Strand Three Profiles and Interviews - Mr. Samiul Islam (June)

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Mr. Samiul Islam (June)

Age: 45

Interview date: 22 _ Apr _ 06

Interviewed by: Jamil Iqbal

Mr. Islam was the main musician, vocalist and key board player of Joi Bangla Banned. Mr. Islam came to this country in 1985. He was interested in mixing Eastern and Western music from an early age. Before coming to the UK, he was a popular musician in Bangladesh. He has performed in many melas and festivals and inspired many young generation Bengalis into pop music. Currently, he is a school teacher.

Mr. Samiul Islam June

Q: Can you tell us about Joi Bangla Banned (band) and how it got formed?
I came in 1985, I was a musician in Bangladesh and I was a national musician. I used to go to many different countries. I used to play drums, keyboard and guitar. When I came here, I started talking to our local singers, they were using harmonium and tabla, very traditional instruments. Then after few months, I asked them to use some westernised musical instruments, which will help our young generation to get more interest in it. That was the main point I was going through at that time. The main point was to encourage our young generation to listen to our music. They can listen to different cultural music, but they were not getting our culture, so that was my main point to encourage them to practice our own cultural tradition. I was talking with the veteran singers here and they said, “We don’t pay a lot, so there is no point to bring two or three musicians”. So it was very difficult and they were not used to do with that kind of east and west mixing.

Q: How would you describe your music?
I was always interested in mixing east and west music because the world is changing. For example if I give my child, harmonium and tabla, he will not listen to my song. They will say, “OK, I will come later on”. If I put lots of multicultural instruments with the same song, they will be interested and that will be something new to them. They are listening to that kind of beat music, with very remix music everyday. So it was good for them and interesting for them as well. That’s why I always use that kind of mixing east and west, using instruments to make the songs more interesting.

Q: We just saw this video. I would like to know who started the programme and who invited you to the programme?
We are doing gigs all over UK, some how the channel 4 came to know us, ‘Joi Bangla Banned’ the first Bengali band in UK. They were all new generation and the all the young generation were involving in the band. It was a good idea to have a programme like ‘Band Baza’. They not only invited us, they also invited the Punjabi bands as well. They found it very interesting, because it was the first time they had a Bengali band and we were using east and west rhythms to different kind of instruments and things. That made them interested to give us a break, and see what would happen, what would be the reaction.

We put the show, we got lots of phone calls and lot of young generation come to practice, they showed they were interested to play musical instruments. We were busy with other things as well, I was doing my university degree and also Ansar (Ahmed) Ullah was busy with study, we gradually broke up because of our other engagements. We were busy with our own life and jobs.

Q: How much has music changed today, comparing to the mid 1980s?
There were lots of very good Bengali singers here and they used to sing folk songs and spiritual songs but it was for the people who were from the previous generation, not for the new generation. They had lots of spiritual songs and folk songs but the new generation were looking for something new. We had a very rich Bengali culture, so we needed to promote this tune to our new generation, mixing with western instruments. That was my first initiative at that time really. They were good singers, they were singing lots of songs, modern songs and folk and spiritual songs but they didn’t get that kind of facility here, because there were no musicians, first of all, and they were scared to use all these instruments. Probably it was also a matter of money as well. The people, who organised shows, didn’t have enough funds to help other musicians.

Q: Have you performed in melas and festivals?
Yes I have participated in lots of melas and festivals. There are lots of young generation, they come and dance with the songs and they say, ‘It’s really good’. It’s very good for them that we had a Bengali band and we are doing pop songs like ‘Ore Saleka’ by Azam Khan. We call him Guru (of rock music) in Bangladesh. We were singing his songs and basically the songs have lot of meaning about Bangladesh, about life and lot of things. The new generation accepted us very well and they enjoyed it. We ran the band for three/ four years.

Q: Can you mention any of your memorable event or moment that you are proud of?
It’s very difficult to remember any specific event or moment. We have lots of memorable moments and of festivals. It was not only Bengali people, it was anybody like the Punjabi and Pakistani people came to us and they said, ‘This is really good music you have and really enjoyable”. As they didn’t understand Bengali lyrics but found the sound really fantastic; they appreciated it and told us to keep it up. We have lots of memories but I can’t remember one to tell specifically.

Q: Were you involved in teaching the young generation music?
When we had the Joi Bangla Banned, I tried to teach some people but it was very very hard for them to practice. First of all we didn’t have enough support during that time. People used to live in the council flats and we didn’t have that kind of facility to practice at home. If it was an extended family, there weren’t empty rooms, so it was very difficult for them to practice at home. We only had the Montefiore Centre but not enough space to practice and children need to practice otherwise they can’t be musicians. They used to come to the Montefiore Centre and we used to practice. On the other hand they didn’t get enough time to practice. We tried our best, and we appealed to many people to give us some room, but we didn’t get through.

Q: What do you think of the young generation, which direction are they going regarding music?
I don’t think the new generation are coming with that kind of musical ability, but they have the talent. You can see the changes in music right now, like some of new singers are doing different types of music. One of them is Kaya of Krishna fame, still the musician (Habib) is from Bangladesh, he came here to study music and got the software and people got the new kind of music and he was a hit. His songs were number one not only here in the UK but the subcontinent. Krishna is a hit because of the use of different types of technology. We have to believe in technology, because the music is changing. There are talents but I don’t think people have that much interest in music because of the family background and probably they are busy with their life and people are busy with education. I don’t find talented people are coming in this kind of activity. There are some artists in every town.

Q: Are you still into music now?
Yes part time, I am playing in channel S and Bangla TV. I use to play with people who come from Bangladesh, all the A grade artists and I am still playing with them. I am a musician; it is in my blood so I can’t give it up.

Q: What type of music really interests you?
I play all types of music, I play Rag and I can play very classical music because I learnt classical first. You need to learn the basic otherwise you don’t know what the base is. If your base is strong, you can go wherever you want to and you can climb up. You will not fall over if your base is strong. If you are an engineer; what ever the plan, you know how to build it. I know the basic, so I can do any songs that I come across. I have practiced the basics, I can play spiritual songs, and I can play with any other song. I can even play Chinese songs because the music is basically the same, with different theme and different tune and different rag. So if you are a real musician, you have no problem.

Q: At what stage did you start the music?
I started music, when I was in class five. I started my music career in Sylhet. I used to play in radio at that time when I was only 7-8 years old. I used to play the harmonium.

Q: Do you have a role model?
Unfortunately I didn’t have a role model, but many of my family members use to sing at home. They are not professional singers, my aunty can sing well and they all motivated me to learn music. I really enjoyed music when I was in school. I used to participate in the school shows and when people clapped, I was very proud, all these helped me to rise up.

Q: Did Azam Khan or Ferdous Wahid or anybody else
Not really, in 1973 we went to Khulna from Sylhet, then I met lots of young friend in Khulna, and we planned to organise a band in Khulna. So we called the band The Spartan. That time we had lots of problems, we didn’t have instruments. There was Souls, a band in Chittagong, they used to come to Khulna to perform in the trade fair. They got instruments over there and we asked them to sell the instruments to us. They agreed because they had the port facility to acquire instruments. It was great that they gave all the instruments to our group and we started our music career. In 1974 we started a band and we started playing different kinds of music. We started with the spiritual songs of Abdul Alim. We used to sing Azam Khan’s songs and Ferdous Wahid’s songs like 'Emon ekta ma dena' within the group. We sang folk songs with drum, guitar and everything.

Q: Can you tell us about the Sufi music?
Sufi has a special meaning, because they are saying something, and you have to listen with patience all the way. Nowadays people don’t have the patience they just want to move and enjoy and then go home, that’s all. That’s why nowadays it is hard to grasp the concept of the Sufi song. The concept of any folk-spiritual song is very hard to grasp and the other problem is our new generation in UK don’t understand Bengali very well. They understand some of the phrases and don’t understand some of the other phrases. So they end up with no conclusion. I like Sufi and spiritual songs but it is very hard for the new generation.

Q: Are you motivating your children to learn music?
Yes, I want them to learn music, my son sings ‘Emon ekta ma dena’ with east and west music. I am surprised with his talents in music. He sang ‘emon ekta ma dena’ in Channel-S’. People called us up and appreciated his ability, some said, “We believe now, he is your son”. We talk in Bengali at home, so they can understand the meanings of the song. I try to make them understand the meaning of songs and if they are interested I sing them the song.

Q: Do you have any comment for the young generation about music?
I think they need to come forward, because we have lots of talents in Tower Hamlets and all over the UK. They need to come forward to have the kind of bands like the Joi Bangla Banned. They need to play at gigs, so people can see that we have lots of band all over the UK. From this process multi-talented people will come out. Maybe one day we can find multi-talented people from them. We have a very rich culture and we have many talents within us.

Q: What do you think of Indian music? Is it helping us?
You have to think first, I am giving some examples; firstly, we had lots of nice films and songs long time ago. We can name some like ‘Neel Akasher Niche’, people are still singing that song, songs like ‘Ooree neel doriya’ people still sing them. Young generation can take it as well, they are mixing up and they are doing a different rhythm. Think after ten years, the film is completely finished. There are now commercial films, they have no meanings and the song is so cheap. It is released only in Bangladesh, and after few days they are all gone. But think about the Indian films, it’s all over the world and people are watching them all the time and the song is so powerful. People listen to the same song everyday because the song is a hit.

If our Bengali films if the songs were nice, the music were nice, if there was mixing of east and west, our young generation will like it of course. The film quality has to improve, they have to spend money, but we don’t have the opportunity in Bangladesh. Firstly it is costly and then the reputation is not there. Same is true in case of movies coming out of Calcutta.