RS: Tell us about you family.
Ornob: My parents, Swapan Chowdhury and Suraiya Chowdhury, and my elder sister Milita Chowdhury all come from Fine Arts background and are artists in their own ways. My wife Sahana Bajpaie Chowdhury is in academics, writes songs for me & a singer.
RS: You’ve been to Santiniketan for your education. Tell us more about your schooling and days at Santiniketan.
Ornob: As a kid I went to Will's Little Flower School in Dhaka. I was admitted to the school Patha-Bhavana, in Santiniketan in 2nd grade. My journey started from then, and eventually I finished my MASTERS in Fine Arts from Kala-Bhavana Graphics Department, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. In school we had our classes under the trees in the glorious "Guru-Shishyo" tradition propagated by Rabindranath Tagore. Whenever it rained our classes were called off; thus, the monsoon season was closest to our hearts as it was filled with rainy days holidays. The school system was based not only on drab textual education but also focused on ECAs and sports. We had compulsory classes on music, dance, sculpture, craft, woodwork, painting and such.
RS: How did you get involved with music?
Ornob: I started learning esraj, a traditional classical instrument in 7th grade at Santiniketan. My musical endeavours kept on taking different forms as I grew up and learned more about western music genres. I started playing guitar and keyboards in school inspired by my friends in Dhaka whenever I used to come home in vacations. The bauls of Santiniketan have always inspired me to create an alternative form of Bengali folk music arranged with contemporary sound. I was also greatly inspired by the legendary bands of Bangladesh, the rich heritage our folk music, Tagore's music and fusion bands like Shakti and Return to Forever, and other bands and artists like The Doors, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Frank Zappa and Trilok Gurtu. Around 1997, in Santiniketan, my Indian friends, Sahana (then friend) and I formed Bangla. Anusheh and Buno joined in later. On coming back to Dhaka after completing my studies, Bangla became a full-fledged Bangladeshi band. Bangla was an idea that we had nurtured for a long time in different places and ended up working together. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
RS: How did it feel working solo? How do you describe your music? Ornob: It felt great to work as a solo artist! It was a completely different experience to have everything on your own head and then execute them properly. I wanted to create a unique sound for myself and cannot define any particular genre, as it comprises of very different and at times oxymoronic ideas and sounds. Lyrics are the guiding force of my music. They inspire me to create. The syllables of the words dictate me to play around with rhythms, which are unconventional. I think of myself first when I make music. In a way, I ‘de-personalise’ and imagine another Ornob listening to my music. However, the listeners are the ones who inspire me to make and publish an album.
RS: Tell us about your album. Many say that your second album has less variation that your first one. What are your feelings towards such views?
Ornob: Chaina Bhabish and Hok Kolorob reflect two particular times of my life - the life I was living and the ideas that I was developing. Where Hok Kolorob is a bit more structured and simple, Chaina Bhabish is lucid and introspective. The songs in Hok Kolorob were composed 10 years back. They had a kind of simplicity and innocence in them. I wanted to retain their originality. I am sorry if it has disappointed my listeners but my humble suggestion would be to forget the Chaina Bhabish Ornob and embrace the Hok Kolorob Ornob with open arms.
RS: You have been coined as a multi-faceted musician. What are the difficulties you had to face during this journey?
Ornob: I would not like to call myself a multi-talented musician. It's just that I like to keep my eggs in different baskets. Even today, I find it difficult to accept the fact that I did not pursue my esraj more seriously. I am a very patient person when it comes to getting something right. Unless I get to the core of something, I don't stop. The hardest part was figuring out sound engineering, recording, mixing and mastering of music with the help of softwares as I did not have any formal training and had to spend nights fooling around with machines. I have got it right as by now to a level where I can execute my ideas, but there is always room for betterment.
RS: How do you react to statements like “all musicians are losers and drug-addicts”?
Ornob: No musician can possibly be a loser or anyway near it! Just because God has especially favoured them with the gift of musical sensibility which others were denied of makes them green-eyed enough to proclaim musicians as losers. Either you have it or you don’t! All musicians aren't drug addicts! All non-musicians aren't non- addicts!
RS: Your message to young musicians.
Ornob: It's all about how passionate one is to pursue music – he can't escape the craving for composing and playing good music. Recognition will naturally follow. However, he/she has to forget about getting rich and buying a BMW! It is also important to attain a formal training in whatever you want to do and to dream big.
Photo Credit: Sahana Bajpaie Chowdhury
Published in December 2006 in Rising Stars
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