Celebrate Rupam Islam's 50th birthday with his reflections on the journey of Bangla Rock, his writing career, and the impact of social media. Discover why he doesn't create gimmicky or thoughtless music and his thoughts on breaking linguistic barriers in music.
He was one of the undisputed kings of Bangla rock in the 2000’s when he was the frontman for Black. When he left the band to make Indalo, he took on an entirely new genre of music. Having also left his mark on television as an actor, he is now knee-deep into the world of podcasts, where I started a podcast is one of the most enticing shows on Youtube. Star Showbiz has a
How a tiny music store in the backstreets of Dhaka influenced Bangladeshi Rock
Photo: Prabir Das
Tim Fletcher
Tim Fletcher
I was a music-mad teenager in 1980s England, and heavy metal was going through a resurgence. The older bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, who had started in the late 60s and early 70s, were still going strong, but a new cohort of exciting younger bands had begun to appear. The NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) bands such as Iron Maiden, Saxon and Def Leppard were getting radio airplay on Tommy Vance s Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1, and appearing regularly on TV. They even had hit singles in the pop charts.