Face to Face with Arnob

Face to Face with Arnob
Arnob talks straight to his fans about current Bangladeshi music scene, advice for aspiring new mucians, personal likes dislikes and message about his songs in just released CD "Chaina Bhabish".
Interviwed by Imtiaz Ahmed

Y&I: What are your views about the current Bangladeshi music scene?

Arnob: We have a lot of bands around that are pretty good. However, sometimes I feel that they lack originality. Sometimes when I listen to some of the songs it seems to me that if I just replace the Bangla words with English the songs would turn completely western. I think there is a lack of identity in some of our bands. Even the way some bands sing in our mother tongue seems like they are suffering from an identity crisis! The way some bands sing, the style, the way they rendition their songs basically seems to portray to me that they have lost their Bangladeshi identity. I feel they should do a bit more to preserve their roots. However, musically the bands are absolutely great, but lyrically we have to develop more.



Y&I: What is the secret behind the soulful lyrics and mesmerising music of your songs?

Arnob: (Smiles) First of all, when I produce a song I don’t create the tunes first; instead I try to write the lyrics. Basically the lyrics which my wife, friends and I write inspires me to create a tune for it. There are certain lyrics that whenever you read it you instantly like it and it arouses a certain feeling or emotion. Using that feeling I create tunes that supports the lyrics, keeping the lyrics as the main priority. Sometimes if you try to force a tune into a song the lyrics get suppressed. So, I try not to disturb the lyrics and create tunes that would support the lyrics and enhance the song. That adds depth to the song. For my songs at least, the lyrics don’t allow me to try and experiment with tunes that much. The lyrics are so deep that it doesn’t allow the tunes to be too adventurous! It demands certain type of tunes.



Y&I: What/who are your favourite bands/artists?

Arnob: I like pure musical bands like Shakti and Return to Forever. Lyrics wise I like Bob Dylan and David Gray. I also like Radiohead and U2.



Y&I: From your own music, which song is your favourite?

Arnob: (Laughs) Well, I’m not yet satisfied with any of my songs 100%. But there are one or two which, I may term as favourites like "Chilte Rodhe" and "Amar Hariye Jawa." These two songs are okay.


Y&I: Advice to aspiring young musician

Arnob: You have to listen to music a lot. At least everyday one or two hours you have to listen to different types of music from different countries. And never develop a disliking against any genre of music. Never develop a taste for music i.e. not listening to a certain genre of music, because taste kills creativity. So, it’s better to listen to every genre. Also you have to create a habit of buying CDs. Go to shops and buy CDs of good artists and bands, you have to listen to a lot of music.



Y&I: Message to your fans


Arnob: I’m grateful to everyone that they liked the song "Shay jay boshe achey" and my songs from Bangla like "Tui Gaan Ga" and "Mon Torey" for it gave me a lot of confidence. For the popularity of these songs told me that what I am doing is being appreciated. Sometimes I get confused about my songs about how they shape up because I create it on my own and don’t get a chance to take other people’s opinions. So, I would ask my fans to tell me if they like my songs and why did they like it and more importantly if they have disliked any of my songs and tell me or write me the reasons for it. That would be a big help, I would appreciate that. I would also want to tell them that I’m releasing my debut solo album so they should all buy it and listen to it and hopefully they would like it. If they don’t like it then they should never listen to it again! Lastly, my message to all my fans would be not to buy pirated CDs.