'I can't use just one title to describe myself'

Armeen Musa has grown into a beloved musician in Bangladesh. She is the voice that greets Coke Studio Bangla listeners and is actively invested in teaching music through various avenues like her lectures at ULAB, her music, and wellness initiative. 

Her relentless work ethic in pursuit of self-actualisation in the arts industry is exemplary. On top of having made headway in a notoriously difficult sector to break into, she has very strict tenets on how she earns her financial stability and she is committed to raising up other artists via training and lecturing; she does all of this in between being active in multiple music scenes across the world and being the front woman of multiple bands.

The Business Standard sat down with the singer and songwriter on her off day, which technically wasn't her off day because she was working on a brand new endeavour, sound designing for an undisclosed project. Naturally, we started off by discussing her work ethic.

"I was pre-warned about being a professional artist," said Armeen, referring to her storied family of accomplished artists who helped her avoid all the misconceptions and over-glamorisation of performance arts as a career. 

Armeen is the great granddaughter of the legendary Abbas Uddin Ahmed. She is the daughter of Dr Nashid Kamal. Ferdausi Rahman, Samira Abbasi, Sharmini Abbasi are her aunts, and Mustafa Zamal Abbasi was her uncle.

"I did put myself out there, the thing about music is the more you create, the more work is generated for you. I recorded my first album at 19 years old. By the time I was 22, I was doing corporate gigs with my cover band."

This is a very insightful encapsulation of what her work ethic actually is like. Action engenders motivation. She revealed that her first year back wasn't easy and that in this industry you need to be very versatile and accommodating. 

The path to financial freedom in the arts sector is built on the back of compromise and the ability to translate your skill set for whatever the next gig might be. "Even though I identify as a performer, I can't use just one title to describe myself. I'm not just a singer or composer, or jingle writer or sound designer, or voice over artist. It is always changing."

Armeen has to also make a spate of other considerations due to her gender and her morality. When she started off she did any gig that was offered to her, a familiar story of any artist in the beginning of their journey. But as she accrued experience and established herself more, she learned to set boundaries like not working with organisations that have a history of abuse, and cosmetic companies that propagate unhealthy beauty standards. 

Working as a female performance artist in Dhaka means having to say 'no' to performances that go beyond midnight, and having transportation to and from a venue. She notes that this isn't something her male peers have to ever concern themselves with and is just a simple reality of the cultural norms of our country.

"My experiences make my personal choices and observations. I have been very lucky to be blessed with some incredible mentors, my guru Sujit Mostofa in Bangladesh, Annette Philip my music director in the Berklee Indian Ensemble," said Armeen.

She recently worked with the Berklee Indian Ensemble for an album, where she got to spend a considerable amount of time with Ustad Zakir Hussain, not an easy feat given that the ensemble itself is filled with scores of musicians hailing from 42 different countries. 

"I was actually there during Ustad Zakir Hussain's residency in 2019. The album consists of four original pieces by alumni and students and the rest of them are all guest artists. We spent a lot of time together because I wasn't part of the performing team. This gave me a lot of time to take Ustad Hussain around town and get a lot of face time with him."

Armeen is constantly moving from one creative endeavour to the next, at the same time broadening her horizons by challenging herself and branching out into different sub sectors of having anything and everything to do with soundscapes. 

Her latest EP – titled 'Being in love with the king of the world: Armeen Musa Live in Sydney' – features a mix of original songs and spoken word poems, which she recorded live in Sydney, was dropped earlier this year. She is set to do her first performance since the pandemic at Jatra Biroti in Banani today.