobs to perform.
Shironamhin used the rare local instrument 'Sarod' in its first two albums. After a long gap, we hear some Sarod again in this album.
Farhan (the Sarod and Dotara player) left the band after the second album. He was a brilliant student and his family wasn't supportive of this profession that doesn't yield a regular guaranteed income. In his absence, we didn't have a Sarod player. However, Zia and Shafin have been tirelessly practicing this instrument for the last 2 years. They played Sarod in this album.
Your new music video 'Abar Hashimukh' premiered in Star Cineplex. How did it go?
We premiered 'Abar Hashimukh' on 2nd August. We got a huge crowd. A lot of well-wishers came to the event. MashAllah it wen't pretty well.
'Abar Hoashimukh' was directed by your bassist, Zia, who is also an architect from BUET like yourself. How has this background helped the two of you in your music and your videos?
We did some videos before (like the music video 'Pakhi'). This one was directed solely by Zia. I only helped a little. He also did all the graphics works of this album. Both architecture and music deal with time, space and emotions. Our background inspired our music in a way. Two or three production houses helped us with the CGI and editing in this video.
Why a self-titled album at this stage when most bands do it on the 1st album?
Many of the bands who inspired us to do music, named their 5th album after the band. We also felt like we have gathered enough maturity and experience now to finally call an album 'Shironamhin'.
Tell us about the 'Meet and Greet' sessions with the fans.
We had 5 meet and greet sessions in 5 areas across Dhaka. We got big crowds in every session. We wanted to make sure that the locations were convenient for all our supporters. It Dhaka, it can be difficult to travel for traffic, transportation and time constraint. So, we picked the locations strategically. Like in our 'Meet and Greet' session in Uttara, our listeners flocked in from Tangail and Mymensing as well. It was overwhelming.
How has the response been so far to your new album?
MashAllah. The response is good. We released the album in CD and online at the same time. Anyone can download the songs from Incursion.
You have made your songs available online. All we have to do is pay a small amount through card/BKash/Paypal. How is that working out?
It is quite a new step for Bangladeshi music industry. It's working well considering the fact that our audiences aren't yet accustomed to this mode of payment. The artists won't be benefitted much at this stage. But down the line, I'm sure the bands will reap it's benefits in a few years time.
You have filed cases against some of the illegal sites that are uploading your music for free. What is the outcome of these cases?
Qinetic is dealing with this. They are tracking the sites that are illegally uploading our music. Some of these sites have already been closed.
What was your favourite song in this album?
'Michhil' and 'Shonshon Jodio Kashbon'.
From a total of 20-25 songs, the band decided to keep 10 songs in this album. Will we get to hear those unreleased tracks in the future?
We had 18 or 19 complete songs to choose from. There were some other incomplete ones; some lyrics and some tunes. We took feedback from the audience and picked the 10 songs that we thought represented our band and satisfied our audience the best. We have no plans to make the unreleased tracks available. The band will decide what we'll do with those songs.
There are some changes in your lineup for this album. Diat in guitar and Rashel in keyboard- are new additions to Shironamhin family, whereas you, Zia and Shafin have been there since the beginning. How does that impact the rapport within the band?
We have never faced any problems regarding our rapport. Diat and Rashel joined Shironamhin 2 years ago. The old members and new members gel really well. Maybe some issues could arise if another vocal joined in. But we all have our specified tasks. We are 5 different members with 5 different jobs to perform.
Shironamhin used the rare local instrument 'Sarod' in its first two albums. After a long gap, we hear some Sarod again in this album.
Farhan (the Sarod and Dotara player) left the band after the second album. He was a brilliant student and his family wasn't supportive of this profession that doesn't yield a regular guaranteed income. In his absence, we didn't have a Sarod player. However, Zia and Shafin have been tirelessly practicing this instrument for the last 2 years. They played Sarod in this album.
Your new music video 'Abar Hashimukh' premiered in Star Cineplex. How did it go?
We premiered 'Abar Hashimukh' on 2nd August. We got a huge crowd. A lot of well-wishers came to the event. MashAllah it wen't pretty well.
'Abar Hoashimukh' was directed by your bassist, Zia, who is also an architect from BUET like yourself. How has this background helped the two of you in your music and your videos?
We did some videos before (like the music video 'Pakhi'). This one was directed solely by Zia. I only helped a little. He also did all the graphics works of this album. Both architecture and music deal with time, space and emotions. Our background inspired our music in a way. Two or three production houses helped us with the CGI and editing in this video.
Why a self-titled album at this stage when most bands do it on the 1st album?
Many of the bands who inspired us to do music, named their 5th album after the band. We also felt like we have gathered enough maturity and experience now to finally call an album 'Shironamhin'.
Tell us about the 'Meet and Greet' sessions with the fans.
We had 5 meet and greet sessions in 5 areas across Dhaka. We got big crowds in every session. We wanted to make sure that the locations were convenient for all our supporters. It Dhaka, it can be difficult to travel for traffic, transportation and time constraint. So, we picked the locations strategically. Like in our 'Meet and Greet' session in Uttara, our listeners flocked in from Tangail and Mymensing as well. It was overwhelming.
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