When fusion music was labelled a blend of East and West, Fuad Al Muqtadir’s sound from New York came and made an astounding breakthrough. His melodic recipe: one cup full of music, a teaspoon of electronic sound, a flavouring of various collaborated artists, finished off with some creative stirring. The result –HOT MINUTES of feet tapping and body shaking entertainment!Yes! Big daddy producer Fuad Al Muqtadir, also known as New York Fuad recently came back to Bangladesh for good and became Dhakaiya Fooa. He landed in Dhaka with lots of expectations about the world of Bangla music comprising of our traditional culture, Tagore, Nazrul, Folk and contemporary Bangla songs.
Fuad thinks that there is a very good opportunity to do music professionally in Bangladesh. ‘Taste of music listeners is getting better, thanks to a huge variation. The overall standard of our compositions is improving and, more genres like hip-hop and rap are blending into our music scene. More and more creative musicians are coming with their own sound and, this is very positive,’ he said.
In an exclusive interview given to New Age Glitz Magazine, he explained how ‘Indulgence’ is the distance between heaven and hell and how he preferred becoming a keyboard if he was not a human being because that instrument is versatile and, can both simulate and generate more than one particular sound. What a wish!
He titled his genre of music as Pop and Electronic and said that, he always composes music first before writing lyrics and affectionately recalled the album Maya-1 as his first produced record.
His was a musical family. He was inspired watching his father and brothers inclined towards music and, therefore, his interests were always stirred and supported by his folks.
Fuad left for the USA in 1988 at the age of eight and started junior high school there. He was always on and off music and finally formed the band Zefyr in 1993 with Richard Modhu, Himel, Shumon and Fred. They recorded several tracks and before disbanding in 1999, released the albums Maya 1 and 2, which became overnight hits within the New York Bangladesh community and later, its waves hit Dhaka. Big time!
Recalling his early memories he said, ‘in the year 2000, Monir Khan, a Dallas based music teacher offered me to work in a studio and I officially started becoming a producer. And, it was in 2003 that my side project Kranti took shape. We recorded songs and released our debut album in Bangladesh from G-Series with the help of BASSBABA a.k.a. Sumon of Aurthohin.’
‘Kranti was a great project with Shihab, Anila, Richard, Upol, Shanto and more. I had immense amount of fun from the basics up to the core and rocked big time,’ Fuad added.
His first record, drifting away from his niche target group, was Re/Evolution. With the help of Sohel Aziz, keyboardist from the band Obscure, the album came out in collaboration with plenty of mainstream and underground musicians featuring 14 tracks with some great remixes and originals. Kaniz Shuborna’s Ei Poth, Litu’s Sylhoti, Anila’s Jhil Mil, Armeen’s Bhromor Koiyo and the re-mixed track, Mon Chaile Mon became instant hits. This was a huge success and, came out as one of the best selling albums of 2005.
In addition, Fuad’s Variation No. 25 in 2006 was the most creative record produced till date, according to his many fans. Later in 2006, two songs were added and the CD was re-released as Variation No. 25.2 jointly by G-Series and Aarshee. The tracks, Nobina by Poonam, Nitol Paye by Rajib/Fuad jointly and Bappa Mojomdar’s Kono Asroy became over night hits and gave the compilation a massive success.
Poonam, with her yodelling effects while singing her heart out, ended up becoming one of the best newcomer female singers of 2006 and created a huge impression. In this regard, Fuad remarked that one of his upcoming projects is to produce Poonam’s solo debut album in June this year.
The biggest advantage of great productions like Fuad’s is the crisp sound and compact performance. However, he is still not happy with his production. ‘I’m not even 10% happy with my current sound. My sound quality, as I believe, is still in its infancy. And I will definitely try to emphasise more on a better approach towards mixing and mastering, better lyrics and the use of more acoustic instruments,’ said Fuad.
His upcoming album is Bonno, in which, the radio edit version of the track Jonglee, uploaded in http://www.amadergaan.com/ has already become a hit. With sarcastic lyrics, fruity sound effects and urban jungle lore, the song got registered into the fun loving minds of the people.
Fuad’s signature sound will be consistent in Bonno but the songs will be done by artistes like Sumon of Aurthohin, Elita, Mila, Bishop, Emil and other artistes from the US – Shanto, Anila, Laboni and more. After Bonno, Fuad’s fans could expect albums comprising of artistes from Dhaka and Kolkata.
About good sound production, Fuad said that usage of good analogue to digital converters, good equipment, effects routing and signal path while recording should be necessary to make sure of a crunchy production.
Apart from the fact that he is a creative musician, Fuad, as a human being is hilarious. In truth, for him the word ‘funny’ becomes an understatement. He laughed and giggled throughout the interview and shared ‘jokes’ from his personal life. And, as someone was trying to filter humor in the interview by asking Fuad: how would you like to get struck by lightning on a bright sunny day? He replied with a smirk, ‘If it is enjoyable….why not?’
Speaking about drugs and music, Fuad says, ‘it does not work for me but at the same time I do not look down upon any musician for whom it does. But, considering health issues, drugs should be seriously avoided.’
To wrap up the interview, a question: a person about whom you would like to know more. The prompt reply: Nitin Sawhney.
Though relatively new in our scene, Fuad appears to be very promising. He attempts to become a jack-of-all-trades, which by no means is a small feat. Considering his compilations and sound production skills, this ‘dude’ definitely deserves kudos!
Fuad thinks that there is a very good opportunity to do music professionally in Bangladesh. ‘Taste of music listeners is getting better, thanks to a huge variation. The overall standard of our compositions is improving and, more genres like hip-hop and rap are blending into our music scene. More and more creative musicians are coming with their own sound and, this is very positive,’ he said.
In an exclusive interview given to New Age Glitz Magazine, he explained how ‘Indulgence’ is the distance between heaven and hell and how he preferred becoming a keyboard if he was not a human being because that instrument is versatile and, can both simulate and generate more than one particular sound. What a wish!
He titled his genre of music as Pop and Electronic and said that, he always composes music first before writing lyrics and affectionately recalled the album Maya-1 as his first produced record.
His was a musical family. He was inspired watching his father and brothers inclined towards music and, therefore, his interests were always stirred and supported by his folks.
Fuad left for the USA in 1988 at the age of eight and started junior high school there. He was always on and off music and finally formed the band Zefyr in 1993 with Richard Modhu, Himel, Shumon and Fred. They recorded several tracks and before disbanding in 1999, released the albums Maya 1 and 2, which became overnight hits within the New York Bangladesh community and later, its waves hit Dhaka. Big time!
Recalling his early memories he said, ‘in the year 2000, Monir Khan, a Dallas based music teacher offered me to work in a studio and I officially started becoming a producer. And, it was in 2003 that my side project Kranti took shape. We recorded songs and released our debut album in Bangladesh from G-Series with the help of BASSBABA a.k.a. Sumon of Aurthohin.’
‘Kranti was a great project with Shihab, Anila, Richard, Upol, Shanto and more. I had immense amount of fun from the basics up to the core and rocked big time,’ Fuad added.
His first record, drifting away from his niche target group, was Re/Evolution. With the help of Sohel Aziz, keyboardist from the band Obscure, the album came out in collaboration with plenty of mainstream and underground musicians featuring 14 tracks with some great remixes and originals. Kaniz Shuborna’s Ei Poth, Litu’s Sylhoti, Anila’s Jhil Mil, Armeen’s Bhromor Koiyo and the re-mixed track, Mon Chaile Mon became instant hits. This was a huge success and, came out as one of the best selling albums of 2005.
In addition, Fuad’s Variation No. 25 in 2006 was the most creative record produced till date, according to his many fans. Later in 2006, two songs were added and the CD was re-released as Variation No. 25.2 jointly by G-Series and Aarshee. The tracks, Nobina by Poonam, Nitol Paye by Rajib/Fuad jointly and Bappa Mojomdar’s Kono Asroy became over night hits and gave the compilation a massive success.
Poonam, with her yodelling effects while singing her heart out, ended up becoming one of the best newcomer female singers of 2006 and created a huge impression. In this regard, Fuad remarked that one of his upcoming projects is to produce Poonam’s solo debut album in June this year.
The biggest advantage of great productions like Fuad’s is the crisp sound and compact performance. However, he is still not happy with his production. ‘I’m not even 10% happy with my current sound. My sound quality, as I believe, is still in its infancy. And I will definitely try to emphasise more on a better approach towards mixing and mastering, better lyrics and the use of more acoustic instruments,’ said Fuad.
His upcoming album is Bonno, in which, the radio edit version of the track Jonglee, uploaded in http://www.amadergaan.com/ has already become a hit. With sarcastic lyrics, fruity sound effects and urban jungle lore, the song got registered into the fun loving minds of the people.
Fuad’s signature sound will be consistent in Bonno but the songs will be done by artistes like Sumon of Aurthohin, Elita, Mila, Bishop, Emil and other artistes from the US – Shanto, Anila, Laboni and more. After Bonno, Fuad’s fans could expect albums comprising of artistes from Dhaka and Kolkata.
About good sound production, Fuad said that usage of good analogue to digital converters, good equipment, effects routing and signal path while recording should be necessary to make sure of a crunchy production.
Apart from the fact that he is a creative musician, Fuad, as a human being is hilarious. In truth, for him the word ‘funny’ becomes an understatement. He laughed and giggled throughout the interview and shared ‘jokes’ from his personal life. And, as someone was trying to filter humor in the interview by asking Fuad: how would you like to get struck by lightning on a bright sunny day? He replied with a smirk, ‘If it is enjoyable….why not?’
Speaking about drugs and music, Fuad says, ‘it does not work for me but at the same time I do not look down upon any musician for whom it does. But, considering health issues, drugs should be seriously avoided.’
To wrap up the interview, a question: a person about whom you would like to know more. The prompt reply: Nitin Sawhney.
Though relatively new in our scene, Fuad appears to be very promising. He attempts to become a jack-of-all-trades, which by no means is a small feat. Considering his compilations and sound production skills, this ‘dude’ definitely deserves kudos!
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