SHOILY

What brought you into music?

I was brought up in a music-oriented family. Many in my family have been professionally affiliated with music. I have been singing in school programs ever since I was 5 years old. When I started growing up, I gravitated towards Western music and constantly checked the billboard for top songs. When I was in standard 7, my father brought me a Spanish guitar from Melody and Co. I have been singing and composing music ever since. 

What projects are you currently working on? 

I've recently released the music video for my song "Chinho". I'm working on publishing the music videos for the songs in my first album. I have written and tuned new songs over the last two years. I will hopefully be recording and releasing them soon. I will also be a part of an acoustic project, hopefully the audience will like it. 

How difficult is it to do a different genre of music here in Bangladesh?

To be honest, people here are accustomed to a particular kind of songs here. For example, songs by the likes of Porshi and Nancy are more likely to be accepted by the general audience. I would say that it is a lot easier to do different genres of music at present than it used to be in the past. Today, there are a lot of talented artists like Tashfee, Xefer, Aanchal, Armeen Musa and others who are doing their thing and creating their own niche. However, when I started out there were very few artists who could do so. I would like to mention the likes of Shumona Haque, Elita Karim and Mehreen as pioneers of a new wave of strong female lead singers in the past decade or so. They made it infinitely easier for us to follow our dreams. 

What do you like to do in your spare time? 

I never have much time, really! I have a four-year old daughter to look after. Her name is Arvana. Let me tell you that it's a huge responsibility. Besides that, I like to watch TV series. The last one I watched was "13 Reasons Why". 

If you had to describe yourself in one word, what would that be?

It would definitely be optimistic. 

What do you plan to do in the future?

More music, hopefully! I don't usually give in to general trends like planned covers and all that. What I want to do is keep composing songs of my own genre, that is what defines me as an artist. 

Interviewed by Sadi Mohammad Shahnewaz