'We want to promote Bangla on a global stage' …Sumi

Chirkutt's eclectic compositions defy genre or classification and they have eventually come to be described as an 'Epic Fusion' band. Chirkutt has released two hit albums “Chirkutt-nama” and “Jadur Shohor”, and have received a great deal of airplay, performed for television plays and film soundtracks. Their popularity has transcended the borders of Bangladesh and has reached foreign shores. Recently, The Daily Star caught up with the band's vocal Sumi and had a chat about Chirkutt.

When did you appear in the music scene?

Sumi: We began our journey in 2002 but appeared in the music scene in 2010 with our first album. Unfortunately, because of irresponsibility of our producer, the album didn't come out in the market. And nobody knew us back then. Then we decided to do TV shows so that people could know about us. After doing several shows, we gained popularity as a band and eventually got an invitation to perform in Norway.

Tell us about your achievements as a band.

Sumi: Our performance in Norway received a standing ovation. Then we went to India on an invitation to perform at Indian Music Week – a music festival featuring 50 bands from 17 countries. We were the lone Bangladeshi band at the festival and our performance was so impressive that MTV India decided to air our music videos. Till date, MTV India airs two of our music videos: “Khajna” and “Katakuti”. Both of the songs were written and composed by Chirkutt.

How did you all get together?

Sumi: I was then a student at Dhaka University. We were a group and we used to do music. We had plans that we would sing in our own way and began our journey grounding on that mental chemistry. We have been working together for eight years. Currently Chirkutt has Pavel Orin on drums; Emon plays on guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele; Pintu on vocal, violin, flute and percussion, and Tomal and Didar are on bass guitar.

How is Chirkutt doing now?

Sumi: By the grace of the Almighty and our listeners' prayers, we have performed at prestigious festivals in Norway, Sri Lanka and India. We released our first international music video from Oslo with Norwegian rock band Casa Murilo.

Tell us about your musical style.

Sumi: We always lay emphasis on making new songs which are relevant to present times.  We take inspiration from many legendary singers and poets though we haven't yet done their music. Our place is challenging but we have been doing well for the last few years. We have also done the background music of a film, “Jalaler Golpo” as a band, which is relatively unchartered territory. We have done playback in the film “Television”. Chirkutt has no particular boundary and we want to forge ahead to promote Bangla on a global platform. This will be our small contribution to our country.