Whoever ever thought that a bass player would one day play a role in diversifying our band music? Well, nothing is impossible and influenced by the marauding bass plucking of Maiden bassist Steve Harris, Sumon dreamt of a band that would not keep bass in the background. Termed BassBaba by all, Sumon is now one of the leading names in the Bangla band music scene.
Bangladeshi band music took several turns in the last two decades and, we have all seen the emergence of different genres in the past couple of years. In truth, our music has now become diverse as well as innovative. And, if we talk about rock, the name of Sumon comes up with undeniable inevitability because it was he who pioneered a different version of rock – an astute blend of soft and progressive sound with a heavy influence of the bass guitar. And, with reason, he is known in the music arena as the 'BassBaba.'
Recently, in an interview, this musical icon of our country spoke of his experiences, hurdles and devotion that has made him the Sumon of the present.
The musical career…
"My musical journey started in 1980 when my mother bought me a Hawaiian guitar. I continued playing this guitar for the next five years," said Sumon. But in 86, when he was a boy of thirteen, this musician started playing the acoustic guitar and planned to form a band with his friend Mehedi. Talking about switching to the Spanish acoustic guitar he says, "I never saw a singer performing with a Hawaiian guitar sitting on a chair; rather, it was always an acoustic guitar. So, I took my Hawaiian guitar to a music store and converted it to an acoustic one."
This bass guitar genius first got addicted to bass when he saw a concert of Iron Maiden and was especially riveted by the performance of their bassist, Steve Harris. By the way, in 1990 when he first saw a bass guitar he knew that he wanted to be a bassist.
The first band formed by Sumon was Rock Phantom and he started playing in the band Silence as the lead guitarist in 1990. Later, he joined Feelings, In Dhaka, Aces and Warfaze. From 1990 to 1993 Sumon played simultaneously in these four bands - sometimes as a bassist and sometimes as the lead guitarist. In 1996 he joined Warfaze as a bassist and became an integral part of the band. However, he ended his career as a member of this band in 1999 (at least for the time being). But, after a gap of two years from music this famous bassist and singer came with a new group Aurthohin. According to him, "I started to think about a full career in business and so, was absent from any musical work; but finally, I came to realize that I cannot live without music."
Why Aurthohin???
It is a common question to ask about the name of the band because Aurthohin means meaningless. Sumon's answer is, "this name came from the song Aurthohin which I like very much. So, a band named after a song appeared quite novel in my view." Till now Aurthohin has released four albums- Trimatrik, Biborton, Notun Diner Michhile and Dhrubok.
Sumon o Aurthohin…
Many people mistake Sumon o Aurthohin as his solo career but it is actually a musical project which includes a large array of musicians and performers. The distinction was made clear by Sumon's own words, "Sumon o Aurthohin is vastly different from Sumon and from Aurthohin. By Sumon o Aurthohin I try to mean that it is neither Sumon nor Aurthohin." As Sumon o Aurthohin is a musical project, it always includes a large variety of music and lyrics.
First solo album…
From 1992 to 1997 Sumon recorded 12 songs and all were composed and written by him but, unfortunately, no studio showed any interest to release the album. Then, in 1997, his album was released under the banner of G-series. Warfaze failed to release their album titled Oshamajik during Eid-ul-Fitr and G-series badly needed to release something. Sumon remembers, "after listening to the first track Khaled bhai instantly decided to release it."
Favourite song…
"It is always very hard to select one favourite song," said Sumon and added, "but, speaking in general terms there are two of them and one is 'Amar Proticchobi'(from Biborton) and the other is 'Oviman' (from the upcoming album of Sumon o Aurthihin-2)."
By the way, what are the reasons behind stereotypical Sumon songs??? Sumon says, "I usually like to create music involving my own emotions and most of the songs are mainly about a set of selected themes. So, for maintaining a congruity in expressing thoughts, many of my songs sound a bit similar to one another."
The epithet – BassBaba
We know this bass guitar talent as Bass-Baba, but how did this name get stuck to him? With a gentle smile the Bass-Baba replied, "actually, I do not know who gave me this name but it was in a concert when I first heard a group of fans shouting Bass-Baba. It was obvious that these fans were using the epithet to refer to me and soon, it was picked up by others."
A dream comes true
A dream to come true was the album Megher Deshe- a tribute to the greatest country musician, John Denver. The tuning of the songs which seem like cover pieces vary from the original John Denver ones. And, the reason is that Sumon wanted to make Denver appealing to those who had never heard his music.
Favourite musicians
Sumon's favourite music bands abroad are Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, George Winston, Yanni, Enya, Joe Satriani, etc
And, within the country he prefers to listen to Yaatri, Arbovirus, and Stentorian.
Upcoming Albums…
The sequel of 'Sumon o Aurthohin', 'Sumon o Aurthohin 2' is going to be released at the end of the first half of February (within 12 and 14 February). The name of the album is 'Boka Manushta'. Like the first album the sequel will present numbers done by many artistes. This album will mainly be rock based but there will be a fusion of pop, urban, new age and even electronic sounds. In this album, Sumon's 9 years old boy Anaf and 3 year old daughter Aurora are going to be heard.
Of late, Sumon has been suffering from a nerve injury and is going to have an operation at the beginning of February and after that he will start to work for a new Aurthohin album. Three songs of this album have already been recorded and in this album Komol is going to be a band member. Interestingly, Rafa and Shishir are also contributing.
Through a long music career our beloved musician and bassist Sumon has captivated the heart of many listeners. Though he started his career as a member of various underground bands, his band Aurthohin is now a mainstream band as many music lovers from all around the country are familiar with Aurthohin's songs.
Courtesy: Glitz, the entertainment weekly from the NewAGE.