Genre Experimental, Alternative Rock, Nu Metal Current Line Up Sufi Maverick - Vocals (2003–present) |  |
Biography
Arbovirus is a rock band based out of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Formed by guitarist Suharto Sherif, guitarist and lyricist Asif Asgar (a.k.a. "Ranjan"), and drummer Himel while in College in 2002. The band grew to include bassist Ishtiaq Jishan and vocalist Sufi Maverick.
The name Arbovirus is derived from the Blade II comic book, where the virus is mentioned as the one that, once transmitted through saliva, turns human into a vampire.
This is one Bangla alternative rock band with vivid and flamboyant lyric, brutal riffs with emphasized bass and coarse distortion, lead solo full of late 70's nostalgia, detailed drums and bass work with expressionism in vocal line. Arbovirus have earned a huge fan following with their highly energetic stage performance. Their lyrics cover various elements from self-recognition to the political disarray of Bangladesh, from the 9-6 corporate life to middle-east peace politics, although they focus on a broader humane and optimistic view.
Arbovirus has earned mainstream recognition with the release of their 2006 album 64m 53s. They are currently working on their 2nd studio album, which is yet to be named.
Guitarist Asif Asgar (a.k.a. "Ranjan"), Suharto Sharif, and Drummer Himel were school mates and started playing when they were in the high school. The band was practicing back then just for fun and passion. Several musicians played in this band in order to get the raw satisfaction through unorthodox jamming sessions. Until 2002 when Suharto was about to participate the Benson & Hedges Star Search with the single "Artonad", and planned to form a band, not just for recreation and fun..but beyond that! Till then the band had no permanent vocal and bassist.
They kept practicing, doing covers of their favourite bands like Pantera, Nirvana, Godsmack and many others. So far they had only one full length track that would give them a full length album deal with G-Series. In March 2003, Shobhon and Himel left the band due to personal and creative differences. Now Arbovirus really needed a new vocal, a new drummer as well as a bassist for the song.
In August 2003, bassist Ishtiaq Jishan and drummer Farhan Tanim (ex-Metal Maze) joined Arbovirus.
Cézanne of Artcell recommended to check out Sufi (whom he came to know on one of Artcell's jamming session), and Jishan. On a Volvo double-decker busCézanne introduced Sufi to Ranjan. Sufi had another casual interview at Rajan's house where he met rest of the band including Suharto, Tanim, and Jishan. Suharto got really impressed with the beard Sufi had... regardless of the voice. Sufi had no previous experience of singing in any other bands, so it was a totally raw journey for Arbovirus.
Agantuk 2, Arbovirus' first released single 'Aartonad', was released on November 12, 2004.
With the new line up Arbovirus performed in several big gigs including Russian Cultural Center, Engineer's Institute Auditorium, Mohanogor Natyo Moncho, and Shishu Academy.
from 2004 to 2006, after releasing of their first single 'Aartonad' they released 'Obhishap' (Curse) in the album 'Din Bodol' and 'Shopnadishto' (Instructed-in-dream).
Arbovirus, after gaining popularity through their energetic performance and several hit singles, took some time off to record their debut album 64m 53s.
The whole album was a totally different experience for the band, since it was their first full length album. Arbovirus took 1 long year to produce this album under the banner of G-series, produced byIqbal Asif Jewel.
The album recording was done on 'Studio Bass', 'Dream Desk'. Mixing and Mastering was done in 'Not of this earth'. Arbovirus had key focus on one thing... 'no single track will sound similar to other one', says Ranjan. Their album covers genre from Grunge and Hard rock to Psychedelic rock.
64m 53s was released on July 20, 2006. The first song that burst out of the album, "Omanush" was a massive hit in all concerts.
They began performing in acoustic shows, specially organized by Live^2. They focused on the acoustic versions of "Omanush" , "Uttoradhikar", and "Ja Ichhe Ta".
With increasing interest in the song among the listeners, radio stations began playing "Ja ichhe ta" and the studio version of "Omanush". Arbovirus made videos for Omanush, Obhishap, and Aartonad.
On January 26, 2006, Arbovirus performed at the Salt Lake Stadium on the eve of Indian Republic Day along with Artcell, Metal Maze, and Fossils.
In October 2008, bassist Jishan announced that he is taking a long break. Jishan plans to enroll for M.S.. Aldnane Alam of Kral replaced him after Jishan left.
In February 2009, drummer Tanim also left for UK to pursue higher education. After almost a year's on-and-off audition - Muntasir Mamun Shubho of Aurthohin filled the position. It was also his engagement with music after 4 years long hiatus.
Arbovirus plans to release their 2nd album by December 2010. Bassist Jishan and drummer Tanim gave all the takes for the album before they left.
Five heads of Arbovirus have got totally five different types of musical taste (Suharto is into 90's Thrash metal.
Vocalist Sufi has called Incubus artist Brandon Boyd, Muse vocal Matthew Bellamy and Ustad Faiyaz Khan a major influence. With their earlier albums in particular the band displayed a large amount of experimental qualities, mixing traditional as well as contemporary genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, Nu metal, and grunge with funk, and mainstream hard rock.
Guitarist, lyricist Ranjan is solely into the late 70's guitar Gods like Jimmy Page, and Joe Perry that vividly reflects on their compositions, and they want to take the most advantage out of it.
Drummer Shubho pioneered 200 bpm double bass drum work that set a record in the Bangladeshi Band scene.
Guitarist Suharto is a die hard Pantera fan and that boldly reflects on this guitar tone and songwriting. His signature tone can be recognized by extended low and lack of high with coarse distortion.
Aldnane is pretty much into music that portrays complex songwriting and skillful playing. His idols are Steve Bailey, Bill Dickens and Victor Wooten.
Throughout their career Arbovirus has utilized elements from a wide variety of genres and styles, receiving complements from the critics focusing the band's ambition and potential, though it has also made them difficult to correctly classify. Most conclude that Arbovirus is, at its basis, a rock band.
The band has plans to use various Indian Musical Instruments and various Electronic music, Industrial music elements in their upcoming tracks. Glimpse of these can be enjoyed on their tracks 'Keu Karo Noy'.
Besides their vivid music career - band members also have participated in several projects.
Guitarist Ranjan is a lyricist for quite a long time, long before he formed the band. He has contributed lyrics to many prominent musicians including Miles, and Aurthohin. Besides - he has an experimental project named Purple Haze.
Sufi has contributed two tracks on Sisimpur, the Bangladeshi version of the children's television series "Sesame Street". In 2010 - under the pseudo name PHI - two of his first ever solo tracks have been released in the mixed album "Shomoy" under the banner of Gangchil.
The band released a single "Shurjo Shontan" in the mixed album 'Live Now' criticizing the biased activities of then Care Taker government formed by Professor Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed , but it was initially not well-received by the radio stations and the audiences. The controversial track includes a phase where some one takes and oath like this "I take the oath to keep this shameless throne of the King, to perform to my fullest to portray the acts of a spineless toy". The oath part was censored before releasing the track.
All of the band members have got dental problems.
The original version of the track "Mukut Chhara Raja" from debut album "64m 53s" was completely stripped and redone because the band felt that the overall sound and arrangement was not working. Ranjan and Sufi came up with the new lyrics and the tune in a single night.
Ranjan is using the only Ernie Ball Music Man Steve Lukather series in Bangladesh.
Discography
