A conversation with the many ‘variations’ of Fuad

Even if you are a casual listener of music, chances are you have had run-ins with Fuad Almuqtadir's music. Fuad is the kind of musician who has transcended generations, genres and quite recently, borders as well, through his music. 

 What's cooler is that it's not just you. They may not realize it, but it's highly probable that your parents have listened to Fuad's works during the commercial breaks when they turned on their television for the evening news. 

Your chauffeur jammed to Fuad's tracks along with you when you turned on the FM Radio on your way back home from school. Thousands still dance on the stands at the Sher-e-Bangla to 'Char Chokka Hoi Hoi' every time the Shakibs and the Tamims start  hitting boundaries all over the park. 

Yep, that's Fuad. His music is  just everywhere. But how did it all come to be? Fuad Almuqtadir sat down in a long conversation with The Business Standard and shared instances of his musical journey over the past one and a half decade.

'Fusion- Pop'?

Have you ever wondered whether Fuad has a specific genre that he could categorize his discography into? Don't sweat on it if you do not have an answer because neither does Fuad!  

As a matter of fact, he says that even he is at a loss every time he needs to specify his genre to his potential 'clients' in LA during his project meetings.

I mean how do you specify? Fuad has worked on songs such as 'Jatrabala', and 'Bhashaili Re' and produced heavy metal albums such as Aurthohin's 'Aushomapto-1', where he also wrote the music for the keyboard segments.

There are instances where Fuad has strictly created electronic music, alongside Bangla Rock and Bangla Hip-hop, and everyone knows about his fusion projects. That is when I cheekily put forth an idea. How about we call it Fusion-Pop?

"In theory what I do is fusion, but I guess we could call it that. We could call it fusion-pop. I think I'll take you up on that."

 Does the plethora of music in his discography ever prompt Fuad to jam to his own tracks?

"Yes I do sometimes I do go down the rabbit hole of listening  to my own music. But mostly the unfinished ones. I have been living and breathing a song for the past month that I have recently worked on. So if and when I'm driving by Sunset Boulevard, I mostly think about the research and the analytics that went into creating such songs.

Early Influences

Fuad was exposed to music very early in his life. Fuad's parents insisted on keeping him in the loop of Bangladeshi culture even after he moved to the United States at the age of eight.

 At age 11, he discovered Bangladeshi music. He received a number of Bangladeshi albums from a cousin. After listening to the likes of Miles and Feedback, Fuad was blown away. It astonished him that even Bangla music could sound so modern.

He got his first keyboard at 12 and never looked behind. "Playing a musical instrument is gratifying and if you have an addictive personality, you keep going back to the things that provide you with instant gratification. That is why I still play in front of an audience and keep coming back to Dhaka for shows."

When it came to influences, the cherry on top for Fuad was the music of A.R. Rahman.

"I found myself channeling A R Rahman a lot, to the point where when writing my own music, I would sometimes sit with my eyes closed and think, 'What would he do?' Because nothing he did could sound wrong to my ears." Fuad also mentioned the British musician Nitin Sawhney as another influence.

Foorti Fuad and Jingle Bells

Fm Radios were a huge thing in Bangladesh pop culture and entertainment, during the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. And where there was a radio, there were Fuad's songs being played at the highest volume. 

"Radio helped me in a couple of different ways. Especially Radio Foorti. Their playlists always included my tracks and that helped me to tap into a larger audience. I had my own show  'Fuad Live' on Radio Foorti literally the day after returning to Bangladesh in 2006."

It was the generation of Fuad, Arnob and Habib that was credited for bringing in a 'new sound' with a certain level of production quality. It was a quality that lasts to this day.

Back in 2006, high budget jingles projects were just at its inception and Habib Wahid was at the forefront of it. Telecom companies such as Warid, Banglalink Desh were pouring down money into the industry and Habib broke the barrier by charging six figure sums back in that time for one-minute jingles.

"Habib broke the wall and we reaped the benefits from it. I became another option for the Telecom companies to turn to. That's when I started working with jingles."

International struggles

Leaving a successful legacy behind and relocating to another part of the world is not an easy task for anyone. It was no different for Fuad when he answered the call of music and moved to Los Angeles.

"It's been the challenge of my life. When it comes to music, I have always been spoiled with preferential treatment and respect due to my career in Bangladesh but in LA, things were different."

"Before moving, I told myself everyday that I'm leaving my identity behind to rediscover myself."

Apart from building his dream studio, with three separate rooms and two lounges, Fuad has been busy working on a lot of projects.

"I have been making music for a lot of TV shows in the US such as 'Keeping up with the Kardashians', 'Chachi's World', 'Total Bellas', 'WWE Total Divas' and 'MTV The Real World.'"

Fuad crafted most of his networks through a publisher with whom he has been friends with for the better part of two decades.

The K-Pop labels buy a lot of material from US producers. Fuad has recently worked on such a project. He has been making music for sync licensing as well.

Sumon and Anila after 14 years

There's a unique aspect to the 'Fuad live in Dhaka' shows. It's not just Fuad on stage with a band playing music for a couple of hours. He is generally accompanied by a whole plethora of musicians (29 of them according to the concert posters!) and Fuad is perhaps the first person to integrate such a concept in the concert scene in Bangladesh.

"I feel the more, the merrier. From the audience's perspective, I think it's nice when they witness the change of vocalists on such long shows because every vocalist has a different feel about him/her."

"Also we cover a lot of different genres like from 'Jatrabala' to 'Tumi ki Shara Dibe' and everything in between."

However, it is particularly worth mentioning that tonight's show will feature the return of Bassbaba Sumon and Anila. Fuad has not performed with them on stage for 14 years. No prizes for guessing which song the duo will be performing.

I will be there at the ICCB Expo Zone later tonight to sing along with the filled to the rafters crowd in unison. Will you be there too?