Band music has immense popularity in the country especially among youngsters who often consider band musicians as their idols. Despite the huge popularity, opening and continuing a new band remains challenging and even impossible for many musicians.
“It has really become difficult to continue practicing band music with so many constraints like financial limitations, shortage of practice pads, lack of media coverage and many others,” said Tapan, vocal of Shohortoli band, to the Dhaka Tribune.
“It is difficult to find a place where we can rehearse without creating public nuisance, as practice pads are rare in the city. Besides, musical instruments are really expensive and difficult for middle-class musicians to afford,” added Tapan.
Supporting Tapan, Pintu Ghosh, the vocal of popular band Chirkutt said they had to struggle for a long time before they became an established band. “The media is not interested at all to support new bands. They only consider their TRP and thus always look for popular troupes,” said Pintu, who also blamed the listeners for barely welcoming new musicians.
“People are not supportive to new bands. I can share an experience: Few years ago, we performed at a concert in Rabindrasarobar. The crowd did not applaud us as they wanted us to present some rocking ‘hit’ numbers. They discouraged us to play our new melodic songs,” shared Pintu.
New band Resonance that formed in 2012 is also facing difficulty to make a mark in the music scene. “There is still a concept among people, especially the elderly citizens, that the band musicians are unruly and even drug addicts, but actually we are not,” said Jahirul Islam Sumon, the vocalist of the band.
However, Sumon is hopeful and believes that the situation is getting better. “People are now being more tolerant about band music and some channels like NTV are also promoting new bands through airing special shows for newcomers,” he said.
On the other hand, some band musicians consider that establishing a band is not so difficult if the band is formed in a planned manner.
“We used to perform in a casual manner with our friends on the Charukala premises and we made a fan base on our own,” said Saiful Jarnal, the percussionist of popular band Joler Gaan.
“When we declared our band, we already had a substantial number of audience. So, forming a band should be a planned process,” observed Jarnal, who also added: “If the songs are good and are unique in composition and lyrics, people will definitely love them.”