The work I had been babbling about earlier !! Take a look !
They are hot , they make hearts throb and they have their spot in BUET . They are the charismatic CREMATIC – X . Their own number , DOITOTA from ROCK 202 , a mixed album has been a buzz around the underground music followers and also they are the only all BUET-ian band to have their track released in an album ever . Recently , adding another feather – the Moo’s Band Fest 2009 winner , in their crown , they have rightfully captured the media’s attention .
A five member band followed by Ashique Ahmed Kaifee ( Vocals ) from Civil Engineering Dpt. , Arifur Rahman Mishu ( bass and vocals ) from Urban and Regional Planning Dpt. , Moinul Hossain Rifat ( guitars ) fom the Computer Science and Engineering Dpt. , Prajnaprasun Bhattacharjee ( guitars ) and Sanjoy Halder ( drums ) from Mechanical Engineering Dpt. currently stands for CREMATIC – X .
Despite getting the sniff of name and fame , the band seems all too down to earth as they agreed upon meeting on my very first request to meet up at BUET for an interview.
Although it was during the holidays , Prajnaprasun Bhattacharjee ( aka Progga ) and Sanjoy Halder couldn’t make it due to unavoidable circumstances . So it was Mishu , Ashique and Rifat altogether who had an open talk me , at their hall room .
Right after getting settled and trading greetings , I noticed the life size check of Moo’s Band Festival and decided that I should start on things with this .
First of all , congratulations for winning the Moo’s band fest, even though it’s a bit late !
Crematic – X : Thanks ! We appreciate it anyways !
Tell me more about the Moo’s Band Fest . I have read about it already but want to hear it from you guys personally .
Mishu : The Moo’s Band fest started on July 13 at Moo’s Barn, an authentic café . Twelve promising bands – Urban Fiction, Road 31, Framework, Biporit, Heal, Oblique, Old School, Xoroastrain, Crematic–X, Chaotic Symphony, Xuthus and Cops Gone Bad – performed in individual hour-long shows at the cafe. Moo’s Barn hosted two shows a week during July and August.There were two judges, Ziaur Rahman from Shironamhin and Sazzad from Elimination . We had to totally transform for this contest . It wasn’t on a stage , rather a lounge . So we decided to do acoustic numbers more and so I had to do the vocals part a lot . Ashique also tapped the keys for a change and is now ,as it clicked , planning on doing it regularly .
Ashique : Just another variation added into our already variable band line up ! But we don’t mind this and through Moo’s band fest , we came to know that the audience loves it too . the best part is that we came into the focus a lot this time and people were curious about us
Mishu : We also came in touch with some stars of our music scenario , and they weren’t hesitant to share their experiences . The media coverage also did a great job publicizing our released track in ROCK 202 ! Thumbs up to you guys !
What genre of music do you play ? Because I have heard lots of questions regarding this !
Ashique : Oh yes ! This is the most asked question , I suppose ! There is no helping it , but we perform two different genres . One is the experimental / thrash rock and the other one is the lovey dovey melodious one .
Rifat : All of us have different music tastes , that is reason behind this . Me and Sanjoy prefer the 80′s rock , and Mishu likes any melodious songs , Progga is a die hard fan of folklore and Rabindranath’s music . Ashique is the most modern one and only likes thrash metal songs ( which , some of his family members call GADHAR CHITKAAR ! )
Mishu : Some warn us that we are trying to ride to boats at once . But I would like to tell them that ” amra ek noukay 2 majhi nisi ! ” ( We have two boatmen in on board ! ) . If you look at it that way , it isn’t a problem anymore .
Now , fill me up a bit . How did it all start ?
Mishu: It all started in BUET . I had been playing guitars long time before coming to BUET and I met up with Rifat and Ashique here , who were just getting started back then but their playing was much more mature . We didn’t have the idea of forming a band in our head and mainly performed at level completions . I still don’t know how , but we had caught the trained and experienced eyes of Atik bhai and Nobel bhai ( Dreek ) with our guitar playing . They drilled in the idea of forming a band into our head and we are grateful for that ! And thus the three of us started practicing together . Later Mushfique , Progga and Sanjoy joined us as bassist , guitarist and drummer respectivly .
Ashique : At this point , I decided to grab the main vocals’ spot , which back then was a musical chair ( some say that the condition hasn’t changed at all ! ) , which gave our band the first compact out look . Genius , ain’t I !!
Rifat : We still had some problems though . We did not have good gears , weren’t serious about practise and this made Atik bhai angry . But Nobel bhai had his faith in us and kept on ushering us to spend more time in practise . Also , the genre of our music was something that had always kept us on toe . At gigs , Ashique mainly performed the hard rock numbers where Mishu used to do the melodious ones . But Mushfique had different views and thus left the band leaving Mishu to fill up the spot as bassist . And till now , the formation is stable .
Mishu : You see , we were still unsure whether we had the THING to become a rock band . We started as CREMATIC- X by performing at BUET along with Shironaamhin as the main band . We kept on pressing our luck and it was the concert at chittagong , which turned things around for us . It was a band’s dream – come – true performance by us ! We pulled off everything finely and perfectly . Nothing went wrong and the crowd went crazy !
Ashique : We also got Atik bhai on our side with that ,remember ? He gave all of us a big hug and saying that we had proved him wrong , for the very first time ! After that , we never had to look back !
What is the reason behind naming yourselves CREMATIC-X ?
Mishu : Actually there isn’t any special reason behind naming ourselves CREMATIC – X . it was something we had come up on the spur of moment right before getting onto the stage of our first concert at BUET . Progga had asked some of our friends to suggest some names and Crematic was one of them . We just chose it , nothing special !
Ashique : And I am a big fan of STATIC – X . So , i added the X to sound a bit kewl like them !
Rifat : It helped our fans though . They now can call us the CX instead of typing or saying the whole name ! Hail X ! !
Tell us about your journey to the ROCK 202 .
Rifat : One word ‘Facebook’ ! ( laughs )
Ashique : He ( points at Rifat ) virtually lives his life in FB and so he was the first one to notice that Jewel bhai ( Iqbal Asif Jewel ) had asked the bands for demos for his up coming mixed album in his ‘ status update ‘ . And Progga jumped up in excitement . He had been nagging us all few days ago whether we could have at least one of our songs released at Eid and it was like he had his wish come true . So , we submitted three demo songs and among 125 bands we were selected as one of the final 25 bands for the albums !
What is the inspirations behind DOITOTA and why DOITOTA as your first released track instead of all those rocking numbers you have in your store ?
Ashique : A friend of mine has played the role of inspiration behind this . I wrote the lyrics watching him . He is kind of jumpy . One moment he will want to do something and in the very next moment he will just decide upon the very opposite thing ! It may actually seem funny but it pains him a lot !
Mishu : We know that our fans love our hard rock numbers . We also had submitted our ” Ghrinar Opokotha ” , which is popular among the fans , to Jewel bhai along with ‘Doitota’ . But after listening to our demos , Jewel bhai had decided to take ‘Doitota’ for the album . So , we ,all too excited of being selected , went on to record it . But the fans liked it too . Some may have thought otherwise , but we have our faith in Jewel bhai .
What’s the response you got from your friends and families after launching your first number in ROCK 202 ?
Ashique : It was more than what we had expected ! And as it was before Eid , the joy seemed to have become double ! Friends were all too excited and were raving about it t anyone who would listen . They even forced their friends to buy the cd too !
Mishu : Our parents tried to kep a straight face as always . But when I was packing my bags after Eid holidays , they asked me to leave a copy of our album behind !
Rifat : It was my elder brother who had encouraged me to step into the music arena . No one from our family had ever been in a music scenario but he has always supported me . So the track release was like a dream come true for my brother too . And his excitement eventually got flowed into other family members .
How can you people keep managing time between music and BUET ?
Ashique : It’s not that hard when you maintain a routine . It has been easy for me always.
Rifat : Yeah , same for me . From some outsider’s point of view , it may look outragous . But we do get time to time reminders from parents and also jharis from my elder brother . But BUET always allows us to arrange concerts and all . So no problem for us .
Mishu : And the teachers are helpful too ! The Dean of Mechanical department, BUET likes to be in touch with us and he even once had pinned up an article on us published at a daily newspaper , in the notice board ! But we do study to keep our grades formidable . So , before exams , it’s a STOP for all of us .
And do you have your own practice pads ? How many times do you practice within a week ?
Rifat : Yes , we all have our own instruments . But there is never an end of our needs . Especially , it is hard for me to get guitars as I am left handed . But apart from that , we are still chaining our expenses for our dream instruments !
Mishu : And we practice about two or three times a week . Before any concert , the number increases though .
Ashique : We don’t practice often but when we do , we keep pushing ourselves to the limits. We mainly practice getting used to playing both slow and fast numbers as it helps us a lot on stage .
How do you guys come up with a song and the work work put on it to give it the final touch ?
Ashique : Basically , me and Progga do the writing thing . And then all of us sit together, talk about the lyrics , try out different tones . We keep on searching till we find the tone which expresses the emotion we want to deliver and also which satisfies us .
Mishu : Individually we haven’t been into music scenario for a long time so we don’t think our individual music levels are that high . But , when we work together as a band , it goes up several noticeable notches up !
Mention some places where you have performed and the one you liked most .
Mishu : First at BUET . Then at RCC , Chittagong , DU , Stamford and also some places outside Dhaka .
Rifat : And Chittagong , for us , is by far the best of them all till to date . Not only it’s my hometown but the crowds are really passionate !
Which bands you like to cover most during a concert ?
Rifat : I like to play Beatles from the 80′s . We also do covers of Creed , Inflames , Pik floyed , Artcell .
Ashique : I am also trying out Bullet For My Valentine recently . But we like to perform our own numbers .
Mishu : I am okay with the melodious ones . And hard rock doesn’t bother me either .
Hows the response from the fans ? Do you keep in touch with them ?
Mishu : The fans have always been around us . They are good critics and so we take their responses very seriously . We always try to stay in touch with them , keep them updated and the like it . One of us is always there to answer their queries via FB or text messages . They are the one we are singing for and we already have some die had fans and that’s amazing considering that we have only one released track !
What is the future plan of guys ? Both individually and as a band ?
Rifat : Well , if it’s individual future plan then all I have to say is that i have to maintain my grades so that I can get into a job and keep doing music . As a band , of course our very own album and that two within a year and half . We are almost at the end of our terms at BUET and after we have completed our undergraduation , dunoo ! There is a possibility that we wll get scattered all around the globe ! So a full fledged album is definitely round the corners .
Mishu : We are currently making as much as demos possible and then work on them . We don’t want to be hasty with our work as we want to deliver a quality music to our listeners . But yeah , maybe maiden album IS around the corners . And I have some higher studies up in my mind . So maybe . . . . !
Ashique : I want to stick with the music industry , ONLY if it enables me to tie two ends easily . It is really hard to survive as a musician only in Bangladesh , especially where there are so many piracy going on . But still , I haven’t given up my hopes for it . And our own album is a first priority to me too !
Thank you guys for sharing your thoughts with us . It has been such a nice time with you guys . Is there anyone you would like to thank for helping you out this far ?
CX : First of all , all of our parents ! We know that they try their hardest not to show their enthusiasm on the progress we are making and this helps us to keep our feet on the ground . Our teachers and friend from BUET have always been our well wishers . And our dedicated fans , who spend some of their so precious times to keep on tab with us and keep us on alert with their queries . It’s for you people hat we have made it this far and also continue looking forward . Keep listening to good music and stop piracy ! And thank you too ! Keep it up , dude !
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