Dhaka rock

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Bangladeshi-American rocker Arafat Kazi says the Dhaka rock scene is incestuous (via Tales from the Subcontinent):

… if you have one death metal band in Dhaka, there will be five death metal bands in Dhaka a year from now simply from osmosis… Elephant Road is a street which has three stores which had all kinds of LPs and later on CDs which they would copy onto cassette for you for a fee. This is how we ALL got our music until like 1999 or 2000. No CDs till then either… you had a band called The Attempted Band (featuring yours truly among others) which had the hottest girl in town and an enormous fat fuck who knows EVERYBODY in Dhaka city. All the bands that we knew clustered around us because we were doing shows, and eventually they started kicking ass as well. This could NOT have happened in India, where if you have a band in say Gujrat, there’s no fucking way it’s going to get to Cochin…

A big part of why you don’t see Paki or Indian bands doing rock music is because they both have HUGE cinema song industries (esp India). Why the fuck would Channel V show a rock band which nobody cares about when they can just as easily show a garam masala lust-laden video?

He also does a hilarious, purposely desi-accented homage to Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘Shame on a N*‘ which reminds me of ‘Drop It Like a FOB.’ Listen and weep.

Kazi’s a member of a rock band called the Watson Brothers:

Farhan happens to have that wonderfully rare quality in a Bangladeshi bassist– he’s had sex…

… underneath the yellow T-shirt with the red collar, the purple pants… and the thickly matted back, neck and chest hair, beats a heart that is full of love for all men and one woman. This woman routinely changes name…

… Shakespeare… once said that “Fat paunches have lean pates.” Arafat Kazi has a fat paunch; however, he prefers gelatined goose pates with little bits of bacon in them.

Here’s Vice mag on Bangla rock:

Gallow’s Pole are quickly emerging as THE definitive Iron Maiden and Megadeth covers band in Bangladesh… Instead of cutting themselves to Korn songs, our brown-skinned chums just want to rock their cocks off in the Balti heat of the Bengali sunshine.

All-time punniest name for a Muslim rocker? Darksyed.

Update: Currylingus says:

… possibly the funniest man I’ve read in a long time, Arafat Kazi, member of a Dhaka band, the Watson Brothers. Right, so everyone remember “Drop it like a F.O.B.”? At the risk of incurring flying spit, I thought it was lame as hell. Three reasons: the Snoop version was already in furious overplay mode at the time of F.O.B. release, the guy sounds like he’s putting on an accent but doing it halfway so as not make an impression of actual F.O.B.ness, the jokes aren’t funny. Along comes Kazi and proceeds to blow all the gimpy Ludakrishnas with their as-bad-as-Sellers, ambiguous accents out of the water.

30 thoughts on “Dhaka rock”

  2. Ummm, the Indian rock scene is doing just fine thanks, and I’m sure the Pakis aren’t far behind. Go to any college do, and all the bands there are rock. Hang out at DV8 in Connaught Place, Delhi to see different bands performing every once in awhile, from different parts of the country. Then, on top of that you have a whole bunch of fusion folks – can anybody say Indus Creed (in the early days)? Then there is always Junoon, and of course, our good friend and jolly sardar-with-a-guitar Rabbi Shergill. India and Pakistan may have a film industry, but there is enough space for other music as well, it just comes and goes in fads.

  3. TTG, I made the same point (sort of). I’m just also pointing out that rock music doesn’t and won’t get much airplay in the extremely mainstream Indian media because there are other, much more commercially viable, options.

  4. Haha futhman just remember who got you here when you go all the way, dammit.

    TTG, are any of these Pakistani bands putting out records at that level? Because I’d be interested in hearing something besides live jam-band noodling or resignedly creating background at certain functions.

  6. Private Schoolboys from India Rock Stars:

    Have any of you guys watched Spinal Tap?

  10. Uh, watch out.

    The ‘n’ word is considered off-limits to people who aren’t black. Even if you’re doing a ‘cover’ of a Wu-Tang song…

    Hate to be politically correct, but I thought I would point it out.

  13. Someone please explain to me the appeal of heavy metal, post-teenage rage.

    As for me, I am partial to folk and enjoy Bangla fusion. On my last trip to Dhaka, I did get a chance to pick up the Bangla Baul CD but missed out on the last gamccha T-shirt. So, coolness still evades me. . .

  14. it’s grating to hear a non-black person say ‘nigga’

    i dont give it a second thought when i hear black guys say it but hearing it in this song is like nails on chalkboard

  15. BBC’s Bobby Friction and Nihal show did an interesting 30 minute piece on the Indian rock scene.

    The ‘n’ word is considered off-limits to people who aren’t black. Even if you’re doing a ‘cover’ of a Wu-Tang song…

    What about desi rappers that cover other songs? “Shame on a Nuh” is a Wu classic, it wouldnt be right for it to be repeated only by black people.

  18. Hi guys,

    Just a googler here who somehow managed to wander into this space inhabited by some really intelligent people exemplified by the language used and the radical thoughts expressed.

    Am a Bengali – probably of Bangladeshi stock myself.My grandparents crossed over the border a century ago and became paupers overnight they say! Been born and raised in Bombay.

    I used to work at Channel [V] as a producer till around a month ago. Quit due to internal differences. Well, I couldn’t agree with all of you more on all your above rants. I have worked with various music channels and radio stations here and i know how it works.

    I happened to read one of Gandhi’s sayings quoted by a life insurance advert stuck on a back of a bus while driving today. It said – You must try and be the change that you wish to see in the world. Very true. Please click on the link below and for a song that is available for free to dowbload and burn – a track that we have recorded recently and that has been received quite favourably amongst musicians and the music buffs at large. Please burn the song if you like it and listen to it at home, on the way to the office, at your office, at a friend’s house, etc. Hope you like it.

    http://music.download.com/shaman/3600-8851_32-100790130.html?tag=listing_song_artist

    regards,

    Atin Dasgupta gimme feedback at: atin.dasgupta@gmail.com Bombay

  19. what about fusion,has anybody heard any pakistani fusion..i heard that theres this one band with the guitarist who happened to graduate from the same school joe satriani did and at the same time…if anybody has the name or the web address please do send it….btw i have seen many indian bands perform but i have to say that it seems that they are hardly original…i once saw a concert where nine old school metal bands performed three common songs…

  20. Yo dumbfuck!!! You praisin a band and you don even know the name of the band properly!!! Hahaha! Motherfucka, it’s called FUZION … not Fusion!!! FYI! And Dhaka rockscene rules man. As a bangladeshi livin in india for the past 8 years, i have had the honour (???) of listening to both indian n bangladeshi rock … hundred fuckin guesses which i favour?!

  21. And Moin man … Fuzion is comin to DU (Delhi University, for the ignorant!!) Fest next year. So watch out for it man! And to say the truth, there’s hardly any rock band that has scope to be original anymore. I saw the campus rock idols in delhi last month, and they were quite cool, to say the least!! Watch out for this Pakistani band called Entity Paradigm (EP in short), and this indian band called Joint Family. Not bad man!

  22. Hey guys. Just like the Channel V duder above. I stumbled upon this place out of accident. In anycase. I want to learn more about the Bangladeshi and the Indian Rock scene.

    And I mean shrapnel laced riff, screeching vocals, a rumbling bass and savage beating of the drumset.. I hail from Pakistan and am currently in Canada so yeah.. I noticed that there is not a lot of difference in whats going on there except for the Metal genre.. It’s still comparatively small compared to the west.. In anycase.. If you guys can hook me up with some websites and stuff that I can download Indian/Bangladesi rock songs from.. I would greatly appreciate it. 🙂

    Btw, the fusion band that the buddy was talking about is not Fuzon. It’s Mekaal Hassan Band. Mekaal Hassan has studied at various music schools including Berklee.. THe website is http://www.mekaalhasanband.com ..

  23. hi this is mofazzel hossain from india. i am 20 year old softwere/electronic eng.i love bangladesi rock music.i dont like indian music. i listing music 3 hour a day.

  25. “Someone please explain to me the appeal of heavy metal, post-teenage rage.”

    Oh come on. How can you not like it? Its fuckin killer. Just plain fun eh.

  28. 24 · sonia said

    Strings…

    hi, hope well. so no comment. may we be friend for true friendship. if so waiting 4 return mail. wasim

  29. Powersurge from bangladesh is probably the first trashy metal band n sub continent…they play awsm…and ya Artcell is one of those bengiz doing good…..Bd is doing gr8 on rock…..respect…

  30. Hello People, I see a lot of discussion (and confusion) regarding the sub-continental rock/metal scene. Head over to MySpace for such resources.

    You may want to check this out: http://www.metalmorgue.com

    Regarding the Ind-BD-Pak Rock/Metal Scene clash, it is very true what Arafat bhai had said. No rock/metal scene in the Indian sub-continent gets as much as media recognition like the scene in Bangladesh does. Thank God we don’t have a domination film industry Smirks

    Example:

    1. Nathania, a power metal band from Thailand, signed under MetalFarm Records sold 5000 CDs throughout the globe. (yes, 5000) And they’re supposed to be one of the high-status bands in Thailand.

    2. Artcell, a progressive metal band from Bangladesh sold over 150,000 CDs throughout Bangladesh. Yes, 150,000 within borders. What does that implicate?

    Arrite, Im signing off for now.

    Enjoy yourself: http://www.myspace.com/zeroburnbd http://www.myspace.com/aufladerbd http://www.myspace.com/genesplitbd http://www.myspace.com/severedementia http://www.myspace.com/sinisterdivinity