No gimmicks, just music

"60's Love", you've surely heard the name, but the faces behind this song might not be familiar to most. Shockingly enough, Level Five have been in the music scene for quite some time now, having originally formed in 2011. Through their own choice, the band and its members have chosen to stay out of the limelight, instead choosing to let their music speak for itself. And my, has it spoken.

Sitting down with the band, I wanted to really get their origin story out, as it isn't readily available on the internet. As I sat there, listening to their stories, I was amazed and at times emotional hearing the stories they have experienced on their wonderful journey.

Level Five came into fruition with founding members Ehsan Kaizer and Aiedid Rashid. The two wanted to do something a little different and so chose to focus on being an indie band, initially starting out covering a variety of bands.

Soon, after a year, they would be joined by their drummer, Sadmaan Asif Guppu and would start performing more regularly in cultural programmes in universities. It was during one of these programmes, that their bassist Razin Halim would see Level Five perform live.

A little after that, Kaizer would see Razin performing a cover of "Snow" and would ask him to join the band as their bassist. With all members assembled, Level Five would start working on their album "Obosheshey".

After they were done with most of the recordings and arrangements for the album, Kaizer had to leave for the US.

"After finishing the recording of the last song for the album, 'Obosheshey', all we had left to do was mix and master the album. While we were having chaa in a tong, Kaiser bhai handed the hard disk with all of our recordings on it. He told me that I am giving you the hard disk and the rest is on you. If you go to the studio, the album will happen. Otherwise, Level Five will be done," said Razin.

Thankfully, all of them kept at it, even with Kaiser in the US. Guppu would return from Chattogram and start helping Razin with the mastering. Soon, they would release "Obosheshey" with an album release concert when Kaiser returned to the country in February, 2019.

They would soon bring in Ashiqul Alam Ashiq, a junior in the same university club as Guppu, to join as their guitarist. "I had just started working on an album with another band I had joined. Initially the plan was to have me play as guest member at times, but then eventually they called me to join Level Five because of the understanding between all of us".

While things were looking up, there was still a struggle to get booked on shows.

"We thought one particular show in Adamjee would be our last. Me and Razin had planned to stop after that show," shared Aiedid, "That show changed everything. The reception they gave us, the way they sang our songs. After finishing the show, Razin and I looked at each other and came to a decision to keep going."

Then the quest came to get another guitarist. Level Five wanted to make more music and needed fresh blood to join the fray. A friend of the band helped them find Yaber Hasan.

"My friend actually made me listen to Level Five's songs. He put on 'Gholate Megh', but I was like this is an acoustic song and I am a metal guitarist. After my friend left, I listened to the rest of the album and enjoyed it. Hearing the full album, I called Razin bhai to say I was ready to join the band," said Yaber.

It would be during the pandemic that "60's Love" would blow up, becoming their first song to cross a million views on YouTube.

"One day I woke up and saw the comments on '60's Love'. I remember seeing someone write that their girlfriend had died during COVID and that he was sitting next to her grave, listening to the song and relating to the lyrics. This touched me and humbled me. It was this moment that helped motivate me to keep making music," shared Guppu.

I have interviewed a lot of bands and musicians, but I have rarely become as invested in their story and journey as I have with Level Five. We spent a total of four hours with our photoshoot and interview. All throughout, I could see the chemistry and friendship between all of them.

Currently, Level Five have 7-8 songs ready as demos and are planning to release them in the near future. Whenever they release their songs, whether as an album or as singles, I will definitely be following them closely, because if nothing else, I want to see them flourish.