Oni Hasan: The prodigal son's return to roots

Oni Hasan. Sketch: TBS

In 2011, Oni Hasan said his final goodbye to Bangladesh, setting off to explore higher education and to evolve his music on foreign soil. Although he occasionally returned to join Warfaze for concerts, he hadn't played in Bangladesh since 2014.

Now, a decade or so later, the six string virtuoso is making a comeback. He brings with him a richer repertoire of his own music—both songs and instrumentals. This weekend, he's set to perform again. 

Although most musicophiles in the land are basking in the frenzy of Black reuniting their original lineup for a one-off  show on the 10th of May, the anticipation surrounding Oni's comeback is just as intense. His fans can hardly wait to see their favourite guitarist light up the stage once more.

Oni, though excited, admits he's feeling a bit "worried" too.

"It's been a really long time since I've done this. I'm just worried because I haven't been in that zone for a while. Performing live takes confidence, and that comes with practice. Let's see how it goes," Oni said.

One other aspect Oni is further "worried" about is how the audience will be receiving his instrumentals, which will make up a significant chunk of his setlist on Friday, alongside other songs and covers he intends to perform.

"That's what I'm really worried about actually. Instrumentals have their own niche crowd and not many perform instrumentals live in Bangladesh," Oni started explaining.

"It's going to be interesting to see how the crowd reacts because they have changed and evolved too. Many in the crowd will be from a slightly older generation, and my fan base is quite mixed. There will be fans from my time with Vibe, Warfaze, and a newer group who primarily know me through my YouTube videos and instrumentals," he added.

Speaking of instrumentals, the last 'Guitar Fest' held in 2011 featured Oni debuting his first instrumental, 'Shrine,' live. However, he didn't officially release the song until 2015.

"It was an unfinished idea when I first played it on stage. I pretty much put it together in the practice room backstage, talked over the chord progression with Tipu [Sheikh Monirul Alam] and Roger [Naim Haque] bhai, and asked them to follow along," he said.

Nearly a decade and a half later, Oni will finally perform a finalised version of 'Shrine' on stage again, but with a twist. This time, he plans to present 'Shrine Revisited,' an original rendition of  2015's 'Shrine.'
 
Oni won't be limiting himself to just instrumentals at the show, as it wouldn't be complete without the tracks from his band days that propelled him to fame. He'll be performing songs from his time with Vibe and Warfaze, and he confirmed that he has been working on the setlist for over a year. Joining him on stage for these numbers will be Powersurge's vocalist, Jamshed Chowdhury.

While he hasn't revealed everything, it's not hard to guess which Warfaze songs Oni will play. The ones he composed, 'Na' and the fan-favourite 'Purnota,' are sure to be included, along with some classic hits from Vibe.

Some of the Vibe songs that he will be playing are proving to be a bit challenging for the guitarist as he is having to re-learn certain portions of them. "I don't really play the Vibe songs by myself," he said.

Oni composed most of his Vibe riffs and solos back when he was a mere 18 year old. Obviously, over time, he has attained newer skills and is now a much more polished musician. But will he play the songs as they sounded in the studio recordings, or will he be showing off his dexterity by adding different nuances to his original compositions?

"It's funny actually. I would like to change things a bit but people have every second of those songs memorised, including the riffs and everything," Oni said.

"Sometimes it's not about sounding new or cooler. Sometimes it's the old school sound that people prefer. Of course you can change chords and stuff, but it's not going to have the same authenticity. People like that. So, I will be trying to make the songs sound exactly the way I had recorded them."

Oni might have another surprise in store for the concert: a collaboration with Cryptic Fate to perform their iconic song, 'Bhoboghure,' which Oni covered on YouTube in 2022. Shakib Chowdhury, the vocalist and bassist of Cryptic Fate, told TBS that both he and Oni are keen on the collaboration, but pulling it off might be challenging due to the limited rehearsal time available. Regardless of whether it happens, fans are to go crazy if it does indeed take place.

Oni shared some insights into his future musical projects. He plans to shift his focus from instrumentals to creating complete songs. He's been collaborating on a song with former Warfaze vocalist Mizan for some time now. While the song is finished, Oni is keeping the title and release date under wraps as the music video is still being produced.

"I want to make more songs now, instead of instrumentals. My initial plan was to release a single song with Mizan bhai but currently I'm more inclined towards releasing a number of songs with other singers as well," said Oni.

Before ending our brief conversation in the practice pad, Oni did leave a message for the fans who will be present on the concert day. He encouraged them to stay hydrated and joked, "don't die in the heat."

That was before I got to share a car ride back home with Oni Hasan. How cool was that?