Arekta Rock Band in town!

 “We’re not here to compete,” says talented upcoming guitarist Ifaz Abrar Reza while taking a sip of coffee, “we are here to have fun. As long as we are doing that, I think we’ll keep making music.”

Arekta Rock Band, a name that translates into “Just Another Rock Band”, is a fun play on the oversaturation of musicians in one of the most popular genres, rock music. However, this particular group exudes confidence, and has a distinct sound that is refreshing amongst a slew of similar sounding bands in the industry.

Except for Ifaz, they were all part of the band # (Hash). Azmi, who is also the vocalist for death metal band Severe Dementia, explained that they were all jamming together when they decided to form a rock band and they called in Ifaz. “The project’s group chat was named ‘just another rock band’, and this is how we came up with the name”, laughs Rasha. 

The band’s first single, Shikari Aj Shikar, is already a hit among young music listeners in town. “We first wanted to finish the already existing songs that we made for # (Hash), but scrapped all that to make entirely fresh music,” says Zihan. “I am glad that we got such a great response for Shikari Aj Shikar”. As seen in their live videos, the crowd has already memorised this wonderful number in rock music.

The band now has three upcoming songs: Eden, Don’t Fight Me, and Arekta Rock Gaan, all of which promise to be stellar tracks, if the exclusive demo presented to The Daily Star is any indication. “We will release Eden next,” says Ifaz. “We are working on the music video with Cybertron Studios, who also worked on our first track.”  One of Arekta Rock Band’s core strengths lies in their chemistry, both on and off the stage. “We are very good friends,” says Ifaz. “We hang out and make music every week in Rasha’s studio. Of course, having a studio to ourselves helps a lot, but more importantly, this is what we love doing.”  The studio in question is Hungry Dogs Studio, situated in Mirpur, a place the members are proud to be residents of. “We love Mirpur. We feel like much of our spirit as a band comes from Mirpur’s energy,” explains the band, which is quite a strange thing to say in unison. In hindsight, however, if the members can push the traffic in that area to practice regularly, nothing can stop Arekta Rock Band!